The role of religious authorities in shaping Iraq’s political development

The study was relevant due to the insufficiently explored role of Shiite clerical authority in Iraq’s political transformations between the late monarchy and the rise of Baʿthist rule. The aim of the research was to identify how socio-political upheavals between the 1940s and 1960s reshaped the interaction between Shiite religious institutions and state power. The methodology combined historical-comparative analysis, content analysis, and the examination of demographic and institutional statistics. The research revealed that the reforms of Abd al-Karim Qasim after the 1958 coup disrupted traditional patronage networks between landlords, tribes, and Shiite clerics, thereby reducing the rural base of clerical influence. It was established that the legalization of the Communist Party created an ideological competitor to Shiite Islam, which compelled clerics to seek organizational innovations. The study demonstrated that the emergence of the al-Daʿwa Party marked a transition from fragmented clerical authority to a structured political project. The findings showed that the first Baʿthist regime in 1963 combined ideological confrontation with targeted repression of clerical networks, which accelerated the politicization of Shiite Islam. Finally, the return of the Baʿth Party in 1968 entrenched authoritarian mechanisms that indirectly catalyzed the long-term consolidation of Shiite Islamist movements. The study concluded that Shiite clerical actors adapted to systemic constraints by transforming into political institutions, which ensured their survival and future mobilization capacity. Its practical significance lies in historical insights into how religious authority can evolve under authoritarian repression, offering parallels for contemporary studies of religion-state relations in the Middle East.