88 Al Hawza of Najaf in Iraq leaders taking on the responsibility to produce peace and security, and to defend human dignity and peoples’ rights to live freely in accordance with their own choices rather than the choices of the superpowers. 52 THE PROSPECTS FOR THE RHETORIC AND LEGACY OF THE MARJI‘ TO CARRY ON OR DWINDLE AFTER AL-SISTANI’S PASSING (VISIONS OF THE FUTURE) The Najaf marja‘iyya has not suffered a disruption in its scholarly roles at any point in its long history. The accumulation of knowledge, experience, and the pressure of circumstances dictated that its senior scholars must adapt to new developments and respond to the need to modernize, albeit to a limited degree along an extremely slow path. The religious actor has nevertheless had an up­and-down role in public affairs, which is a political matter linked to issues of society and the state. The moment that al-Sistani became marji‘ and began to interact with the variables of the Iraqi situation was a major shift in the behavior of the Najaf marja‘iyya. Part of this was attributable to his particular talents and capabilities, which were previously unknown. 53 The other part was linked to the political jurisprudence that he had produced in his years interacting with Iraq’s challenges and the political variables that had buffeted the region and the world. Al-Sistani’s passing will be a watershed moment at which the history of the marja‘iyya will be divided into two phases, pre-Sistani and post-Sistani. The reverberations of his positions occupy an important space in intellectual activity and political controversy. He initiated an orientation in which the marji‘ deals with the issues of his time. Al-Sistani was not without his rivals, opponents, or critics, but his great influence caused rivals to fear that his moderate approach would become a norm for the role the supreme marji‘ should play. The scenarios for al-Sistani’s successor do not give reason to believe that his approach to political jurisprudence and his influential position will be sustained. 54 52  Statement from al-Sistani’s office after his meeting with Pope Francis on 6 September 2021 (from the official website of Sayyid al-Sistani’s office). 53  Al-Sistani follows political events, philosophies, theories, and writings, and he reads newspapers to give him a full briefing on topics: Mohammed Jamil Odeh, op. cit., p. 15. 54  Mohammed al-Sayyid al-Sayyad,“Al-Marja’īyya al-‘Ulyā ma ba‘d al-Sīstānī wa Mustaqbal al­Hawza”(“The Supreme Marja‘iyya After al-Sistani and the Future of the Hawza”), Rasanah Institute for Iranian Studies, 2020.