Topic: Mohammad Sadiq

Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr (Arabic: محمد محمّد صادق الصدر‎; Muḥammad Muḥammad Ṣādiq aṣ-Ṣadr) (March 23, 1943 – February 19, 1999), often referred to as Muhammad Sadiq as-Sadr which is his father's name, was a prominent, Iraqi Twelver Shi'a cleric of the rank of Grand Ayatollah. He called for government reform and the release of detained Shi'a leaders. The growth of his popularity, often referred to as the followers of the Vocal Hawza, also put him in competition with other Shi'a leaders, including Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim who was exiled in Iran.

Following the Gulf War, Shi'ites in Southern Iraq went into open rebellion. A number of provinces overthrew the Baathist entities and rebelled against Saddam Hussein and the Baath Party. The leadership of the Shi'ite rebellion as well as the Shi'ite doctrine in Iraq was split between Ayatollah Ali Sistani and Ayatollah Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr. Sadr, based in Baghdad, appealed to the younger, more radical Shi'ites from the more impoverished areas of Southern Iraq. The Shi'ites traveled to Baghdad from these poor areas to join Sadr and his Shi'ite leadership. The area which Sadr preached in and these poor Shi'ites occupied became known as "Revolution Township". In this ghetto, Sadr established a secret network of devoted followers and he became an increasingly prominent figure in the Iraqi political scene.

As a result of the disenfranchisement and repression of the Shi'ites in Iraq and the loyalty of the local populations, Saddam Hussein and his Baathist government could not control the Revolution Township on a neighborhood level. Their lack of control limited their ability to effect al-Sadr's power base and the devotion of his followers. Revolution Township was ironically renamed Saddam City, an acute definition of the poverty and oppression Saddam brought to the Shi'ites in the span of his reign over Iraq.