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Sayyid Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim, also known as Shaheed al-Mehraab, was a senior Iraqi Shia Islamic Scholar and the leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). Al-Hakim spent more than 20 years in exile in Iran and returned to Iraq on 12 May 2003. Al-Hakim was a contemporary of Ayatollah Khomeini, and The Guardian compared the two in terms of their times in exile and their support in their respective homelands. After his return to Iraq, al-Hakim's life was in danger because of his work to encourage Shiite resistance to Saddam Hussein and from a rivalry with Muqtada al-Sadr, the son of the late Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr, who had himself been assassinated in Najaf in 1999. Al-Hakim was assassinated in a bomb attack in Najaf in 2003 when aged 63 years old. At least 75 others in the vicinity also died in the bombing.
The Sanctuary of Imām 'Alī, also known as the Mosque of 'Alī, located in Najaf, Iraq, is a mosque which Shī'a Muslims believe contains the tomb of 'Alī ibn Abī Tālib. He was a cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and later became his son-in-law. The Shī'as consider 'Alī as their first Imām, and the Sunnis regard him as the fourth Sunni Rashid Caliph. According to Shī'ite belief, buried next to 'Alī within this mosque are the remains of Adam and Nuh (Noah). Each year, millions of pilgrims visit the Shrine and pay tribute to Imām 'Alī.
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The Islamic Center of America is a mosque located in Dearborn, Michigan. The Islamic Center of America, a 120,000 sq. ft. facility is the largest mosque in North America and the oldest purpose-built Shia mosque in the United States, and the second oldest after "Asser El Jadeed Mosque" which originally opened in 1924, in Michigan City, Indiana. Although the institution dates back to 1963, the center's current mosque opened in 2005. It is the largest mosque in North America and the oldest Shia mosque in the United States. With its large Shia Arab population, Dearborn is often called the "heart of Muslims", especially Shi'ism, in the United States.
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The Umm al-Qura Mosque is a mosque located in Baghdad, Iraq. It was the city's largest place of worship for Sunni Muslims, but it has also become the location of a Shia hawza and the place of refugee for many fleeing the terrorists depredations in the Anbar Province. Originally called the Umm al-Ma'arik mosque, it was designed to commemorate Saddam Hussein's self-proclaimed victory in the 1991 Gulf War and was intended to serve as a personal tribute to Saddam himself. It is located in the Sunni-populated al-Adel area of western Baghdad. Costing US$7.5 million to build, the mosque's cornerstone was laid on Saddam's 61st birthday on 28 April 1998. It was formally completed on 28 April 2001 in time for the ten-year anniversary of the Gulf War.
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On January 24, 2011, an Imperial Beach, California, man named Roger Stockham was arrested and charged with terrorism after attempting to blow up the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Michigan, which has large Arab-American and Muslim populations. The police made no comments as to his motive. Stockham later said he opposed the Iraq war and targeted the mosque to "grab people's attention." He was arrested in the parking lot outside the mosque with a car filled with high-end, class C fireworks including M-80s. Possession of such fireworks is a 15-year felony in Michigan; the terrorism charge can carry up to 20 years. Police chief Roger Haddad described Stockham and the threat he posed as "very dangerous" and "very serious"; at the time Stockham was arrested, there were 500 worshippers inside the mosque. According to Haddad, Stockham had a history of anti-government activity and run-ins with law enforcement agencies elsewhere. He was arrested after the police received a tip from a bar employee who had overheard Stockham making violent threats. Haddad said that Stockham was likely acting alone. Dearborn Mayor John O'Reilly commented on the incident, saying that the explosives Stockham had, "if used in a building could cause tremendous harm".
In 2004, Metro Detroit had one of the largest settlements of Middle Eastern people, including Arabs and Chaldo-Assyrians in the United States. As of 2007 about 300,000 people in Southeast Michigan traced their descent from the Middle East. Dearborn's sizeable Arab community consists largely of Lebanese people who immigrated for jobs in the auto industry in the 1920s, and of more recent Yemenis and Iraqis. In 2010 the four Metro Detroit counties had at least 200,000 people of Middle Eastern origin, excluding Jews. Bobby Ghosh of TIME said that some estimates gave much larger numbers. From 1990 to 2000 the percentage of people speaking Arabic in the home increased by 106% in Wayne County, 99.5% in Macomb County, and 41% in Oakland County.
Islam is practiced by several Muslim American groups in Metro Detroit.
The Return to Faith campaign, often referred to simply as the Faith Campaign, was a campaign conducted by the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, beginning in 1993, to pursue a more Islamist agenda. The campaign involved a variety of policies, including greater freedoms being granted to Islamist groups, greater resources being put into religious programmes, increased use of Islamic punishments, and a greater emphasis being put on Islam in all sectors of Iraqi life.
A 2009 survey by the Pew Research Center estimated that 10-13% of Muslims worldwide adhere to Shia Islam, with a global total of between 154 million and 200 million Shia Muslims. In the Americas, Pew estimated a population of just under 4.6 million Muslims overall in 2009, with a small portion of those being Shia.
References
- ↑ See interviews by CNN's Daryn Kagan
- ↑ Jonathan Curiel. "Arab Americans could help sway crucial states: They're turning to Kerry in Ohio and Michigan", San Francisco Chronicle
- ↑ Krupa, Gregg and Hansen, Ron. "Locals expected Iraq spy charges." The Detroit News. April 19, 2007 (Accessed May 16, 2007) here