Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim

Ayatollah al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Muhsin al-Hakim at-Tabataba'i (8 July 1939 – 29 August 2003; Arabic: السيد محمد باقر محسن الحكيم الطباطبائي), also known as Shaheed al-Mehraab, was a senior Iraqi Shia Islamic Scholar and the leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).[1][2] Al-Hakim spent more than 20 years in exile in Iran and returned to Iraq on 12 May 2003 following the US-led invasion.[3] Al-Hakim was a contemporary of Ayatollah Khomeini, and The Guardian compared the two in terms of their times in exile and their support in their respective homelands.[3] After his return to Iraq, al-Hakim's life was in danger because of his work to encourage Shiite resistance to Saddam Hussein and from a rivalry with Muqtada al-Sadr, the son of the late Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr, who had himself been assassinated in Najaf in 1999.[3] Al-Hakim was assassinated in a bomb attack in Najaf in 2003 when aged 63 years old.[3] At least 75 others in the vicinity also died in the bombing.[3]

Ayatollah Sayyid

Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim
محمد باقر الحكيم
Born8 July 1939
Najaf, Kingdom of Iraq
Died29 August 2003 (aged 64)
Najaf, Coalition-occupied Iraq
Political partySupreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq
Parent
FamilyHakim family

Biography

Early life

Al-Hakim was born in Najaf in 1939 into the Hakim Family of Shi'ite religious scholars.[1][2][3] He was the son of Muhsin al-Hakim[4] and Fawzieh Hassan Bazzi. Al-Hakim was the uncle of Muhammad Sayid al-Hakim.[5] Al-Hakims father was a senior cleric in Najaf.[3] He learned a traditional Shiite imam's training.[3] He was arrested and tortured for his beliefs by Ba'athist forces in 1972 and fled to Iran in 1980.[3] Many relatives of Al-Hakim were killed by the Baathist forces.[3]

Political activities in Iraq

Al-Hakim was head of the Supreme Council of the Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), a highly influential group within Iraq's Shia community and high ranking U.S. officials had met with the brother of Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim,[6] intent on securing a new ally against Saddam Hussein.[6] He co-founded the modern Islamic political movement in Iraq in the 1960s, along with Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr, with whom he worked closely until the latter's death in 1980.[6] In an event, Mohamad Baqir Al-Sadr sent Mohamad Baqir Al-Hakim to calm the people who trapped by Saddam troops between Karbala and Najaf.[7] This incident prompted the Baathist to arrest Baqir Al-Hakim, he was subsequently imprisoned and tortured.[7] When Mohammad Baqir Al-Sadr was on house arrest remained in communication with Baqir Al-Hakim.[7]

Though not among the most hard-line of Islamists, Al-Hakim was seen as dangerous by the ruling Ba'ath regime, largely because of his agitation on behalf of Iraq's majority Shia population (the ruling regime was mostly Sunnis).[8]

However, his sentence was commuted and he was released in July 1979.[7] The subsequent eruption of war between Iraq and largely Shia Iran led to an ever-increasing distrust of Iraq's Shia population by the ruling Ba'ath party; combined with his previous arrests, Al-Hakim defected to Iran in 1980.[1]

SCIRI and Iran

Safely in Iran under the protection of the Islamic Republic, Al-Hakim became an open enemy of the Ba'athists, forming the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI),[4] a revolutionary group dedicated to overthrowing Saddam Hussein and installing clerical rule.[8]With Iranian military aid, SCIRI became an armed resistance group, periodically making cross-border attacks against Baathist and maintaining covert connections with resistance elements within the country.[9]

Badr Brigades

The SCIRI military wing is called the Badr Brigades.[7] Baqir Al-Hakim created the Badr Brigades which fought against Saddam Hussein.[7] Badr Forces contained to number about 10,000 equipped and trained soldiers.[9] On 11 February 1995 Badr corps attacked on Baathist forces in Amarah province.[7] Today, Badr Brigades is fighting against ISIL with Hashd al-Shaabi name.[10]

Return to Iraq

Al-Hakim returned to Iraq on 12 May 2003 following the overthrow of Saddam's regime by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq after spending more than two decades of exile in neighboring Iran.[2] There he emerged as one of the most influential Iraqi leaders, with his longtime opposition to Saddam gaining him immense credibility, especially among the majority Shia population.[8]

Initially, he was very critical of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Baqir Al-Hakim gives the US credit for overthrowing the Ba'athist government first, so SCIRI and other Shia opposition parties found time to re-establish themselves between Shia people.[8] Al-Hakim's brother and fellow Muslim leader, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, was appointed to the Iraq interim governing council and the two worked closely together.[8] By the time of his death, he remained distrustful, but publicly urged Iraqis to abandon violence, at least for the time being, and give the interim government a chance to earn their trust.[8] Although Al-Hakim publicly urged the abandonment of violence, his Badr Brigade was described by The Independent as "one of the main groups accused of carrying out sectarian killings".[11]

Assassination
Main article: Imam Ali Mosque bombing

Al-Hakim was killed on 29 August 2003, when a car bomb exploded as he left the Shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf.[12] The blast killed at least 84 others; some estimate that as many as 125 died in the bombing. Fifteen bodyguards of al-Hakim were among the people killed in the blast.[13]

Perpetrators

On 30 August 2003, Iraqi authorities arrested four people in connection with the bombing: two former members of the Ba'ath Party from Basra, and two non-Iraqi Arabs from the Salafi sect.[14]

According to U.S. and Iraqi officials, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was responsible for Hakim's assassination.[15][16] They claim that Abu Omar al-Kurdi, a top Zarqawi bombmaker who was captured in January 2005, confessed to carrying out this bombing.[15][16] They also cite Zarqawi's praising of the assassination in several audiotapes.[15][16] Muhammad Yassin Jarrad, the brother-in-law of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed that his father, Yassin, was the suicide bomber in the attack.[15][16]

Oras Mohammed Abdulaziz, an alleged Al-Qaeda militant, was hanged in Baghdad in July 2007 after being sentenced to death in October 2006 for his role in the assassination of al-Hakim.[17]

Funeral

Hundreds of thousands of people attended his funeral in Najaf and showed their hatred of the US military occupation on 2 September 2003.[18] They protested the US forces and demanded their withdrawal from Iraq.[19]

His grave was petrol-bombed by anti-government protesters during the 2019 Iraqi protests.[20]

See also

References
  1. "Cleric slain months after returning to Iraq". Reading Eagle. Baghdad. AP. 30 August 2003. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  2. Joffe, Lawrence (30 August 2003). "Obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  3. Joffe, Lawrence (30 August 2003). "Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  4. "Muhammad Baqir al- Hakim". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  5. "Who is Muqtada al-Sadr?". CNN. 6 April 2004. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  6. Smyth, Frank (3 October 2003). "Iraq's Forgotten Majority". New York Times. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  7. Al-Bayati, Hamid (30 January 2014). From Dictatorship to Democracy: An Insider's Account of the Iraqi Opposition to Saddam (Illustrated ed.). USA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014. p. 386. ISBN 978-0812290387.
  8. Kadhim, Abbas (26 July 2017). "A Major Crack in Iraqi Shia Politics". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  9. "Iraqi opposition 'moves troops in'". BBC News. 19 February 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  10. IFP, Editorial Staff (9 March 2019). "No Power Capable of Dividing Iran, Iraq: Zarif". ifpnews.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  11. "Iraq's death squads: on the brink of civil war", The Independent, 26 February 2006.
  12. Escobar, Pepe (2 September 2003). "Ayatollah's killing: Winners and losers". Asia Times. Archived from the original on 2 October 2003. Retrieved 27 January 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. "U.S. Blamed For Mosque Attack". CBS News. 11 February 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  14. Cummins, Christopher (12 October 2016). "Shiites mark Ashura Day with Karbala pilgrimage". euronews.com. Euro news. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  15. "Zarqawi kin reportedly bombed shrine in Iraq", by Mohamad Bazzi, 7 February 2005
  16. Mike Brunker. "Study uses 'martyr' posts to break down 'foreign fighters' aiding Syrian rebels". NBC News. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  17. Mroue, Bassem (6 June 2007). "Alleged Al Qaeda Militant Is Hanged". The Sun. Baghdad. AP. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  18. "Mourners demand vengeance for cleric's death". The Guardian. AP. 2 September 2003. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  19. McCarthy, Rory (3 September 2003). "Shia mourners demand end to US occupation". The Guardian. Najaf. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  20. "Elites backed by Iran are clinging to power in Iraq". The Economist. 7 December 2019.
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