Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim

Ayatollah al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Muhsin al-Hakim at-Tabataba'i (8 July 1939 – 29 August 2003; Template:Langx), 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).<ref name='A1' /><ref name='A2' /> Al-Hakim spent more than 20 years in exile in Iran and returned to Iraq on 12 May 2003 following the US-led invasion.<ref name='A3'>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name='A3' /> 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.<ref name='A3' /> Al-Hakim was assassinated in a massive car-bomb explosion in his hometown Najaf in 2003 when he emerged from the shrine of Imam Ali. He was 64.<ref name='A3' /> At least 75 others were also killed in the bombing.<ref name='A3' />

Biography

Early life

Al-Hakim was born in Najaf in 1939 into the Hakim Family of Shi'ite religious scholars.<ref name='A1'>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name='A2'>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name='A3'/> He was the son of Muhsin al-Hakim<ref name=oxfordref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Fawzieh Hassan Bazzi. Al-Hakim was the uncle of Muhammad Sayid al-Hakim.<ref name=cnn>Template:Cite news</ref> Al-Hakim's father was a senior cleric in Najaf.<ref name='A3' /> He learned a traditional Shiite imam's training.<ref name='A3' /> He was arrested and tortured for his beliefs by the Ba'athist government in 1972 and fled to Iran in 1980.<ref name='A3' /> Many relatives of Al-Hakim were killed by the Baathist government.<ref name='A3' />

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,<ref name='A8'>Template:Cite news</ref> intent on securing a new ally against Saddam Hussein.<ref name='A8' /> 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.<ref name='A8' /> In an event, Mohammad Baqir Al-Sadr sent Al-Hakim to calm the people who were trapped by Saddam Hussein's government troops between Karbala and Najaf.<ref name='A10'>Template:Cite book</ref> This incident prompted the Baathist government to arrest Baqir Al-Hakim, he was subsequently imprisoned and tortured.<ref name='A10'/> When Mohammad Baqir Al-Sadr was on house arrest remained in communication with Baqir Al-Hakim.<ref name='A10' />

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).<ref name='A9'>Template:Cite news</ref>

However, his sentence was commuted and he was released in July 1979.<ref name='A10' /> 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.<ref name='A1' />

SCIRI and Iran

Safely in Iran under the protection of the Iranian government, Al-Hakim became an open enemy of the Ba'athists, forming the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI),<ref name=oxfordref /> a revolutionary group dedicated to overthrowing Saddam Hussein and installing clerical rule.<ref name='A9' />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.<ref name='A12'>Template:Cite news</ref>

Badr Brigades

The Badr Brigades were the military wing of SCIRI until 2003.<ref name='A10' /> Al-Hakim created the Badr Brigades which fought against Saddam Hussein.<ref name='A10' /> The Badr Brigades contained to number about 10,000 equipped and trained soldiers.<ref name='A12' /> On 11 February 1995, Badr corps attacked Iraqi government forces in Amarah.<ref name='A10' /> During the War in Iraq (2013–17), Badr Brigades fought against ISIL under the Popular Mobilization Forces.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref name='A2' /> 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.<ref name='A9' />

Initially, he was very critical of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, but Al-Hakim gave the US credit for overthrowing Saddam's government first, so that SCIRI and other Shia opposition parties found time to re-establish themselves between Shia people.<ref name='A9' /> Al-Hakim's brother, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, was appointed to the Iraq interim governing council and the two worked closely together.<ref name='A9' /> 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.<ref name='A9' /> 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".<ref>"Iraq's death squads: on the brink of civil war", The Independent, 26 February 2006.</ref>

Assassination

Al-Hakim was killed on 29 August 2003, when a car bomb exploded as he left the Shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf.<ref name=escobar>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name=cbs>Template:Cite news</ref>

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 Arab Salafis.<ref name='A4'>Template:Cite news</ref>

According to U.S. and Iraqi officials, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was responsible for Hakim's assassination.<ref name='A5'>"Zarqawi kin reportedly bombed shrine in Iraq", by Mohamad Bazzi, 7 February 2005</ref><ref name='A6'>Template:Cite news</ref> They claim that Abu Omar al-Kurdi, a top Zarqawi bombmaker who was captured in January 2005, confessed to carrying out this bombing.<ref name='A5' /><ref name='A6' /> They also cite Zarqawi's praising of the assassination in several audiotapes.<ref name='A5' /><ref name='A6' /> Muhammad Yassin Jarrad, the brother-in-law of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed that his father, Yassin, was the suicide bomber in the attack.<ref name='A5' /><ref name='A6' />

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.<ref name=thesun7>Template:Cite news</ref>

Funeral

Hundreds of thousands of people attended his funeral in Najaf and showed their hatred of the US military occupation on 2 September 2003.<ref name=guardian293>Template:Cite news</ref> They protested the US forces and demanded their withdrawal from Iraq.<ref name=rory>Template:Cite news</ref>

His grave was petrol-bombed by anti-government protesters during the 2019 Iraqi protests.<ref name="veconomist" >Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
• Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
• Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah
• Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr

External links

• Website dedicated to al-Hakim (Arabic) Template:Webarchive