Iraq and Afghanistan

A recent 60 Minutes on Sistani led me to look him up on the internet where he has a web site in several languages (www.sistani.org). Although originally from an Iranian family with a long history of religious study, Sistani has spent most of his life in Najaf. There he studied, rose through the ranks, became an assistant of the leading Ayatollah of the day (al Khoei). On his death, Sistani took his place in Najaf. In 1994, Saddam forbid him to continue his activity in this role. The result was he diversified, beginning to support through his foundation many scholarships in Qom, Iran. These have been continued after he resumed his activities in Najaf. In addition to the support of many students in Iraq and Iran, his foundation also does charitable work (for example, in support of destitute Afghans in Iran). He and al-Khoei have been identified with a quietist approach to Iran, and thus always looked askance at the activist approach associated with Khomeni and now adopted by the Iranian theocracy. This does not mean that Sistani does not think Islam should play a critical role in the life of an Islamic people, it merely means that religious leaders should not have direct political roles in society. It also does not mean this is a particularly "enlightened" Islam. If the reader goes to the Sistani web site, he will see that the thousands of people who are said to visit it daily are looking for practical advice on the minutiae of living as a Shiite Muslim. For example, the exact ways in which one should ritually bathe in different situations are described. He does seem, however, to be relatively easy-going on the question of shaking hands with non-Muslims, something the strict are always doubtful apart because of the impurities of non-Muslims.

Many feel that Sistani is seen as a threat by the present Iranian regime. He has more widely accepted credentials than any of the leading clerics in Tehran. From the above discussion it would appear that he is pushing his cause in Iran, hoping perhaps to solidify his position as the spiritual leader of all Ithna Ashariya Shiites. What this means politically we do not know. We also do not know what he sees as his actual political role in Iraq. He plays a quietist role, but how quiet in future political life in Iraq, and even Iran, we do not know.