Information Related to "World News Review May 2004"
Good News subscriptionAudio/Video
view Beyond Today

In Brief...
World News Review

Contributors: Jerold Aust, Cecil Maranville, Melvin Rhodes and John Ross Schroeder

Moqtada al-Sadr—Revolutionary or Puppet?

Is Moqtada al-Sadr a genuine Shia religious leader, guiding the righteous anger of thousands of young Iraqis in opposition to the coalition occupation of their country? Or is he a self-important rebel, either taking direct orders from Iranian mullahs or being adroitly manipulated by them?

Al-Sadr's name is gaining recognition worldwide with the recent violent actions of his "Mahdi Army" against coalition forces, but he was little known outside Iraq until recently. The name "Mahdi" has double significance. It links al-Sadr's objectives with that of the army of Mohammed Ahmed bin Abdullah of the late 19th century in Sudan. Bin Abdullah, a boat builder on the Nile by trade, changed his name to el Mahdi ("the guided one"), and led an uprising against the British occupation forces in Sudan in the 1880s.

Some Shia traditions teach that Mohammed, the founder of Islam, had a vision of a mahdi who would arise at a time when Muslims around the world were oppressed. The mahdi, says the tradition, would unite all Muslims to throw off their oppressors, thereby ushering in an age of peace and security—a sort of "Muslim messiah."

Perhaps al-Sadr sees himself as driving the coalition from Iraq and even as the prophesied Muslim "savior."

But is this young man truly a religious leader?

His only claim to "religious authority" is his father, Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, who was selected by Saddam Hussein to lead the main center for Shia instruction in Iraq. Even Al Jazeera reports that he lacks the religious education and degrees that Shia doctrine requires for him to qualify as a cleric ("Muqtada al-Sadr—a Profile," April 5, 2004). So he is a fraud in that regard.

Read the full article at www.wnponline.org/wnp/wnp0405/inbrief0405.htm


Related Information on UCG Sites:

Table of Contents that includes "World News Review May 2004"

Syria:

European Union - trade: Iraq: Search Our Site
Key Subjects Index
General Topics Index
Biblical References Index
Good News Magazine Index
Booklets and All Literature Index
Home Page of this site