Muqtada al-Sadr, the 31-year-old son of the revered Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq Sadr who was murdered in 1999, told thousands of faithful that the âbanning of alcohol and the wearing of the veil should be spread to all, not only Muslims.
| He's 31 now? Last week he was 22... |
âAlcohol and the display of a womanâs body are forbidden for us Muslims, as they are for Christians, upon whom I call to give up these banned things,â he said. âI call upon Christians not to be the corrupt of the world.â
| That's news to me, Bub. Probably to most Christians, too. Does that mean only agnostics and atheists can get drunk and run around naked? |
There are about 500,000 Christians in Iraq, a country of 25 million, and the community enjoyed relative freedom under the secular regime, which banned religious displays. Sadr, who unlike his father does not have religious authority to interpret the holy texts, called for liquor shops to be closed down through nonviolent means. He defended the general principle of vilaya, by which ignorant clergymen are involved in public affairs. The school of thought is opposed by other leading Shiite luminaries of Najaf such as Ali Sistani, who believes in minimal political involvement by clerics. Muqtada Sadr, meeting later Friday with reporters at his house in Najaf, spoke cautiously about the US presence, calling it best not to fight US troops, âbecause of the balance of forcesâ in their favor.
| The more I read about this beauzeau, the less I like him... |
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