Shia Muslims are no longer in the ascendant
Despite taking over Iraq, the Shias have been losing momentum
Visting iraq’s latest grand shrine in what is said to be the world’s largest cemetery, in the holy city of Najaf, has become something of a pilgrimage for people from across the region wanting to salute two of Shia Islam’s modern heroes. One is Qassem Suleimani, the long-serving commander of the Quds force, the foreign arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC); the other is Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the commander of the beefiest umbrella group of Shia militias in Iraq, whose grave is at the shrine. (Suleimani is buried in southern Iran.) Both were killed three years ago in Baghdad by an American drone strike aimed at Suleimani, whose job was to protect and spread the Shia revolution across the region.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “No longer shining so bright”
From the March 25th 2023 edition
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