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Muqtada Vs

Juan Cole 04/21/2004

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Muqtada vs. the Grand Ayatollahs

Ed Wong of the NYT has a canny read on the stand-off between Muqtada al-Sadr and the Grand Ayatollahs of Najaf.

‘ by choosing to make his stand in Najaf, one of the holiest cities in Shiite Islam, Sadr has cast the war in the south as a struggle between infidels and all Shiites. Perhaps most boldly, he has challenged the authority and methods of more senior religious leaders, especially Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most respected cleric in Iraq . . “Moktada can’t have recognition from the religious establishment as a cleric, but he can gain general power as a politician and sectarian leader, making the grand ayatollahs back off their trenchant and open critiques of him,” said Juan Cole, a professor of Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the University of Michigan and an expert on Shiite Islam. ‘.

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About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page

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Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires



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The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam


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