Ever since the fall of Saddam Hussein, many people had expected it to happen: a theological duel between Najaf, in central Iraq, and Qom, south of Tehran, over the leadership of the world’s Shiite Muslims.
The first moves in the duel have come from Grand Ayatollah Ali-Muhammad Sistani in Najaf and Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi in Qom. The issue that triggered it is one connected with lifestyle: Does Islam permit smoking? The question was put to the two clerics by the Islamic Students Association, a pro-reform movement based in Tehran.
The answers given by the two clerics show them to be poles apart in their understanding of theology and the role it plays in a modern Muslim society.
Sistani is the primus inter pares of Iraqi Shiite theologians. Having lived under house arrest through much of Saddam’s rule, and thus prevented from communicating with Shiites outside Iraq, Sistani was unable to use his position to project his vision of Shiism. With Saddam gone, he is now free to help rebuild Najaf as a center of “Ijtihad”. Sistani was a pupil of the late Grand Ayatollah Abol-Qassem Khoi, regarded by many as the greatest of Shiite theologians of the last century. Khoi preached a version of Islam that emphasizes personal piety as opposed to public militancy. He also insisted that clerics should not seek political power but act as arbiters between state and society.
Shirazi is one of six mullahs appointed by Iran’s “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei as a collective “source of emulation” (Marja’a al-Taqlid).
The rival fatwas on reveal not only two schools of “Ijtihad” but two visions of the role of religion in society.
Shirazi is categorical in declaring that smoking tobacco in any form and under any circumstances and by anyone is a sin. He uses the term “haram” (forbidden). Shirazi bases his position on verse 195 of the surah Al-Baqara in the Qur’an which admonishes Muslims not to lead themselves to destruction. The verse, however, has hitherto been interpreted as a command to believers not to take suicidal action in war.
Sistani’s fatwa says that smoking is not forbidden as such but anyone who knows that it is harmful to his or her health should refrain from doing so. He regards the issue of smoking as one to be settled by human reason and individual choice, not through anathema and interdict. In doing so, Sistani shows that in most issues concerning human existence, “reason” must prevail over dogma. The “ texts” should be used for graver issues that fall beyond fallible human reasoning.
The two schools of “Ijtihad” could lead to two different forms of social and political organization. Shirazi uses words such as “must” and “obligatory”. This means that the clergy should exercise authority over society, and that their edicts should leave no room for individual choice and judgment. That position is based on the claim that a majority of the believers are incapable of knowing right from wrong and need the guidance of the clergy. Shirazi’s ideal society is ultimately Platonic: The government of the elite over the ignorant populace. Its Khomeinist version is “wilayt al-faqih”.
Sistani uses such words as “recommended” or “preferable”. He casts the clergy into the role of “advisors” and “ethical counselors” of society. The ultimate decision is made by the individual on the basis of reason, which is the most precious gift from God to man.
Sistani’s vision is ultimately Aristotelian. His ideal society is one in which rulers are ordinary pious citizens. Because the concept of an intercessor is alien to Islam, Sistani rejects the idea that an individual could escape the consequences of his deeds by simply following the clergy.
There are other differences between the two schools. For Shirazi every issue under the sun is theological. Sistani, however, allows for public and private spaces in which theology would intervene by invitation only, and then as one voice among many. In this view science, politics, literature, art, and culture in general, are independent entities not mere branches of theology.
The re-emergence of Najaf as a center of “Ijtihad” is the best news for Shiism in more than half a century. Competition between Najaf and Qom could enrich Shiite theology and benefit both centers. This is one duel that should be welcome, because it is one of ideas.
— Arab News Opinion 3 October 2003
