Sheikh Mohammed Ridha Al-Shabibi ( ar, الشيخ محمد رضا الشبيبي; 1889 – 1965) was an Iraqi national figure, statesman, poet and educator. A member of the prominent Al-Shabibi family of

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 ...

he studied religion and literature, and as a young man published poetry in major publications of the

Arab World The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

(Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt). He lived from 1889 until 1965, and played a major role for

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 ...

to achieve independence after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was the emissary of petitions, letters and messages from Iraqi political and religious figures to

Sharif Hussein bin Ali Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi ( ar, الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, al-Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī; 1 May 18544 June 1931) was an Arab leader from the Banu Hashim clan who was the Sharif and Emir of Mecca from 1908 and, after procla ...

and

Faisal I Faisal I bin Al-Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashemi ( ar, فيصل الأول بن الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, ''Faysal el-Evvel bin al-Ḥusayn bin Alī el-Hâşimî''; 20 May 1885 – 8 September 1933) was King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria ...

to explain the desire and importance of Iraqis to achieve freedom and independence in 1919. This was a major step as he publicized formally outside

the desire of

's self-determination and its opposition to British rule after

. This was the start of a process that actually led to

's independence on 3 October 1932. Mohammed Ridha Al-Shabibi also served in Chamber of Deputies of Iraq from the 1920s through the 1940s and as minister of education in several cabinets (1924–1925, 1935, 1937–1938, 1941, 1948). He was the president of the Chamber of Deputies from December 1943 to December 1944. He was elected president of the Iraqi Academy in 1928–1929 and in the 1930s became a member of the

Arabic Language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

Academy in Cairo. He authored a number of books on Iraqi history, the Iraqi dialect, and education.

Family and personal life

Mohammed Ridha Al-Shabibi married Shamsa Rahmatalla in 1926. They had 4 sons (As'ad, Akram, Amjad, and Sinan Al-Shabibi) and 6 daughters (Wajiha, Hadiya, Aida, Arwa, Asmaa, and Dunia Al-Shabibi). As'ad Al-Shabibi his elder son was abducted by the Iraqi Baathist

regime In politics, a regime (also "régime") is the form of government or the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of a government or institution and its interactions with society. According to Yale professor Juan Jo ...

for his political views on the morning of 26 November 1980. His youngest son,

Sinan Al Shabibi Sinan Al-Shabibi ( ar, سنان الشبيبي; 1 July 1941 – 8 January 2022) was an Iraqi economist who served as the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq from September 2003 to October 2012. Early life and education Born in Baghdad on 1 J ...

became the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the

Central Bank of Iraq The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) ( ar, البنك المركزي العراقي) is the central bank of Iraq. It was established in 1947, the same year in which the British occupation of Iraq was ended. CBI's primary objectives are to ensure domestic ...

in 2003 immediately after the fall of the

References

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Family and personal life

References

External links