The 1977 Shia protests in Iraq, or the

Safar Ṣafar ( ar, صَفَر) also spelt as Safer in Turkish, is the second month of the lunar Islamic calendar. The Arabic word ''ṣafar'' means "travel, migration", corresponding to the pre-Islamic Arabian time period when muslims flee the oppre ...

uprising, were a series of demonstrations and riots against the

Iraqi government The federal government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution, approved in 2005, as an Islamic, democratic, federal parliamentary republic. The federal government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as ...

Karbala Karbala or Kerbala ( ar, كَرْبَلَاء, Karbalāʾ , , also ;) is a city in central Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad, and a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Govern ...

and

Najaf Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...

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 for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed te ...

for 16 demonstrators.

Background

On 17 July 1968 the

Ba'athism Ba'athism, also stylized as Baathism, (; ar, البعثية ' , from ' , meaning "renaissance" or "resurrection" Hans Wehr''Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic'' (4th ed.), page 80) is an Arab nationalist ideology which promotes the creation ...

took power in Iraq, Ba'athism is an

Arab nationalist Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language an ...

and

Arab socialist Arab socialism ( ar, الإشتِراكيّة العربية, Al-Ishtirākīya Al-‘Arabīya) is a political ideology based on the combination of pan-Arabism and socialism. Arab socialism is distinct from the much broader tradition of socialist ...

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 Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the ...

citys.

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 protestor 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-Rubu’ ( ar, خان الربع) also known as Khan al-Nukhaylah ( ar, خان النخيلة), is a historical khan in Iraq located near the city of Karbala. It is around 16km away from the Karbala city center, and situated at the road boun ...

(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 wi ...

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-Irwani # 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 Karbala Governorate Najaf Governorate

Background

Timeline

The names of the executed demonstrators through revolution court

See also

References