VZCZCXRO3814
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #3651/01 3231407
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 181407Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0447
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003651 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KISL PINR IZ
SUBJECT: KARBALA RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY AND STRUCTURE 
 
This a a PRT Karbala Reporting Cable. 
 
This message is Sensitive but Unclassified; handle 
accordingly.  Not for Internet distribution 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: The imams of the al-Husayn and al-Abbas 
Shrines are the most-senior religious figures in Karbala. 
They were appointed by Iraq's highest Shi'a authority, Grand 
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who delegates the selection of 
imams at other mosques and husayniyahs to a committee. 
Except at the province's handful of Sadrist mosques, all 
imams in Karbala are graduates from one of the 21 religious 
schools comprising the Hawza, or seminary center, in Najaf. 
Shi'a imams are government employees whose salaries are paid 
by the Awqaf Ministry out of donations received by the 
shrines.  They are careful not to court controversy in their 
sermons.   End Summary. 
 
Two at the Top 
-------------- 
 
¶2. (U) In response to recent queries from official visitors 
concerning the nature and structure of religious authority in 
Karbala, we have prepared the following primer.  We canvassed 
a variety of contacts, official and unofficial, religious and 
secular, in compiling this report.  We have eschewed sourcing 
attributions for the sake of brevity. 
 
¶3. (U) Shaykh Abd al-Mahdi al-Karbala'i, imam of the 
al-Husayn Shrine, and Shaykh Ahmad Jawad Nour al-Safi, imam 
of the al-Abbas Shrine, are the most-senior religious figures 
in Karbala.  They were appointed by Iraq's highest Shi'a 
authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.  Each man is an 
ayatollah, one who has completed an extensive, prescribed 
course of religious instruction and examination, and each in 
public is addressed as shaykh, meaning master.  Among 
intimates, however, they prefer to use the title imam, which 
in the Shi'a context encompasses the roles of prayer-leader 
and khateeb or orator (these generally are separate functions 
among Sunnis). 
 
Becoming an Imam 
---------------- 
 
¶4. (U) The al-Husayn and al-Abbas Shrines are not mosques. 
They are husayniyahs, or gathering places, where prayers may 
be offered.  Although al-Karbala'i and Nour al-Safi are equal 
in terms of religious stature, the former - as the imam of 
the better-known and thus more visible of the twin shrines, 
generally is seen as the more authoritative.  His sermons are 
broadcast weekly on radio and television.  Al-Sistani is 
responsible for appointing the imams at the more than 100 
mosques and husayniyahs in Karbala following the main, i.e. 
non-Sadrist, twelver Shi'a line.  These include the Mukhayam 
Mosque (on the site where Husayn ibn Ali and his family 
camped prior to the Battle of Karbala in 680 C.E.) and the 
Ahmad bin Hashim Shrine (the burial place of one of Hassan 
ibn Ali's grandsons). 
 
¶5. (U) In fact, however, al-Sistani appoints only the imams 
of the al-Husayn and al-Abbas Shrines.  He delegates the 
selection of the others to a committee made up of the heads 
of the 21 religious schools comprising the Hawza, or seminary 
center, in Najaf.  All would-be, mainline imams are required 
to have graduated from one of these schools.  (Note: 
Following a practice Christians of yore would recognize, 
prominent Karbala families such as the al-Awad, the al-Hur, 
the al-Qazwini and the al-Safi traditionally have sent their 
second-eldest sons to study at the Hawza.  End Note.)  The 
committee is chaired by Shaykh Bashir Husayn al-Najafi, who 
reestablished the Hawza beginning in 2003 (the schools of 
which had been destroyed by Saddam Husayn in the 1990s). 
Imams at the province's handful of Sadrist mosques and 
husayniyahs are appointed by Muqtada al-Sadr, and they 
generally have attended courses of study in Qom, Iran. 
 
Money Matters 
------------- 
 
¶6. (U) Upon the recommendation of al-Najafi's committee, 
al-Sistani -- via the Marja'iyah -- submits a list of imam 
appointments to the Ministry of Awqaf (religious endowments). 
 Although the latter has the authority to reject appointees, 
it has yet to do so.  Once the Ministry has approved the 
list, the newly minted imams become salaried employees of the 
Iraqi Government.  Their appointments are temporary, 
generally for one year, after which their performance is 
reviewed by the Marja'iyah.  If they receive satisfactory 
ratings, they become tenured, although subject to dismissal 
at any time upon al-Sistani's insistence. 
 
¶7. (U) The funds from which the imams are paid come from 
 
BAGHDAD 00003651  002 OF 002 
 
 
donations given by pilgrims and visitors to Shi'a shrines 
throughout Iraq.  The lion's share of donations -- some 60 
percent -- is collected at the al-Husayn and al-Abbas 
Shrines.  In monthly ceremonies, the imams -- along with 
representatives from the Marja'iyah, the Hawza, and the Awqaf 
Ministry -- open the gates of the tombs within each shrine. 
Inside they gather the money, jewelry and other valuables the 
faithful slip through the gilt latticework surrounding each 
of the tombs.  The donations are counted and evaluated and 
then delivered to the Ministry in Baghdad.  The Ministry 
redistributes the funds, apportioning salaries, maintenance 
costs, and other support to the mainline Shi'a mosques and 
husayniyahs based (in consultation with the Marja'iyah) on 
their prominence and requirements.  A separate branch of the 
Ministry operates similarly with respect to Iraq's Sunni 
mosques.  The Sadrist mosques and husayniyahs here rely on 
tithes from members of their congregations and, according to 
widespread-but-unsubstantiated rumors, support from Iran. 
 
Self-Censorship 
--------------- 
 
¶8. (U) There are no formal regulations governing what imams 
may or may not say or do in their mosques and husayniyahs. 
However, prior to their selection, would-be imams' views and 
proclivities are closely examined and those deemed unfit or 
likely to stray from the orthodoxy as established by 
al-Sistani are weeded out.  Imams, particularly the recently 
appointed, are keenly sensitive to criticism and careful not 
to court controversy.  Most consult with the Marja'iyah or 
with the offices of al-Karbala'i or Nour al-Safi when 
drafting sermons. 
 
¶9. (U) As senior imams, al-Karbala'i and Nour al-Safi have 
more leeway within which to expound alternative points of 
view.  However, because both men are potential successors to 
al-Sistani, they generally seek to avoid the appearance of 
disagreeing with him or with the Marja'iyah.  Imams in the 
Sadrist mosques and husayniyahs, of course, feel no such 
compunction and frequently criticize the mainline clerics' 
timidity and ties to the government. 
CROCKER