Introduction

This introduction establishes the conceptual and analytical framework for examining the evolving relationship between Shiʿi clerical authority (Marjiʿyya) and the modern Iraqi state. It presents Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani as part of an institutional tradition redefined by Iraq’s post-2003 transformations, highlighting pivotal moments of political influence such as the 2014 fatwa against the Islamic State. Framing the book’s central concept of a “neo-traditional Marjiʿyya,” it shows how clerical authority blends religious legitimacy with engagement in a post-secular state. Drawing on Weberian and neo-Weberian approaches, historical institutionalism, and Bourdieu’s sociology of fields, it situates the study within and against existing scholarship.