Grand Ayatollah
Only a few of the most important ayatollah are accorded the rank of Grand Ayatollah (Ayatollah Uzma, "Great Sign of God"). This usually happens when the followers of one of the ayatollahs refer to him in many situations and ask him to publish his Juristic book in which he answers the vast majority of daily Muslim affairs. The book is called Resalah, which is usually a reinvention of the book Al-Urwatu l-Wuthqah, according to their knowledge of the most authentic Islamic sources and their application to current life.
There are around 70 living worldwide, including Ali Khamenei, Ali Sistani, Mohammad Yaqoobi, Hossein Vahid Khorasani, Makarem Shirazi, Yousef Sane'i, Malakouti, Haeri, and Sadiq Shirazi. Currently there are five grand ayatollahs in Najaf, Iraq, center of the Iraqi Shi'i seminaries or Hawzas; the most senior is Ali al-Sistani. Other grand ayatollahs include Basir Najafi, Mohammad Saeed Al-Hakim and Mohammad Ishaq Al-Fayyad.
Read more about this topic: Ayatollah
Famous quotes containing the words grand and/or ayatollah:
“The Olympian gods cannot have grand passions because they cannot die.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“During my administration the most unpleasant and perhaps most dramatic negotiations in which we participated were with the various leaders of Iran after the seizure of American hostages in November 1979. The Algerians were finally chosen as the only intermediaries who were considered trustworthy both by me and the Ayatollah Khomeini. After many aborted efforts, final success was achieved during my last few hours in the White House.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)