Najaf's sphere of influence could growBy HANNAH ALLAMKnight Ridder Newspapers
NAJAF, Iraq — After years of praying for mercy and receiving little, Najaf's leaders say their day of deliverance is finally near: Jan. 30, to be precise.
Najaf is the spiritual center for Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority. On election day, clerics and residents pray, Najaf's religious importance will turn into political power.
Barring a delay in the vote, conservative Shiites stand to sweep the parliamentary elections, opening an era of unprecedented influence for Najaf, whose people suffered for decades under the dictatorial rule of Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority.
In what may be the ultimate unintended consequence of America's invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, Iraq's new seat of power would be this sacred southern city on the Euphrates River, 100 miles and a world away from cosmopolitan Baghdad.
Najaf is home to the gold-domed Imam Ali shrine, the tomb of the most revered Shiite saint. The city's black-turbaned clerics guide the lives of millions. Residents whisper that the city's vast graveyard contains a piece of heaven.
Key policies for the nation's future — from security to a new constitution to the withdrawal of American forces — may be decided in the austere homes of Najaf's four highest-ranking ayatollahs, the top spiritual leaders. Only then would the laws make their way to the modern halls of a national assembly to the north.
“There will be monitoring of what the government is doing,” said Mohammed Hussein al-Hakim, who speaks for his father, Mohammed Sayeed al-Hakim, one of the top four ayatollahs.
“We don't have it in our heads to be the only source of political influence on the new government, but, yes, the religious authorities know the weight we carry in society. There will be counseling and directing from Najaf.”
The extent of Najaf's power will become clear after the election, but major changes could be in store as the government shifts from the secular tyranny of Hussein, a Sunni Muslim, to one led by religious Shiites who may consider an ayatollah's word infallible.
Hassan Latif Kadhim, a history professor at the main university in Kufa, six miles from Najaf, spelled out the potential consequences in an article in an Iraqi academic journal. They included rolling back women's rights and making Islamic law the main source for a new constitution.
Already in Najaf, alcohol sales are banned, and women never appear in public with uncovered hair. Iraqis would resist these changes in Baghdad and northern Kurdish areas, where upscale restaurants have wine lists and boutique windows display miniskirts and thigh-high boots imported from Turkey.
Iraq's Najaf-based Shiite clergy have already blessed candidates, offered campaign advice and staunchly opposed a delay of the vote. Administrators at the city's historic seminaries have suspended classes and ordered students home to help educate voters.
For good measure, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, the most venerated of all the ayatollahs, issued an edict that made voting a religious duty. Lesser clerics, including at least two of Sistani's representatives, reportedly are on the ballot.
Although he hasn't publicly endorsed any ticket, Sistani's face appears on campaign literature for the United Iraqi Alliance, a collection of Iraq's top Shiite factions, a few token Sunnis and other minorities. The alliance was formed at Sistani's request, and on the street, people assume that he backs it.
Ahmed Mukhtar of Knight Ridder Newspapers contributed to this report.
Reach Hannah Allam at
hallam@krwashington.com.