Compared to Khamenei, Iraq's high clergy have such a refreshingly democratic attitude

FG
by FG
20-Oct-2009
 

In Najaf, Iraq's high clergy are pushing for direct elections and direct representation rather than pre-approved party tickets which they see as easily manipulated.

Muhamad Naeem al Kinani, the director of Iraqiein, a Baghdad-based nongovernmental group that monitors the integrity of elections, noted that Iran opposed direct votes and preferred closed lists. "It is looking to serve its interests by having loyal legislators," he said.

The
reason is grounded in theology, he said: Shiite Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, thinks that the clergy should be directly responsible for affairs of state, and his followers believe that his authority transcends borders.

"Sistani is the complete opposite," Kinani said. "He believes that the people themselves should be free to choose who represents them. ... He doesn't impose orders or decisions upon the government. He intervenes only when there is an issue that
touches on the interests of society itself."

For more on that see:

//www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/77413.html

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Anonymouse

Iraq doesn't have Velayat-i-faghih (rule of supreme clergy)

by Anonymouse on

Iraq doesn't have Velayat-i-faghih (rule of supreme clergy) like Iran does.  Another positive for them.  BTW Afghanistan has a better voting recount than Iran does too. 

Another one to one translation of an Iranian expression (about Sistani dying) The eggplants from (city of) Bam do not get diseased! 

It means just like Khamenei who refuses to die, Sistani will live to be a 100!

Everything is sacred.


ex programmer craig

Anonymouse

by ex programmer craig on

Thanks for the explanation about the saying and what it means! I did have it confused! I thought you meant that the article was intended to promote Arabs at the expense of Iranians. I agree with you that Sistani is better. And I'm glad he's teh top cleric in Iraq, because other Iraqi clerics aren't anywhere near as good! I'm worried about what comes after Sistani, because he's getting up there in years!


Anonymouse

Craig Iran's previous Prosecutor general was Iraqi or born in

by Anonymouse on

Craig Iran's previous Prosecutor general was Iraqi or born in Iraq but for all intent and purposes he is Iranian and Iraq can't claim him,  same with Sistani.

My point is that look how much anti-Arab slogans and rhetoric goes on in this website about Arab this and Arab that and Arabization and all that crap that Arabs brought us Islam, IRI and such and now we're doomed and gloomed.  Now compare one Iranian and one Arab Mullah, both Shiite.  The Arab one is better than the Iranian one.  Regardless of how you define better.

As for the expression, dirt-on-the-head it is a one to one translation of an Iranian expression.  I often translate our sayings as one to one.  For a little better understanding of this expression read this old blog about Dirt on our heads on i.com.

Everything is sacred.


ex programmer craig

Sistani

by ex programmer craig on

Several years ago an Arab (Sunni) friend of mine showed me some of Sistani's fatwas - he has a website! She explained to me what they mean. Her objective was to show me that Sistani is just as crazy as all the other mullahs and ayotollahs. And his fatwas did seem pretty crazy.

But...

As a long time observer of the Iraqi blogosphere and the Iraqi political scene, I have to say Sistani has established a solid track record of staying out of politics as much as possible. If anything, I personally would have preferred he intervened more ~3 years ago when Mugtada al Sadr was running wild. And the IRI has obviously backed al  Sadr despite the fact the man has virtually no religious credentials and seems to have an IQ that is someplace between a German Shepherd and a Golden Retriever. I doubt even the IRI would have done that if they thought Sistani would come around to seeing things their way. 

So, while I'm not a big fan of anyone who wears a turban, I have to disagree with people who say they are all the same.

Anonymouse, Sistani is Iranian! How can an article that praises him be anti-Iranian? Or maybe I misundertood the dirt-on-the-head comment... I'm not familiar with that excellent sounding expression :)

 

 


TheMrs

fudge the clergy, every

by TheMrs on

fudge the clergy, every where.


I Have a Crush on Alex Trebek

sistani is a genius

by I Have a Crush on Alex Trebek on

a mullah is a mullah, but i'm pretty sure that everything sistani has predicted has come true since the war. sistani had bush and co. eating out of his hand even when they were drafting constitutions. what a sad time for america. what has happened? all this f-ing useless war in places even the native people barely understand. ahhhh! 


Cost-of-Progress

A different Tune

by Cost-of-Progress on

Akhunds are all the same.

Sistani will sing a different tune if/when he has the ultimate power in Iraq much like Khomeini did 30 years ago when he was installed. He had repeatedly said that he only wanted to go to Qom and be the spiritual leader - not the king he became.

These cockroaches are all the same.

 


Anonymouse

Dirt on Khamenei's head! Or is it dirt on Arab haters' head?!

by Anonymouse on

Everything is sacred.