Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Is'haq Fayadh (also spelt Fayad), (Arabic: مُحَمَّدْ إِِسْحَاقْ ٱلْفَیَّاض, Dari: مُحَمَّداِسحٰاق فَیّٰاض) is one of the Big Four, among the most senior Shi'a marja living in Iraq after Ali Sistani.
[1][2][3][4] Born in Jaghori Soba village in Ghazni province, Afghanistan to Hazara ethnic group, he holds Afghan citizenship.
[6] Following the invasion of Iraq by the United States and allies in 2003, al-Fayyad engaged more than any other marja with the occupying American and British military and diplomats, informing them of the views of the senior clerics.
[10] However, this report is contradicted by the official website of the Shi'a Marja, wherein he remarks, "The correct opinion regarding the issue of "Vilayat-e-Faqih" (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist) is that this issue requires no external proof, because the continuation of Islamic law, and its application, is dependent upon the continuation of the system of Vilayat".
With this reasoning he believes that in all spheres of life, be it social, individual, ideological, freedom of expression, business, financial trading, land cultivation, etc.