Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani Fast Facts | CNN.com – RSS Channel – Regions – Middle East By Survivability News Editor On Aug 13, 2020 - 07:02 182 Read CNN’s Fast Facts about the life of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most influential Shiite cleric. Read CNN’s Fast Facts about the life of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most influential Shiite cleric.