Ayatollah Sistani Affirms Religious Freedom to Pope Francis in HIstoric Iraq
Meeting
JUAN COLE
03/07/2021
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) - On Saturday, Pope Francis met in the holy
city of Najaf with Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the spiritual leader of most
of the world's Shiite Muslims outside Iran.
Back in 2004 when US Marines were fighting young Shiite militiamen in Najaf
(quite against Sistani's will), I tried to signal to the Washington
Establishment that it was dangerous to fight in the holy city, with the
danger that the US might damage the shrine of Ali. Ali was the cousin and
son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad, who was assassinated according to Muslim
tradition in 661 AD. Shiites see him as the rightful vicar of the Prophet,
sort of a Muslim St. Peter. And so the shrine of Ali is like the Basilica of
St. Peter in Rome. When I saw a US general on CNN in spring of 2004 say this
very thing, I was a little relieved that I had gotten through to them.
So it is amazing to see the Pope, the successor to St. Peter, meeting in
Najaf with one of the foremost interpreters of Ali.
The office of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani said after the meeting that he had
spoken about the injustice, oppression, poverty, religious and intellectual
persecution, denial of basic human rights, and absence of social justice
that afflict many in the Middle East.
The communique continued, "Sayyid Sistani [also] spoke about the wars,
economic blockades and displacement that many of the peoples of the region
are experiencing," saying that "His Excellency pointed to the role that
religious leaders must play in stopping these tragedies."
Sistani stressed the responsibility of religious and spiritual leaders to
urge the Great Powers to exercise reason and wisdom and to reject the
language of war. He urged a concerted effort to strengthen the values of
harmony, peaceful coexistence and human solidarity.
He said he hoped Iraq would soon overcome its current crises, and stressed
the glorious history of the country. He said Christians should be able to
live in peace there like all other Iraqis, enjoying all their rights under
the constitution.
Sistani referred to his own role in mobilizing Shiite volunteers against the
vicious ISIL terrorist group in 2014, at a time when the Iraqi Army had
collapsed. He instructed them to protect religious minorities from the
murderous ISIL guerrillas, who targeted Christians, Izadis and others.
Sistani differs from his colleagues in Iran in his belief in parliamentary
democracy and basic human rights. In fact, in the Bush era he critiqued the
US for not honoring the will of the Iraqi people. Religious freedom in Iran
is much more constrained than in Iraq from the point of view of law, at
least.
One Iranian newspaper in recent days caused a stir by criticizing Sistani
for asking for UN observers of any forthcoming Iraqi elections. Sistani's
belief in international law and institutions does not sit well with some
hyper-nationalist and frankly narrow-minded Iranians.
Pope Francis said in turn that he wanted formally to thank Ayatollah Sistani
for the role he played in calling for the protection of the Iraqi Christian
community during the time of its persecution (i.e. at the hands of ISIL).
Iranians on social media particularly appreciated that Sistani had brought
up "economic blockades" as an issue, since the United States has strangled
Iranian finances and commerce. It occurs to me that Sistani may have brought
this issue up in particular with the Pope in hopes that he in turn would
speak to US president Joe Biden, a Roman Catholic, about the US blockade on
Iranian civilians.
Pope Francis went on later that morning to Ur, the alleged birthplace of
Abraham, for an inter-religious ceremony. A Muslim and a Christian youth
spoke, along with a woman from the Mandaean religion of southern Iraq who
are gnostics, and then a Shiite Muslim professor.
In his own remarks, Pope Francis said, "When terrorism invaded the north of
this beloved country, it wantonly destroyed part of its magnificent
religious heritage, including the churches, monasteries and places of
worship of various communities."
"Yet, even at that dark time, some stars kept shining. I think of the young
Muslim volunteers of Mosul, who helped to repair churches and monasteries,
building fraternal friendships on the rubble of hatred, and those Christians
and Muslims who today are restoring mosques and churches together."
The Pope added, "There will be no peace unless peoples extend a hand to
other peoples. There will be no peace as long as we see others as them and
not us. There will be no peace as long as our alliances are against others,
for alliances of some against others only increase divisions."
"Peace does not demand winners or losers, but rather brothers and sisters
who, for all the misunderstandings and hurts of the past, are journeying
from conflict to unity. Let us ask for this in praying for the whole Middle
East. Here I think especially of neighboring war-torn Syria."
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