TEXT: """In this Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020, Shiite seminary students attend a lecture at """"Hawza"""" seminary, in the holy shrine of Imam Ali, the son-in-law, and cousin of the Prophet Muhammad and the first Imam of the Shiites, in Najaf, Iraq. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's top Shiite cleric, turns 90 this year, and when he recently had surgery it sent chills around the country and beyond. What happens when al-Sistani is gone? Iran is likely to try to exploit the void to gain followers among Iraq's Shiites. Standing in its way is the Hawza, the centuries-old institution of religious learning which al-Sistani heads and which follows its own tradition-bound rules. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)"""