Al-Sayyid ʿAlī al-Husayni al-Sīstānī is a Shiite authority and a teacher of advanced courses of fiqh and usul al-fiqh in Najaf. He studied in the Islamic seminary of Mashhad, Qom and Najaf. He attended the lectures of Ayatollah Burujirdi, Sayyid Muhammad Hujjat Kuhkamara'i, and Ayatollah al-Khoei. He became the Shiite authority after the demise of Ayatollah al-Khoei . He played a crucial role in the regime change in Iraq and the approval of the new Iraqi constitution after Saddam Hussain.
When Daesh (ISIS) attacked Iraq, and moved towards central and southern parts of the country, Ayatollah al-Sistani announced that it was a collective obligation (al-wajib al-kifa'i) to defend the country. Some of his lecture notes have been published, such as Qa'ida la ḍarar wa la ḍirar. There are many academic and educational centers, libraries, and centers of social services in different parts of the world, such as Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Britain, and Lebanon, which were established by his office.
Life
Al-Sayyid 'Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani was born in Mashhad on August 4, 1930. His father, Sayyid Muhammad Baqir, was a Shiite scholar, and his mother was the daughter of al-Sayyid Rida Mihrabani Sarabi. His grandfather, al-Sayyid 'Ali al-Sistani, was a student of al-Sayyid Muhammad Hasan al-Shirazi in Najaf who returned to Mashhad .
Education
Al-Sistani studied the preliminaries in Mashhad. He began his studies in the Islamic seminary . He studied Arabic literature with Muhammad Taqi al-Adib al-Nishapuri, Sharh al-lum'a and al-Qawanin with Sayyid Ahmad Mudarris Yazdi, the intermediate level of fiqh (jurisprudence) and usul al-fiqh (principle of jurisprudence) with Mirza Hashim al-Qazwini, Islamic philosophy with Sayf Allah al-Aysi al-Miyanaji, Shaykh Mujtaba Qazwini, and Mirza Mahdi Isfahani. Al-Sayyid 'Ali al-Sistani also attended the Kharij lessons (advanced classes) of Mirza Mahdi Ashtiyani and Mirza Hashim Qazwini on fiqh and usul al-fiqh.
Three Years in Qom
Al-Sistani moved to Qom and attended the advanced classes of Ayatollah Burujirdi in fiqh and usul al-fiqh. He also attended the advanced classes of Sayyid Muhammad Hujjat Kuhkamara'i.
In this period, he had correspondences with al-Sayyid 'Ali al-Bihbahani, a follower of Muhaqqiq Tihrani's school of fiqh, with respect to qibla. Finally, al-Sayyid 'Ali al-Bihbahani wrote a letter to al-Sayyid 'Ali al-Sistani (who was 21 years old then) on April 14, 1951 and called him "a major scholar and an elite and meticulous faqih", postponing the rest of their discussion to when they met in person.
Immigration to Najaf
Al-Sistani went to Najaf and resided in Bukhara'i Seminary School. He attended the Kharij lessons (advanced classes) of Ayatollah al-Khoei and Shaykh Husayn al-Hilli on advanced fiqh and usul al-fiqh. In addition to his participation in these two lectures for a long time, al-Sistani also attended the lectures of Sayyid Muhsin Hakim and Sayyid Mahmud al-Husayni al-Shahrudi.
Ijtihad and Marja'iyya
When he was 31 years old, al-Sayyid 'Ali al-Sistani received permissions for ijtihad from two of his teachers, Ayatollah al-Khoei and Shaykh Husayn al-Hilli. He is the only person who received a permission of ijtihad from Shaykh Husayn al-Hilli. Agha Buzurg Tihrani confirmed al-Sayyid 'Ali al-Sistani's competence in rijal (biographical evaluation) and hadiths.
At the request of his teacher, Ayatollah al-Khoei, Ayatollah al-Sistani became the leader of congregational prayers in the al-Khadra' Mosque in Najaf since January 13, 1989. Before this, Ayatollah al-Khoei himself was the leader of congregational prayers there; he quit it because of illness. Ayatollah al-Sistani was the leader of the mosque until the last Friday of June, 1994 when the mosque was shut down by the Iraqi government (in the period of Saddam).
After Ayatollah al-Khoei's demise on August 8, 1992, Ayatollah al-Sistani took over the marja'iyya (Shiite authority). After the deaths of Sayyid 'Abd al-A'la Sabziwari and Sayyid Muhammad Rida Gulpayigani in1993 as well as Muhammad 'Ali Araki and Sayyid Muhammad Ruhani, his marja'iyya became more wide-ranging.