Should We Be Surprised? (Daniel 8:3)

Muqtada al-Sadr

After the fall of Saddam, Muqtada al-Sadr, a charismatic Iraqi cleric who comes from a powerful clerical dynasty, emerged as one of the country’s most talked-about Shi’a leaders. Al-Sadr is the son of Grand Ayatollah Muhammad al-Sadr, who was killed in 1999 by agents presumed to be working for Saddam Hussein, thus becoming one of the major symbols of Shi’a resistance to the former regime. Al-Sadr — who was believed to be around 30 years old [though some sources claim he is in his early 20s] — lived in the holy Shi’a city of Al-Najaf. The controversy regarding his age was most likely started by opponents of al-Sadr trying to undermine his legitimacy. Al-Sadr was one of the most vocal critics of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. The leader of the Sadriyun Movement [Sadriun Movement], he insisted US troops should leave the country immediately and that Iraqis be given an opportunity to create an Islamic state if they choose.

On 18 July 2003 al-Sadr used a Friday sermon in Al-Najaf to denounce as “puppets” the members of Iraq’s new U.S.-appointed Governing Council. He also announced his own plans to form a militia. Al-Sadr announced his new government during his sermon at Friday prayers in Al-Kufah on 10 October 2003. Muqtada al-Sadr announced his intention to form an Islamic state in Iraq by establishing a shadow government there, complete with ministries. Fighting broke out in Karbala on 13 October 2003 when al-Sadr’s men attacked supporters of moderate Shi’ite Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani near the Imam Hussein shrine.

The cleric challenged coalition forces after they closed his “Al-Hawzah” newspaper on charges of incitement and arrested an al-Sadr aide on charges relating to the al-Khoi killing. The situation escalated when it was revealed that an Iraqi judge had also issued a warrant for al-Sadr’s arrest in al-Khoi’s assassination outside the Imam Ali Mosque in Al-Najaf. 

Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) spokesman Dan Senor publicly revealed 05 April 2004 that an Iraqi judge has issued an arrest warrant for Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in connection with the 10 April 2003 murder of Shi’ite Grand Ayatollah Abd al-Majid al-Khoi at a mosque in Najaf. Senor also announced that Iraqi police had arrested Mustafa al-Yacoubi in connection with the same murder of Ayatollah Abdul Majid al-Khoei and one of his aides.

Qom-based Iraqi-born cleric Kazim al-Husseini al-Haeri with the administration of eastern Baghdad, according to “The New York Times” on 26 April. Al-Haeri reportedly issued a religious edict in early April that was distributed among Shia clerics in Iraq that calls on them “to seize the first possible opportunity to fill the power vacuum in the administration of Iraqi cities.” “We hereby inform you that Mr. Muqtada al-Sadr is our deputy and representative in all fatwa affairs,” Haeri’s decree adds. “His position is my position.” Thousands of people chanted their support for Muqtada al-Sadr as they went to hear him at the Friday prayers at a Najaf mosque.

Al-Haeri once had a close relationship with the Shia Al-Da’wah al-Islamiyah party, but split with the group because al-Haeri was excessively pro-Iranian and called for the party to respect the guidance of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Beirut’s “Al-Mustaqbal” reported on 24 April. Al-Haeri is an advocate of Vilayat-i Faqih (Guardianship of the Supreme Jurisconsult), on which Iran’s theocracy is based. Al-Haeri’s involvement in Iraqi politics could have a profound impact. He is the point at which the Sadriyun (as supporters of al-Sadr are known), SCIRI, and Da’wah converge. 

Since then, the 68-year-old al-Haeri renounced his relationship with al-Sadr. “Mr. al-Sadr used to be our representative…but that was on condition of obedience to and coordination with our office in Al-Najaf,” al-Haeri said in comments posted on his website, AP reported on 5 September. Al-Sadr “does not coordinate with our office, so his agency became void,” according to the website, which added that al-Sadr “does not seek our advice in his stances, so we cannot endorse what he does.” According to a 5 September report in “The New York Times,” al-Haeri withdrew his support for al-Sadr after Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani informed senior clerics in Qom that the Imam al-Mahdi Army caused some of the battle damage at the Imam Ali shrine in Al-Najaf.

By early 2004 Sadr’s followers had elevated him to the rank of hujjat al-Islam (a “Sign of Islam,” or a “Proof of Islam,” the third rank from the top in the Shi’i clerical hierarchy). He wrapped himself in a white funeral shroud, showing he is ready for death.

Thousands of Iraqis in Baghdad and the Shi’ite-populated cities of Al-Kut, Karbala, and Al-Najaf took to the streets in support of al-Sadr, while the cleric’s outlawed Imam Al-Mahdi Army established control over government buildings and police stations in a direct challenge to coalition authority. 

Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani praised al-Sadr’s actions as “heroic” during his Friday prayer sermon in Tehran on 9 April. “Contrary to these terrorist groups in Iraq, there are powerful bodies which contribute to the security of that nation…among them is the Mahdi Army, made up of enthusiastic, heroic young people,” Reuters quoted Rafsanjani as saying. However, Iranian Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri criticized the Al-Mahdi Army in comments faxed to Reuters, saying: “Imam Mahdi would never be content to initiate disunity, division, and factionalism in his name.” 

Muqtada al-Sadr has resided in Iran since 2007, where he was said to be working on his religious studies, with the reported intention of acquiring the status of Ayatollah. Sadr was frequently rumored to be returning to Iraq; as with the Hidden Imam, past reports of his imminent return have not come to pass. Sadr is often referred to as paranoid and distrustful, even of those in his inner circle, and has a known tendency to replace those he thinks have become too powerful and thereby pose a threat to his authority. Sadr maintains close financial and political ties to Iran.