An article published by the French Orient 21 website considered that the emergence of a civil society in Iraq remained for more than a decade difficult because it was trapped between the hammer of sectarian conflict and the anvil of the leader of the Sadrist movement Muqtada al-Sadr in the Shiite working class neighborhoods, and that the popular youth protests that the country witnessed recently will strengthen civil society.
The author of the article, Haider Hamdani, a specialist in the Islamic world, considered that the popular protests that started last October represented a political overthrow, and that a socio-political generation would be created after them, forming a break with the common religious traditions that had become from the past.
This generation - according to the author - will weaken Al-Sadr's popularity for his opposition and his refusal to submit to the political and cultural subjection of Al-Sadr's fatherhood, which is dominated by religious laws and "myths" without changing the popular culture fueled by the tribal traditions.
The clashes between the Sadrists and the young, "unaffiliated" demonstrators showed a young man facing a Sadrist father, which means that the conflict is no longer just a battle against a corrupt regime and politicians colluding with him since 2003, but a separation between the younger and older generations.
After the enumeration of events that accompanied the demonstrations of youth from repression by gunmen affiliated with parties in power, and the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, the corruption of politicians, clerics and their allies was revealed.
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The writer pointed out that the Sadrist movement’s "Peace Brigades" used armed violence against the protesters, the new generation that surprised the Sadrists with its design, and the result was the emergence of two camps within the Shiite field: young demonstrators demanding radical political reforms, and extremists in power whom the street describes as "Iran's children."
After failing to mobilize the main Shiite political forces "Saeroun" led by Muqtada al-Sadr, and the "Al-Fateh Bloc" led by Hadi al-Amiri for a political consensus, the former governor of Najaf Adnan al-Zarfi abandoned the formation of the government, but the former intelligence chief Mustafa al-Kazimi, who was nominated by these two blocs He won the confidence of Parliament.
The writer pointed out that giving confidence to the Al-Kazemi government had been far from pressuring the protests due to the Corona epidemic and the imposition of curfews, yet some protesters continue to protest in some provinces, while others are preparing for massive protests in Baghdad and the southern provinces.
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Popular rules
To understand the root causes of the decline in the popularity of the Sadrist movement, the author believes that it is necessary to know that Muqtada al-Sadr is an heir to the popularity of his father, the Shiite cleric Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, who was killed during the era of the late President Saddam Hussein in 1999, and he is a charismatic figure, who declared himself a "reference" in the face of the reference The supreme Shiite of Iraq, Ali Sistani, who occupied the prestigious position of reference with the consent of the scholars of Najaf.
To ensure the legitimacy of this self-proclamation, Al-Sadr Sr. developed a populist speech that reconciled popular religiosity with the official Shi'a doctrine, which his son Muqtada later adopted in his call to promote the glorification of popular Shiite practices.
In the deprived areas of the big cities, the youth were attracted to the Sadrist ideology that reconciles the “popular religion” of Sadr, the father and the son, and ancient traditions such as the religion of the family. Muhammad Al-Sadr’s speeches penetrated these urban, disadvantaged and marginalized urban populations, even despised in the social and religious hierarchy.
The Sadrists turned to young creators, musicians, rappers, athletes and people with small crafts, and mobilized them in favor of the emerging trend that transformed the celebrations into a form of hidden opposition to the official religion of the Shi’ite elite ideology.
Upon the death of Muhammad al-Sadr, his followers transferred their affiliation to his son Muqtada as part of the family’s continuity. After the American invasion of Iraq, the young leader established a force he called a “Mahdi Army” joined by thousands of young men.
The writer saw that Sadr revived old customs in order to preserve holiness in the eyes of his supporters, noting that this reverence made Sadrist followers able to violence against Muqtada's rivals.
Specialism and Modernity
Since 2008, the author has seen that Sadr's involvement and movement in politics have reached new heights. The writer saw that Al-Sadr's activity in the political process and in economic and financial affairs was at the expense of his cultural and religious activities that were contributing to the sustainability of his popular movement, which grew the rejection of the popular myths described as "backward", especially as important sectors of culturally advanced youth began to turn to secularism, This means the emergence of a generation of "contemporary" youth.
This urban generation, which rejects the culture of the sheikhs, according to the author, began to separate from the Sadrist movement, presenting a contemporary cultural challenge. The strong protest movement showed that there is an urban generation that contradicts the alleged political legitimacy of the Sadrist movement.
Therefore, Muqtada al-Sadr opposes the demonstrations of these self-reliant young people because it cannot be controlled despite the force of repression, which means that the Sadrist movement may enter a cycle of deterioration and paralysis.