Ayatollah Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیت‌الله, āyatollāh) is an Title of honor, honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Etymology The title is originally derived from ...

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 ...

Mohammad Bahr al-Uloom ( ar, محمد بحر العلوم‎; 17 December 1927 – 7 April 2015) was a

Twelver Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...

Shi'a Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...

leader and politician in

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 ...

, who served as the President of the Governing Council of Iraq ( 43rd

Prime Minister of Iraq The prime minister of Iraq is the head of government of Iraq. On 27 October 2022, Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani became the incumbent prime minister. History The prime minister was originally an appointed office, subsidiary to the head of state, a ...

Biography

Bahraluloom was born in Najaf in 1927 to Ali Bahraluloom, the son of Hadi Bahraluloom (d. 1904). He grew up and studied in Najaf, under his father, as well as other notable scholars of the religious seminary of Najaf. He was a long time opponent of the rule 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 revolution ...

. By 1992 he had moved to

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

where he opposed Saddam's rule for many years. He was an active member of London's

community and was the head of AhlulBayt Centre in South London. In November 1992, at the ''

Salahuddin gathering Saladin (An-Nasir Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, 1137–1193), was the first sultan of Egypt and Syria and founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Saladin, Salah el-Din, Salah ad-Din or variant spellings (Arabic: صلاح الدين) may also refer to: Ar ...

'', within the safety of the

southern air exclusion zone The Iraqi no-fly zones conflict was a low-level conflict in the two no-fly zones (NFZs) in Iraq that were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom, and France after the Gulf War of 1991. The United States stated that the NFZs were intende ...

, along with

Masoud Barzani Masoud Barzani ( ku, ,مه‌سعوود بارزانی, translit=Mesûd Barzanî}; born 16 August 1946) is a Kurdish politician who has been leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) since 1979, and was President of the Kurdistan Region o ...

and

Colonel Hassan al-Naqib Falah Hassan al-Naqib ( ar, فلاح حسن النقيب) is an Iraqi politician and was the Minister of Interior under the Iraqi Interim Government. Biography Born in 1956 in Samarra, he is a Sunni Arab. He trained in the United States as a ci ...

, he was one of the three men to be appointed to the presidential council by the

Iraqi National Congress The Iraqi National Congress (INC; Arabic language, Arabic: المؤتمر الوطني العراقي ''Al-Moutammar Al-Watani Al-'Iraqi'') is an Iraqi political party that was led by Ahmed Chalabi who died in 2015. It was formed as an umbrella I ...

. Mohammad Bahraluloom continued to live in London prior to the 2003 Iraq invasion. After 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 ...

deposed Saddam Hussein in 2003, as part of

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

, Bahraluloom was appointed to the

Iraq interim 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 ...

. He agreed to participate in the interim government and was appointed to the nine-member rotating presidency. He was the first president of the council, in an interim capacity, serving in that position from 13 July 2003 until 1 August 2003. In August 2003,

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 ...

, a friend of Bahraluloom, was killed in a car bombing. Shortly after, Bahraluloom announced his voluntary suspension from the council, citing the failure of the council's ability to maintain law and order in post-war Iraq. He later returned to the council, and became president again on 1 March 2004, serving until 1 April 2004.

Personal life

Bahraluloom was married to the daughter of Muhammad-Husayn al-Shirazi (d. 1955), the grandson of

Mirza Shirazi al-Mujadid al-Shirazi, ar, المجدد الشيرازي , birth_name = , birth_date = April 25, 1815 , birth_place = Shiraz, Qajar Iran , death_date = , death_place = Samarra, Ottoman Iraq , resting_ ...

. He had four daughters and three sons. His son,

Ibrahim Ibrahim ( ar, إبراهيم, links=no ') is the Arabic name for Abraham, a Biblical patriarch and prophet in Islam. For the Islamic view of Ibrahim, see Abraham in Islam. Ibrahim may also refer to: * Ibrahim (name), a name (and list of people ...

, was the Oil Minister of Iraq from September 2003 to June 2004, and again during 2005. His son, Muhammad-Husayn is the Ambassador of Iraq to the United Nations.

Death

Bahraluloom died due to complications with his kidneys in 2015.

References

External links

Bahraluloom Charitable Foundation
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bahr al-Ulloum, Mohammad 1927 births 2015 deaths British people of Iraqi descent Iraqi ayatollahs Iraqi politicians Iraqi Shia Muslims Islamic Dawa Party politicians