The king's scepter is in the hands of Muqtada al-Sadr, moves the Iraqi scene and chooses its leaders

BAGHDAD

- The leader of the Sadrist movement's call for his supporters to withdraw from the Green Zone ended a bloody war that was about to erupt, as they withdrew after hours of armed clashes that took place in its vicinity, killing dozens.

The recent incident demonstrated the strength and stature of al-Sadr and his continuity as the most important player in the street equation and the political process, with his obedient masses and committed brigades.

Al-Sadr's recent moves and positions were not a result of the moment, but rather an extension of his line approach to himself after the change of the previous regime in Iraq in 2003.

Muqtada al-Sadr calls for the "reform" of the situation in Iraq from the top of the pyramid of power to the bottom, and to end the "corruption" that the country's institutions suffer from.

stubborn player

No one could have imagined that Al-Sadr - who was wanted No. 1 for the Americans after 2003, dead or alive - would become today the main player in the political process and the controller of its pawns, despite his tendency to stand in the face of Iranian interference in the Iraqi political scene and his continuation of the resistance approach to the Americans and expelling them from the country.

Al-Sadr has adhered to the demands of reforming the political process and fighting corruption since 2016. He organized protests and demonstrations, and forced the course of the political process to respect his will at every step to form a government or issue decisions.

As for before 2016, al-Sadr was the stubborn opponent who resisted the American forces and fought fierce battles with them. He also faced the project of former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki at the forefront of the Shiite scene, and he also fought with him battles that al-Maliki called the Knight of the Knights in 2008.

All of these transformations increased al-Sadr's popularity and made his fans from the Sadrist movement adhere to him more after he succeeded in controlling the political game cards, and his political bloc topped the elections that were held in 2018 and 2021, while most political forces recorded a significant decline in their seats.

Yassin: There was no period in the history of modern Iraq in which the al-Sadr family did not have a clear imprint and an active role (Al-Jazeera Net)

Deep roots and social phenomenon

The Sadrist movement is a social and political phenomenon, and there is no previous phenomenon similar to the phenomenon of followers and supporters of the Sadrists, according to some observers and researchers.

This phenomenon ends with the current leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, and extends to deep roots that contributed to the formation of the modern Iraqi state, as there was no period in the history of modern Iraq in which the al-Sadr family did not have a clear imprint and an active and influential role, as indicated by researcher and social activist Saeed Yassin.

Yassin said that al-Sadr's demands for reform and the masses that followed him are not new to the al-Sadr family and their path, indicating that Muqtada is the heir to the masses of his father, the authority, Muhammad Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, who was the only authority who challenged the regime of the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and performed Friday prayers and fought him at a time when most of his opponents left. The country, which earned him a large popularity among the followers of the Shiite sect, transformed, through the son’s stances, into a national mass that is not limited to the followers of the sect alone.

Yassin added that the family was, throughout the establishment of the Iraqi state, an influential player and a prominent contributor. With the establishment of the modern Iraqi state after 1920, a member of the Sadrist family - Muhammad al-Sadr - was head of the Senate and then Prime Minister, and after him came the reference Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, a philosopher A thinker and revolutionary who left his mark inside Iraq and the world.

Also, most of those who led the political process in Iraq after 2003 were disciples and imitators of the Sadrists, Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and his cousin Muhammad Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, Muqtada's father.

Even as an Arab, Yassin says that Musa al-Sadr - who is from the same family as Muqtada al-Sadr - was one of the titles of civil peace and stability in Lebanon.

Yassin concludes by saying that the roots and men of the Sadrist family left their mark in Iraq through a wide and large audience. The young leader succeeded in turning him into an effective and effective national popular base in moving the Iraqi scene politically and popularly.

Draw the rules of the game

The popularity of Muqtada al-Sadr is not limited to the legacy of his religious family, which spans more than 150 years, stemming from the origin of the chest tree branching from the house of Sharaf al-Din and Jamal al-Din, the origin of the family from which the al-Sadr family branched, according to the political researcher Muhammad Na`na, but it relied on the wisdom of the young leader and his ability to Control the political scene in Iraq.

Nana` says that the image of Muqtada, who resisted the American occupation after 2003, and the stubborn opponent and the permanent advocate of reform and fighting corruption, and then calling for the majority government to build national bridges with the Kurds and Sunnis away from sectarian retrenchment, all made him a major political player, and even went beyond that to being "the setter of the rules of the game in Iraq." ".

He stressed that the last ten years during which al-Sadr had the greatest weight in choosing the prime minister, explaining that the majority project and its success in disrupting the framework of forming a consensual government increased al-Sadr's strength and position in the street and demonstrated his possession of a great mass and popular power. Strengths the frame on its own without being able to ignore it.

Therefore, Al-Sadr was able to form a political and social phenomenon from his current, depending on his family background and his personal movements, so that this phenomenon was unprecedented in the modern history of Iraq.

worried democracy

In turn, journalist Ahmed Fadel says that the disturbing and fragile state of democracy allowed al-Sadr, with his religious, political and ideological legacy, to lead the scene, noting that in his last steps he showed the extent of blind obedience to his supporters and popular bases by submitting the resignation of 73 deputies from the Sadrist bloc without hesitation, and then the sit-in in front of Parliament And in his surroundings, the united prayers, the million demonstrations, and the storming of the Green Zone, which showed that his supporters are ready for any obedience, even if it is costly.

Fadel pointed out that the phenomenon of the Sadrist movement and its leader has become the most prominent at the internal level, as all other forces do not have a popular base that enables its leader to stand alone in front of internal and external wills and disrupt parliamentary sessions and government formation until his satisfaction and approval.

Fadel added that al-Sadr succeeded in leading the Shiite scene politically, and then nationally, through his success in playing on the chord of rejecting quotas, interventions and resistance.

chest in a nutshell

Muqtada al-Sadr - who leads the Sadrist movement - was born in Kufa in the city of Najaf, south of Baghdad, in 1973 to a conservative family. He is the fourth son of Shiite leader Muhammad Muhammad al-Sadiq al-Sadr, who was assassinated in 1999 during the era of the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

His career began with the political process in Iraq with fierce battles with the American forces that invaded the country in 2003, leading to a sharp conflict with former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who ruled the country between 2006 and 2014.

After that, the "Mahdi Army", consisting of thousands of fighters, was dissolved, and most of the armed factions opposed to it belonged to it at the beginning of its formation.

In a brief statement issued last Monday, al-Sadr said, “I am now declaring final retirement.” He also announced the closure of all institutions associated with the Sadrist movement, “except for the Holy Shrine (of his father), the Noble Museum and the Al-Sadr Family Heritage Authority,” but he quickly returned to intervene through statements transmitted about him by what Known as his minister, Muhammad Salih al-Iraqi.