The Political Strategies of Ayatollah Sistani for Forming National Identity and State in Iraq

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD Candidate in Political Thought, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.

10.22081/psq.2024.69122.2886

Abstract

Since the decline of the Ottoman Empire, Iraqi society has faced a significant challenge: the formation of a national identity and state. The strategies of Iraq’s diverse political forces—from romantic nationalists to Ba'athist pan-Arabists and political Islamists—despite vast differences, centered on preserving Iraq’s national state against Western and Iranian influence. However, the approach to this nation-state building has been highly contested. This study, following Skinner’s author-context hermeneutics, examines Ayatollah Sistani’s strategies in addressing the challenge of building Iraq’s modern nation-state. Ayatollah Sistani, as a leading Shiite authority, has played a pivotal role in preserving Iraq’s political unity within the global system of nation-states. An Iranian-born cleric based in Najaf, he aims to lay the groundwork for forming a cohesive national identity and state in post-2003 Iraq. Ayatollah Sistani initiated his political engagement by diagnosing Iraq’s crisis as rooted in challenges to national identity and statehood and seeks to provide strategies for their formation in terms of contemporary Shiite jurisprudential teachings. His strategies, grounded in a continuous reminder from Iraq’s religious institutions and reinforced by both the Iraqi public and policymakers, have guided the nation toward achieving national sovereignty while maintaining both internal and external independence from foreign political influences. This central question emerges: What are Ayatollah Sistani’s strategies for forming Iraq’s national identity and state? The research findings show that Ayatollah Sistani identifies the erosion of Iraq’s religious and national culture as a critical issue, advocating for national identity and statehood based on three core principles: the emergence of the virtuous citizen to address sectarian strife, the establishment of peaceful coexistence to heal political factionalism, and the formation of modern political institutions to counter authoritarianism.

Keywords

References

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