ʿAlī Ḥusaynī Sīstānī[1][2][3] (Persian: علی حسینی سیستانی; Arabic: علي الحسيني السيستاني; born 4 August 1930) is an Iranian-born[4] Islamic scholar and the dean of the Hawza of Najaf in Iraq.

[11][12] Born in Mashhad, Iran (with the father as Dulan) to a Sayyid family, Sistani studied in Qom under Hossein Borujerdi and later in Najaf under Abu al-Qasim Khu'i.

[18][19] Shortly after the American invasion began, Sistani issued a fatwa advising Shia clergy to become engaged in politics to better guide the Iraqi people toward "clearer decisions" and to fight "media propaganda.

It was, reportedly, the first time that Sistani had left Iraq in decades, and may have been due, in part, to growing concerns for his safety from sectarian violence.

Though still recovering, Sistani returned later in the month to broker a military truce at the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf where Muqtada al-Sadr and the Mahdi Army had been cornered by American and Iraqi forces.

Sadr, who rose rapidly to prominence through a series of independent military actions beginning in 2004, has since actively challenged Sistani's more progressive influence over Shia in the region.

"[22] He has consistently urged the Iraqi Shia not to respond in kind to attacks from Sunni Salafists, which have become common in Sunni-dominated regions of Iraq like the area known as the "Triangle of Death," south of Baghdad.

Even after the destruction of the Shia Al-Askari Mosque in Samarra in February 2006, his network of clerics and preachers continued to urge calm and told their followers that "it was not their Sunni neighbors who were killing them but foreign Wahhabis.

"[23] Sistani's call for unity after the bombing of the mosque helped to control a potentially dangerous situation, preventing the country from entering in a bloody sectarian war.

[26] On 13 June 2014, Sistani appealed that Iraqis should support the government against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militant group, which had taken over Mosul and Tikrit and was threatening Baghdad.

[31] It also oversees a network of representatives (wakil) "who promote his views in large and small ways in neighborhoods, mosques, bazaars, and seminaries from Kirkuk to Basra".

'[42] On 23 September 2024, Sistani's office issued a statement condemning the 'brutal Zionist aggression' in Lebanon amidst an intensified Israeli airstrike campaign in the country, urging the international community to uphold the protection of civilians and restore peace in the region.

[43] On 28 September 2024, Sistani mourned the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and condemned his assassination in an Israeli airstrike the previous day.

[53] Researcher Hayder Khoei writes that pro-Islamic Republic of Iran propagandists have gone to the trouble of publishing books with fabricated quotes by Sistani in favor of rule by jurists as one of their "propaganda campaigns" in Najaf, to obscure the fact that "Sistani, like the vast majority of Shia clerics based in the city of Najaf, is well-known for his opposition to Wilayat al-Faqih".

[54] Journalist Ali Muhammad quotes political analyst Abdul Wahhab al-Hussaini concerning Khomeini's follower and successor Ali Khamenei: "The conflict between Najaf and Tehran has become obvious as the two schools are fairly different – especially when it comes to the issue of wilayat al-faqih [the guardianship of the jurist] ... Najafi scholars do not believe in this concept at all, but Khamenei uses it to shore up his authority and influence in the region, especially in Iraq.

As for general affairs to which social order is linked and enforcement of doctrine, this depends on certain conditions, one of which is the popularity of the faqih among the majority of momeneen (believers).

[58] Yet another interpretation of his statements comes from Sadegh Zibakalam, who states that Sistani has consistently avoided supporting a strict interpretation of the theory of velayat-e faqih, especially of absolute guardianship, and has not explicitly offered any substantive affirmation of the theory as a whole (including limited guardianship); thereby creating "a major lacuna" in the "grand ideological scenario" of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

At another point, Mansour asked Khalsi whether the United States was using Iraqi politicians, and also Sistani, to promote Western interests in Iraq.

[60] In January 2010, during a Jumu'ah khutba (Friday sermon), an imam employed by the Saudi government, Mohamad al-Arefe, said Sistani was an "obscene, irreligious atheist.

"[63] In October 2024, right-wing Israeli news agency Channel 14 broadcast a list of "axis of resistance" leaders targeted for assassination, which displayed an image of Sistani under a red crosshair among Hezbollah and Hamas members.

[64][65] By working with Shia computer programmers and other specialists, Sistani sponsored the establishment of The Ahlulbayt Global Information Center, an international web resource, and he has since been called "the electronic grand ayatollah par excellence.

The attacks were reportedly the work of a Muslim faction known as group-xp, based in the Arabian Peninsula and linked to Salafi and Wahhabi movements.

The hacker, a Shia from the United Arab Emirates using the handle "ShiaZone", was shown logging into email accounts of suspected members of group-xp.

[84] Abdul-Mahdi Al-Karbalai is noted for having announced Sistani's famous fatwa (edict) obligating Iraqis to vote, and with the rise of terrorism, to join the military to oppose ISIS.