Thinking ahead : Shi'ite Islam in Iraq and its seminaries (hawzah 'ilmiyyah)

In this "position paper", the author tries to develop his thoughts with regard to the future role of Shi'ite Islam and the Shi'ite seminaries (hawzah 'ilmiyyah) in Iraq, looking beyond the country's present occupation by the US-led coalition forces. Contrary to what is...

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Main Author: Marcinkowski, Christoph
Other Authors: S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Format: Working Paper
Published: 2009
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/90469
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/4382
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-904692020-11-01T08:43:58Z Thinking ahead : Shi'ite Islam in Iraq and its seminaries (hawzah 'ilmiyyah) Marcinkowski, Christoph S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies DRNTU::Social sciences::Military and naval science::Strategy::Asia In this "position paper", the author tries to develop his thoughts with regard to the future role of Shi'ite Islam and the Shi'ite seminaries (hawzah 'ilmiyyah) in Iraq, looking beyond the country's present occupation by the US-led coalition forces. Contrary to what is usually held by the wider public, Twelver Shi'ite Islam hd been characterized in the course of its history by quietism, intellectual activity, and the pursuit of scholarship, rather than by political assertiveness. These features should be taken into consideration when discussing the future of Iraq, a country with an Arab Shi'ite majority. Iraq's Shi'ite seminaries, especially those in Najaf, had been centres of learning prior to the rise to prominence of those in Qom (Ghom) in neighbouring Iran. The rise of Qom ought to be considered an exceptional (and not necessarily irreversible) phenomenon within the context of Shi'ite history that is peculiar to 20th century Iran. Consequently, and in spite of the daily increasing communal violence, the revival of the Iraqi seminaries - situated in a multi-confessional country - could contribute towards moderation within Shi'ism, and beyond that, in the Islamic and Arab world at large, given the quietist tradition of Shi'ite Islam during its formative and classical periods. Moreover, within the conext of a secular Iraqi republic, the restoration of the leading position of Iraq's hawzah alongside the reassertion of traditional religious leadership from the part of the country's senior Shi'ite clerics, could also become a corrective and stabilizing factor vis-a-vis the influence of Iranian Qom. However, the crucial prerequisite for such a development would be the successful and long-lasting pacification and consolidation of Iraq, the continuation of some form of national coherence and territorial integrity, and the containment of Iran, which is ulilzing the aspirations of the non-Iranian Shi'ites in order to achieve hegemony over the Middle East. 2009-02-05T09:32:17Z 2019-12-06T17:48:16Z 2009-02-05T09:32:17Z 2019-12-06T17:48:16Z 2007 2007 Working Paper Marcinkowski, C. (2007). Thinking ahead : Shi'ite Islam in Iraq and its seminaries (hawzah 'ilmiyyah). (RSIS Working Paper, No. 125). Singapore: Nanyang Technological University. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/90469 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/4382 RSIS Working Papers ; 125/07 Nanyang Technological University 61 p. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
topic DRNTU::Social sciences::Military and naval science::Strategy::Asia
spellingShingle DRNTU::Social sciences::Military and naval science::Strategy::Asia
Marcinkowski, Christoph
Thinking ahead : Shi'ite Islam in Iraq and its seminaries (hawzah 'ilmiyyah)
description In this "position paper", the author tries to develop his thoughts with regard to the future role of Shi'ite Islam and the Shi'ite seminaries (hawzah 'ilmiyyah) in Iraq, looking beyond the country's present occupation by the US-led coalition forces. Contrary to what is usually held by the wider public, Twelver Shi'ite Islam hd been characterized in the course of its history by quietism, intellectual activity, and the pursuit of scholarship, rather than by political assertiveness. These features should be taken into consideration when discussing the future of Iraq, a country with an Arab Shi'ite majority. Iraq's Shi'ite seminaries, especially those in Najaf, had been centres of learning prior to the rise to prominence of those in Qom (Ghom) in neighbouring Iran. The rise of Qom ought to be considered an exceptional (and not necessarily irreversible) phenomenon within the context of Shi'ite history that is peculiar to 20th century Iran. Consequently, and in spite of the daily increasing communal violence, the revival of the Iraqi seminaries - situated in a multi-confessional country - could contribute towards moderation within Shi'ism, and beyond that, in the Islamic and Arab world at large, given the quietist tradition of Shi'ite Islam during its formative and classical periods. Moreover, within the conext of a secular Iraqi republic, the restoration of the leading position of Iraq's hawzah alongside the reassertion of traditional religious leadership from the part of the country's senior Shi'ite clerics, could also become a corrective and stabilizing factor vis-a-vis the influence of Iranian Qom. However, the crucial prerequisite for such a development would be the successful and long-lasting pacification and consolidation of Iraq, the continuation of some form of national coherence and territorial integrity, and the containment of Iran, which is ulilzing the aspirations of the non-Iranian Shi'ites in order to achieve hegemony over the Middle East.
author2 S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
author_facet S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Marcinkowski, Christoph
format Working Paper
author Marcinkowski, Christoph
author_sort Marcinkowski, Christoph
title Thinking ahead : Shi'ite Islam in Iraq and its seminaries (hawzah 'ilmiyyah)
title_short Thinking ahead : Shi'ite Islam in Iraq and its seminaries (hawzah 'ilmiyyah)
title_full Thinking ahead : Shi'ite Islam in Iraq and its seminaries (hawzah 'ilmiyyah)
title_fullStr Thinking ahead : Shi'ite Islam in Iraq and its seminaries (hawzah 'ilmiyyah)
title_full_unstemmed Thinking ahead : Shi'ite Islam in Iraq and its seminaries (hawzah 'ilmiyyah)
title_sort thinking ahead : shi'ite islam in iraq and its seminaries (hawzah 'ilmiyyah)
publishDate 2009
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/90469
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/4382
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