The 1977 Shia protests in Iraq, or the

Safar Safar (), also spelt as Safer in Turkish, is the second month of the lunar Islamic calendar. Most of the Islamic months were named according to ancient Sabean/Sabaic weather conditions; however, since the calendar is lunar, the months shift ...

uprising, were a series of demonstrations and riots against the

Iraqi government The government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution, approved in 2005, as a democratic, parliamentary republic with Islam as the official state religion. The government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branche ...

Karbala Karbala is a major city in central Iraq. It is the capital of Karbala Governorate. With an estimated population of 691,100 people in 2024, Karbala is the second largest city in central Iraq, after Baghdad. The city is located about southwest ...

and

Najaf Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...

Governorates, the demonstrations started on 4 February 1977 and finished on 9 February in the same year. Demonstrators had taken to the streets to demonstrate against the Iraqi government because they had blocked Arbaʽeen Pilgrimage. The Iraqi security forces killed and arrested many protesters and presented them to trial in a revolution court, the revolution court declared execution for eight demonstrators and

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

for 16 demonstrators.

Background

On 17 July 1968 the

Ba'athism Ba'athism, also spelled Baathism, is an Arab nationalist ideology which advocates the establishment of a unified Arab state through the rule of a Ba'athist vanguard party operating under a revolutionary socialist framework. The ideology i ...

took power in Iraq, Ba'athism is an

Arab nationalist Arab nationalism () is a political ideology asserting that Arabs constitute a single nation. As a traditional nationalist ideology, it promotes Arab culture and civilization, celebrates Arab history, the Arabic language and Arabic literatur ...

and

Arab socialist Arab socialism () is a political ideology based on the combination of pan-Arabism or Arab nationalism and socialism. The term "Arab socialism" was coined by Michel Aflaq, the principal founder of Ba'athism and the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in ...

ideology that promotes the development and creation of a unified Arab state. In 1977, Ba'athism attempted to ban an annual pilgrimage to Karbala as well as attempted to ban religious processions. This move sparked protests, with the pilgrimage transforming into the 1977 Safar uprising in holy

shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

cities.

Timeline

*4 February: In

city, many protesters went out in the street and were blocked from going to Karbala for Arbaʽeen Pilgrimagee. The protesters stayed in Khan Al-Musala (Al-Rube) for the night *5 February: The protesters arrived Al-Haydreyah (Khan Al-Nus), a small town located north of Najaf. The protesters stayed there that night *6 February: In Al-Haydreyah town, one protester was killed. His name was Muhammed Al-Mayali. He was killed after violent clashes between protesters and Iraqi security forces. The protesters set many police offices on fire along the road between Najaf and

. The protesters arrived to Khan Khan al-Rubu' (Khan al-Nukhaylah) and remained there in the night. *(7 ,8 and 9) February: The Iraqi government sent the

Republican Guard A republican guard, sometimes called a national guard, is a state organization of a country (often a republic, hence the name ''Republican'') which typically serves to protect the head of state and the government, and thus is often synonymous wit ...

forces and some Iraqi army units to Karbala and Najaf to end the demonstrations and riots. They were successful in stopping the protests in Karbala and Najaf governorates

The names of the executed demonstrators through revolution court

# Jassim Sadiq Al-Irawani # Youssef Sattar Al-Asadi # Muhammed Said Al-Balagy # Najeh Muhammed Karim # Sahib Rahim Abu Kalal # Abbas Hadi Ajenah # Kamil Naji Malo # Gazi Judi Khuwayr

References

{{Protests in Iraq 1977 in Iraq Shia Islam in Iraq History of Karbala Governorate History of Najaf Governorate Rebellions in Iraq

Background

Timeline

The names of the executed demonstrators through revolution court

See also

References