Patriotic Ayatollahs

Marji Sayej Caroleen

Description

Patriotic Ayatollahs explores the contributions of senior clerics in state and nation-building after the 2003 Iraq war. Caroleen Sayej suggests that the four so-called Grand Ayatollahs, the highest-ranking clerics of Iraqi Shiism, took on a new and unexpected political role after the fall of Saddam Hussein.Drawing on previously unexamined Arabic-language fatwas, speeches, and communiques of Iraq's four grand ayatollahs, this book analyzes how their new pronouncements and narratives shaped public debates after 2003. Sayej argues that, contrary to standard narratives about religious actors, the Grand Ayatollahs were among the most progressive voices in the new Iraqi nation. She traces the transformative position of Ayatollah Sistani as the "guardian of democracy" after 2003. Sistani was, in particular, instrumental in derailing American plans that would have excluded Iraqis from the state-building process-a remarkable story in which an octogenarian cleric takes on the United States over the meaning of democracy.Patriotic Ayatollahs' counter-conventional argument about the ayatollahs' vision of a nonsectarian nation is neatly realized. Through her deep knowledge and long-term engagement with Iraqi politics, Sayej advances our understanding of how the post-Saddam Iraqi nation was built.

Sujets

• Histoire
• 21st century
• Iraq
• History of the Middle East
• Irak

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 avril 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781501714856
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Patriotic Ayatollahs

Patriotic Ayatollahs

Nationalism in PostSaddam Iraq

Caroleen Marji Sayej

Cornell University Press Ithaca and London

Cornell University Press gratefully acknowledges receipt of grants from the Office of the Dean of Faculty and the Department of Government and International Relations at Connecticut College, which aided in the publication of this book.

Copyright © 2018 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 2018 by Cornell University Press

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Names: Sayej, Caroleen Marji, 1975– author. Title: Patriotic ayatollahs : nationalism in postSaddam Iraq / Caroleen Marji Sayej. Description: Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017028911 (print) | LCCN 2017030831 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501714856 (pdf) | ISBN 9781501714764 (epub/mobi) | ISBN 9781501715211 (cloth : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Iraq—Politics and government—2003– | Ulama—Political activity—Iraq—History—21st century. | Islam and politics—Iraq—History—21st century. | Nationalism—Iraq— History—21st century. Classification: LCC DS79.769 (ebook) | LCC DS79.769. S29 2018 (print) | DDC 956.7044/3—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017028911

Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetablebased, lowVOC inks and acidfree papers that are recycled, totally chlorinefree, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Cover image: Najaf, Iraq, May 2012: Shiite mullahs walking to the holy tomb of Ali. Credit: Thomas Koch / Shutterstock.com.

To my daughters, Noor and Rania And my partner in life, Wael And for the people of Iraq, may they gain security and freedom

Preface

List of Abbreviations

Contents

A Note on Arabic Transliteration

Map of Iraq

Introduction: The Making and Unmaking of Iraq

1. The Ayatollahs and the Struggle to Maintain Legitimacy in the New Public Sphere

2. Sistani, Guardian of the Democratic Process

3. Sistani, a Guide Only

4. Quietists Turned Activists?

5. Local and Regional Sectarian Narratives

Conclusion: Rethinking Religion and Politics

ix

xvii

xix

xx

1

15

41

70

91

127

164

vi i i

Notes

Contents

References

Index

177

201

207

Preface

This book has been brewing in my brain for more than fifteen years. I first became fascinated with the political role of ayatollahs when I taught my inaugural class on Iran at New York University in 2002. Since then, I have taught different iterations of that course on the graduate and under graduate levels in which we explored the creation of an ostensibly Islamic state, the tensions within the clerical class about the direction of the regime, lay versus clerical interpretations of Islam, and a host of other intriguing topics. What most caught my attention was that several journalists—most of them women—had been able to travel to the city of Qom and interview Iranians to ask them questions about politics, gender, and life. Famous re porters such as Robin Wright, Elaine Sciolino, Geneive Abdo, and Jona than Lyons gained access to the highestranking clerics and uncovered the complicated and strained relationships that evolved after the 1979 revo lution. Memorably, in her bookPersian Mirrors,Sciolino related the tale of her plane ride from Paris to Tehran with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as he returned from exile. She was the first woman and the first journalist