ʿAbd al-Aʿlā al-Mūsawī al-Sabzevārī

ʿAbd al-Aʿlā al-Mūsawī al-Sabzevārī (born December 21, 1910, Sabzevār, Iran—died August 16, 1993, Al-Najaf, Iraq) was an Iranian-born cleric who, from 1992 to 1993, was the grand ayatollah in the Islamic holy city of Al-Najaf and, thus, spiritual leader to millions of Iraqi Shīʿites.

After finishing his basic education in Iran, Sabzevārī moved to Al-Najaf to pursue advanced studies in philosophy and religious law, studying under the prominent mujtahid Muḥammad Ḥusayn Nāʾīnī. A pious, scholarly man, Sabzevārī wrote extensively, including 11 volumes of commentary on the Qurʾān and more than 30 works on Islamic jurisprudence. Until 1991 Sabzevārī lived quietly, teaching, writing, and directing charitable works. He was reportedly involved in the unsuccessful March 1991 Shīʿite uprising against the regime of Ṣaddām Ḥussein following Iraq’s defeat in the Persian Gulf War (1990–91). When the incumbent grand ayatollah Abolqasem al-Khoei died in August 1992, Baghdad sought to promote its own candidate to fill the void and to prevent Sabzevārī from being recognized as Khoei’s successor. Iraqi Shīʿites, however, refused to accept the government’s candidate, and following Sabzevārī’s death in 1993, the government prohibited any ceremonies commemorating his passing.