Shafaq News
In the southernIraqi city of Najaf, the modest houses and narrow streets of the old quarterconceal one of the country's most influential religious and political centers. The city hosts the leading figures of Iraq’s Shiite religious establishment,foremost among them Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Despite their simplelifestyle and reputation for asceticism, the decisions and guidance issued fromNajaf have repeatedly shaped major developments in Iraq and beyond.
For nearly athousand years, the Najaf seminary has maintained a moderate approach to politicaland social affairs. Throughout Iraq’s various historical periods, the religiousauthority has consistently emphasized national interests and social stability,advocating dialogue, political solutions, and diplomacy over violence andinternal conflict.
While urgingcalm and peaceful coexistence, the religious authority has also demonstrated awillingness to take decisive action when Iraq faced existential threats. Themost prominent example came after the rapid expansion of ISIS across severalIraqi cities. At a time when both the state and society faced grave danger, thereligious authority issued the historic “sufficient jihad” fatwa* in June 2014,calling on Iraqis to defend their country.
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The broadpublic response to that decree underscored the religious authority’s ability tomobilize society during critical moments. The fatwa became a turning point inIraq’s campaign against terrorism and contributed to restoring security andstability not only within Iraq but across the wider region during that period.
Also, on veryspecific occasions, the religious authority outlines its vision for Iraq’spublic policies through brief and clearly defined points. On November 4, 2024,after a meeting with the UN Envoy, Mohammed Al-Hassan, Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistanioutlined seven factors necessary for the "stability of the country,"emphasizing that Iraqis have a "long path" ahead to achieve thisgoal. One of these factors is extremely related to the key issues in Iraqtoday. The restraint of weapons on the state. In his seven factors, Ayatollahal-Sistani talked clearly about “confining arms to the authority of the state,”with the other six points focused mainly on preventing foreign interference andenforcing the rule of law.
Historicalprecedents also highlight the institution’s long-standing opposition tointernal conflict. During the 1960s, the late religious authority Mohsenal-Hakim issued positions and rulings urging Iraqis to avoid fighting betweenArabs and Kurds amid the conflict between the Iraqi government and the Kurdishmovement. He called for dialogue and peaceful solutions, describing internalbloodshed as harmful to national unity and social cohesion.
The religiousauthority occupies the highest religious status among Twelver Shia Muslimsduring the period known as the Major Occultation of the Twelfth Imam. As aresult, followers are expected to adhere to its religious guidance, reflectingthe significant influence it exercises over its constituency.
The fall of theregime of Saddam Hussein in 2003 further expanded the authority’s role in Iraqipublic life. The political environment that emerged afterward ended decades ofrestrictions, persecution, house arrests, and assassinations that had targetedsenior clerics under previous governments, allowing the institution to operatemore openly and exert greater influence.
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Speaking toShafaq News, Iraqi researcher Raji Nasser argued that the Najaf religiousauthority played a “central role” in preserving Iraq’s unity and preventing thecountry from sliding into civil war after 2003.
According toNasser, the institution consistently promoted de-escalation, dialogue, and therejection of sectarianism despite waves of violence and bombings that targetedcivilians and religious shrines. He recalled several major crises that were metwith restraint by Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani, including the assassination ofMohammed Baqir al-Hakim in 2003 and bombings in Karbala, Baghdad’s al-Kadhimiyaand Buratha Mosque, Babil’s Hilla, and other cities.
“The religiousauthority stressed in its statements the need for awareness and cautionregarding parties seeking to tear apart Iraq’s social fabric,” Nasser said,adding that it consistently called for resolving crises “through wisdom,self-restraint, and avoiding sectarian reactions.”
He also pointedto the 2006 bombing of the al-Askari Shrine, one of the most sacred TwelverShia Muslim holy sites, in Samarra of Saladin Province, describing it as “themost dangerous test of Iraqi unity.” Nasser noted that the religious authorityhelped contain public anger by encouraging peaceful demonstrations andprohibiting attacks on mosques and shrines belonging to all sects, whileemphasizing that internal conflict would only benefit terrorist groups.
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“The positionsof the religious authority, particularly the statements of Grand Ayatollah Alial-Sistani, played a major role in calming the Iraqi street and preventing itsdescent into a comprehensive civil war despite the severe sectarian tensions atthe time,” Nasser stressed, describing the institution’s discourse as amoderate national approach based on dialogue, coexistence, and respect for allcomponents of Iraqi society.
The researcherfurther argued that, in the years following the fall of the former regime, thereligious authority helped shape public opinion toward political participationand the building of a constitutional civil state, while also underminingefforts to fuel sectarian division and preserving Iraq’s unity and stability.
A source closeto the religious authority in Najaf told Shafaq News that “after this scale ofcorruption and theft, it has become difficult to find a trusted representativeof the people capable of negotiating politically or diplomatically on behalf ofIraqis.”
That distancehas been made explicit across successive electoral cycles. In 2018, speaking onal-Sistani's behalf, Deputy Ahmad al-Safi stated that the religious authoritywas "maintaining a distance from all candidates and electoral lists"and would not back any individual or political grouping. In the elections of2021 and 2025, al-Sistani reiterated that position while urging voters to treateach cycle as an opportunity for genuine change —to remove corrupt andincompetent figures from power and to participate consciously rather thanrepeat the failures of previous parliaments and governments. The most recentsignal came in 2026, when Mohammed Reza al-Sistani, the cleric's eldest son,delivered a response to the Coordination Framework, the Shiite alliance thatemerged as the largest parliamentary bloc, voicing the authority's discomfortover repeated attempts to draw it into the selection of a prime ministercandidate, a source told Shafaq News.
Beyondelectoral politics, the authority draws an equally firm line on armed conflict.
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Ali Baqir, aprofessor at the Najaf seminary, told Shafaq News that “the religious authoritydoes not believe in fighting and bloodshed unless it sees an external threat tothe state and its sovereignty.”
According toBaqir, the institution has issued calls for jihad only when the state faceddangers threatening its existence and sovereignty, or when citizens weresubjected to killing, displacement, and other violations. He added that theNajaf authority consistently urges respect for state laws when they serve thepublic interest.
Baqir alsohighlighted differences between the Najaf school and the religious authority inQom, Iran, particularly regarding the concept of Wilayat al-Faqih (TheGuardianship of the Jurist), explaining that the current Najaf authority underal-Sistani intervenes in political affairs only when public and religiousinterests require it under the principle of limited guardianship, rather thanadopting a doctrine of direct political rule by religious authorities.
The experienceof Iraq’s religious authority suggests a model centered on mediation,restraint, and the prioritization of national stability over politicalcompetition. Throughout periods of terrorism, sectarian violence, and politicalturmoil, the institution has sought to promote dialogue while reservingexceptional intervention for moments when the state itself faced seriousthreats.
Baqir concludedby urging Iraq’s political blocs to follow the guidance of the Najaf religiousauthority and “work toward an Iraq free from conflict” while avoidingentanglement in the disputes and confrontations of regional powers.
*Fatwa is aformal religious ruling or legal opinion issued by a qualified Islamic scholaror religious authority on matters of Islamic law and practice.
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Written andEdited by Shafaq News Staff.