Sayyid ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Prophets in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali ...

Dr. Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...

Muhammad-Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloom (; born 1954) is an Iraqi politician, academician, and petroleum expert. He has served twice as the

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 Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i Minister of Oil. He first took the ministerial role as part of the cabinet appointed by the

Interim Iraq 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 ...

in September 2003 until June 2004. Bahraluloom went on to serve a second term as the minister in 2005 where he then submitted his resignation in protest against a governmental decision to increase the

price of oil The price of oil, or the oil price, generally refers to the spot price of a barrel () of benchmark crude oil—a reference price for buyers and sellers of crude oil such as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent Crude, Dubai Crude, OPEC Ref ...

products by five folds.

Early life and education

Bahraluloom was born in 1954 in Najaf to

Mohammad Bahr al-Ulloum Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammad Bahr al-Uloom ( ar, محمد بحر العلوم‎; 17 December 1927 – 7 April 2015) was a Twelver Shi'a Islamic leader and politician in Iraq, who served as the President of the Governing Council of Iraq ( 43rd ...

, and to the daughter of Muhammad-Husayn al-Shirazi. From both sides he hails from prominent scholarly families. From his paternal side he is from the Bahr al-Uloom family. From his mothers side, he hails from the Shirazi family. He claims

agnatic Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

descent from

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

's daughter

Fatimah Fāṭima bint Muḥammad ( ar, فَاطِمَة ٱبْنَت مُحَمَّد}, 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, th ...

and her husband,

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

, the first

Shia Imam In Shia Islam, the Imamah ( ar, إمامة) is a doctrine which asserts that certain individuals from the lineage of the Islamic prophet Muhammad are to be accepted as leaders and guides of the ummah after the death of Muhammad. Imamah further ...

. Bahraluloom was educated in 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 territorie ...

, earning a Ph.D. in Petroleum Engineering from the

New Mexico Tech The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech and formerly New Mexico School of Mines) is a public university in Socorro, New Mexico. It offers over 30 bachelor of science degrees in technology, the sciences, engineering, man ...

. He previously worked for the Kuwaiti Oil Ministry after graduating from the University of Baghdad in BSc Petroleum Engineering. He worked for the Petroleum Recovery Research Center in New Mexico, and later as an oil and gas consultant in

London, United Kingdom London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Political career

Bahraluloom ran for parliament by forming his own independent political group, the Future Iraq Grouping. He was elected as a member of the National Iraqi Assembly in 2005, and was elected for another term as a member of parliament from 2014 - 2018. He was a member of the Oil & Energy Parliamentary committee where he headed the committee in forming the legislation for the Iraqi National Oil Company Law. The law was passed in March 2018. He is a founding member of the Alalamain Institute for Higher Education. The first and only private higher education institute specialising in law and political science for postgraduate studies in Iraq. Bahraluloom is the chairman of the Iraqi Energy Academy, a scientific establishment whose mission is to develop human resources for the energy sector through the process of training and qualification. Bahraluloom also founded the Bahr al-Uloum Forum for Dialogue, a unique political forum established in 2010 to promote dialogues, discussions and strategies for the political future of Iraq between the highest authorities, foreign diplomats, and the Iraqi elite. Dr Ibrahim is the chairman of the Bahr al-Uloom Award Foundation; that aims to stimulate scientific research and encourage researchers to advance the scientific and cultural contribution and creativity in the fields of medicine, agriculture, energy and sustainable development. Ibrahim survived an assassination attempt in Iraq in 2003 and another in 2005.

References

Oil ministers of Iraq New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology alumni 1954 births Living people Iraqi Shia Muslims {{Iraq-politician-stub