Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is the head of the Shi'a seminary of Najaf and Iraq's highest ranking religious scholar. He was born to a family of religious scholars in northeastern Iran in 1930 and went to Najaf in 1951 to study under Grand Ayatollah Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei, whose followers Sistani would inherit upon Khoei's death in 1992. Though he survived the persecution under Saddam Hussein that led to the death of many Shi'a clerics, his mosque was shut down in 1994, only reopening after the American overthrow of Hussein's regime in 2003. Many consider him the most influential figure in post-invasion Iraq. His fatwas on participation in Parliamentary elections were significant reasons for widespread Shiite acceptance of the process. He also pushed for a quick transition to Iraqi rule after the U.S. invasion and has urged restraint on the part of the Shiite to anti-Shiite violence perpetrated by Al Qaeda.