Iraq declares three days of mourning for senior Najaf cleric Mohammad al-Fayadh

NAJAF — Ayatollah Mohammad Ishaq al-Fayadh, one of the most senior Shiite religious authorities in Najaf, died Thursday, prompting three days of national mourning declared by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and an outpouring of condolences from Iraqi political and religious figures.

Al-Fayadh’s office said he had devoted his life to teaching Islamic sciences, educating religious scholars and promoting jurisprudence, describing his death as a loss for the religious seminaries and the wider community of believers.

Al-Zaidi described al-Fayadh as a prominent jurist and teacher who contributed to the standing of the Najaf seminary. “We extend our condolences to the supreme religious authority, the Iraqi people and Muslims around the world,” he said.

President Nizar Amedi said al-Fayadh had dedicated his life to serving religion and society and had worked to “promote tolerance and national unity,” with the presidency describing him as a leading religious and scholarly figure in the Najaf seminary.

Sadrist Movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr mourned al-Fayadh as “our teacher,” saying the cleric’s death extinguished “a light of Najaf and its seminary.” He extended condolences to al-Fayadh’s family, followers and Shiite communities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Al-Fayadh was born in 1930 in Afghanistan and moved with his family to Najaf at a young age, where he studied at the city’s Hawza seminary and rose to become one of the most senior Shiite authorities in the city, known for his focus on scholarship and teaching.