Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr
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Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr (Arabic: محمد محمّد صادق الصدر; Muḥammad Muḥammad Ṣādiq aṣ-Ṣadr) (March 23, 1943 – February 19, 1999), often referred to as Muhammad Sadiq as-Sadr which is his father's name, was a prominent, Iraqi Shi'a cleric of the rank of Grand Ayatollah. He called for government reform and the release of detained Shi'a leaders. His opponents say he was elevated to a high position among the Shia by the Baath Party following the Persian Gulf War in an attempt to find a puppet amongst the Shi'as. The growth of his popularity, often referred to as the followers of the Vocal Hawza, also put him in competition with other Shi'a leaders, including Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim who was exiled in Iran.
He was killed in the Iraqi city of Najaf along with two of his sons as they drove through the town. Their car was ambushed by men, and all three occupants of the car were killed by gunfire. Popular opinion among Shi'as in Iraq, as well as some international observers, holds that the Iraqi Baathist government was implicated if not directly responsible. Following the fall of Baghdad, the majority-Shi'a suburb of Saddam City was unofficially but popularly renamed to Sadr City in his honor. His son, Muqtada al-Sadr, bases his legitimacy upon his relationship to his father, and gains much of his support through the popularity of his father.
He was the younger cousin and student of Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, and the father of Muqtada al-Sadr.
