Sayyed Ayad Jamal Aldein was elected a member of Iraqi Parliament in the December 2005 elections, as a member the liberal/secular Iraqiya list, headed by the former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. He is a Shi'ite cleric who advocates secularism and separation of religion and state rather than the creation of the Islamist state, which, by his own assessment, has hijacked Islam and destroyed its true image. He was born in the Holy City of Najaf, the son of a linguist, and became a political activist in 1977, when he demonstrated against Saddam's decision to prevent the procession of Ashura, commemorating the martyrdom of the Prophet Mohammad's grandson. Pursued by the secret service, he went into hiding and eventually left for Syria in 1979, and then Iran, to pursue his religious education. In 1995, he accepted the post of imam of the Shi'ite community in Dubai and served there until he returned to Iraq in 2003.

Panel:
Iraq: Can Secularism Work?

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