This study shall investigate foot-pilgrims on the Arbaeen pilgrimage that attracts 20 million people annually, making it the world's largest annual gathering in...
Read More »Ayatollah Sistani’s Epic Fatwa against Daesh in Iraq
A day after the Speicher massacre, the bereaved nation was addressed by Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who commands tremendous respect from all sections of Iraqi society.During a Friday prayer in the holy city of Karbala, the fatwa was issued on his behalf calling on all Iraqi citizens to defend the...
Read More »UN Head of Iraq Mission Meets Grand Ayatollah Sistani
The head of the UN mission in Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert on Wednesday met Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Al-Sistani, Iraq’s most senior Shiite cleric, in the southern city of Najaf....
Read More »The Emergence of Modern Shi’ism: Islamic Reform in Iraq and Iran
Thought provoking and challenging, this book examines the foundations of modern Islam, and provides fascinating insight into the region's religious and political developments both...
Read More »Shiʿi Educational Traditions and Systems in Early Modern Iraq and Iran
The formation of the Safavid state (1501-1722) in Iran was transformative for Shī‘īism and its educational systems. The sixteenth century, therefore, was a turning point for the proliferation of Shill scholarship and educational institutions in Iran and the shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala' in southern.....
Read More »Political Mobilization and the Shi’i Religious Establishment (marja’iyya)
This article attempts to clarify a number of issues pertaining to the actual attitudes and relationships between the marja'iyya and politics in Iraq.....
Read More »Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir Sadr, A Sign of Jihad & Ijtihad
Martyr Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr was a notable Shia cleric, philosopher, and ideological founder of the Iraq Islamic Dawa Party
Read More »The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam
The purpose of this study is twofold. Drawing on the sociology of Max Weber, it purports to offer a new interpretive perspective for the analysis of the role of religion in political action and societal change in...
Read More »Protecting the Citadel of Islam in the Modern Era: A Case of Shiʿi Mujtahids and the Najaf Seminary in Early Twentieth-Century Iraq
The concept of protecting the Citadel of Islam (Hifẓ Bayzat al-Islam), is common in the lexicon of Shiʿi political jurisprudence. It refers to those Islamic principles and foundations without which the...
Read More »Ayatollah Sistani Is in Perfect Health: Al-Kafeel hospital
Al-Kafeel hospital in Najaf denied claims that Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani had been recently hospitalized.....
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