Mohammad Yaqoobi

Grand Ayatollah
Muhammad al-Yaqoobi
محمد اليعقوبي
Personal
Born (1960-09-09) September 9, 1960 (age 64)
ReligionUsuli Twelver Shi`a Islam
Senior posting
Based inNajaf, Iraq
Period in office2003–present
PredecessorMohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr
PostGrand Ayatollah
Websitewww.yaqoobi.com

Ayatollah Mohammad al-Yaqoobi (Arabic: محمد اليعقوبي; born 9 September 1960) is a prominent Iraqi Twelver Shi'a Marja'.[1][2] He is the second most widely followed Marja' in Iraq, the most widely followed being Ali al-Sistani.[3] As well as heading the Al-Sadr Religious University in Najaf, he established one of the largest women's Hawzas in Iraq, and oversees many charitable organisations within Iraq.[4][5] He is an active figure within Iraqi politics, and is considered by the Hawza to be the spiritual successor of Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr and the school of Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, with the former famously naming Yaqoobi his successor in an audio recording.[6]

  1. ^ "List of Maraji in Arabic". iraqshia.net. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012.
  2. ^ "سماحة المرجع اليعقوبي (دام ظله)". www.yaqoobi.com (in Persian). Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  3. ^ Fotini Christia, Elizabeth Dekeyser and Dean Knox, To Karbala: Surveying Religious Shia from Iran and Iraq, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2016)
  4. ^ "Najaf's return as a religious tourist destination". BBC. February 27, 2010.
  5. ^ "Asia Times Online :: Middle East News, Iraq, Iran current affairs". www.atimes.com. Archived from the original on May 27, 2007. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  6. ^ Mervin Sabrina, Les mondes chiites et l'Iran, Karthala (2007)