I'm a Shi'ite Muslim from Pakistan. Just to add to your article, many Shi'ite in Pakistan are followers of Ayatollah Sistani. We have a rigid religious hierarchy and the Grand Ayatollahs are at the top. Their verdicts, as you said, are binding for all their followers. Ayatollah Sistani usually refrains from intervening in politics and issuing statements to his followers which involve political or military compulsions. But if he ever decides to call upon his followers outside Iraq for military action (Jihad), the Shi'ite militias will pour in from all around the Arab world and Pakistan and the ISIS will be dwarfed in front of them. But of course he is not going to do that. Not only does he discourages interference of foreign elements in Iraq (including Iranians), he also wouldn't want to spill blood to save the Shrines.
I'm a Shi'ite Muslim from Pakistan. Just to add to your article, many Shi'ite in Pakistan are followers of Ayatollah Sistani. We have a rigid religious hierarchy and the Grand Ayatollahs are at the top. Their verdicts, as you said, are binding for all their followers. Ayatollah Sistani usually refrains from intervening in politics and issuing statements to his followers which involve political or military compulsions. But if he ever decides to call upon his followers outside Iraq for military action (Jihad), the Shi'ite militias will pour in from all around the Arab world and Pakistan and the ISIS will be dwarfed in front of them. But of course he is not going to do that. Not only does he discourages interference of foreign elements in Iraq (including Iranians), he also wouldn't want to spill blood to save the Shrines.