Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq
Encyclopedia
The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI or SIIC) ' onMouseout='HidePop("17481")' href="/topics/Iraq">Iraq
(SCIRI) is an Iraqi political party. Its political support comes from the country's Shi'a
Muslim community. Prior to his assassination in August 2003, SCIRI was led by Ayatollah
Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim
; afterwards it was led by the ayatollah's brother, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim
. After Abdul Aziz al-Hakim's death his son Ammar al-Hakim
became the group's new leader. In light of its gains in the three 2005 elections
and government appointments, the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council became one of Iraq's most powerful political parties and was the largest party in the Iraqi Council of Representatives until the 2010 Iraqi elections.
, was severely weakened by a government crackdown following Dawa's unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Iraqi president Saddam Hussein
. The Iranian Islamic revolutionary government arranged for the formation of SCIRI, which was based in exile in Tehran and under the leadership of Mohammad-Baqir al-Hakim. Hakim, living in exile in Iran, was the son of Ayatollah Mohsen-Hakim and a member of one of the leading Shi'a clerical families in Iraq. "He declared the primary aim of the council to be the overthrow of the Ba'ath and the establishment of an Islamic government in Iraq. Iranian officials referred to Hakim as the leader of Iraq's future Islamic state ..."
SCIRI was designed to be an umbrella organization that would unite under one banner the various Iraqi Shia groups, including al-Dawa and Munazamat. For this reason, it has been likened to the American-backed Iraqi National Congress
.
However, there are crucial ideological differences between SCIRI and al-Dawa. SCIRI supports the ideologies of Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
that Islamic Government must be controlled by the ulema
(Islamic scholars). Al-Dawa, on the other hand, follows the position of Iraq's late Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr, and al-Dawa co-founder, that government should be controlled by the ummah
(Muslim community as a whole).
Despite this ideological disagreement, several of SCIRI's factions came from al-Dawa before the 2003 invasion of Iraq
. This historical intersection is significant because al-Dawa was widely viewed as a terrorist group during the Iran–Iraq War. In February 2007, journalists reported that Jamal Jaafar Muhammed, who was elected to the Iraqi parliament in 2005 as part of the SCIRI/Badr faction of the United Iraqi Alliance, was also sentenced to death in Kuwait for planning the al-Dawa bombings of the French and American embassies in that country in 1983.
and the Muslim Brotherhood
. SCIRI is alleged to receive money and weapons from Iran, and is often accused of being a proxy for Iranian interests. The party leaders have toned down many of the party's public positions and committed it to democracy
and peaceful cooperation. SCIRI's power base is in the Shi'a-majority southern Iraq. The council's armed wing, the Badr Organization
, reportedly has had an estimated strength of between 4,000 and 10,000 men. Its Baghdad
offices are based in a house that previously belonged to Ba'athist Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz
.
Its leader, Ayatollah al-Hakim, was killed in a car bomb attack
in the Iraqi city of Najaf
on August 29, 2003. The car bomb exploded as the ayatollah was leaving a religious shrine (Imam Ali Mosque
) in the city, just after Friday prayers, killing more than 85. According to Kurdish Intelligence officials, Yassin Jarad, allegedly Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
's father-in-law, carried out the car bombing.
SIIC's support is strongest in Iraq's south especially Basra
, where it has been said to have become "the de facto government."
It joined the United Iraqi Alliance
list for the general election on January 30, 2005 (see Iraqi legislative election, 2005
), but filed separate lists in some governorate council elections held on the same day (see for instance Ninawa governorate council election, 2005
). In the January 2005 election it won six out of eight Shia-majority governorates and came in first in Baghdad with 40% of the vote. Following the election SIIC had many members hired by various government ministries, particularly the Interior Ministry, "ensuring a favorable position for" it.
Its administration in Southern Iraq has been criticized as corrupt and as "theocracy mixed with thuggery" According to a 2005 report by journalist Doug Ireland, the Badr Organization has been involved in many incidents of attacking and killing gays
in Iraq. According to the British television Channel 4, from 2005 through early 2006, SIIC's Badr Organization
members working as commandos in the Ministry of the Interior (which Badr controls) "have been implicated in rounding up and killing thousands of ordinary Sunni civilians."
Ideologically SIIC differs from Muqtada al-Sadr
and its sometime ally Islamic Dawa Party
, in favoring a decentralized Iraq state with an autonomous Shia zone in the south.
interview in London, Ghazi al-Yawar the Sunni Arab sheik, cited reports that Iran sent close to a million people to Iraq and covertly supplied Shiite religious groups with money to help compete in the elections. But U.S. and Iraqi officials say that many of the migrants crossing the largely unmonitored border are Iraqi Shiite families who fled Saddam Hussein's repression, particularly after the failed Shiite uprising that followed the 1991 Gulf war
Expressing the council's rejection of the "concept of a civil or sectarian war," the statement accused terrorists, extremists and supporters of Takfiri
(accusing someone of unbelief) of causing bloodshed in Iraq.
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
(SCIRI) is an Iraqi political party. Its political support comes from the country's Shi'a
Shi'a Islam
Shia Islam is the second largest denomination of Islam. The followers of Shia Islam are called Shi'ites or Shias. "Shia" is the short form of the historic phrase Shīʻatu ʻAlī , meaning "followers of Ali", "faction of Ali", or "party of Ali".Like other schools of thought in Islam, Shia Islam is...
Muslim community. Prior to his assassination in August 2003, SCIRI was led by Ayatollah
Ayatollah
Ayatollah is a high ranking title given to Usuli Twelver Shī‘ah clerics. Those who carry the title are experts in Islamic studies such as jurisprudence, ethics, and philosophy and usually teach in Islamic seminaries. The next lower clerical rank is Hojatoleslam wal-muslemin...
Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim
Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim
Ayatollah Sayed Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim , also known as Shaheed al-Mehraab was one of the foremost Twelver Shi'a Muslim leaders in Iraq until his assassination in a bombing in Najaf...
; afterwards it was led by the ayatollah's brother, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim
Sayyed Abdul Aziz al-Hakim was an Iraqi theologian and politician and the leader of Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a party that enjoys approximately 5% support in the Iraqi Council of Representatives....
. After Abdul Aziz al-Hakim's death his son Ammar al-Hakim
Ammar al-Hakim
Sayyed Ammar al-Hakim is an Iraqi politician who leads the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, which was the largest party in Iraq's Council of Representatives from the 2003 Invasion of Iraq until the 2010 Iraqi elections....
became the group's new leader. In light of its gains in the three 2005 elections
2005 Iraqi elections
There were two national legislative elections in Iraq in 2005:*Iraqi legislative election, January 2005 for an assembly to draft a Constitution and*Iraqi legislative election, December 2005 for the first assembly under the new constitution....
and government appointments, the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council became one of Iraq's most powerful political parties and was the largest party in the Iraqi Council of Representatives until the 2010 Iraqi elections.
History
Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq was founded in 1982 during the Iran–Iraq War after the leading Islamist insurgent group, Islamic Dawa PartyIslamic Dawa Party
The Islamic Dawa Party or Islamic Call Party is a political party in Iraq. Dawa and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council are two of the main parties in the religious-Shiite United Iraqi Alliance, which won a plurality of seats in both the provisional January 2005 Iraqi election and the longer-term...
, was severely weakened by a government crackdown following Dawa's unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Iraqi president Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
. The Iranian Islamic revolutionary government arranged for the formation of SCIRI, which was based in exile in Tehran and under the leadership of Mohammad-Baqir al-Hakim. Hakim, living in exile in Iran, was the son of Ayatollah Mohsen-Hakim and a member of one of the leading Shi'a clerical families in Iraq. "He declared the primary aim of the council to be the overthrow of the Ba'ath and the establishment of an Islamic government in Iraq. Iranian officials referred to Hakim as the leader of Iraq's future Islamic state ..."
SCIRI was designed to be an umbrella organization that would unite under one banner the various Iraqi Shia groups, including al-Dawa and Munazamat. For this reason, it has been likened to the American-backed Iraqi National Congress
Iraqi National Congress
The Iraqi National Congress is an umbrella Iraqi opposition group led by Ahmed Chalabi. It was formed with the aid and direction of the United States government following the Gulf War, for the purpose of fomenting the overthrow of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.-History:INC was set up following the...
.
However, there are crucial ideological differences between SCIRI and al-Dawa. SCIRI supports the ideologies of Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini
Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini was an Iranian religious leader and politician, and leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution which saw the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran...
that Islamic Government must be controlled by the ulema
Ulema
Ulama , also spelt ulema, refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of shari‘a law...
(Islamic scholars). Al-Dawa, on the other hand, follows the position of Iraq's late Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr, and al-Dawa co-founder, that government should be controlled by the ummah
Ummah
Ummah is an Arabic word meaning "community" or "nation." It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of states, or the whole Arab world...
(Muslim community as a whole).
Despite this ideological disagreement, several of SCIRI's factions came from al-Dawa before the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. This historical intersection is significant because al-Dawa was widely viewed as a terrorist group during the Iran–Iraq War. In February 2007, journalists reported that Jamal Jaafar Muhammed, who was elected to the Iraqi parliament in 2005 as part of the SCIRI/Badr faction of the United Iraqi Alliance, was also sentenced to death in Kuwait for planning the al-Dawa bombings of the French and American embassies in that country in 1983.
Post-invasion
With the fall of Saddam Hussein after the invasion of Iraq, SCIRI quickly rose to prominence in Iraq, working closely with the other Shi'a parties. It gained popularity among Shiite Iraqis by providing social services and humanitarian aid, following the pattern of Islamic organizations in other countries such as HamasHamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
and the Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
. SCIRI is alleged to receive money and weapons from Iran, and is often accused of being a proxy for Iranian interests. The party leaders have toned down many of the party's public positions and committed it to democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
and peaceful cooperation. SCIRI's power base is in the Shi'a-majority southern Iraq. The council's armed wing, the Badr Organization
Badr Organization
The Badr Organization previously known as the Badr Brigades or Badr Corps is an Iraqi political party headed by Hadi al-Amiri...
, reportedly has had an estimated strength of between 4,000 and 10,000 men. Its Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
offices are based in a house that previously belonged to Ba'athist Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz
Tariq Aziz
Tariq Aziz and Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq and a close advisor of former President Saddam Hussein. Their association began in the 1950s when both were activists for the then-banned Ba'ath Arab Socialist Party...
.
Its leader, Ayatollah al-Hakim, was killed in a car bomb attack
Imam Ali Mosque bombing
The Imam Ali Mosque bombing was the detonation of two car bombs outside of the Shia Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf on August 29, 2003. The attack killed 83 people crowded around the mosque for Friday prayers, including Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, spiritual leader of the Supreme Council of the...
in the Iraqi city of Najaf
Najaf
Najaf is a city in Iraq about 160 km south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2008 is 560,000 people. It is the capital of Najaf Governorate...
on August 29, 2003. The car bomb exploded as the ayatollah was leaving a religious shrine (Imam Ali Mosque
Imam Ali Mosque
The Imām ‘Alī Holy Shrine , also known as Masjid Ali or the Mosque of ‘Alī, located in Najaf, Iraq, is the third holiest site for some of the estimated 200 million followers of the Shia branch of Islam. ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib, the cousin of Muhammad, the fourth caliph , the first Imam is buried here...
) in the city, just after Friday prayers, killing more than 85. According to Kurdish Intelligence officials, Yassin Jarad, allegedly Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh was a Jordanian militant Islamist who ran a paramilitary training camp in Afghanistan...
's father-in-law, carried out the car bombing.
Politics
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
, where it has been said to have become "the de facto government."
It joined the United Iraqi Alliance
United Iraqi Alliance
The National Iraqi Alliance , also known as the Watani List, is an Iraqi electoral coalition that contested the Iraqi legislative election, 2010. The Alliance is mainly composed of Shi'a Islamist parties...
list for the general election on January 30, 2005 (see Iraqi legislative election, 2005
Iraqi legislative election, January 2005
Elections for the National Assembly of Iraq were held on January 30, 2005 in Iraq. The 275-member National Assembly was a parliament created under the Transitional Law during the Occupation of Iraq...
), but filed separate lists in some governorate council elections held on the same day (see for instance Ninawa governorate council election, 2005
Ninawa governorate council election, 2005
The Governorate Council election in the Ninawa governorate of Iraq was held on January 30, 2005, simultaneously with the national legislative election. The province is largely a mix of Sunnis and Kurds, but there is also a significant Shi'ite presence...
). In the January 2005 election it won six out of eight Shia-majority governorates and came in first in Baghdad with 40% of the vote. Following the election SIIC had many members hired by various government ministries, particularly the Interior Ministry, "ensuring a favorable position for" it.
Its administration in Southern Iraq has been criticized as corrupt and as "theocracy mixed with thuggery" According to a 2005 report by journalist Doug Ireland, the Badr Organization has been involved in many incidents of attacking and killing gays
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
in Iraq. According to the British television Channel 4, from 2005 through early 2006, SIIC's Badr Organization
Badr Organization
The Badr Organization previously known as the Badr Brigades or Badr Corps is an Iraqi political party headed by Hadi al-Amiri...
members working as commandos in the Ministry of the Interior (which Badr controls) "have been implicated in rounding up and killing thousands of ordinary Sunni civilians."
Ideologically SIIC differs from Muqtada al-Sadr
Muqtada al-Sadr
Sayyid Muqtadā al-Ṣadr is an Iraqi Islamic political leader.Along with Ali al-Sistani and Ammar al-Hakim of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, Sadr is one of the most influential religious and political figures in the country not holding any official title in the Iraqi government.-Titles:He is...
and its sometime ally Islamic Dawa Party
Islamic Dawa Party
The Islamic Dawa Party or Islamic Call Party is a political party in Iraq. Dawa and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council are two of the main parties in the religious-Shiite United Iraqi Alliance, which won a plurality of seats in both the provisional January 2005 Iraqi election and the longer-term...
, in favoring a decentralized Iraq state with an autonomous Shia zone in the south.
2009 Governorate Elections
During the Iraqi governorate elections, 2009 ISCI ran under the name al-Mehrab Martyr List, the ISCI did not perform as well as they hoped to, winning 6.6% of vote and 52 out of 440 seats. They did however come second in the election.| Governorate | Percentage | Seats Won | Total Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| al-Anbar | - | 0 | 29 |
| Babil | 8.2% | 5 | 30 |
| Baghdad | 5.4% | 3 | 57 |
| Basra | 11.6% | 5 | 35 |
| Dhi Qar | 11.1% | 5 | 31 |
| Diyala | - | 0 | 29 |
| Karbala | 6.4% | 4 | 27 |
| Maysan | 15.2% | 7 | 27 |
| al-Muthanna | 9.3% | 5 | 26 |
| Najaf | 14.8% | 7 | 28 |
| Ninawa Ninawa Governorate Ninawa is a governorate in northern Iraq, and the Arabic name for the biblical city of Nineveh in Assyria. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people in 2003. Its chief city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of ancient... |
1.9% | 0 | 37 |
| al-Qadisiyyah | 11.7% | 4 | 28 |
| Salah ad-Din | 2.9% | 1 | 28 |
| Wassit | 10.0% | 6 | 28 |
| Total: | 6.6% | 52 | 440 |
Iranian support
In a BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
interview in London, Ghazi al-Yawar the Sunni Arab sheik, cited reports that Iran sent close to a million people to Iraq and covertly supplied Shiite religious groups with money to help compete in the elections. But U.S. and Iraqi officials say that many of the migrants crossing the largely unmonitored border are Iraqi Shiite families who fled Saddam Hussein's repression, particularly after the failed Shiite uprising that followed the 1991 Gulf war
Supreme Council name change
The Council was formerly known as SCIRI, but in a statement released May 11, SCIRI officials told Reuters the Islamist party would change its name to reflect what they called the changing situation in Iraq, removing the word "Revolution" because that was seen as a reference to overthrowing the Ba'athist government. "Our name will change to the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council. Other things will change as well," said the SCIRI official.Expressing the council's rejection of the "concept of a civil or sectarian war," the statement accused terrorists, extremists and supporters of Takfiri
Takfiri
A Takfiri is a Muslim who practices Takfir, which is to accuse other Muslims of apostasy. The term Takfir derives from the word kafir and is described as when "...one who is, or claims to be, a Muslim is declared impure." Those to whom Takfir is applied are considered excommunicated in the eyes...
(accusing someone of unbelief) of causing bloodshed in Iraq.
Prominent figures of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq
- Mohammed Baqir al-HakimMohammed Baqir al-HakimAyatollah Sayed Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim , also known as Shaheed al-Mehraab was one of the foremost Twelver Shi'a Muslim leaders in Iraq until his assassination in a bombing in Najaf...
(Leader of the SCIRI from 1982 to 2003) - Abdul Aziz al-HakimAbdul Aziz al-HakimSayyed Abdul Aziz al-Hakim was an Iraqi theologian and politician and the leader of Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a party that enjoys approximately 5% support in the Iraqi Council of Representatives....
(Leader of the ISCI and the United Iraqi Alliance from 2003 to 2009) - Ammar al-HakimAmmar al-HakimSayyed Ammar al-Hakim is an Iraqi politician who leads the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, which was the largest party in Iraq's Council of Representatives from the 2003 Invasion of Iraq until the 2010 Iraqi elections....
(Leader of the ISCI since 2009) - Adil Abdul-MahdiAdil Abdul-MahdiAdil Abdul-Mahdi is an Iraqi Shi'a politician, economist, and was the Vice Presidents of Iraq from 2005 to 2011. He was formerly the Finance Minister in the Interim government....
(Vice President of Iraq) - Hadi Al-AmiriHadi Al-AmiriHadi Al-Amiri is the current Iraqi minister of transportation and the head of the Badr Organization, which was the military wing of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council...
(Head of Badr OrganizationBadr OrganizationThe Badr Organization previously known as the Badr Brigades or Badr Corps is an Iraqi political party headed by Hadi al-Amiri...
and Iraq parliament member) - Baqir Jabr al-Zubeidi (Iraq minister of finance)
- Riad Ghareeb (Iraq minister of municipalities and public works)
- Mahmoud al-RadiMahmoud al-RadiMahmoud Mohammed al-Radhi is an Iraqi politician from the religious Shia Arab-led Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, and the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs since May 2006....
(Iraq minister of labour and social affairs) - Akram al-Hakim (Iraq minister of state for the national dialogue affairs)
- Mohammad Jassem KhodayyirMohammad Jassem KhodayyirMohammad Jassem Khodayyir was Minister for Immigration in the cabinet appointed by the Interim Iraq Governing Council in September 2003. A Shia Muslim, Khodayyir is a member of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council-References:...
(Ex. Minister for Immigration) - Jalal al-Din Ali al-SaghirJalal al-Din Ali al-SaghirSheikh Jalal al-Din Ali al-Sagheer is an Iraqi politician and a former member of parliament in the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. The Daily Telegraph, 2005-01-29, accessed on 2007-07-03...
(Head of the United Iraqi Alliance parliamentary bloc (2009-2010)) - Humam HamoudiHumam HamoudiHumam Hamoudi is one of the most important figures in Iraqi politics. He is a member of the Council of Representatives of Iraq representing the United Iraqi Alliance...
(Iraq parliament member) - Ridha Jawad TaqiRidha Jawad TaqiRida Jawad Taqi is an Iraqi politician and a member of the Council of Representatives of Iraq for the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.He was elected to the Council in December 2005 as part of the United Iraqi Alliance coalition....
(Iraq parliament member)