Talk:Ali al-Sistani

POV wording in article

In the subsections: 1.5 Al-Jazeera's insults against Sistani 1.5.1 Hacking Grand Ayatollah Sistani's website the content of the article seems to be excessively pro Sistani and is very negative towards any percieved attacks or insults against him. I propose the section 1.5 should be retitled Al-Jazeera reporting on Sistani and the wording changed to factually summarise the content of the reporting and avoid making any characterisations about it's nature. 1.5.1 also needs some review too. --I (talk) 12:58, 16 November 2008 (UTC)

Succession

Article mentions he succeeded Khooei...we should work out a proper succession chart for whatever the office is. PhatJew 20:06, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

• Succeed to what? It is not like the archbishop of Canterbury or the pope. It just means he became prominent after the one before him. Plus, there are many other living prominent Shia leaders.--Patchouli 12:59, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Before an ayatollah dies, the people whom he is followed by, need to look to someone else for modern issues after the cleric dies - and in this case, Khoei made Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani his "successor" Kadhumia flo 08:18, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

He is chancellor of Najaf Hawza and in that respect he succeeds Al-Khoei.--Sayed Mohammad Faiz Haider^tc_s 09:22, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

Bio submission

Greetings All, I would like to submit the following indepth biography of the religious leader of the majority of the Shi'a of the world and those of Iraq.

FOR MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY, the school of the late Grand Ayatullah al-Uzma al-Hajj as-Sayyid Abu al-Qasim al-Musawi al-Khu'i (May Allah raise his rank) has been an inexhaustible spring that has enriched and enlivened Islamic thought and knowledge throughout the world. From his school graduated hundreds of jurists, scholars, and dignitaries who took it upon themselves to continue his ideological path, which was full of achievements and sacrifices in the service of faith, knowledge, and the society.

Among those, are the outstanding 'Ulama' of the Hawza 'Ilmiyyah, especially those in the holy cities of Najaf and Qum. Some of them have attained the level of Ijtihad - the competence to deduce independent legal judgments - enabling them to assume the office of supreme religious authority. Others have reached lofty levels qualifying them for shouldering the responsibilities of teaching and educating the future generation of scholars.

One of the most distinguished among these towering figures in today's age is His Eminence Grand Ayatullah al-Uzma al-Hajj as-Sayyid 'Ali al-Husayni as-Seestani. He ranks among the brightest, most qualified and knowledgeable of Imam al-Khu'i's (May Allah raise his status) students.

1. His Birth and Upbringing

His Eminence, Ayatullah al-'Uzma al-Hajj as-Sayyid 'Ali al-Husayni as-Seestani was born in 1349 A.H. (1928) in the month of Rabi' al-Awwal in the holy city of Mashad, Iran, where the sacred shrine of Imam 'Ali ibn Musa al-Rida (Peace be upon him) is located. His father was one of the devout Scholars of his region, and in order to help his son continue his Islamic studies and to gain a deeper knowledge of the Islamic sciences, he introduced him to the 'Ulama and scholars of the Hawza 'Ilmiyyah.

Ayatullah al-'Uzma as-Seestani began his introductory 'Arabic studies, including eloquence (Balagha), in Khurasan under the renowned teacher of 'Arabic, Muhammad Taqi Adib Nishaburi. He also studied jurisprudence (Fiqh), principles of jurisprudence (¬sul), logic (Man§iq), and beliefs (Aqaid) under the great 'Ulama and teachers of Khurasan. It was in this city that he took part in Dars-e-Kharij (the highest level of studies in the Hawza). At this time, he also benefited from the presence of Allamah Muhaqqiq Mirza Mahdi Isfahani (May Allah sanctify his spirit).

In order to advance further and complete his studies, he traveled to the city of Qum in 1368 A.H. (1948), so as to benefit from the 'Ulama of the grand Hawza in this city. The Hawza 'Ilmiyyah of Qum was at that time under the supervision and guidance of the sole Marja' of the Shi'a world, namely Ayatullah al-'Uzma as-Sayyid al-Hajj Husayn Burujerdi (May Allah raise his rank).

Ayatullah Seestani who was present in the lessons of Fiqh and Usul, which at that time were being taught by Ayatullah Burujerdi, was quickly recognized as the brightest student in the fields of Fiqh, Usul, and Rijal. He also took part in the classes of Ayatullah al-Uzma Hujjat Kuhkumrai and other teachers and scholars in order to quench his thirst for knowledge.

As-Sayyid as-Seestani excelled his peers, especially in the force-fullness of his interjections, his quick wit, research in jurisprudence, biographies of the transmitters of ahadith, and his keeping abreast with many theories in different fields of the theological sciences.

In the year 1371 A.H. (1951), Ayatullah Seestani once again moved, this time to Najaf al-Ashraf. At that time, the Hawza of Najaf was blooming and was full of splendor and glory. He took part in the classes that were being offered and learnt the various Islamic sciences from the most well known 'Ulama of that time.

For more than 10 years he took part in the lessons of Ayatullah al-Uzma al-Hajj as-Sayyid Abu al-Qasim al-Musawi al-Khu'i (May Allah be pleased with him). At this time, he also attended the lessons taught by Ayatullah al-'Uzma as-Sayyid Mohsin al-Hakim (May Allah sanctify his spirit). He also finished one complete course in Usul al-Fiqh under the auspices of Ayatullah al-'Uzma al-Shaykh Husayn Hilli (May Allah be pleased with him).

In the year 1380 A.H. (1960), in recognition of his achievements, he was awarded the distinction certifying that he had attained the level of Ijtihad - deduction of legal judgment in matters of religion, by Imam al-Khu'i and again, by al-Shaykh al-Hilli.

In the same year, he was awarded certification by the distinguished traditionalist and scholar al-Shaykh Agha Buzurg al-±ehrani testifying to his skill in the science of 'Ilm al-Rijal, or research into the biographies of the narrators of ahadith. He achieved this grand status when he was a mere 31 years of age!

In the year 1381 A.H. (1961), after years of studies and participating in the lessons of Usul, Fiqh, and Man§iq in the Hawzas of Mashad, Qum, and Najaf he started to teach his own lessons in Dars-e-Kharij, revolving around the book, al-Makasib by Shaykh Ansari (May Allah be pleased with him). After teaching Dars-e-Kharij based on the framework found in al-Makasib for years, he advanced his lessons onto a higher level by teaching from the book Urwatul Wuthqa.

2. His Comparison Between the Various Schools of Thought

In order to put forward a sound study for any subject, as-Sayyid as-Seestani compares his findings with those of al-Mirza Mahdi al-Isfahani, representing the Mashhad school of thought, as-Sayyid al-Burujerdi of Qum, and of as-Sayyid al-Khu'i and al-Shaykh Hussain al-Hilli representing Najaf.

3. His Juristic Methodology

His juristic methodology has the following distinct characteristic: Comparative Jurisprudence between Shi'a and Sunni. Familiarizing oneself with the Sunni juristic thought, contemporary to the time of the text such as Imam Malik's "al-Muwatta" or Abu Yusuf's "al-Khiraj", make clear to us the opinions and goals of the A'immah (Peace be upon them) at those times. Making use of modern-made laws in certain juristic respects, as is the case with his reference to Iraqi, Egyptian and French laws when he discusses the topic of "Contract of Sale and Right of Withdrawal", widens one's scope in analyzing juristic principles, its goals, and expands its practical use.

4. His Inventiveness of Approach

Unlike traditional clerics who follow literally what they have been taught, as-Sayyid as-Seestani's approach to juristic principles is characterized by lending weight to some of these principles by re-interpreting them. To give an example, the principle of Izlam (compulsion) is expounded by some jurists as follows: "A practicing Muslim may make use of the laws of other Islamic Schools of Thought insofar as his personal interest is best served even though his school of thought does not approve it."

As-Sayyid as-Seestani interprets such a practice on the basis of respect (ihtiram) i.e. showing respect for other peoples' laws and opinions. He has based his interpretation on the freedom of expression, like when we say, "Everyone has his/her own way of conducting marriage"; hence "the lawfulness of marriage of a polytheist".

5. His Examining the Text in its Social Context

Investigating the text in its social climate and the circumstances surrounding it helps us to arrive at a better understanding of it and leads to deducing a sound legal judgement.

Such is the approach of as-Sayyid as-Seestani for example when he tackled the hadith of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) at Khaybar forbidding the eating of donkey meat. As-Sayyid as-Seestani's interpretation was that such was prohibition is confined to that particular incident at that point in time. The evidence he puts forward is that the Prophet's forbidding was due to a military requirement, in that the donkey was a means of transportation and protecting it was needed to serve that purpose. Hence, no extrapolation should be made from it at a later time since circumstances have changed.

6. His Expertise in the Tools of Deduction

This great Marja' is of the opinion that a jurist cannot be called as such until he has acquired all the necessary qualifications to enable him to be one. Among such vehicles is the mastery of Arabic, full knowledge of the traditions of the Prophet and his Progeny (Peace be upon all of them) and detailed accounts of their narrators - for the science of 'Ilm al-Rijal (biographies of transmitters of hadith) is a prerequisite for the jurist to achieve authenticity.

In this respect he holds many opinions which may go against what is universally held. He also stresses the importance of familiarizing oneself with the different compilations of hadith and their different copies to ensure knowledge about the author as regards to the accuracy, authenticity, and the manner of compiling.

7. His Character

Those who come into close contact with as-Sayyid as-Seestani will discover that he is endowed with ideal spiritual traits. Of these are the following:

1. Fairness and respect for the other opinion. Based on his love for science and knowledge, interest in arriving at the truth, and upholding freedom of expression and the constructive word, he is constantly reading in order to acquaint himself with the different opinions - whether they are expressed by well-known scholars or less known ones. Thus, he may quote an opinion expressed by al-Shaykh Muhammad Rida al-Mudhaffar in his book "Usul al-Fiqh" (Fundamentals of Jurisprudence); and by the same token he may take the liberty of alluding to another opinion which he admires, though it may belong to a peer, rival, friend, or a less famous scholar.

2. Etiquette of debate. His manner of conducting a debate or discussion is a far cry from the heated, aimless, time wasting arguments that others indulge in. He never resorts to silencing others, interrupting them or belittling their contribution to the subject that is to be discussed. No matter who the other side is - teacher, or student - and he always uses polite words to address them. Thus, he adopts an appropriate approach in handling any category without overstepping the line of courtesy and good manners in order to preserve the integrity and respect of those involved.

3. Manners of the Teacher. Teaching is not simply a paid profession - if it is not coupled with the concern for the advancement of the student and showing love and affection for him, then the teaching process will be devoid of its noble aims and objectives in producing a committed, well-mannered generation, fully aware of their responsibilities towards themselves and the society in general. As-Sayyid as-Seestani is considered among the elite, just like as-Sayyid al-Hakim and as-Sayyid al-Khu'i who viewed teaching as an heavenly obligation which must be fulfilled to the best ability of the teacher. Thus, he constantly reminds his students to spare no effort in asking about everything, however trivial it may seem to them, such as inquiring about the number of pages in a book, so that they may get used to close contact with the teacher. Moreover, he often encourages them to compare his study and research with the others in the same field, with a view to find out their strengths and weaknesses.

4. Godfearing and Piety. There is a striking phenomenon that the majority of scholars and great men seem to share, in that they do not allow controversy and disputes to get between them. Such a stand has proven to be wise since they have been necessitated by the concern for the public interest. Indeed, "...at times when innovations threaten to creep into the religion, it is incumbent on the scholar to put his knowledge to use in the defence of faith - otherwise Allah will take away the light of belief of the scholar," as the Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon him and his family) had put it.

When trials and tribulations are deployed to serve the personal ends of a scholar, or the community experiences propaganda warfare fanned by mutual enmity and envy, the 'Ulama' of the Hawza 'Ilmiyyah, one of them being as-Sayyid as-Seestani, prefer silence and refrain from entering the conflict.

Such was the state of affairs in the aftermath of the death of as-Sayyid al-Hakim and as-Sayyid al-Burujerdi, and history repeated itself after the departure of the Guardian of the Hawza 'Ilmiyyah, as-Sayyid al-Khu'i where competition and jockeying for titles and positions became widespread.

Furthermore, as-Sayyid as-Seestani's contentment and humility is reflected in his simple attire, the small house in which he lives (but does not own) and the simple furniture therein.

5. His ideological production. As-Sayyid as-Seestani is not a jurist so to speak. Rather, he is a highly educated man who keeps in touch with modern visions with regard to the development of political and economic thought. He has very good ideas in the realm of administrative theory, as well as social thought that is compatible with modern progress. With all this in perspective, he views the dispensation of religious edicts as a right of the Islamic society.

6. Office of the supreme religious authority. Some scholars of the Najaf center for theological studies (Hawza an-Najaf) were quoted as saying that after the death of as-Sayyid Nasrullah al-Mustanbit, they advised the late as-Sayyid al-Khu'i to groom someone for the office of the supreme religious authority and the guardianship and overseeing of the Najaf Hawzah. The choice fell on as-Sayyid as-Seestani for his excellence, knowledge, and impeccable character. Accordingly, he started leading the prayer in Imam al-Khu'i's masjid, al-Khadra, during the lifetime of his late teacher, and writing and compiling his annotation based on as-Sayyid al-Khu'i's "Islamic Laws."

After the passing away of Marja' Taqlid of the Shi'a world, and the Guardian of the Hawza 'Ilmiyyah, the Late Ayatullah al-Uzma al-Hajj as-Sayyid Abu al-Qasim al-Khu'i, Ayatullah al-'Uzma al-Hajj as-Sayyid 'Ali al-Husayni as-Seestani was among the six people who were permitted to take part in his funeral and performed the services on the deceased.

8. Works of this Scholar

Ayatullah Seestani, for close to 40 years, has been continuing the important task of teaching Dars-e-Kharij in Fiqh and Usul, and Rijal, and the fruits of his struggle for knowledge and his accomplishments have been preserved in writing (now numbering over 40 books). Many of these books have been translated into the various world languages including; English, Urdu, Gujarati, Turkish, and others.

9. Books translated into English

1. Islamic Laws (Translation of Tawdhiul Masa'il). 2. Manasek Hajj. 3. Contemporary Legal Rulings in Shi'i Law. 4. Jurisprudence Made Easy. 5. Simplified Islamic Laws for Youth and Young Adults. 6. A Code of Practice for Muslims in the West 7. Rules Relating to the Deceased: Condensed Version. 8. Rules Relating to the Deceased: Philosophy and Ahkam.

taken from www.al-mubin.org

Move Attempts

If you are going to post any of that, it should be standardized, in regards to spelling and so forth. Also, I suggest that information not be duplicated, and the exact format and information not be cut and paste from that website. Before all this is done though, it must first be verified that information from that website is both neutral and more importantly, not copyrighted or restricted. 134.174.151.189 18:50, 26 Aug 2004 (UTC)

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the debate was don't move. —Nightstallion (?) 17:56, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

Move

Pretty straightforward. Naming conventions exclude titles from article name. gren グレン ^? 10:01, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

• Oppose No it isn't. Which convention in particular are you refering to? Clerical titles are included, see Thomas Cardinal Wolsey. Gryffindor 15:10, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
• Move. Gene Nygaard 01:12, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
• Oppose.--Sina 16:23, 8 February 2006 (UTC)
• Oppose Clerical titles overide the general rule that titles should be excluded.66.108.59.171 23:59, 12 February 2006 (UTC)
• Oppose per the NC. —Nightstallion (?) 17:56, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

• Agree since this is the name he is most commonly known under. look also at Grand Ayatollah al-Shirazi or Pope John Paul II who are also named with their title.. Antares911 16:54, 22 July 2005 (UTC)

Relisting 23 Oct 2005

• An example of the general case of naming (Grand) Ayatollahs; some are listed with title, but most without. See List of Ayatollahs. Let's be consistent and make them all the same one way or the other; I have no opinion on which to prefer myself. Rd232 ^talk 17:57, 23 October 2005 (UTC)

Request fulfilled. Rob Church ^Talk 19:35, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the debate was no consensus, not moved. —Centrx→talk • 21:06, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani → Ali Sistani – There are other "grand ayatollahs" like Hossein Montazeri and others. Patchouli 02:35, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Discussion

• Support. 1) Most of the ayatollah are named simply by their name (like Khomeini); 2) all the other wikipedias name him A. S. ([1],[2], etc.) and Grand Ayatollah A S is not even translated as such in arabic and persian in the article, but as Said A. S. السيد علي الحسيني السيستاني

Gedefr 16:21, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

• Oppose Clerical titles are included, see Thomas Cardinal Wolsey. Gryffindor 20:25, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Thomas Wolsey lived in the 1400s.--15:30, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

• Oppose al-Sistani is not = to Sistani and he is a current grand Ayatollah that is his job --08october 04:44, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

• Defer There is a proposed policy at Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Islamic clergy) - suggest we have this discussion there, come to a consensus and then apply to this and other articles. AndrewRT - Talk 19:31, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Edit war

To the two IP editors who are currently engaged in a sterile revert war on this article: it is now locked from editing for a few days for you both to step back. To 98.197.203.161 (talk · contribs), please take note of Wikipedia's policies on biographies of living people and providing citations from reliable sources. The information you are adding will not be accepted unless you can provide reliable sources for it. Thanks. ➨ ❝ЯEDVERS❞ has nothing to declare except his jeans 13:11, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

anti-gay 2005 "religious decree"

re: The New York Times - "iraq's newly open gays face scorn and murder," printed, late edition (front page, carried to page a10), by timothy williams and tareq maher, wednesday, april 8, 2009

in middle of the article is a paragraph -

"In 2005, the country's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, issued a religious decree that said gay men and lesbians should be 'punished, in fact, killed.' He added, 'The people should be killed in the worst, most severe way of killing.' The language has since been removed from his Web site."

in my opinion, language on this decree should somehow be folded into sistani's wikipedia article. since i am unregistered at nyt.com, i can't easily fold the info in with citation.--71.183.238.134 (talk) 01:49, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Grand ayatollah Title ?

Wikipedia:Naming conventions (people) says: Similarly, "King", "Queen", "Blessed", "Mother", "Father", "Doctor", "Mister", or any other type of qualifier is generally avoided as first word for a page name of a page on a single person, unless for disambiguation or redirect purposes. Also according to Wikipedia:Manual of Style (biographies) Titles must not be emphasized in article title and opening paragraph. You can see other Grand ayatollahs in this category and also Ali Sistani in other wikis.

So Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani must be moved to Ali al-Sistani

پوویا (talk) 03:44, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

"Homosexuality" section

There's an edit war over this right now. As the section basically consists entirely of heavy soapboxing, and this is a BLP, it should be removed IMO. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 08:29, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Soapboxing? This was reported news. o.o PinkNews—a mainstream LGBT news source—has reported on the situation for years. I included the relevant news article references. For the most part I summarized the contents of the articles. As for Category:Homophobic violence, it is applied in an international context as per the effects on LGBT people. The violence category is a subcategory of Category:Homophobia, where violence is additionally involved. Please, see Category talk:Homophobia and also Talk:Homophobia/FAQ temp. Another editor expanded on it afterwards—were you saying I was soapboxing or that the other editor was soapboxing? - Gilgamesh (talk) 09:44, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

There are several issues here. The first is that adding a reference to every single report on the fatwa on PinkNews (which is by nature an advocacy site) is giving undue weight to what is, in the scheme of things, not the most major incident in Sistani's life. The category is part of this. I quote:

This category is for issues relating to homophobia, including organizations or individuals that are particularly noted for being involved in the subject of homophobia. It is not intended for groups or individuals who have made homophobic remarks and related actions but are not considered widely known for their homophobic stances.

It is not clear that Sistani passes that test. He would not exactly be distinguished in the realm of conservative Muslim religious figures by publicly attacking homosexuals. The second is conflating the fatwa with the person. Hitler isn't in category:mass murderers, for instance, though certainly he was the one giving the orders. It would probably be better to have a separate article for it. The third is that this consensus you've pointed out has been repeatedly questioned, especially when it is applied to subjects which aren't known primarily for the topic in question, and it would probably be better to start that discussion again on a wider forum than the category talk page. Just so we're clear here, my major issue here is article quality; that section looks very much like a soapbox to me right now, and I'd like to see that resolved. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 10:48, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Well, you do have a point that he is not the only cleric to have attacked LGBT people. And as for Pink News being an advocacy site, it is a news site for the general LGBT audience, like Viacom's 365gay News. Also, it seems that areas where questions of categorical homophobia are most relevant are where it concerns LGBT people and their rights, dignity and safety. Furthermore, consensus on LGBT issues is frequently attacked because it is always attacked—there are a lot of people who either don't like LGBT people, or were raised to regard them as fundamentally inferior, flawed or as enemies. But it doesn't matter if there are billions of these people, as LGBT human concerns on Wikipedia are not inferior to any other human concern. There are many LGBT editors, and they have rights as editors, and their entire communities have rights as human beings. These are not matters we can seriously dispute, lest we start seriously considering some editors being less human than other editors. LGBT rights issues are controversial, but that doesn't make them undeserving, inappropriate, and especially not revert-bait. Whether or not this category ultimately deserves the categorization in question, please don't presume in advance that I was soapboxing or that the sources can only be an agenda site by virtue of the audience they report to. On Category talk:Homophobia, we discussed the eligibility of Pink News and 365gay as news sources for Wikipedia, and the majority agreed that they are legitimate sources. They also agreed that it's preferable to have a plurality of different sources from different sites to balance the reference. However, in issues that are relevant to LGBT people (including violence and massacres), most mainstream news sites cover these topics sparsely and there is not as much broad interest in the general mainstream public for what goes on in the LGBT world. This is part of why LGBT news sites exists—to report things many news sites will not find interesting enough. And that is where many of these issues are continually reported in formally-written online articles. There are also editorials and columns with people's personal opinions, but they are well-marked, and mainstream news sources also has a wide variety of these. Articles can be used as news sources—opinion pages, generally not. Anyway, do you see my point? Pink News ran a series of news report articles on the fatwa and its collateral effects. I summarized the events reported in a section, as it certainly seemed relevant. (Even the U.S. State Department has recently made issue of the many LGBT people in Iraq being killed by death squads.) Since I added this section, it was only blanked three times. Twice by an anonymous editor in Bahrain who removed it without comment. And once by another editor who removed it by mistake while reverting someone else's vandalism. Since I wrote the section, it has been significantly modified by another editor, and that's about it. The edit warring recently seen in this article seems to mostly be over its name, rather than over the Homosexuality section. Now, given these things, considering it's of notable interest to LGBT reporting, could you suggest ways the section could be more balanced? But it doesn't seem reasonable to remove it entirely. - Gilgamesh (talk) 11:22, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Again, my concern is that the majority of the section is on the effects of the fatwa; as a result, it appears to be using Sistani's biography to highlight the persecution of homosexuals in the Middle East. This would be better off in its own article, as while there may be a direct link between the issuing of the fatwa and the violence, it is not as if homosexual persecution in the Middle East is something which Ali Sistani brought into existence, or even something which is is necessarily primarily associated with. Other than a cursory mention of him as being the originator of the last fatwa, none of the references added to the article actually discuss Sistani. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 12:24, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

I see. So maybe just the fatwa and the briefest mention of its punctuating effects should be mentioned? - Gilgamesh (talk) 16:43, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Yes please. A dedicated article on the fatwa could then be added to our list of fatwas. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 17:55, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

All the section is fake as it depend on claims only and on fictional fatwa that is claimed to be on sistani website and removed !!!!!! please give a true source then add the section again.--82.194.62.25 (talk) 16:46, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Ahh, I remember you. What, Pink News is not a legitimate source? Why not? - Gilgamesh (talk) 21:56, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

References

For some of the edicts, I have used the same reference. However, it still comes up as a different number. Could someone please solve that. Thanks--IsaKazimi (talk) 11:09, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Bio Early life

There seems to be hitch in his bio. The sequence is that he became a Marja 1960 at age 30 (???) and then "ijtihad" (? - read mujtahid?) at 31. Ok if he is called a mujtahid he surely won't be a Marja before that. No idea what the contributor wanted to say but kindly someone correct that. I am not familiar with his story just looking it up but this does not fit. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.98.113.164 (talk) 19:21, 13 October 2010 (UTC)

Totally suspect linage. This man's father was selected by Lottery, a well known and acknowledged matter it would seem. Here is the quote from a previous version of the Arabic wikipedia that was removed by the "ayatullah"'s "aids":

ولد في مدينة مشهد شرق إيران في 4-8-1930. كان والده بالقرعة هو العلامة السيد محمد باقر. ووالدته هي أبنة السيد رضا المهرباني السرابي. كانت والدته تتمتع كثيراً تقرباً إلى الله!! وهكذا تزوجت بالعقد المنقطع الفقيه المعروف السيد محمد الحجة الكوهكمري. وبعد فترة تزوجت متعة من آية الله الميرزا محمد مهدي الأصفهاني. وبعد مدة تزوجت متعة من السيد محمد باقر. وبعد هذه المتعات المتكررة حملت به والدته ولا تعرف بمن تلحقه. فقصدت الحوزة العلمية في مدينة قم، فأفتى لها المرجع الكبير السيد حسين الطباطبائي البروجردي وقال: بما أن علاقة الأول قد انقطعت فلا يلحق أبنها به، وحينئذ إن كان عقد الأول والثاني كلاهما في زمان مدة الأول، فالعقدان كلاهما باطل. ويكون الوطئ من كليهما شبهة، وعليه فيكون أبنها مردداً بينهما. فبالقرعة اختاروا العلامة محمد باقر ليكون أباً للسيستاني.

Which translates to:

"Born in Mashhad, east of Iran on 4-8-1930. His father by Lottery is the cleric Mohammed Baqir. His mother is the daughter of Sayid Ridha Al-Mhrbani Al-Srabi. His mother practised "mit'ah" frequently (a form of paid-for, temporary marriage contract for sex only, which only Shi'aits practice) as a means of getting closer to Allah. And so she "married" well-known Hujjeh Sayid Mohammed Al-Kohkmry. Then a little while later, she practised mit'ah with Ayatullah Almirza Mohammed Mahdi Al-Asfahani. Then, a shortly afterwards, she practised mit'ah with Sayid Mohammed Baqir. Subsequent to these frequent mit'ahs, she became pregnant with him, and did not know his fatherhood. So she went to the Hawzeh in Qum, and she received Fatwa from the Grand Marji' Sayid Husain Tabatabai' Al-Brojrdi stating: "given that the relationship with the former has ceased, then her son would not draw parentage from him; therefore, if the first and the second contract both fell within the period of execution of the first contract, then both are null and void; intercourse with both would be suspect, and therefore her son's parentage could be to either. Therefore, a lottery took place, and the Scholar Mohammed Baqir was chosen to be Sistan's father".

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An image used in this article, File:Sayed ali alsistany.jpg, has been nominated for speedy deletion at Wikimedia Commons for the following reason: Copyright violations What should I do? Don't panic; deletions can take a little longer at Commons than they do on Wikipedia. This gives you an opportunity to contest the deletion (although please review Commons guidelines before doing so). The best way to contest this form of deletion is by posting on the image talk page. If the image is non-free then you may need to upload it to Wikipedia (Commons does not allow fair use) If the image isn't freely licensed and there is no fair use rationale then it cannot be uploaded or used. If the image has already been deleted you may want to try Commons Undeletion Request To take part in any discussion, or to review a more detailed deletion rationale please visit the relevant image page (File:Sayed ali alsistany.jpg) This is Bot placed notification, another user has nominated/tagged the image --CommonsNotificationBot (talk) 11:12, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

masturbation

On Sistani's website it does not say : "Not if you masturbate using your own hand.."

Rather it (the question and answer) says:

Question: f my wife wants me to masturbate in front of her, is it then allowed? Answer : You masturbate using your own hand. If your wife helps you ejaculate, there would be no objection.

i.e. there is no "No if", it only says You masturbate using your own hand. Now what is interesting is that "You" is capitalized so if it was a smaller "you" one could speculate that he left out the "Not". Even if you assume the fact that masturbation is forbidden, i don't think it is proper to cite something that is NOT his DIRECT WORDS.

thoughts? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.84.68.252 (talk) 23:18, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

removing POV tag with no active discussion per Template:POV

I've removed an old neutrality tag from this page that appears to have no active discussion per the instructions at Template:POV:

This template is not meant to be a permanent resident on any article. Remove this template whenever:

1. There is consensus on the talkpage or the NPOV Noticeboard that the issue has been resolved
2. It is not clear what the neutrality issue is, and no satisfactory explanation has been given
3. In the absence of any discussion, or if the discussion has become dormant.

Since there's no evidence of ongoing discussion, I'm removing the tag for now. If discussion is continuing and I've failed to see it, however, please feel free to restore the template and continue to address the issues. Thanks to everybody working on this one! -- Khazar2 (talk) 03:53, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

Lead section

It would be great if someone who is more familiar with the topic could condense the most important information in the article into a better introduction. As it is now, you'd have to read the entire (rather long) article to grasp the most important things about him. /Julle (talk) 00:50, 4 January 2015 (UTC).

Deletion of following 09 sections/subsections under Revision as of 17:53, 11 November 2014 conducted by editor/user with address 79.141.160.64 :

Smoking, Music, Magic, Islam Orthodoxy, Gelatin, Dancing, Board games, Contraception and Clothing

was not contested, because the “Tauzeeh-ul-Masail” is a book written by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, almost all the Islamic rules are listed therein for guidance of his followers to improve the life style in routine and special circumstance. Translation of this book into many other languages is easily available. This deletion has now provided space for grooming and expansion of article. Before lovers & followers or history recorders contribute for this task comments and objection, thereof may be discussed on talk page.

Comments of User:Julle are therefore seconded for benefit of general people. Nannadeem (talk) 12:41, 4 January 2015 (UTC)

Name

Perhaps just Ali Sistani--88.111.129.157 (talk) 19:47, 17 May 2015 (UTC)