Sistanism: An Attempt to Combine Shi’ism with Democracy in Post-2003 Iraq

Abstract

This chapter is a contribution to the literatures that debate about the relationship between religion and democracy, particularly between Shi’ism and democracy that has not adequately been addressed by scholars. The chapter attempts at highlighting the way religion (Shi’ism) is fused with democracy in post-2003 Iraq and the role of Ayatollah Sistani in sponsoring such a fusion and thus maintaining the political system from a distance. Sistani’s power in Iraq is not based on his religious status only, but also on a carefully constructed relationship between himself and the government of Iraq on the one hand and between himself and the people (the Shi’i population of Iraq) on the other. Through his ever-changing strategies and tactics, I argue that Sistani was able to combine Shi’ism with democracy, not in a strictly secular sense or in a wholly Islamist way, but through a practical compromise between the two. He has maintained the balance so well that neither the government nor Shi’is can now ignore his suggestions when disagreements occur. In doing so, Sistani will stay a key figure that sustains a pattern of democratic regime that is at ease with Shi’ism in Iraq.