Misplaced Pages

#918081

37-514: Originally formed to contest the December 2005 elections , it described itself as a non-sectarian coalition that wants to end the presence of foreign troops and to rebuild government institutions. The main components were initially: The coalition included Arabs , Kurds , Assyrians , Yezidis and Shabaks . Mutlaq campaigned against the constitution in the October 2005 referendum , and refused to join

74-552: A "government of national unity" was agreed between the United Iraqi Alliance , Iraqi Accord Front , Kurdistani Alliance and Iraqi National List , under the leadership of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki . Ayatollah Ayatollah ( UK : / ˌ aɪ ə ˈ t ɒ l ə / , also US : / ˌ aɪ ə ˈ t oʊ l ə / ; Arabic : اية الله , romanized :  ʾāyatu llāh ; Persian : آیت‌الله , romanized :  âyatollâh [ɒːjjætˌolˈlɒːh] )

111-470: A Sunni Arab student leader was abducted and killed after leading a demonstration against the election results. Some 2,000 fellow students gathered at the mosque where Salahaddin's body was taken. Sunni's quickly accused militia forces loyal to one of the main parties in the Shiite Alliance bloc for Salahaddin's death. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the murder. After six months of negotiations

148-468: A new constitution in a referendum on 15 October . The elections took place under a list system, whereby voters chose from a list of parties and coalitions. 230 seats were apportioned among Iraq's 18 governorates based on the number of registered voters in each as of the January 2005 elections , including 59 seats for Baghdad Governorate . The seats within each governorate were allocated to lists through

185-484: A new title, Ayatollah al-Uzma ( lit.   ' Great Sign of God ' ). Originally, about half a dozen people were addressed as al-Uzma, but as of 2015, the number of people who claimed that title was reportedly over 50. Another post- revolutionary change in what makes an ayatollah has been the falling away (at least in many important situations), of purely religious credentials and informal acclamation, and its replacement by political criteria. Ali Khamenei —who

222-498: A re-run of the poll. Prior to the 2010 Iraqi Elections it joined the secular Iraqiyya coalition and was allocated 16 out of their 91 seats in the Council of Representatives of Iraq , becoming the biggest individual party with a Sunni Arab majority. December 2005 Iraqi legislative election Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 15 December 2005, following the approval of

259-412: A significant following and they are recognized for religiously correct views, they are considered a Marja'-e-Taqlid , which in common parlance is "grand ayatollah". Usually as a prelude to such status, a mujtahid is asked to publish a juristic treatise in which he answers questions about the application of Islam to present-time daily affairs. Risalah is the word for treatise, and such a juristic work

296-527: A single list called the Iraqi National List. This list will attempt to present a secular and trans-community alternative to the other major lists, which are more based on the support of a single ethnic or religious groups. The Iraqi Islamic Party originally registered for the January elections but then decided to boycott the polls, which meant that it did not gain any seats. It has decided to participate in

333-414: A system of Proportional Representation . An additional 45 "compensatory" seats were allocated to those parties whose percentage of the national vote total (including out of country votes) exceeded the percentage of the 275 total seats that they had been allocated. Women were required to occupy 25% of the 275 seats. The change in the voting system gave more weight to Arab Sunni voters, who made up most of

370-415: Is an honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy . In Iran , it came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Originally used as a title bestowed by popular/clerical acclaim for a small number of the most distinguished marja' at-taqlid mujtahid , it suffered from "inflation" following the 1979 Iranian Revolution when it came to be used for "any established mujtahid". By 2015 it

407-506: Is called a risalah-yi'amaliyyah or "practical law treatise", and it is usually a reinvention of the book Al-Urwatu l-Wuthqah . A Grand Ayatollah is often seen as a spiritual guide and mentor to millions of Shia Muslims. Their influence extends beyond the mosque and into the social and political arenas. Unlike many religious leaders of other religions, a grand ayatollah is often involved in state affairs, especially in countries with large Shia populations such as Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon. In

SECTION 10

#1732863115919

444-447: Is presumably a particular reference to the verse 41:53 "We shall show them Our signs on the horizons and in their own selves", while it has been also used to refer to The Twelve Imams by Shias. Variants used are ʾāyatu llāhi fī l-ʾanʿām ( Arabic : آية الله في الأنعام , lit.   'Sign of God among mankind'), ʾāyatu llāhi fī l-ʿālamayn ( Arabic : آية الله في العالمَین , lit.   'Sign of God in

481-627: The Association of Muslim Scholars , which is influential in the Sunni community, has called for a boycott of the December elections, which could have an adverse impact on the Iraqi Accord Front's success. On 22 December 2005 Sunni Arab and secular Shiite factions demanded that an international body review election fraud complaints, and threatened to boycott the new legislature. The United Nations rejected

518-529: The Iraqi National Congress and Iraqi Hezbollah left the Alliance to form their own lists. In a blow to the Alliance, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani announced that he would not back any particular party for the election; he merely encouraged people to vote "according to their beliefs." He is said to have been disappointed with the performance of the transitional government. It was initially reported before

555-491: The Islamic Republic , four levels of studies were introduced and those clerics who end the fourth level, also known as Dars-e-Kharej ( lit.   ' beyond the text ' ) and pass the final exam, were called Ayatollahs. Moojan Momen wrote in 2015 that every cleric who finished his training calls himself an Ayatollah and this trend has led to emergence of "thousands of Ayatollahs". This inflation led to invention of

592-647: The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan of the transitional Iraqi President Jalal Talabani —plus some other smaller parties. The DPAK formed a coalition government with the UIA in the wake of the January 2005 elections. This coalition will also contest the December elections, but the smaller Kurdistan Islamic Union , who won 10 percent of the seats in the Dahuk and Sulaymaniyah governorate elections in January, has announced that it will form its own governmental lists. The Iraqi List

629-774: The December elections, forming a list called the Iraqi Accord Front with two other smaller parties, the Iraqi Peoples' Gathering and the Iraqi National Dialogue. These parties aim to tap the Sunni Arab vote; Sunni Arabs overwhelmingly boycotted the January election, but increased Sunni participation in the constitutional referendum may indicate an increased Sunni turnout for the December elections, especially because more than 1,000 Sunni clerics called on their followers to vote, according to The New York Times . However,

666-569: The West, particularly the United States , the term "Ayatollah" may be used as a pejorative to describe religious fundamentalism. Sam Miller of London Review of Books states that following the Iranian Revolution, "ayatollah" became common use; Miller described the pejorative version of the term as "[evoking] evokes an old, turbaned, bearded man, sitting in judgment, looking like a crow and ordering

703-552: The election that the UIA seats would be split between the parties as follows: Analysis of the seat allocation after the elections showed that the 109 district seats and 19 compensatory seats won by the UIA were split as follows: [1] This Kurdish-dominated coalition was formed for the January 2005 election by the two main Kurdish parties—the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani and

740-417: The election. Sheik Mahmoud al-Sumaidaei of the Association of Muslim Scholars , a major Sunni clerical group, told followers during prayers at Baghdad's Umm al-Qura mosque that they were "living a conspiracy built on lies and forgery." [3] Violence grew over the controversial election results. Car bombings and attacks on US and Iraqi officials continued after the elections. In Mosul Qusay Salahaddin ,

777-534: The idea. Large demonstrations broke out across Iraq on 23 December to denounce the elections. Protesters said that the elections were rigged in favor of the main religious Shiite coalition. Many Iraqis outside the religious Shiite coalition allege that the elections were unfair to smaller Sunni Arab and secular Shiite groups. As many as 20,000 people demonstrated after noon prayers in southern Baghdad . Over 2,000 people demonstrated in Mosul , accusing Iran of involvement in

SECTION 20

#1732863115919

814-413: The mid to late 20th century. Only the titles 'jurisconsult' ( faqih ) and 'model for imitation' ( marja' al-taqlid ) had fixed meaning. Otherwise titles ... really expressed the informal consensus of mullahs as to the degree of deference they wished to show one another. A teacher in madreseh might be greatly offended if a letter from a layman failed to call him 'ayatollah', but he would vigorously reject

851-461: The number of individuals who call themselves an Ayatollah dramatically. An unwritten rule of addressing for Shia clerics has been developed after the 1980s as a result of Iranian Revolution, despite the fact no official institutional way of conferring titles is available. At first the title that had been reserved for a Marja', was gradually applied to an established Mujtahid. With the post-revolutionary bureaucratization of Shia seminaries under

888-573: The other main Sunni Arab -led list, Iraqi Accord Front because that group's largest component, the Iraqi Islamic Party , had backed the new constitution, which Mutlaq rejected due to it granting federalism and autonomy to different regions, and also because it did not emphasise Iraq's Arab identity. The Front performed relatively well in the December 2005 election , winning 11 seats , but complained of widespread electoral fraud and called for

925-440: The parties sharing a list may be past or present rivals; the situation will be even more complicated for the December 2005 election because parties can form different alliances in different governorates. The landscape is currently fluid; what follows is a list of some of the more important parties and coalitions, with a focus on alliances that have shifted since the January 2005 election. This coalition, dominated by Shi'ite parties,

962-473: The rulers were downgraded by not being addressed as an Ayatollah. The earliest known address of this title is for Ibn Mutahhar Al-Hilli (died 1374), however it was not in use as a title for those qualifying until the 20th century. Glassé states that following domination of Twelver branch by followers of Usuli school and demise of Akhbari school, the title was popularized by Usuli s as an attempt to promote their status. Mirza Ali Aqa Tabrizi

999-404: The title Ayatollah was awarded by popular usage only to the very few highest ranking, prominent Mujtahid . Qualifications included Consequently, by the 1960s a cleric addressed as an Ayatollah was expected to be a Marja' . The title of Ayatollah (and other Iranian Shi'i titles) has been "cheapened" since then. Roy Mottahedeh describes how the title of ayatollah was determined in

1036-483: The title if addressed as an ayatollah in public - vigorously, that is, until he sensed that other mullahs of his level would tolerate hearing him so addressed, at which point he would quietly let his students impose the title on him. According to Michael M. J. Fischer , the Iranian Revolution led to "rapid inflation of religious titles", so that almost every senior cleric began to be called an Ayatollah. raising

1073-417: The two worlds', dual form ) or fī l-ʿālamīn ( Arabic : في العالمین , lit.   'in the worlds', plural form ) and ʾāyatu llāhi fī l-warā ( Arabic : آية الله في الورى , lit.   'Sign of God among mortals'). Though no formal hierarchical structure exists among Shia clerics, a "hierarchy of difference" can be elaborated to describe the situation. Traditionally,

1110-541: The voters in several provinces. It was expected that these provinces would thus return mostly Sunni Arab representatives, after most Sunnis boycotted the previous election. The deadline for registering parties and coalitions closed on 28 October. The Electoral Commission announced that 228 lists had been registered, including 21 coalitions. The emerging Iraqi political scene was marked by groups of established parties running on joint lists, often grouped on sectarian or ethnic grounds. These lists are not necessarily stable, as

1147-534: Was addressed with mid-level title of Hujjat al-Islam when he was in office as President of Iran —was bestowed the title Ayatollah immediately after he was elected Supreme Leader of Iran in 1989, without meeting regular unwritten criteria (such as authoring a Risalah ). Since the 2010s, sources under government control tend to give him more distinguished titles like Grand Ayatollah and Imam . Certain clerics, such as Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari and Hussein-Ali Montazeri , who had fallen out of favor with

Iraqi National Dialogue Front - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-520: Was an "indirect result of the reform and strengthening of the religious institution in Qom ". Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi (1859–1937) who founded Qom Seminary , may be the first to bear the title according to Algar. While the title Ayatollah was sporadically used during the 1930s, it became widespread in the 1940s. Only a few of the most important ayatollahs are accorded the rank of Grand Ayatollah ( Ayatollah Uzma , "Great Sign of God"). When an ayatollah gains

1221-574: Was established by Iyad Allawi , who served as interim Prime Minister before the January 2005 election. It is dominated by his Iraqi National Accord party. For the December 2005 election, it has joined forces with former interim President Ghazi al-Yawar 's The Iraqis list, the People's Union list (which is dominated by the Iraqi Communist Party ), and the Sunni Arab politician Adnan Pachachi and his Assembly of Independent Democrats to form

1258-464: Was formed to contest the January 2005 election with the blessing of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani , the most senior Shi'ite cleric based in Iraq. It won the most votes in that election and became the senior partner in the coalition government that ran Iraq for most of 2005. The UIA's main components were: In advance of the December 2005 elections, Moqtada al-Sadr 's party chose to join the Alliance. However,

1295-587: Was further expanded to include any student who had passed their Mujtahid final exam, leading to "thousands" of Ayatollahs. The title is not used by the Sunni community of Iran, nor by Shias in Lebanon , Pakistan , or India . In Iraq , the title is not unknown, but is only used for clerics of Iranian origin. In the Western world – especially after the Iranian Revolution – it was associated with Ruhollah Khomeini , who

1332-494: Was so well known as to often be referred to as "The Ayatollah". The title is originally derived from Arabic word Āyah pre-modified with the definite article al and post-modified with the word Allah , making ʾāyatu llāh ( Arabic : آية الله ). The combination has been translated to English as 'Sign of God', 'Divine Sign' or 'Reflection of God'. It is a frequently-used term in Quran , but its usage in this context

1369-594: Was the first one to use the term Ayatullah for the sources of emulation in Najaf, especially Akhund Khurasani (1839–1911), to distinguish them from the clerics of lower rank in Tehran, during the 1905-1911 Persian Constitutional Revolution . ( Mirza Sayyed Mohammad Tabatabai and Seyyed Abdollah Behbahani were also given that honorific by constitutionalists according to Loghatnameh Dehkhoda .) Hamid Algar maintains that this title entered general usage possibly because it

#918081