Muqtada al-Sadr

Muqtada al-Sadr
مقتدى الصدر
Al-Sadr in 2019
Leader of the Sadrist Movement
Incumbent
Assumed office
5 December 2003
Preceded byMohammad al-Sadr
Personal details
Born (1974-08-04) 4 August 1974 (age 50)[1]
Najaf, Ba'athist Iraq
Political partySadrist Movement
Other political
affiliations		Al-Ahrar Bloc
(2014–2018)
Alliance Towards Reforms (Saairun)(2018–2021)[2]
Residence(s)Hanana, Najaf, Iraq

Muqtada al-Sadr (Arabic: مقتدى الصدر, romanized: Muqtadā aṣ-Ṣadr; born 4 August 1974)[3] is an Iraqi Shia Muslim cleric, politician and militia leader. He inherited the leadership of the Sadrist Movement from his father.[4] He founded the now dissolved Mahdi Army militia in 2003 that resisted the American occupation of Iraq. He also founded the Promised Day Brigade militia after the dissolution of the Mahdi Army; both were backed by Iran. In 2014, he founded the Peace Companies militia and is its current head. In 2018, he joined his Sadrist political party to the Saairun alliance, which won the highest number of seats in the 2018 and 2021 Iraqi parliamentary elections.[5]

  1. ^ "بطاقة الناخب مقتدى الصدر". Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  2. ^ Hamza Mustafa (18 February 2014). "Iraq: Sadrist resignations threaten new political crisis". Asharq Al Awsat. Archived from the original on 28 May 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  3. ^ "بطاقة الناخب مقتدى الصدر". Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  4. ^ Hroub, Khaled (28 May 2012). Political Islam: Context Versus Ideology. Saqi. ISBN 978-0-86356-883-1.
  5. ^ "Pro-Iran groups seen losing Iraq election and firebrand cleric winning". NBC News. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.