"Jihad should be declared by the legally-appointed leader of the country. Otherwise, it is up to Allah to deal with the American occupiers," said Muqtada al-Sadr, a Hawza scholar and a son of Shiite religious leader Mohamed Sadeq Sadr who was assassinated in 1999.
| Kind of a stretch, calling a 22-year-old gang leader a scholar... |
Al-Sadr sent it clear that Hawza, the head of religious and political identity for millions of Iraq’s Shiite majority, would not join any government imposed by the U.S. forces in Iraq. "It is rather preferable to be called a terrorist than to collaborate with the Americans. We refuse their presence in our country," he said, urging Shiite parties to be act in unison and evade prospects for tension among them "which will only act in the interest of the West".
| "We could deal with Sammy's presense in our country, 'cuz we could understand him. His goals were different, but his methods were the same as ours. These infidels, though — ewww! Ucky!" |
The Hawza functions as a training ground for aspiring Shiite scholars and is home to the most respected Ayatollahs, who are seen as models for common folks. The ayatollahs can issue fatwas, or edicts, that dictate rules of behavior for Iraq's long-repressed sect that made up more than 60 percent of the country’s population. "We stay as neutral as to the U.S. presence here. We keep a watchful eye on the movement of occupation forces. If they come for reconstruction, we do not mind; if for occupation we will express condemnation," said Ali al-Rabei, a secretary of the Ayatollah Ishaq Fayad.
"U.S. forces should get out of our country immediately. We refuse their presence here," said Ali Nijm, son of Ayatollah Bashir al-Najafi.
| "What do we need them for, now that Sammy's gone? It's not like somebody just like him is waiting in the wings to take over..." |
The U.S. forces said they would stay in Iraq as long as it is necessary to stabilize situation in the war-torn country, amid fears Shiite ulema (scholars) might push for an Iranian-styled Islamic regime into the helm of Iraq. Washington has already rejected allowing a Shiite-led Islamic rule, similar to the system in neighboring Iran, to take root in Iraq. |