http://www.juancole.com/2004_02_01_juancole_archive.html#107683179960541443
February 15, 2004
Speaking of Sistani, I received by email a fascinating account by a
participant of a recent joint visit to Sistani of Kurdish and Sunni
Arab clan leaders. I was given permission to quote from it by the
person who sent it to me, on condition that I guard the
confidentiality of the persons involved. I thought that as an educated
Sunni Arab impression of Sistani, the account has historical
significance.
Impressions of Sistani:
"He had a heavy (and I mean really heavy) Persian accent which he
didn't (and couldn't) hide. He used classical Arabic, but the
structure of his sentences was not perfect . . .
. . . he went on and on about Sunnis and Shia saying that these were
doctrines differing on how to interpret Islam and they were all decent
and good-intentioned. They were definitely no reason for bloody
strife. He talked about the ancient pillars of the sunni doctrine and
praised them all in detail and said how he respected them as men of
faith and as scholars. The difference between the Shia and Sunna, he
believed, was far less significant than the danger facing the Iraqi
nation at present. Well, personally that put him on my right side!
Then [one Kurdish chieftain] . . . sounded his fear that through
democracy the Shia would dominate Iraq and consequently the Kurds.
He said that he didn't believe there was much danger of that
happening. The Shia were not a single political entity. Some are
atheists, some are secular; even religious Shia did not all follow the
same leader.
He said that he firmly believed that the clergy should not interfere
with the running of people's lives, with government or with
administration. He had forbidden his followers from putting their
noses into the state's affairs. He said that clearly and categorically
(several times to stress the point!) . . .
Some of the other things he said (This is a rather loose
translation!):
"The most important thing at this time is unity. Division of the
people is treason! Even silence, in these turbulent times, is evil."
"Give my regards to your tribes and to the Sunna clergy and tell them
that Sistani "kisses their hands" and begs them to unite with all
Iraqis, Shia, Kurds, Christian, Turkmen. You just unite, and count on
me to stand up to the Americans! The worst that could happen is that I
die! That doesn't worry me!"
. . . He mentioned the "Arab Nation" so many times! He evidently
viewed himself as an Arab. Being born Persian did not affect the fact
that he was a Sayyed [descendant of the Prophet Muhammad]. He made
that perfectly clear . . .
He was extremely humble in his talk, his attire and his mannerisms.
He was much younger than I had thought; looked like early seventies
but quite agile and healthy-looking."
posted by Juan Cole at 2/15/2004 08:56:39 AM