Ayatollah Sadr

I would guess that with Sadr's obvious political motivations in this, the bestowal of an Ayatollah title would rank slightly above Elvis Presley's blackbelt, but within the movement, having an Ayatollah Sadr would offer alot of justification.

The leader of Iraq's biggest Shiite militia movement has quietly resumed seminary studies toward attaining the title of ayatollah — a goal that could make firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army an even more formidable power broker in Iraq.

This would give Sadr a platform to challenge Sistani and the SIIC.