Under his religious leadership, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has been committed to moderation and has treated with tact and wisdom the situation in Iraq, which may ignite with each crisis, small or large. However, it gradually became apparent that Sistani’s behavior does not appeal to some Islamist currents, because he did not succumb to their political agenda.
Sistani has been heavily criticized by some Sunni and Shiite parties for not supporting resistance movements against the Americans when they were in Iraq and for not entering the sectarian conflict in favor of one side against another. But these criticisms were usually directed at him by Islamist parties or groups from outside the religious establishment. This time, however, the criticism is coming from within the religious establishment, and from those in the same Islamist trend.
