Editing Muqtada al-Sadr (section)

== Political positions ==
Muqtada al-Sadr gained popularity in Iraq following the toppling of the Saddam government by the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|2003 US invasion of Iraq]].<ref name="Beaumont">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/14/iraq-elections-who-is-muqtadr-al-sadr|title=Iraq elections: who is Muqtadr al-Sadr?|last=Beaumont|first=Peter|date=14 May 2018|website=[[The Guardian]]|language=en|access-date=14 May 2018}}</ref> Sadr has on occasion stated that he wishes to create an "[[Islamic democracy]]".

Sadr commands strong support (especially in the [[Sadr City]] district in [[Baghdad]], formerly named ''Saddam City'' but renamed after the elder Sadr). After the fall of the Saddam government in 2003, Muqtada al-Sadr organized thousands of his supporters into a political movement, which includes a military wing formerly known as the ''Jaysh al-Mahdi'' or [[Mahdi Army]].<ref name=UnitedforPeace>{{cite news |title=The U.S. Is Not Preventing Chaos in Iraq, It Is Creating It |url=http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/2069/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050410053156/http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/2069/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 April 2005 |first=Henry |last=Adams |work=United for Peace of Pierce County, WA |date=12 January 2005 |access-date=3 August 2006}}</ref> The name refers to the [[Mahdi]], a long-since disappeared [[Imam]] who is believed by Shi'as to be due to reappear when the end of time approaches. This group periodically engaged in violent conflict with the United States and other Coalition forces, while the larger Sadrist movement has formed its own religious courts and organized social services, law enforcement and prisons in areas under its control.<ref name="Deutsche Welle" /> Western media often referred to Muqtada al-Sadr as an "anti-American" or "radical" cleric.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cjr.org/short_takes/defining_muqtada.php?page=all|title=Defining Muqtada|work=Columbia Journalism Review|access-date=11 December 2014}}</ref>

His strongest support came from the class of dispossessed Shi'a, like in the Sadr City area of Baghdad. Many Iraqi supporters see in him a symbol of resistance to foreign occupation.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3131330.stm |title=Who's Who in Iraq: Muqtada Sadr |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=27 August 2004 |access-date=3 August 2006 }}</ref> The Mahdi army was reported to have operated death squads during the [[Iraqi Civil War (2006–2009)|Iraqi Civil War]].<ref name="Deutsche Welle">{{cite web|url=http://www.dw.de/the-mahdi-army-turbans-kalashnikovs-and-plans-to-slaughter/a-17728487|title=The Mahdi Army: Turbans, Kalashnikovs and plans to ′slaughter′ |date=22 June 2014|work=[[Deutsche Welle]]|access-date=27 October 2017}}</ref>

In a statement received by AFP on 15 February 2014, Sadr announced the closure of all offices, centers and associations affiliated with Al-Shaheed Al-Sadr, his father, inside and outside Iraq, and announced his non-intervention in all political affairs, adding that no bloc will represent the movement inside or outside the government or parliament.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/140087/1402160902-lbci-news|title=REPORT: Key Shiite Iraqi cleric says he quits politics|publisher=[[Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International]]|date=16 February 2014|access-date=11 December 2014}}</ref> Several times he has called for all paramilitary groups recognised by the Iraqi state to be dissolved after the complete defeat of [[ISIL]] and that all foreign forces (including Iran) then leave Iraqi territory. He surprised many when he visited the crown princes of both [[Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia|Saudi Arabia]], for the first time in 11 years,<ref name="MEE">{{cite web |url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iraqi-shia-cleric-muqtada-al-sadr-bans-anti-saudi-slogans-iraqi-streets-1056508450 |title=Muqtada al-Sadr 'bans anti-Saudi slogans from Iraqi streets' |publisher=[[Middle East Eye]] |date=4 August 2017|access-date=27 October 2017 |author=MEE staff}}</ref> and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2017 and earlier and was criticized in some Iranian circles.<ref name="Post-ISIL Iraq">{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/08/post-isil-iraq-decoding-muqtada-al-sadr-gulf-visits-170820062418256.html|title=Post-ISIL Iraq: Decoding Muqtada al-Sadr's Gulf visits|first=Zaid|last=al-Ali|date=21 August 2017|access-date=27 October 2017|publisher=[[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]]}}</ref> In April 2017, he distinguished himself from other Iraqi Shiite leaders in calling on Iranian-backed Syrian President [[Bashar al-Assad]] to step down and save the country from more bloodshed.<ref name="CSMonitor2017" /> Sadr's efforts to strengthen [[relations between Saudi Arabia and Iraq]] mirror those of former Iraqi Prime Minister [[Haider al-Abadi]].<ref name="MEE" />

Muqtada is widely suspected of ordering numerous assassinations against high-ranking Shi'ite clergy, including a 2003 bombing of the house of Grand Ayatollah [[Muhammad Saeed al-Hakim]],<ref>[http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Iraq%20Syria%20Lebanon/Iraq/B008%20Iraqs%20Shiites%20Under%20Occupation.pdf IRAQ’S SHIITES UNDER OCCUPATION] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903173021/http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Iraq%20Syria%20Lebanon/Iraq/B008%20Iraqs%20Shiites%20Under%20Occupation.pdf |date=3 September 2011}}, [[International Crisis Group]], 9 September 2003</ref> and the 10 April 2003 murder of Grand Ayatollah [[Abdul-Majid al-Khoei]] at a [[Imam Ali Shrine|mosque in Najaf]].<ref>Muqtada: Muqtada Al-Sadr, the Shia Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq by Patrick Cockburn. Quoted in ''Muqtada: Muqtada Al-Sadr, the Shia Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq'' by Patrick Cockburn. The Wild Card - A Review by Dexter Filkins</ref> On 13 October 2003, fighting broke out in [[Karbala]], when al-Sadr's men attacked supporters of moderate Shi'ite Grand Ayatollah [[Ali al-Sistani]] near the Imam Hussein shrine.