Ayatollah Mehdi, Senior Najaf Scholar, Dies at 95

NAJAF, Iraq — Ayatollah Mehdi, a senior religious authority in Najaf, died Tuesday in Baghdad at the age of 95, according to the city's religious council. Born in 1930 in Afghan, he moved to Najaf as a young man to study Islamic sciences and became one of the most prominent students of the late Ayatollah Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei. He rose to become one of the most widely consulted jurisprudential authorities for Muslims worldwide. His death leaves Ayatollah Sistani and Ayatollah Mehdi al-Najafi as the only two senior religious scholars remaining in Najaf. The city had four senior religious authorities, known as the \"pillars\" of the Najaf Religious Authority. His office said Mehdi devoted his life to serving Islam, pursuing religious scholarship and training young scholars.