On this episode of the Order From Ashes podcast, Marsin Alshamary explains why, despite some setbacks, Shia clerics in Iraq still wield a great deal of authority.
Protest movements have rejected religion in politics, while corrupt politicians have sullied the reputations of religious factions. But clerics and their institutions remain powerful players in Iraqi society even as their roles change.
This episode of Order From Ashes is the second in “Shia Power,” a four-part series about the transformation of Shia politics in Iraq, and what Iraq’s experience teaches us about the role of religion in politics everywhere.
In episode 1 of “Shia Power,” Sajad Jiyad and host Thanassis Cambanis chart the powerful role of religion and the Shia clergy in the creation of a new Iraqi order after Saddam Hussein. In episode 2, Marsin Alshammary draws on her fieldwork in the seminaries of Najaf to argue that clerical authority has not diminished, despite setbacks over the last twenty years. In episode 3, Taif Alkhudary chronicles the revolutionary efforts of the Tishreen protest movement to establish an alternative to religious politics. In episode 4, the final in this series, Ali Al-Mawlawi connects some of today’s sectarian rhetoric to Iraq’s long history of anti-Shia prejudice.
Read:
Report: “Shia Clerics in Iraq Haven’t Lost Their Authority,” by Marsin Alshamary
Book: Shia Power Comes of Age
Project: Shia Politics
Participants:
Sistani’s Historic Legacy
How Is the Gaza War Affecting the Middle East?
Aid That Backfires
Shia Power: Sectarian Prejudice
Shia Power: Iraq’s Nationalist Revolutionaries
Shia Power: What’s an Islamist?
Facing Iraq’s Climate Catastrophe
Lebanon’s Botched Economic Rescue
Power and Power in Lebanon
A Tale of Two Border Towns
Broken Bonds: Quitting the Brotherhood
Broken Bonds: Leaders without Legitimacy
Broken Bonds: No Identity
Broken Bonds: Existential Crises
Broken Bonds: My Life as a Muslim Brother
The Earthquake, Cholera, and Borders
Iraq’s Heist of the Century
Progressive Policy: Shrinking America’s Military Footprint
Progressive Policy: Replacing the War on Terror
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