Big Four (Najaf)

The Big Four refers to the four contemporary leading Grand Ayatollahs of Twelver Shia Islam based in the holy city of Najaf in Iraq.^[1][2][3]

Background

All Twelver Shia Muslims follow the Islamic rulings of a Grand Ayatollah. Under Saddam Hussein, the clerics were oppressed. At present, the most prominent among them is Ali al-Sistani; who also serves as the head of the Najaf Seminary.^[4]

List

Grand Ayatollah		Date of birth	Place of birth
(The names are arranged in alphabetical order)
	Ali al-Sistani	(1930-08-04) 4 August 1930 (age 95)	Mashhad, Iran
	Bashir al-Najafi	1942 (age 82–83)	Jalandhar, British India
	Muhammad al-Fayadh	1930 (age 94–95)	Ghazni, Afghanistan
	Muhammad Saeed al-Hakim	(1934–2021)	Najaf, Iraq