libraries, bookstores, and collections of rare manuscripts on Shiite law and theol‌ogy. Before the political turmoil in Iraq and the troubled relationship between Iran and Iraq in the aftermath of the Iranian revolution and the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Najafs religious colleges had some 10,000 students3 from all over the world, who were engaged in receiving the best instruction in highly developed juridical and re‌ lated Islamic subjects under some of the most prominent Shiite savants.
In his emigration to Najaf, al-Khui was following a long-standing tradition among the Shiite scholars of Iran of acquiring advanced learning in Islamic jurisprudence in order to research, teach, and protect the religious law through their exegetical power.4
After a number of years of apprenticeship under his father, he completed the first two levels of his juridical st11dies. From 1918 on, he attended advanced lectures in method‌ ology by the leading mujtahids, the famous ayatollahs Shaykh al-Sharia, Mahdi al‌ Mazandarani, Mul_lammad I:Iusyan al-Gharawi, l;>iya al-Din al-Iraqi, and Mul_larnmad ijusayn al-Naini. In these sessions he also presented technical lectures on deductive jurisprudence in the presence of his teachers, thereby acquiring the prestigious creden‌ tial of ijtihad that enabled him to formulate independent legal opinions through rational interpretations of the sources of Islamic law in all areas of Islamic legal application.
In the Shate tradition of religious learning, the written authorization (ijaza) that the senior members of the religious establishment granted for teaching and formulat‌ ing independent opinions as an expert exegete of the juridical corpus brought with it social empowerment.5 Any high-ranking mujtahid who had attained scholarly pres‌ tige, in addition to a standing in personal piety by virtue of sound faith and character, and an acquaintance with the circumstances of the age, was regarded as possessing the required qualifications to guide the community in spiritual and mundane affairs. More‌ over, such amujtahid was entrusted with administering all the religiously imposed taxes used in creating and maintaining piously founded institutions like mosques, seminar‌ ies, and hospices. Such religious prestige and financial independence were among the major factors that led the religious institution, under a prominentmujtahid, also known as ayatollah (literally, "miraculous sign of God," because of his learning and piety) in Shiism, to assert its autonomy without needing any government to legitimize its su‌ pervisory role. An ayatollah could, and does, attract a large number of young mullas to join his "study circle" (/Jawza ilmiyya). Upon their graduation, they become his repre‌ sentatives to the communities to which they are sent as spiritual guides. His religious‌ moral-legal rulings are available in book form, in a "Practical Guide," known as taw4f/J al-masa il (Clarification of Rulings) for quick reference. When the Shiites acknowl‌ edge an ayatollah as their leading scholar, the latters rulings in any matter become binding on them. Moreover, the wealthy in the community send their religious offer‌ ings to him. This social empowerment has made some of the leading members of this class the focal point of popular movements to redress political and economic injustices prevailing in nations with a large Shiite population, like Iran, Iraq and Lebanon.6


The Shiite Leadership under al-Khui

The Sunni Muslims have very little sense of loyalty to their government-appointed religious leaders. By contrast, the distinctive Shiite conception of autonomous reli-