Ayatollah Sistani’s Office Urges No Memorial Services for Top Cleric’s Wife

IQNA – The office of Iraq’s top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said holding any memorial services for the cleric’s late wife outside of Najaf and in other Iraqi provinces is prohibited.

According to the official Iraqi news agency, the office issued a statement announcing that permission has not been issued to hold funeral and mourning ceremonies for Ayatollah Sistani’s late wife in Iraqi provinces other than Najaf.

“We hereby inform all our esteemed brothers that no permission has been issued in provinces to hold a mourning ceremony for the recently deceased lady (may God have mercy on her), the honorable wife of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani,” the office said in a statement.

The wife of Ayatollah Sistani passed away on Sunday evening after enduring a period of illness.

 Her funeral was held on Monday and her body was buried in the Sheikh Tusi Mosque.

Following her death, high-ranking political officials from Iraq and other countries, including Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and the Iranian president, parliament speaker, and seminary scholars issued separate statements expressing condolences to Ayatollah Sistani and his family over this loss.

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