Mohammad Yaqoobi

Ayatollah Mohammad al-Yaqoobi (Arabic: محمد اليعقوبي; born 9 September 1960) is a prominent Iraqi Twelver Shi'a Marja'. He is the second most widely followed Marja' in Iraq, the most widely followed being Ali al-Sistani. As well as heading the Al-Sadr Religious University in Najaf, he established one of the largest women's Hawzas in Iraq, and oversees many charitable organisations within Iraq. He is an active figure within Iraqi politics, and is considered by the Hawza to be the spiritual successor of Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr and the school of Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, with the former famously naming Yaqoobi his successor in an audio recording.