Impact of Shi‘a Clerical Establishments on Iran-Iraq Relations

This thesis examines the nature of the relationship between the Shi‘a religious establishments in Qom, Iran, and Najaf, Iraq, and the ways these establishments have shaped relations between Baghdad and Tehran since the fall of Saddam Hussein. This research will provide an overview of the tenets of Shi‘a Islam, examine modern state-clergy relations in Iran and Iraq, and address how religion both constrains and empowers Iranian and Iraqi leaders’ decisionmaking. To date, there is limited research on how two predominant, yet divergent views on Shi‘a political thought—quietism and velayat-e faqih—determine the stability and security of the Persian Gulf. This thesis attempts to contribute new scholarship on this important topic.

Author

• Tuma, Ashleigh

Language

• en

Keyword

• religion
• iran
• iraq
• politics
• shi'a

Date created

• 2020

Type of Work

• Master's Thesis

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Islamic Studies

Degree

• M.A.

Advisor

• Faghfoory, Mohammad

Committee Member(s)

• Gnehm, Edward S.

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/kk91fm390