Posted on 09/24/2008 12:24:29 PM PDT by forkinsocket
Conventional wisdom holds that when Iran's supreme leader says, "Jump," millions of Shiites, from the Beirut slums to the Saudi oilfields, ask, "How high?" But a recent meeting in Baghdad between a wealthy Lebanese Sunni politician and an ascetic Shiite theologian twice his age suggests that there is a move afoot to empower Shiite voters throughout the Middle East to cast ballots according to their conscience, not according to the marching orders from Tehran. If that trend gains traction, it could fundamentally alter the political landscape of the region.
In July, a representative of the preeminent Iraqi Shiite religious figure Grand Ayatollah Seyyid Ali Sistani issued a statement expressing the cleric's views on the impending Iraqi elections. Unlike the 2005 national elections--when Sistani endorsed a single Shiite slate known as the United Iraqi Alliance, handpicked the members of the candidate selection committee, and served as the spiritual figurehead of the list--Sistani's aide opined that in 2009, Iraqi Shiites needn't vote for an artificially unified list dominated by Iranian-allied parties. Instead, he said, Shiites should cast their ballots for parties who field the best candidates offering the best policies.
Sistani's support for political pluralism among the Shiite community amounts to a decision to sacrifice his own political power in order to break Iran's hegemony over Iraqi Shi'ites. It's a courageous decision for Sistani, given that other high-profile moderate Shiite clerics, such as Abdul Majid Khoei, have in recent years been killed in Iraq by Iranian surrogates. His shift may be related to the improved security situation, in which sectarian unity is no longer fundamentally necessary to ensure the Shiite community's security. Or perhaps Sistani's change in tact suggests a better appreciation of the pernicious role Iran has been playing in Iraqi politics.
(Excerpt) Read more at tnr.com ...
But just in case someone comes here thinking the topic is the awaited Twelfth Imam, he or she can find information on Muslim End-Time beliefs, see my FR Homepage and Links page.> > >
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