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الحلقه الاولى من حوار ممتع حول الاوضاع مع شابات عراقيات جامعيات The first part of a very intersting debate with Iraqi young ladies from inside Iraq Wiil try to translate in parts, keep tunned

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/nationworld/...,0,284011.story New Battle in Najaf Over Soul of Shiism / Debate over political roles for religious leaders BY MOHAMAD BAZZI MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT May 8, 2003 NAJAF, IRAQ -- They come from windswept villages, walking for many miles to the big city. They wait for hours outside the home of Shia Islam's most revered cleric. Some have their questions written down on carefully folded pieces of paper. They crowd around the steel door, hoping for a glimpse inside. The men and women who flock to this narrow alleyway in Najaf are hoping to meet with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most senior cleric in Iraq and the Shia world. It is like asking for an audience with the pope. A trickle of people are allowed inside a bare waiting room, where they sit cross-legged on a carpeted floor. They will eventually be able to pose their questions to one of al-Sistani's disciples. Some want guidance about personal and religious problems. Others want the grand ayatollah to pray for the recovery of an ill child or relative. This scene is repeated at the homes of many of Najaf's senior clerics. According to Shia doctrine, believers are bound by the edicts of the clerics they choose to follow. In Najaf, which had been the intellectual and spiritual center of Shiism for more than 1,300 years, the answers carry more weight than anywhere else in the Shia world. During Saddam Hussein's rule, few people milled outside the homes of Shia clerics. They were too afraid of the regime's violent repression of Shia aspirations, and Najaf's standing was diminished because of Hussein's restrictions on the Shia clergy, many of whom were imprisoned or executed. Now, with the fall of the Baathist regime in Iraq, Najaf is poised to re-emerge as Shiism's most influential city. While the clerics and scholars of Najaf grapple with everyday concerns of the faithful, they also are debating some of Shiism's central tenets. And the most divisive argument is about the legitimacy of theocratic rule - governance by mullahs - as practiced in neighboring Iran. The dominant theological school in Najaf rejects the Iranian model. The Najaf clerics, including al-Sistani, say their role is to be spiritual leaders and not to participate directly in politics. The ruling clergy in Iran had dismissed al-Sistani's position during Hussein's rule, saying he was under Baathist pressure. But with Hussein gone, Najaf's reemergence could pose a serious threat to Iran's hard-line rulers, who have rested on the principle of rule by clergy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. "Politics involves getting ahead through tricks and deception; these are not the things that Shia clerics should be involved with," said Sayed Muhammad Sadiq al-Kharsan, 42, a leading Najaf theologian and a disciple of al-Sistani's. "Our goal is to get away from these worldly concerns and tend to the Iraqi people's spiritual welfare." At its heart, the argument is over competing visions of Shiism's essence. Should the faith be defined by a diverse group of scholars living at seminaries and engaging in esoteric theological debates? Or should it follow the tradition of absolute political and religious leadership advocated by Iran's late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini? The debate centers on wilayat al-faqih, a concept that has existed since Islam's early days in the seventh century but that took modern form with Khomeini's rise to power after the 1979 revolution. The concept says that a high Shia scholar, or group of scholars, should have absolute authority over all political, religious and social matters in the Muslim community. It is an idea modeled on the absolute rule exercised by the Prophet Muhammad and his successors. The argument has raged in Najaf since the early 1930s, when the leading Shia cleric at the time reached an agreement with the secular government of a newly independent Iraq to keep the clergy out of politics. This school of thought continues to dominate in Najaf at the Shia world's most respected center of learning, the Hawza Al-Ilmiya. There are dissenters in Najaf, clerics who argue that they should take a more activist role in politics to ensure their followers' welfare. But even these scholars stop short of endorsing Khomeini's vision of absolute rule. One of the main groups that advocates political involvement for the clergy is the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, whose leader, Ayatollah Muhammad Bakr al-Hakim, has lived in exile in Iran since 1980. Al-Hakim argues that Shia clerics should be involved in a new government in Iraq, modeled on Islamic principles of consultative democracy. "There has to be a role for the clergy in any new government," said Sayed Sader-Eddine Koubansi, al-Hakim's newly appointed representative in Najaf. "We cannot stand on the sidelines like we were forced to under Saddam. This does not mean that we want absolute rule by clergy; there can be an Islamic democracy in Iraq." The Islamic Revolution vested Iran with great authority in the Shia world, and sealed Najaf's marginalization. Thousands of Iraqi Shia scholars fled to the Iranian city of Qom to escape a brutal crackdown by Hussein's government. Qom eclipsed Najaf as the faith's leading center of study. Iran sought to spread its message of revolutionary Islam throughout the Shia world with the spiritual weight that Qom acquired after the 1979 revolution. With Khomeini's vision of the faith ascendant, Shiism came to be viewed in many parts of the world as a fanatical movement with a violent reach extending from Iran to Lebanon. But Iran's spiritual influence diminished after Khomeini's death in 1989 and his succession as supreme leader by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a cleric with modest religious credentials. "With the fall of Saddam, there's going to be a revival of the Hawza in Najaf, and the balance of power will shift back there over the next few years," said Abbas Kadhim, a Najaf native who fled the city after a failed Shia uprising in 1991. He now teaches Islamic studies at the University of California at Berkeley. "The rivalry between Najaf and Iran will resume, and it's going to make the Iranian hard-liners very nervous." Many scholars in Qom oppose Khomeini's concept and the authoritarian state it has produced, but they have withdrawn from public life to avoid a confrontation with his successors. The religious establishment in Iran forbids open debate on the question of absolute authority for the country's supreme leader. For years, Iran has waged a war against its dissident clerics, imprisoning or placing dozens of them under house arrest. Now, Iranian dissidents are discussing the possibility of seeking refuge in Najaf, in the same way that Khomeini fled here in 1964 to escape persecution by the Shah. Khomeini lived in Najaf until 1978, when he was forced to leave by Hussein. "Dissident clerics who cannot debate freely in Iran might go to Najaf," said Mohsen Kadivar, a leading Iranian dissident who spent 18 months in prison for criticizing his country's system. "They might have the opportunity for free speech in Najaf, but that will depend on what kind of political system will emerge in Iraq." As the burial place of Imam Ali, Shiism's founding figure, Najaf carries more historical and spiritual weight among the world's 170 million Shia Muslims than Qom. The Iranian city, which is 80 miles south of Tehran, is built around the tomb of the sister of Imam Reza, whom the Shia regard as the eighth successor of Muhammad. "Najaf is spiritually superior to Qom. There is no question about that," said Sheik Adnan al-Sihtimani, 38, a popular cleric here. "Every major Shia scholar in the world has either studied in Najaf or has been taught by someone who studied in Najaf." But under Hussein's rule, Najaf became a backwater, cut off from the outside world while Qom flourished because of its ties to the clerical establishment in Iran. "Under Saddam, Najaf was secluded. It had no political contacts, no technology or even access to the Internet," said Ibrahim Khayat, a correspondent for the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat and an expert on the Shia. "The clergy in Najaf will need an adjustment period to get used to the American presence in Iraq...They're still in this period of hating Saddam and talking about martyrdom." The outcome of the argument over rule by clergy may determine the political future of Iran and Iraq, both of which have Shia majorities, Islamic scholars say. In Iran, a pluralistic interpretation of Shiism would streng- then a reform movement that seeks to transform the country from a theocracy to an Islamic democracy, scholars like Kadhim say. The Shia make up almost 90 percent of the population in Iran. In Iraq, the Shia make up nearly two- thirds of the country's population of 24 million. But since Iraq gained independence in 1932, it has been ruled by members of the Sunni minority. The Shia have waited 70 years to gain a voice equal to their numbers. The spiritual leadership of the Shia community has rested in southern Iraq since the seventh century, when a violent schism within Islam over succession to Muhammad gave birth to the Shia branch of the faith. Shiism emerged as a movement called Shiah Ali, or the Partisans of Ali. In the year 661, Imam Ali, the fourth caliph of Islam and Muhammad's son-in-law, was assassinated near Najaf in a struggle over who would rule the faithful. Ali was buried in Najaf, and theologians soon flocked to the city to establish seminaries. Nineteen years after Ali's death, two of his sons, Hussein and Abbas, were killed in battle. They were entombed in the nearby city of Karbala, which is Shiism's second holiest site. The violent deaths of Ali and his sons gave rise to the Shia cult of martyrdom. The distinctions between Shia and Sunni Islam are similar to those between Catholic and Protestant branches of Christianity, involving style of ritual and philosophical orientation, rather than fundamental pillars of faith. Throughout the Muslim world, the Shia have been a perpetual opposition movement. They have rebellion in their hearts, according to Islamic scholars. In 1917, toward the end of World War I, they supported the British in their efforts to wrest control of Mesopotamia - which became modern Iraq - from the Ottomans. Three years later, when the British were viewed as an occupying power, the Shia rose up once again - against their former allies. Today, most Iraqi Shia clerics appear to agree on one thing: They view the U.S. military presence in their country as a form of occupation and they have been agitating since the fall of Saddam last month for Washington to pull out as quickly as possible. Some clerics have warned of a popular uprising if American forces remain in Iraq for two years or more. "The Iraqi people do not want to be occupied by a foreign power," said Sayed Hussein al-Hakim, 43, son of a leading ayatollah who helps run the Hawza and is an ally of al-Sistani. "Najaf has a long tradition of taking positions against foreign occupation." But there is disagreement about tactics, and rivals to the more apolitical al-Sistani are emerging. In Najaf and other Shia-dominated cities in Iraq, one young cleric is developing a strong public following by arguing that al-Sistani and other Hawza leaders have been too complacent. Sayed Muqtada al-Sadr, 30, is the scion of an important Shia religious family. He is the only surviving son of Ayatollah Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, who was assassinated along with his two oldest sons by the Iraqi regime in 1999. The younger al- Sadr has taken control of hospitals, schools, mosques and some government ministries in Najaf, Karbala, Kut and other cities. He has opened offices that are providing social services in the absence of a central government. But even he is careful to disavow any political ambition - unless, he says, his people ask him to lead. "Political rule is not something that can be imposed on people," said Sheik Abbas Roubaili, a senior adviser to al-Sadr. "If the idea of politics is to improve the lives of our people, then we are for that." The Najaf traditionalists view political power as fleeting. "When you're a government minister, there's a prime minister above you. Maybe you can serve for four or five years, and then you're out," al-Kharsan said. "People trust us with their lives, with their money, with their spiritual welfare. We want to win the hearts and minds of people forever. That's not something that politicians can do." Copyright © 2005, Newsday, Inc.

Translating the letter

تم نقل مقال السيد ابو رامي الى عمود "تاجيل الانتخابات" لعلاقته بالموضع وعدرا

عمود "لمن ساصوت" مقال الاخ ابو رامي منقولا من

ابو محمد اشكر لكم سعه صدركم وردكم على تجاوزي لانه يعز علينا جدا ان نتدخل في كتابات اي من المشاركين حفظا لحق الجميع بابداء الراي ارجو ان تتسع رحابه صدرك لطلبي ان تعيد قراءه تعليق الاخ مستفسر التي اشار فيها الى قائمه السيدين الياور و علاوي و اللدين يكن الموقع وكل العراقيين لهم شخصيا و لقائمتيهما كل الاحترام و الاعتزاز ارجوا ان تشيريني الى الفقره التي تعتقد ان فيها تهجم شخصي حيث انني لم اجد دلك بل العكس ونعدكم باننا سنحدف اي تجاوز مع تقديري

عزيزي الاخ ابو محمد مع احترام الموقع الشديد لحريتك في ابداء رأيك الا اننا قمنا بحدف المقاطع التيي تتعرض لاحدى القوائم المشاركه بالهجوم المباشر والشخصي وهو ما يتعارض مع ضوابط هدا العمود وكما اوضحنا في المقدمه نؤكد حقك في طرح تعليقاتك المحدوفه وغيرها في اعمده اخرى على هدا الموقع وللتدكير يرجى من كافه المشاركين الالتزام بضوابط المثبته لهدا العمود حيث المطلوب هو تبيان محاسن القائمه التي ستنتخب

بينما يتوجه الاهتمام الى قضيه المشاركه في الانتخابات العراقيه فان تحديد جوانب القوه لكل قائمه يصبح امرا اكثر سخونه ونحن نقترب من يوم الحسم يفتح هدا العمود لابداء الراي الرجاء الاختصار وعدم تضمين اي مهاجمه لاي طرف. فقط ايضاح قوه القائمه التي ترشحها سيتم حدف اي مقطع فيه اتهام او هجوم على اي من قوائما الوطنيه العزيزه ولنعمل سويه على بناء عراق تعددي يستوعب كل الاراء

Very intersting article by Iraqi Mr. Basim Mustaar About the Iranian position toward what is happening in Iraq.. We will try to translate later. keep tuned

في ندوه مع الدكتور فريد ايار عقدت يوم السبت 4/12 اعلن مايلي في معرض اجابته عن الاسلئه المطروحه -هناك 46 قائمه انتخابيه للجمعيه العامه لغايه يوم الخميس وان هناك 12 قائمه انتخابيه قدمت لكردستان والعديد من القوائم للمحافظات -القوائم هي قوائم مغلقه بتم الاحتفاظ بتسلسل المرشحين عند التقديم. القائمه الواحده يترشح عنها نواب بنسبه عدد الاصوات التي تحصل عليها. - اي قائمه يجب ان لايقل عدد افرادها عن اثني عشر ويتم ادراج اسماء النساء ضمن كل اربعه امراه واحده على الاقل لضمان نسبه التمثيل-يجوز للعراقيين في دول غير مضيفه لمركز انتخابي ان يسجلوا في مركز بعود لبلد اخر, على ان بنتخبوا فبه -يتم حاليا دراسه امكانيه فتح اكثر من مركز في الدول الكبيره جغرافيا -موقع الموظفيه على الانترنت ieciraq.org