Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06HILLAH62
2006-04-12 04:29:00
UNCLASSIFIED
REO Hillah
Cable title:  

TEXT OF FATWA ISSUED BY MUQTADA AL-SADR IN RESPONSE TO

Tags:  PGOV KISL IZ 
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VZCZCXRO0154
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHIHL #0062 1020429
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 120429Z APR 06
FM REO HILLAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0596
INFO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0580
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHIHL/REO HILLAH 0645
UNCLAS HILLAH 000062 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KISL IZ
SUBJECT: TEXT OF FATWA ISSUED BY MUQTADA AL-SADR IN RESPONSE TO
EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK

UNCLAS HILLAH 000062

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KISL IZ
SUBJECT: TEXT OF FATWA ISSUED BY MUQTADA AL-SADR IN RESPONSE TO
EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK


1. (U) On April 11, Muqtada Al-Sadr issued a fatwa in response
to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's comments questioning the
loyalty of Iraqi Shi'a.


2. (U) Begin Text (translated by REO Hillah local staff):

By the Name of God:

Your Excellency the Leader of Islam and Muslims:
Within this conflict that is lived by the sons of this injured
country and within the latest events, and while many of the
rioters increased attempts to spread rumors that divide the
ethnicities of the country, and with the absence of voices that
call for unity and to stop bloodshed on this sacred country.

Iraqis are surprised by the latest statements of the Egyptian
president Hosni Mubarak, in which he accused the sons of the
Islamic Shi'a of loyalty to Iran and disloyalty to their
country. As a son of this entity we would like you to give your
opinion against this claim which came from a known political
figure in the Arabic and international community.

Group of the Islamic Shi'a
April 11, 2006

Muqtada:

By the name of God:

"if we go back in Shi'a history we shall see Shi'a belief is the
loyalty to the prophet Mohammed and his family, the source of
the loyalty is in Medina first, and Najaf second. So we can then
say the Shi'a in Iran are followers of Iraq since the Imam Ali
lived in Kufa and is buried in Najaf.

As Muslims, our loyalty is to Islam and as Arabs our loyalty is
to the Arabs, but those such as the Egyptian president have no
knowledge of these fields and they forget that relationships
with any Islamic country is not shameful. Shameful and forbidden
is the loyalty to the ominous trinity of America, the United
Kingdom, and Israel, and partnership with Zionists and the
American invaders. So I'm surprised to hear that some claim they
are Arab. Does "Arab" mean your loyalty to this trinity?

Many Sunni Arabs follow the scholars in Saudi and in Azhar
(Cairo) but that does not mean they are loyal to these
countries. The Shi'a religious center is in Najaf.

I advise all Arabs, as a nation and as government that Iraq is
in a difficult period that requires their support so that Iraq
shall not be dragged into ethnic an civil wars. Such statements
serve nobody except the enemy and ignite the civil war that
Iraqis have moved away from due to their knowledge of the risks.

So the son of Omar be assured that sons of Ali and Mahdi are
your brothers in Islam and I shall always work to assure you
from the Shi'a and their governance that we reject Iranaian
influence and the Iranian-American negotiations to show evidence
of Shi'a loyalty to their country.

//Signed// Muqtada Al-Sadr


END TEXT

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