The “Shiite issue” in Iraqi-Iranian relations under Saddam Hussein

Abstract

The article analyzes the views of Saddam Hussein, based on his statements regarding the “Shiite question”, which was originally based on the ideological heritage of the Ba’th, set out in the Constitution of 1951. However, under the influence of the processes that took place in Iraq throughout the 1970s, in particular the Kurdish national movement and the “Islamic awakening” of Shiites under the influence of the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Saddam Hussein was forced to adjust the ideas of the Ba’th to new realities. As a result, Saddam was forced to recognize the multinational nature of Iraqi society and the rights of Shiites to worship, abandoning the Ba’th atheistic principles. The evolution of viewsthattook place, asthe war with Iran showed, contributedtothe consolidation of Iraqi society around the Ba’th program and the personality of Saddam Hussein.

Keywords

• iraq
• iran
• saddam hussein
• ba’th
• kurds
• islam
• shiites
• ulama
• secularism
• islamism