Militia Leader Al-Sadr Studying Up
Powerbroker Quietly Resumes Seminary Studies In Pursuit Of Revered "Ayatollah" Title
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The radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, gestures while delivering a Friday sermon in Iraq in this 2006 file photo. (AP Photo/Alaa Al-Marjani)
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Iraqi police inspect the scene of a suicide car bomb attack just outside the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohamed)
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The aides said al-Sadr was currently on a path to achieve ayatollah rank possibly by 2010 or earlier. His studies were under the supervision of senior clerics in the Shiite holy city of Najaf - where al-Sadr's Mahdi Army fought grinding urban battles with U.S. forces in 2004.
In 2000, al-Sadr enrolled in "outside research" - roughly the equivalent of a doctoral program. Afghan-born Grand Ayatollah Ahmed Issaq al-Fayadh, one of Najaf's four top clerics, supervised him when he joined, but al-Sadr's attendance has been spotty since 2003.
Successful candidates qualify for ayatollah upon completion of the rigorous Islamic studies. But it's also necessary to have a family pedigree in Islamic scholarship and a following among seminary students and laymen.
Al-Sadr should have no problem. His father, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr, is the namesake for the teeming Shiite district in Baghdad known as Sadr City - called Saddam City before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Saddam Hussein's agents killed al-Sadr's father and two brothers in 1999.
Significantly, the aides said, the main focus of al-Sadr's studies has been the Shiite doctrine known in Arabic as "wilayet al-faqeeh," which supports the right of clerical rule. The concept was adopted by Iran's Khomeini, but carries little support among Iraq's Shiite religious hierarchy.
Al-Sadr has not been seen in public since May but is believed to travel frequently between Iran and Najaf. His whereabouts are never revealed by his aides and he rarely gives media interviews.
Al-Sadr also is seeking to give the Mahdi Army a more religious bloodline, the aides said.
Some militiamen are taking seminary lessons for three hours a day, five days a week in private homes and out-of-the-way mosques to escape the detection of the U.S. military.
The aides said only those who pass seminary exams will remain in the militia, which has been splintered by defections from factions favoring closer ties with Iran and opposing an order in August to put down weapons for six months.
The move was seen as an attempt by al-Sadr to reclaim control of the militia and weed out mutineers. It has been credited for a noticeable reduction in violence, but appears to have emboldened the U.S. military to step up a crackdown against Mahdi leaders.
The cleric's absence from the public eye has raised some questions about his control of the movement, although his aides said he has been in regular contact with key lieutenants. His loyalists hold 30 of parliament's 275 seats, the largest share by a single party.
Al-Sadr pulled out his ministers from the Shiite-dominated government in April and later pulled out from the umbrella Shiite alliance in parliament.
Tensions in southern Iraq have risen sharply in recent weeks as the United States and Britain prepare to scale down their presence, leaving behind a potentially dangerous power vacuum.
Next week, Britain plans to hand over control of Basra province, the most important in the south. The Pentagon has diverted much of its attention to battles in central and northern Iraq against Sunni extremists, including al Qaeda in Iraq.
In his latest statement, however, al-Sadr counseled his followers to be patient in the face of "predicament" and commended them on their adherence to his order to stand down. But the aides said al-Sadr's own patience may be running thin and a showdown with the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council may be imminent.
"If this continues for much longer, the Sadrist movement will strike back," warned one of the aides. "This could have grave consequences for everyone."
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 51 CommentsI have not problems with atheist. It is a personal choice, but when you make fun of someone for their religious beliefs - you have definitly stepped over the line on the intent of our constitution.
Really representative of the US public isn''t he.
Posted by FeelFree1 FEELFREE1 IS A COWARD,A FRAUD, AND A PHONY!!!
Posted by FeelFree1
No one is asking for you to prove anything make believe. All that is being asked is you prove your point with even one simple fact. Until then you have nothing to offer but unsubstantiated barbarous opinions.
Another eye-ya-tolla !
Does anyone think this guy belongs to us ?
I think we just invested a bundle in a repeat of "our shah in iran" - the neocons will never learn.
Posted by MCVet at 06:01 PM : Dec 14, 2007
I won''t call you names. Instead I will say open ''your'' eyes and look. Saddam controlled by fear, Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, controlled by fear, Al Sadr controls by fear, Syria controls by fear, Iran is controlled by fear. Democracy cannot work in a country which is run by religion first and Government second,
yongamerica,
Shall I check back in an hour to see if you have anything to add to your faith-based idiocy?
Correction:
"I can''t "prove" to you that there is no Santa Clause or Easter Bunny. Does that mean that these entities must exist, by your foolish faith-based reasoning?"
Did your parents ever have any children that lived?
yongamerica,
Re: "Yes, this very article I quoted from."
You appear to be compounding your stupidity here.
Let me review for you, as your retention abilities appear to be as faulty as your reasoning:
Re: "Comparisons are often drawn between al-Sadr''s strategy - a mix of militia strength, well-tuned street politics and social outreach - and the hallmarks of Hezbollah,"
This is exactly what I am talking about. Whenever some anonymous author offers unsubstantiated "comparisons" and identifies alleged "hallmarks" of anything that supports the failing fascistic drive, the Bush regime boot/arse-lickers gobble it up and cite it as fact.
This is yet another symptom of your advanced faith-based brain disease.
Is Hezbullah in Iraq? No they are not.
Is Hamas in Iraq? No they are not.
But what differnece does it make? As long as these implications support your dead-brained, dead-ender ideals, you will eagerly gobble them up, and regurgitate them ad-nauseum.
Again, can you cite a single verified report that supports this B.S.?
Are these "common facts" anything more than symptoms of your own ignorance and gullibility? It sure does not look that way.
I can "prove" to you that there is no Santa Clause or Easter Bunny. Does that mean that these entities must exist, by your faith-based reasoning?
But you who claim to be so right, prove me wrong. I dare.
yongamerica,
Re: "Can you prove me otherwise?
Didn''t think so. Proof is a 2 way street."
The complete lack of substantiation is evidence of the weakness and nonsensical nature of these claims, as has been underlined by your inability to cite even a single substantiated report.
The burden of proving dead-brained unsubstantiated hype, is on the dead-brain that makes the empty assertions (psst- that''s you).
Again, can you cite a single verified report that supports this B.S.? Even one?
Didn''t think so. Proof is a 2 way street.
yongamerica,
Re: "Facts are hard for you to swallow."
Hype and empty blather seem to be very easy for you to injest, on the other hand, as you have demonstrated here.
Facts are points that you can support. Dead-brained blather, is what you have mistakenly presented here as fact.
Again, can you cite a single verified report that supports this B.S.?
Re: "Making me laugh, I''m not Muslim"
I had already assumed that you were a Christofascist, a Zionist, or the victim of some similarly damgerous and debilitating brain disease.
Making me laugh, I''m not Muslim
do your own homework, the facts will set you free
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