Iyad Jamaluddin, a Shia cleric and MP, has announced the creation of a new political ‘Ahrar’ liberal stream to compete in January’s parliamentary election. The movement is composed of Sunni and Shia liberal personalities including the Sunni MP and head of parliament’s national reconciliation committee, Wathab Shaker.

The stream has chosen “secularism is the solution” as its electoral campaign slogan prompting some religious criticism. Muslim clergy have condemned the step because this slogan is being used – for the first time since 2003 – by a turbaned cleric and descendant of the Prophet Muhammad’s family. The slogan contradicts the traditional “Islam is the solution” slogan advocated by Islamic parties in Iraq.

One cleric close to the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), who would only speak on condition of anonymity, condemned Jamaluddin as a secular man disguised in the dress of the clergy. “He should take off his turban after declaring his support for secularism which contradicts the values of Islam,” the figure told Niqash, adding that he regarded Jamaluddin’s step as nothing more than a political stunt.

But according to Shaker, the head of parliament’s reconciliation committee, Jamaluddin “is more flexible than other clergy in dealing with national issues.” He told Niqash that Jamaluddin distances himself from religious and sectarian intolerance and holds liberal ideas despite his Islamic costume.

Jamaluddin has long been regarded as a political liberal and has in the past publicly opposed article 4 of the constitution which states that the Islam is the major source of legislation. Jamaluddin says that “using Islam as a source of legislation is harmful to both religion and legislation… We take bits and pieces from the Islamic Sharia and bits and pieces from French law to present people with a miserable mix.”

In his writings, Jamaluddin, described by some observers as an “Islamic scholar” has advocated the application of a secular system “based on the respect for human rights.” He stresses that “a person can be a religious authority or an erotic singer, but both are human beings and the secular system protects the freedom of all people.”

He has issued controversial statements which provoked condemnation among the religious authorities who dominate political life in Iraq today. A statement issued in 2003 legitimizing night clubs despite the fact that Islam bans them was condemned despite the fact that Jamaluddin said that he himself does not drink alcohol because it is a “violation” of Islamic law. Even so Jamaluddin said he didn’t want to oblige others in their way of life.

The turbaned Jamaluddin does not feel that there are contradictions between his liberal convictions and the Islamic religion. He told Niqash that he sees religion as a sacred issue and “it is shameful for clergy to use religion in order to reach political aims. If the clergy wants to get involved in politics, he should keep religion away from the compromises he makes,” he said.

“Preserving Islam can only be achieved if a distance is kept between religion and politics. Using religion will only tarnish Islam and do great harm to its image and will push people towards abandoning it,” said Jamaluddin.

During the last elections Jamaluddin chose to join former Iraqi Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, who has the biggest liberal bloc in the Iraqi parliament. But more than one year ago Jamaluddin withdrew from Allawi’s Iraqi bloc and has pursued his work as an independent MP in protest at Allawi’s method of dominating decision-making.

Despite expectations that he might join the State of Law coalition led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki which already includes a number of liberals who have left the Iraqi bloc such as Mahdi al-Hafeth, Safiyah, al-Suhait and Hajim al-Hasani Jamaluddin has chosen another path, hoping to create a new liberal stream.

Jamaluddin is originally from Nasiriyah in southern Iraq and spent two years of his life in Dubai as a preacher at the Imam Ali mosque. He told Niqash that he expects to win a good number of votes in some of the southern cities which are now more inclined to vote for liberal streams. He criticized the existing liberal Islamic movements saying that do not have the commitment needed to implement their electoral programs and that they have failed to bring stability to Iraq.

The new movement carries a mixture of Jamaluddin’s and Shaker’s convictions. It has specified three major rules in its electoral program: firstly, reconciliation between the different components of Iraqi life; secondly the establishment of security; and thirdly the initiation of a reconstruction plan as a necessary step which supports and complements the first two rules.

The stream has promised not to ally itself with any Iraqi involved in the bloodshed of recent years, or with those accused of corruption. It pledges to provide Iraqis with work opportunities and to ensure that services are available, a pledge also made by all the other electoral alliances.

Despite his controversial approach, Jamaluddin denies the existence of any problem between him and the religious authority of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf. Jamaluddin told Niqash that he maintains a “balanced relationship with the Shia authority and that he respects its ideas and approaches which aim at pushing forward the country’s political process.”

Those close to Jamaluddin say he rejects the concept of the Wilayat al Faqih (the guardianship of the Islamic jurists) on the basis that there needs to be a distance between religion and politics. Since 2003 many Iraqi clergy have joined the country’s political process. But none of them have dared announce that secularism is the solution to Iraq’s problems.

Amjad Hamed, a professor of political sciences at Baghdad University, describes Jamaluddin’s step as a courageous one. Hamed told Niqash that “Jamaluddin has more courage than all the other turbaned sheikhs who took religion as a cover to reach parliament, while in real life their practices contradict their declared religious stances.”

“The lack of trust in political parties and blocs with religious orientations in Iraq has led the Prime Minister himself, who has strong religious roots and who is also a leader of an Islamic party, to distance himself from the religious umbrella and to form coalitions with liberal parties,” said Hamed. “Why then are people blaming Jamaluddin for his step?”

http://www.niqash.org/content.php?contentTypeID=75&id=2564&lang=0