Ayatollah Abdul Aziz al-Hakim ( ; ar, سید عبد العزيز الحكيم; 1952 – 26 August 2009) was an
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
i theologian and politician and the leader of
Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq
The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI or SIIC; ar, المجلس الأعلى الإسلامي العراقي ''Al-Majlis Al-A'ala Al-Islami Al-'Iraqi''; previously the party was known as the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq ...
, a party that has approximately 5% support in the
Iraqi Council of Representatives
The Council of Representatives ( ar, مجلس النواب, Majlis an-Nuwwāb al-ʿIrāqiyy; ku, ئهنجومهنی نوێنهران, ''Enjumen-e Nûnerên''), usually referred to simply as the Parliament is the unicameral legislatur ...
. He also served as the
President of the Governing Council of Iraq (
40th Prime Minister of Iraq)
He was a member of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
-appointed
Iraqi Governing Council
The Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) was the provisional government of Iraq from 13 July 2003 to 1 June 2004. It was established by and served under the United States-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). The IGC consisted of various Iraqi pol ...
and served as its president in December 2003. Brother of the
Shia
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...
leader
Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim
Ayatollah al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Muhsin al-Hakim at-Tabataba'i (8 July 1939 – 29 August 2003; ar, السيد محمد باقر محسن الحكيم الطباطبائي), also known as Shaheed al-Mehraab, was a senior Iraqi Shia Islamic S ...
, he replaced him as leader of the
Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq when Mohammed Baqir was
assassinated in August 2003 in
Najaf
Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...
.
Biography
Family tree
Sayyid Abdul Aziz al-Hakim was a member of the
Hakim family of Shiite scholars.
Early life
He was born in 1952, the son of
Grand Ayatollah Muhsin Al-Hakim. Raised in
Najaf
Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...
and then received his theological education through the religious school there, known as the
Hawza
A hawza ( ar, حوزة) or ḥawzah ʿilmīyah ( ar, حوزة علمیة) is a seminary where Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated.
The word ''ḥawzah'' is found in Arabic as well as the Persian language. In Arabic, the word means "to hold s ...
. He was married to the daughter of Mohammed Hadi
al-Sadr and he was the father of two girls and two boys. His son Muhsin Abdul Aziz al-Hakim was a political adviser for him, and his other son
Ammar al-Hakim
Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim ( ar, سید عمار الحكيم) is an Iraqi cleric and politician who led the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, from 2009 to 2017.
Early life
Al-Hakim was born in 1971 in Al-Najaf, the son of Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, who ...
became the Secretary General of Al-Mihrab Martyr Foundation. Seven of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim's brothers were killed, six of them on the orders of
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...
.
Iran and SCIRI
Al-Hakim played a leading role in the 'Safar Intifada' in Iraq in 1977 and was imprisoned by the Iraqi government in 1972, 1977 and 1979. He went into exile in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
in 1980, where he was a founding member in 1982 of
Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), a group set up under Iran's auspices to bring Islamic revolution to Iraq. The group was led by Al-Hakim's brother,
Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim
Ayatollah al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Muhsin al-Hakim at-Tabataba'i (8 July 1939 – 29 August 2003; ar, السيد محمد باقر محسن الحكيم الطباطبائي), also known as Shaheed al-Mehraab, was a senior Iraqi Shia Islamic S ...
. SCIRI would later change its name to the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq.
Badr Brigades
Within SCIRI, al-Hakim headed its military wing, the
Badr Brigades
The Badr Organization ( ar, منظمة بدر ''Munaẓẓama Badr''), previously known as the Badr Brigades or Badr Corps, is an Iraqi Shia Islamist political party and military organization headed by Hadi Al-Amiri. The Badr Brigade was the ...
. Badr was officered by Iranians and its troops fought on Iran's side during the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations S ...
.
Iraq
With the removal of Saddam Hussein from power in 2003 with the US-led invasion, Al-Hakim and SCIRI returned to Iraq where they have been major players in Iraq's politics. SCIRI's leader, Mohammed Baqir Al-Hakim, was assassinated on 29 August 2003, when a massive
car bomb exploded as he left the
Imam Ali Mosque
The Sanctuary of Imām 'Alī ( ar, حَرَم ٱلْإِمَام عَلِيّ , Ḥaram al-ʾImām ʿAlī), also known as the Mosque of 'Alī ( ar, مَسْجِد عَلِيّ, Masjid ʿAlī), located in Najaf, Iraq, is a mosque which many Musl ...
in
Najaf
Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...
.
Following the murder, Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim became SCIRI's head.
Al-Hakim was the top candidate listed for the
United Iraqi Coalition during the first
Iraqi legislative election of January 2005 but did not seek a government post because the Alliance had decided not to include theologians in the government.
Interior Ministry
Under Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, SCIRI controlled Iraq's Interior Ministry. In 2006 according to the United Nations human rights chief in Iraq, John Pace, said that every month hundreds of Iraqis were being tortured to death or executed by the Interior Ministry under SCIRI's control. According to a 2006 report by the Independent newspaper: 'Mr Pace said the Ministry of the Interior was "acting as a rogue element within the government". It is controlled by the main Shia party, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri); the Interior Minister,
Bayan Jabr
Baqir Jabr Al-Zubeidi ( ar, باقر جبر الزبيدي, Bāqir Jarb al-Zabīdī), also known as Bayan Jabr Solagh ( ar, بيان باقر صولاغ, Bayān Bāqir Sūlāġ), is a former commander of the Badr Brigades who served as the Fina ...
, is a former leader of Sciri's Badr Brigade militia, which is one of the main groups accused of carrying out sectarian killings. Another is the Mehdi Army of the young cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who is part of the Shia coalition seeking to form a government after winning the mid-December election.
Many of the 110,000 policemen and police commandos under the ministry's control are suspected of being former members of the Badr Brigade. Not only counter-insurgency units such as the Wolf Brigade, the Scorpions and the Tigers, but the commandos and even the highway patrol police have been accused of acting as death squads.
The paramilitary commandos, dressed in garish camouflage uniforms and driving around in pick-up trucks, are dreaded in Sunni neighbourhoods. People whom they have openly arrested have frequently been found dead several days later, with their bodies bearing obvious marks of torture.'
U.S. visits
On 4 December 2006, al-Hakim met with
George W. Bush and made a commitment to help end violence,
Al-Hakim also gave his assessment of the situation in Iraq:
On 5 December 2006, on behalf of
The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...
and
American University's
Center for Global Peace, he spoke at the
Pope John Paul II Cultural Center. The title of his speech was "Freedom and Tolerance in Shi'a Islam and the Future of Iraq". Notable guests at this event included
Archbishop Donald Wuerl
Donald William Wuerl (born November 12, 1940) is an American prelate, a cardinal, of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Washington, D.C., from 2006 to 2018. He was elevated by Pope John Paul II to serve as auxiliary bishop of S ...
of
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
and Rabbi Professor
Ephraim Isaac from the
Institute of Semitic Studies in
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...
.
Illness and death
On 16 May 2007 he flew to Houston for medical treatment. Reportedly he had
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...
. On 20 May 2007, Hakim left the U.S. for
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, in order to receive
chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs ( chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...
treatment. On 26 August 2009, Abdel Aziz al-Hakim died of lung cancer in a Tehran hospital. He was buried in Najaf on 29 August, on the same day and month as his brother, who was killed exactly six years earlier.
Iraq's Shiite leader Hakim buried in Najaf
AFP, 29 August 2009. Hasan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanese Shia resistance group Hizbollah
Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's paramili ...
issued an emotional statement regarding the death of Abdul-Aziz Al-Hakim. The statement spoke of the "struggle" of Al-Hakim to "rescue" and "uplift the Iraqi people." This drew criticism and calls of sectarianism from political commentator Asad Abukhalil due to the role of Abdul Aziz Al Hakim in the US occupation of Iraq
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...
.
References and notes
External links
Background
Iraqis must enhance internal ties
*
- Daily Telegraph obituary
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hakim, Abdul Aziz Al-
1952 births
2009 deaths
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim
Ayatollah Abdul Aziz al-Hakim ( ; ar, سید عبد العزيز الحكيم; 1952 – 26 August 2009) was an Iraqi theologian and politician and the leader of Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a party that has approximately 5% support in the ...
Badr Brigade members
Deaths from cancer in Iran
Deaths from lung cancer
Iraqi dissidents
Members of the Council of Representatives of Iraq
People from Najaf
Iraqi Shia Muslims
People of the 1991 uprisings in Iraq