The Shia: Islam, People and Power Boxset

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2016

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Within Shi’ism there is a high level disagreement about the role of Islam in government. Shia-dominated Iran is an Islamic republic, led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a senior Islamic cleric. But the Iranian model of government - a theocratic state - is not supported by Shi’ism’s most senior Islamic cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani who is based in the Iraqi city of Najaf.

“Khamenei is the head of Iranian army. Sistani is not the head of Iraqi army,” explains Iraqi politician Walid al-Hilli. But, as presenter Safa al-Ahmad discovers on a visit to Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Sistani has significant influence on the way Iraq is governed.

(Photo: A V-sign for victory is flashed in front of a portrait of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Credit: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the fourth edition of Islam, People and Power on the BBC World Service.
0:07.0	I'm Safa El Ahmed, journalist and documentary maker. entrymaker.
0:19.0	For the past year I've been talking to people across the Arab world about the battle of ideas that has been raging since the Arab Uprising began in 2010.
0:26.4	In a region where Islam is the dominant faith, Muslims have been arguing about what role
0:31.1	Islam should play in government and whether rebelling against an
0:34.4	oppressive ruler is a religious obligation or a sin. In previous programs I've
0:40.9	spoken to traditional Sunni scholars.
0:43.0	You cannot call for jihad against your government.
0:46.0	I've met a Salafi jihadist from Syria.
0:48.0	One of the highest levels of jihad is to confront an unjust ruler.
0:52.8	And I've talked to activists from Sunni Islam's largest political movement,
0:57.0	the Muslim Brotherhood.
0:58.0	It's very clear in the ideas of the Muslim Brotherhood that the ultimate goal is to re-establish the Islamic rule.
1:05.0	In this episode I'm talking to Shia Muslims, members of the minority branch of Islam,
1:10.0	followed by about 10 to 15% of Muslims worldwide.
1:14.0	I'll be finding out how leading Shia politicians and theologians
1:18.0	view the role of Islam and the state.
1:21.0	It's not what many people think.
1:23.0	The most people think.
1:24.0	The most well-known Shia leader of modern times is of course the late Ayatollah
1:37.0	Khomaini of Iran. I was a
1:49.0	a true of a king. I was the term the Shia give to their top religious scholars. Aitolah Chaimani had a huge fan base and he led Shia dominated Iran into a new era.
	...

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