EFL The rise of a secular, democratic Iraq could pose a threat to Iran’s Shi’ite clerical establishment, which fears it would serve as a powerful model for moderate Iranians who seek change, clerics said.
Is this where one domino topples, strikes the one next to it and ...
Many senior clerics are particularly concerned about any shift in the center of gravity within Shi’ite Islam away from Iran’s holy city of Qom, from which clerics wield immense political authority, toward Najaf in neighboring Iraq. The emergence of Najaf coincides with the rise to political prominence of Iraqi clerics, such as Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, who question the legitimacy of absolute rule by the clergy.
They need not worry. According to the partisan media, the chaos in Iraq is out of control and ... "
Now Najaf, as a more moderate center, will regain the place it held for most of the past 1,500 years," said Hadi Qabel, a reformist midranking cleric from Qom. "It will rejuvenate the role of clerics throughout the Shi’ite world. ... Iraqi moderate clerics like Ayatollah Ali Sistani do not consider ruling the country as their legitimate right," he said.
Sec...ond...Dom..ino.... Getting nervous? |