Thousands of mourners gathered on Sunday for the burial ceremony of Mohammed Saeed Al Hakim, one of Iraq’s most senior and influential Shiite clerics.
The crowd carried the coffin to the shrine of Imam Ali, the son-in-law and cousin of the Prophet Mohammed, to be buried.
Al Hakim died on Friday at 85 after a heart attack, his family said.
His office announced that he died of a sudden medical condition but did not specify what it was.
He is survived by a wife and eight children.
On Saturday, his coffin was carried to Karbala's Imam Hussein Shrine for blessings before it was taken back to the cleric's hometown of Najaf on Sunday.
Al Hakim held the highest theological title among Shiite clerics – Ayatollah Al Uzma, which means Grand or Supreme Ayatollah.
He was seen as the top contender to succeed Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, who is in his early nineties.
Iraq’s president and prime minister and other politicians issued statements eulogising Al Hakim.
The US Embassy in Baghdad tweeted its condolences, describing him as “a symbol of peace, love, and harmony across the region”.
“He had fatwas [religious opinion] calling for the unity and coherence of the Iraqi society, emphasising the brotherhood among the people of the same country and contributing to building a new country that has something of a peaceful coexistence,” said Saeed Ali Al Haidari, a resident of Najaf.
"Mohammed Saeed Al Hakim is known for his stance that calls for harmony between all religions in great Iraq, he has a clear position on that. The proof of that is that most countries in the Islamic world mourned his death today,” said Assad Aziz Hussein, a Karbala resident.
Who is Mohammed Saeed Al Hakim?
The Najaf-born cleric is a member of the well-known and highly respected Hakim family of Shiite scholars.
His maternal grandfather is Mohsen Al Tabatabai Al Hakim, a scholar and one of the most prominent thinkers of Shiite Islam.
His father is Muhammad Ali Al Hakim, one of the most respected clerics in Najaf.
His second cousin, Sayyed Ammar Al Hakim leads the Al Hikma, or National Wisdom Movement, one of the largest Shiite political parties in Iraq.
The late cleric began studying Islamic jurisprudence and religious doctrine early in life and some of the most prominent clerics were among his teachers.
He soon turned to teaching, and became one of the leading Shiite scholars in Najaf – a Shiite holy city and centre of Islamic learning.
Al Hakim became one of four Grand Ayatollahs who teach at the Hawza, the religious seminary of Najaf.
He has written many books and publications, some of which were translated into several languages.
Like most Shiite religious leaders in the holy city, he was put under house arrest during the last days of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s rule, before the US invasion of Iraq.
He was targeted in an attempted assassination in 2003, when his house in Najaf was bombed. Three of Al Hakim’s bodyguards were killed, and members of his family were injured.
Al Hakim came away from the blast with minimal injuries. Relatives blamed terrorists for the bomb, which was hidden in a gas cylinder.
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Director: Joseph Kosinski
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The specs: 2018 Jaguar F-Type Convertible
Price, base / as tested: Dh283,080 / Dh318,465
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Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
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Bookshops: A Reader's History by Jorge Carrión (translated from the Spanish by Peter Bush),
Biblioasis
India squads
T20: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur
Test: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam
Rating:**
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Favourite film: The Notebook
Favourite book: What I know for sure by Oprah Winfrey
Favourite quote: “Social equality is the only basis of human happiness” Nelson Madela. Hometown: Emmen, The Netherlands
Favourite activities: Walking on the beach, eating at restaurants and spending time with friends
Job: Founder and Managing Director of Mawaheb from Beautiful Peopl
The specs
Common to all models unless otherwise stated
Engine: 4-cylinder 2-litre T-GDi
0-100kph: 5.3 seconds (Elantra); 5.5 seconds (Kona); 6.1 seconds (Veloster)
Power: 276hp
Torque: 392Nm
Transmission: 6-Speed Manual/ 8-Speed Dual Clutch FWD
Price: TBC
The biog:
From: Wimbledon, London, UK
Education: Medical doctor
Hobbies: Travelling, meeting new people and cultures
Favourite animals: All of them
The lowdown
Badla
Rating: 2.5/5
Produced by: Red Chillies, Azure Entertainment
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh, Tony Luke
The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
Fanney Khan
Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora
Director: Atul Manjrekar
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand
Rating: 2/5
Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office
Golden Shoe top five (as of March 1):
Harry Kane, Tottenham, Premier League, 24 goals, 48 points
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Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, Premier League, 23 goals, 46 points
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- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
The Baghdad Clock
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The specs
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Results
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