Najaf (Iraq) - Since Sunni militants of the Islamic State group overran large parts of
Iraq, the country's most prominent Shiite (Shia) cleric has fundamentally
altered his spiritual role and has plunged straight into politics, weighing in
on government policy and the fight against the extremists.
The shift by the Iranian-born Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani
underlines the key role played by religion in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq and
takes the troubled country down a potentially dangerous path, given its deep
sectarian and ethnic tensions. His role falls well short of Iranian-style
theocracy, in which the top cleric has the final word on everything, but Iraq's
government clearly feels it must listen to him.
Al-Sistani saw it as a necessity to step in with his moral
authority given the failures of politicians and the collapse of the military
when the Islamic State group overran much of the north and west last summer, an
aide said.
``It is his legitimate right, but he did not seek to exercise
it. It was forced upon him,'' the aide in the holy city of Najaf, south of
Baghdad, told, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized
to talk to the media. ``People wait from one Friday to the next to hear what
Sayed al-Sistani has to say.''
In June 2014, al-Sistani pushed for the removal of then-Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki, seen even by many of his fellow Shiites as to blame
for the meltdown. Al-Maliki stepped down in August, replaced by Haidar
al-Abadi, another Shiite politician who promised a more inclusive
administration.
The 87-year-old cleric also swiftly called on all able-bodied
Iraqi men to join a jihad, or holy struggle, against the Islamic State group,
and hundreds of thousands _ overwhelmingly Shiites _ responded.
In the months since, the grand ayatollah has weighed in on
matters in unprecedented detail, often through sermons delivered by his
representative, Sheikh Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalaie, in the holy city of Karbala
south of Baghdad.
A Jan. 9 sermon by al-Karbalaie, for example, showcased the
lengths al-Sistani is willing to go in wielding his influence. The sermon
called on officials to quickly use natural gas resources to compensate for
revenues lost because of falling crude prices and to cut back on vacations to
boost productivity.
In recent weeks, al-Karbalaie's Friday sermons, drafted by
al-Sistani's office in Najaf a day in advance, have urged the government to
stop procrastinating and quickly approve the 2015 national budget, warned
against complacency after a string of victories against the militants, and
called for an end to the theft of state-owned lands and for the purging of
corruption.
Al-Sistani holds the title of ``al-marjaa al-akbar,'' or the
``greatest object of emulation,'' and is venerated as a voice of reason in Iraq
and among the more than 200 million Shiites worldwide.
He works in austere reclusion, almost never seen in public, from
his modest home in Najaf's old quarter, a maze of alleys lined by old homes,
religious seminaries that attract students from across the world and stores
that sell religious books and prayer rugs, jewelry, clothes, fruits and spices.
He does not subscribe to the religious principle on which the
Islamic republic in Iran is based, ``welayet al-faqeeh,'' or rule by the most
learned cleric.
Still, he has waded into politics several times since the fall
of Saddam nearly 12 years ago, using his standing to keep stability throughout
Iraq's shaky and often bloody shift to democratic rule, through religious
edicts or closed meetings with key political players at his home. He has had a
major political impact at times, but has never spoken out as persistently or in
such detail as he does now.
Al-Sistani is the most senior of four grand ayatollahs in Najaf,
and is accorded a deeper reverence than the other three.
Last year, one of the three _ Pakistani-born Grand Ayatollah
Bashir al-Najafi _ issued a thinly-veiled denunciation of al-Maliki, calling on
voters not to elect him. Al-Maliki's aides called it a violation of neutrality,
and al-Najafi's aides complained that authorities detained several of his
non-Iraqi students for visa violations in retaliation.
But there was no such reaction when al-Sistani in June called
for a ``change'' of prime ministers in an edict that sealed the fate of
al-Maliki.
``There should be no separation between religion and politics,''
said Hassan Salem, a lawmaker from the ``Faithful'' bloc, the political arm of
Asaib al-Haq, an Iranian-backed militia. ``We are in a dire need of even more
intervention by the Marjaiyah,'' he added, using the Arabic word for the
collective Shiite spiritual leadership.
Al-Sistani's interventions resonate with Iraq's Shiite majority
and even many Sunnis because of the government's perceived inefficiency and
corruption. His call for jihad, the first of its kind by a top Shiite cleric in
Iraq since 1920, is credited with denying the Islamic State the opportunity to
overrun Baghdad and Samarra, home to a major Shiite shrine.
But the flood of Shiite volunteers has also given the fight a
sharp sectarian slant, and there have been numerous reports of abuses
perpetrated by the militias against Sunni civilians. Al-Sistani has had to
issue a string of statements condemning the militias' excesses and prohibiting
the theft of property in Sunni areas.
The recent creation of a state agency in charge of the
volunteers _ the Popular Mobilization Authority _ has given Iranian-backed
militias a degree of official recognition as well as financial and other
support from the state.
