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Holy Row
By: Kathleen McCaul
Published date: 4/8/2003
NAJAF –– It is Friday at Al-Kufa mosque. Parked buses, cars and space wagons line the approaching roads for about a mile. Those who were too late to get inside kneel on prayer mats in the middle of the road. Despite the baking midday sun, they listen, mesmerized, as the speech of Muqtada Al-Sadr, the fiery young Shia leader, comes crackling over the loudspeakers.
He speaks of the Islamic army he has called for in the name of Al-Hawza, the Shia center of religious learning in Najaf. He rejects the US government's accusation that it is a terrorist organization. He condemns the raid on Al-Hawza the day before and claims the army is needed for the protection of the Islamic people.
Said Flayah, 24, traveled two and a half hours from Baghdad to be here. He is a fierce supporter of Muqtada's army and angry about the raid.
“I have come for Friday prayer, even in this hot weather, to prove to the US that I support Al-Hawza and will never let anyone be our leader except Al-Hawza. I will be the first volunteer for the army. It will contain women and children also,” he said.
Many of Muqtada’s supporters come from Al-Thawra, the poorest district of Baghdad. Abdul Waheed Al-Sabaree, 29, an orator and Al-Hawza student, believes the army is popular because the poor are not represented in the governing council and it gives them a voice.
“The count was 1.2 million at the last stats. All the volunteers of this army are decent people, not collected off the streets. There are no intruders because each man must have a recommendation from his Imam,” he said.
Thamer Raheem, 19, is a waiter in Baghdad.
“Some friends of mine joined, they told me about it. I met some guys at the mosque, gave them my name and they said that Al-Hawza will update us,” he said.
Raheem’s belief in Islam and the army’s role in protecting his beliefs is stronger then it would first appear.
“I am an orphan and have been working since I was four years old –– Islam is just like my inheritance. This army is for our sake and the sake of Islam,” he said.
Al-Sadr has an ability to stir these strong emotions from his followers. After he finishes speaking, the crowd, mainly young men, immediately jump up and start racing through the streets. They carry flags with slogans such as “We will support you Muqtada” and posters of their leader. They seem whipped up, like at the end of a concert or football match. A continuous convoy of buses and cars then beat it back to Baghdad, flags streaming behind and the posters fixed to the windows.
Muqtada’s might
Though his followers claim he is about 30, Muqtada’s age changes with the amount of respect he commands. Al-Sabaree claims he is 34. Kassim Al-Sahlani, a spokesperson for Al-Daawa, claims he is thirty. When questioned about this he reduces his age to somewhere in the mid-20s. The men sitting in Sheikh Badr mosque thought he was only twenty.
But Muqtada has been named as the representative of Ayatollah Al-Asead Al-Haari. Al-Haari, still in exile in Iran, is a former student of Al-Sadr’s father, Mohammad Sadiq Al-Sadr. Al-Haari could, if he so wished, call for jihad in Iraq through Muqtada. This is disturbing because according to one source, Al-Haari has begun to believe in Welayat Al-Fakir, the idea of a state ruled by Islamic law similar to Iran. This corresponds to Muqtada’s call on July 24 for a constitution based on the Quran.
Al-Sabaree will not comment on the possibility of a jihad.
“I don’t think that will happen, but we cannot reject it if it does come,” Raheem said.
Raheem and Sabaree both said they are willing to cooperate with coalition forces.
“We are waiting for them to fix the security situation, after that we will ask them to leave. Only when they violate our beliefs will we start an armed struggle against them,” said Al-Sabaree.
Muqtada claims his army is untrained and unarmed, simply a display of power. But members of the army laugh when questioned about their training. All Iraqis have had military training and most have guns.
Military tensions
The army has caused divisions between the Shia leaders and groups. Inad Abdulla is a regular at Al-Thawra’s Sheikh Badr mosque.
“Muqtada’s followers are fundamental guys, everything is exaggerated by them –– we have to be united and at the moment it is not of benefit to resist the Americans,” Abdullah said. “We are still waiting and we have to wait for the finishing of the governing council,” he said, sitting in the courtyard of the mosque.
The Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and Al-Daawa are Shia groups who now sit on the governing council. Both parties have a history of military resistance.
SCIRI’s Badr troops had secret cells all over Iraq before the fall of the ex-regime. Al-Daawa’s military wing, Sahid Al-Sadr (named for Muqtada’s grandfather) staged what is known as the first suicide bomb attack on the Iraqi embassy in Beirut in December 1981. Attacks against both groups continued until the fall of the ex-regime. Many everyday citizens were executed simply for being members of Al-Daawa.
Despite this background, neither party supports Muqtada’s army.
“It is the job of the government to form the army,” said Kassim Al-Shahlani, a spokesperson for Al-Daawa.
Al-Sabaree disagrees.
“That army will serve under the ex-regime just as the previous army was working for Saddam, this army will be working without wages to serve religion,” he said.
An agent for Mohammad Sadiq Al-Sadr said that he had no relations with any political parties.
The tip of the iceberg
The division that has been caused by Muqtada’s army is indicative of the different approaches to politics within the Shia. Sheikh Hammam Hamoudi is political advisor to the head of the SCIRI. He draws attention to the lack of communication within Al-Hawza in his criticism of Muqtada’s speech.
“I heard about this army at Friday prayers but I don’t know anything about its nature or mechanism –– I think such an invitation should be discussed with all members and references,” he said. He wasn’t sure who had decided to let Muqtada speak at Friday prayers.
Hamoudi actually has remarkably similar aims to Muqtada. He believes that SCIRI’s role on the governing council is to enable the Iraqi people to rule themselves and block any reason to let the Americans stay.
But Sheikh Hassan Al-Zarghani, 33, media officer of Al-Hawza, still rejects SCIRI as “agents of the USA.”
“The governing council which has been formed lately by Bremer is completely rejected by Al-Hawza. If I’m thirsty you should not bring me diseased water –– I’d prefer to go thirsty. We have a complete and absolute boycott –– and we transfer this attitude to a lot of people,” he said.
All those sitting in the courtyard of Al-Badr mosque were sure this was wrong.
“The press officer should not express his personal attitude in the name of Al-Hawza. SCIRI is a famous front –– we respect them a lot. They have been a major support for Al-Hawza,” said Atabi.
A family legacy
The root of this split in the Iraqi Shia can be traced to 1999, when Muqtada’s father, Mohammad Sadiq Al-Sadr was assassinated with two of his sons. Sadiq Al-Sadr was spiritual leader of the Iraqi Shia. He was an outspoken critic of the ex-regime and favored a plan to establish an Islamic state not only in Iraq but throughout the Islamic world.
Al-Sadr was succeeded by Grand Ayatollah Sistani, now 72. Sistani is more moderate and has tried to keep religion and politics separate. He does not favor the creation of an Islamic state.
“Sistani is much loved - he has the medium way between. Within the recent situation, he said ‘Don’t help the ex-regime or the USA, just stay in your houses,’” Atabi said.
Sadiq Al-Sadr achieved legendary status after his death and some Shia continued to follow the philosophy of Al-Sadr instead of their new leader, Sistani. Although Muqtada is not yet qualified as a religious leader he is a living figure in which the followers of Al-Sadr can invest their more extreme beliefs.
Raheem follows Al-Sadr because he thinks he is more highly educated and believes an Islamic state would be “a wonderful thing.”
Sabaree believes it is his religious duty to support an Islamic state, and consequently Muqtada’s army.
“We have a lesson from our prophet Mohammad because he made an army to serve his nation- we have a prophecy that all sectors will be under one leader and they will be united with the Twelfth Imam,” said Sabaree.
One agent of Muqtada said that the army’s main reason for existence was to prepare to welcome the Twelfth Imam when he comes to fight with Jesus Christ.
Hamoudi does not approve of this family legacy.
“We cannot imitate a dead reference. We don’t believe in inheriting positions of spiritual leadership,” he said.
Sistani’s seal of approval
Despite the vehemence of Muqtada’s followers, the vast majority of Iraqi Shia follow Sistani. It is not clear whether Sistani approves of Muqtada’s army or not.
Sabaree’s brother is an agent of Sistani and he is sure of Sistani’s support. Another agent of Muqtada, who did not wish to be named, claimed that Sistani was an agent for Israel. Jamil Ruthan, 33, is another regular of Sheikh Badr mosque. He puts Sistani’s silence down to his attempt to keep out of politics.
“It will create a problem if he says something positive or negative. Sistani keeps quiet all the time,” he said.
But Sistani has been forced into the debate. There have been numerous reports that Al-Sistani’s house was surrounded and threatened a few weeks ago, some say by followers of Muqtada. One agent of Al-Sadr said they had no dealings with Sistani whatsoever.
Since then Sistani has issued a fatwa stating:
“We want a constitution which keep our national identity which the Islamic True Religion and the noble worthies are one of their fundamental supports.”
The fatwa comes with approved statements in English and Arabic such as
“The occupation authorities do not possess any kind of jurisdiction to assign the members of constitution writing council.”
These are for followers of Sistani to graffiti upon the walls providing the neighborhood agrees. It seems that even for moderate Shia, politics and religion are inextricably linked.
Sheikh Abdul Hadi, orator of Ar-Rahman mosque explains.
“The ex-regime said all the time that religion is away from politics. They were completely mistaken. Our prophet Mohammad was the leader of the nation, politics were always part of the life of the whole Islamic community,” he said.
“They cannot be separated - the Islamic religion is complete way of life,” said Abdullah.
Sistani’s latest fatwahs against corned-beef and risqué satellite channels prove this.
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Published date: 4/8/2003
Author: Kathleen McCaul
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