Muqtada Al-Sadr is an Iraqi religious and political leader. He is also a militia commander and is head of the Mahdi Army. He is strongly opposed to America’s presence in his country but has stuck to a 2005 truce, which has seen levels of violence decrease. Sadr is currently studying to be an ayatollah and is still very popular with millions of Iraqis.
Sadr is the fourth son of the late Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Sadeq Al-Sadr, a famous Shi‘a cleric. As a child, Muqtada attended a religious seminary but did not finish his education. After his father's assassination, he took over the charity and social work his father had controlled. He immediately became very popular with his Shi’a followers.
In 2003, the US-led coalition set up the Coalition Provisional Authority and Iraqi Governing Council (IGC). Sadr decided to enter the political stage. He stated that he had more right to govern Iraq than the IGC. He formed his own shadow government. Since 2003, his Mahdi army has provided many important social services to the people of Sadr City in Baghdad.
In 2004, Sadr's Mahdi Army demonstrated against the closure of Sadr’s newspaper and took over several key positions in Baghdad. After calling a truce, he told his soldiers to "do their duty" and go home. He boycotted the 2005 Iraqi election, saying it was a fraud. In 2007, Sadr went into exile in Iran. He continues to tell Iraqi soldiers and police not to work with American forces.
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