Wife of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani laid to rest in Najaf

NAJAF — The wife of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most senior Shiite cleric, was buried Monday morning in Najaf following her death a day earlier, according to the Alawi Shrine.

The funeral prayer was held at Sheikh al-Tusi Mosque, with condolences continuing at al-Khadra Mosque, where mourners gathered to pay their respects.

“With hearts faithful to God’s will and with great sorrow, the Alawi Shrine mourns the wife of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, who answered her Lord’s call on the night of the sixth of Rabi al-Thani, 1447 AH,” the shrine said in a statement.

Iraqi leaders offered their condolences following the announcement of her death.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani extended sympathies to the cleric and his family, saying he asked God to “grant al-Sistani and his sons Mohammed Ridha and Mohammed Baqir patience and solace, and to bestow mercy and forgiveness on the departed.”

President Abdul Latif Rashid also shared condolences, calling the loss one shared by “the Iraqi people and the Islamic nation.” He prayed that God “grant the late woman wide mercy and admit her to His paradise.”