Iraq’s Muqtada Sadr studying to issue fatwas

Al-Arabia reports: Iraqi Shiite cleric and head of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada Al-Sadr, is doing intensive study to earn the title of ‘marjea’ (‘expert’ or ‘authority’), which will entitle him to issue fatwas (religious edicts) for his followers, in accordance with Shiite traditions. Al-Sadr is studying at the Al-Hawzah religious institution in Najaf, his official spokesman Sheikh Salah Al-Obeidi said in a press statement carried by Quds Press on Saturday.