Hojatoleslam Muqtada al-Sadr (b. 1974?) is a young Iraqi Shi'a cleric, the son of the famous Shi'a cleric Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr. The elder al-Sadr, a well- respected figure throughout the Shi'a world, was killed with two of his sons by the Saddam Hussein government in February 1999 in Al-Najaf, the power-center of the al-Sadr clan. The Ba'ath Government of Saddam Hussein increased repressive activities in predominantly Shi�a areas to prevent mourning observances and popular demonstrations. Of the four Sh'ia executed for the assassinations, one was in prison at the time of the murders.

Muqtada al-Sadr has gained popularity among younger Iraqis following the toppling of the Hussein government by the 2003 invasion of Iraq, mostly owing to his status as his father's son, for he has no formal religious standing to interpret the Koran and relies for religious advice on an Iranian cleric exiled in Iraq, Ayatollah Kazem al-Haeri. The al-Sadr faction are opposed by the al-Hakim family and their supporters.

Muqtada is vocally opposed to the American occupation and has stated that he has more legitimacy than the American-appointed Iraqi Governing Council. In September 2003, he declared a shadow government in opposition to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) that is currently governing Iraq. It is common belief that al-Sadr wishes to create an Islamic theocracy in Iraq, although al-Sadr himself has stated that he wishes to create an "Islamic democracy". Though he has always opposed the American occupation, and has harsh words for anyone he considers as supporting it, at times he has hinted that if the Governing Council is given more authority and expanded to include "other parties", he might be mollified.

Al-Sadr commands strong support (especially in the Sadr City ghetto in Baghdad, named after his father), and has raised a militia dubbed the " Imam Mahdi Army", which has several times engaged in violent conflicts with occupation forces.

...