The future of Iraq will be decided not in the US-led talks among the approved opposition parties but behind a battered grey metal door in Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, that protects the Hawza, the city's main Shia seminary where Iraq's leading clerics teach.
| That's if some of the Shia clerics have their way... |
One of them, Sheikh Mohammed Yacubi, a former civil engineer who joined the clergy 12 years ago, is emerging as one of the key figures in the new Iraq. While some senior clerics are wary of becoming involved in politics, his supporters are not. Sheikh Yacubi told the Guardian: "Ninety-eight per cent of the people are Muslims. The Iraqi constitution must not commit to anything that will go against sharia [Islamic law]." He was guarded about saying what an Islamic constitution would mean in practice. But it was clear enough in the sermons delivered at mosques all over Iraq yesterday.
| Yeah. "Veil yore wimmin and grow yore beards!" |
Preaching to tens of thousands worshippers at the Qadhimaya mosque in northern Baghdad, Sheikh Mohammed al-Tabatabi said: "The west calls for freedom and liberty. Islam is not calling for this. Islam rejects such liberty. True liberty is obedience to God and to be liberated from desires. The dangers we should anticipate in coming days is the danger to our religion from the west trying to spread pornographic magazines and channels."
| The common folk, of course, can't be trusted with something as dangerous as being allowed to do what they want. "Porn" in this case is shorthand for playing cards and going to movies, telling jokes, even making fun of mullahs and ayatollahs. Can't have that... |
Under Saddam, Iraq was a secular society. Women had equal rights with men and freedom to dress in western clothes. It was more lax than many of its neighbours about alcohol. But Sheikh Tabatabi said: "We will not allow shops to sell alcohol and we ask for the closure of all such places and we ask you to use every available means to bring this about."
| Now, in the west, most of us would just say, if you don't want to go to a beer joint, then don't. But then, most of us aren't adherents of the Master Religion... |
He added that women should not be allowed to wander unveiled around Qadhimaya City.
| Why? You ashamed of them, Mo? Afraid they're gonna flash you their titties? |
The former US general appointed by George Bush to help create a new government, Jay Garner, has said he would not allow an Islamist state. But in the Hawza another cleric, Quais al-Khazaaly, said: "I think the right decision is to have an Islamist state. If the US blocks such a state and people want it, this will lead to lots of trouble with the US."
| Got news for you, Quais. If you do get it, it'll lead to trouble with the US... |
If Shias act in unison, they will rule Iraq. But they are fragmented. The Hawza is dominated by two groups, those around the Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali al-Sistani, a conservative,
| ... who doesn't appear to be a nut... |
and those who follow Muqtada al-Sadr, a more radical figure.
There is also the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq, led by Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, which has been operating from Iran with a 15,000-strong army.
| Hmmm... The "army" seems to have doubled in size recently... |
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