{"id":2707,"date":"2016-01-03T14:12:32","date_gmt":"2016-01-03T19:12:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/?p=2707"},"modified":"2016-01-03T14:18:45","modified_gmt":"2016-01-03T19:18:45","slug":"who-was-saudi-shia-sheikh-nimr-al-nimr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/01\/who-was-saudi-shia-sheikh-nimr-al-nimr.html","title":{"rendered":"Who was Saudi Shi&#8217;a Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr?"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_2708\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2708\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/75\/2016\/01\/nimr-al-nimr.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/75\/2016\/01\/nimr-al-nimr.jpg\" alt=\"Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, Shi&#039;a cleric executed in Saudi Arabia\" width=\"650\" height=\"365\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2708\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2708\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, Shi&#8217;a cleric executed in Saudi Arabia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Yesterday, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2016\/jan\/02\/saudi-arabia-executes-47-people-in-one-day-including-iranian-cleric\">Saudi government executed the Shi&#8217;a cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr<\/a>, as an enemy of the state. His nephew, Ali Mohammed al-Nimr (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/live\/2016\/jan\/02\/middle-east-condemns-saudi-execution-of-shia-cleric-live?CMP=share_btn_tw#block-5687e7e3e4b096b9dad43fc5\">who was 17<\/a> when arrested), is in prison and sentenced to death by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2015\/oct\/14\/mother-of-saudi-man-sentenced-to-crucifixion-begs-obama-to-intervene\">crucifixion<\/a>, though there is still time for diplomacy to intervene.<\/p>\n<p>Naturally, Shi&#8217;a worldwide were enraged, and the Iranian government did its part to fan the flames of outrage, including burning down the Saudi embassy in Tehran. I personally am skeptical that this is the straw that breaks the back of the House of Saud, but we will see. Nimr is being used as a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/profile\/simontisdall\">geopolitical pawn<\/a> between Iran and Saudi Arabia sectarian rivalry:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Nimr\u2019s case also became a cause celebre across the Shia world, framed in geopolitical as well as humanitarian terms. His fate was linked to the broader, region-wide struggle for power and influence between the Sunni sphere, championed by the House of Saud, on the one hand, and the theocrats of Iran, the most powerful majority Shia state, on the other. Iran repeatedly demanded Nimr\u2019s release, warning Riyadh in October, when his death sentence was confirmed, that executing him would place a \u201cheavy price on Saudi Arabia\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Iran&#8217;s Ayatollah Khamenei made the point clear &#8211; tweeting in support of Nimr:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Awakening is not suppressible. 16\/5\/2015<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SheikhNimr?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SheikhNimr<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NimrAlNimr?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NimrAlNimr<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NimrMartyred?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NimrMartyred<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bVTz61FTDN\">pic.twitter.com\/bVTz61FTDN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/khamenei_ir\/status\/683310590962569216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 2, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>This is a deeply ironic (ie, hypocritical) tweet considering that Khamanei was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/07\/rafsanjanis-big-day.html\">not so supportive of &#8220;Awakenings&#8221;<\/a> during the Green Revolution six years ago. <\/p>\n<p>Iran is also an unlikely champion for the rights of religious minorities, given <a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/09\/iranian-bahai-and-saudi-shia.html\">their oppression of the Baha&#8217;i<\/a>. (See <a href=\"http:\/\/BahaiRights.org\" target=\"_blank\">BahaiRights.org<\/a> for more).<\/p>\n<p>The transmogrification of Nimr into a sectarian\/geopolitical football was inevitable. But the real question is, who was Nimr al-Nimr? What did he really believe in and advocate? Almost no one with an opinion about him today on Twitter or Facebook has any real idea. <\/p>\n<p>The answer is not to be found on mainstream news or social media. As it happens, there is a CIA telegram cable (<a href=\"https:\/\/wikileaks.org\/plusd\/cables\/08RIYADH1283_a.html\" target=\"_blank\">08RIYADH1283_a<\/a>) detailing an interview of Nimr in 2008 by intelligence and diplomatic personnel. <a href=\"https:\/\/wikileaks.org\/plusd\/cables\/08RIYADH1283_a.html\" target=\"_blank\">This cable is now public domain<\/a> thanks to Wikileaks, and contains a detailed background on Nimr, the results of the interview, and analysis. The entire cable is absolutely a must-read, but I will excerpt two sections: the executive summary, and final commentary. <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>1. (S\/NF) SUMMARY:  In an August 13 meeting with PolOff,<br \/>\ncontroversial Shi&#8217;a sheikh Nimr Baqr al-Nimr sought to<br \/>\ndistance himself from previously reported pro-Iranian and<br \/>\nanti-American statements, instead adopting a less radical<br \/>\ntone on topics such as the relationship between Iran and the<br \/>\nSaudi Shi&#8217;a, and American foreign policy.  Arguing that he is<br \/>\nportrayed publicly as much more radical than the true content<br \/>\nof his words and beliefs, the Sheikh also espoused other<br \/>\nconciliatory ideas such as fair political decision-making<br \/>\nover identity-based politics, the positive impact of<br \/>\nelections, and strong &#8220;American ideals&#8221; such as liberty and<br \/>\njustice.  Despite this more moderate tone, Al-Nimr reasserted<br \/>\nhis ardent opposition to what he described as the<br \/>\nauthoritarianism of the reactionary al-Saud regime, stating<br \/>\nhe would always support &#8220;the people&#8221; in any conflict with the<br \/>\ngovernment.  He also continued to argue for the right of the<br \/>\nSaudi Shi&#8217;a community to seek external assistance if it were<br \/>\nto become embroiled in a conflict.  The Sheikh was also<br \/>\ncognizant of the increased profile that his strong language<br \/>\nhas earned him, saying that his fiery words continue to<br \/>\nattract interest from an increasing percentage of the Shi&#8217;a<br \/>\ncommunity, particularly young people.  END SUMMARY. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Intermediate sections:<\/p>\n<p>Background on al-Nimr (Sections 2, 3)<br \/>\nAl-Nimr on his Loyalties (Section 4)<br \/>\nAl-Nimr on Iran, the United States (Sections 5-8)<br \/>\nAl-Nimr on the Saudi Arabian Government (SAG) (Sections 9-12)<\/p>\n<p>Then, the final commentary:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>13. (S\/NF) Al-Nimr&#8217;s private remarks were consistent with his<br \/>\nprevious public statements in their disregard for the SAG,<br \/>\ntheir support of foreign intervention on behalf of the Saudi<br \/>\nShi&#8217;a, and their inferences that the Sheikh at the very least<br \/>\nwill not denounce the idea of violent uprising.  On the<br \/>\nsensitive topic of Iran, however, the Sheikh eagerly<br \/>\nattempted to divorce himself from the image of being an<br \/>\nIranian agent.  Likewise, the Sheikh was much more<br \/>\ncomplimentary of the U.S. &#8211; perhaps even somewhat disarming<br \/>\nin his recounting of U.S. foreign policy in World War II, the<br \/>\nCold War, and the Carter administration &#8211; than he has been<br \/>\npreviously portrayed.  Though it is certainly possible that<br \/>\nal-Nimr changed his tune on these issues for the company of a<br \/>\nU.S. diplomat, the pace, passion and certainty with which he<br \/>\nspoke seemed to reflect true belief, and not cold political<br \/>\ncalculation or manipulation.  In any case, his ideas seem to<br \/>\nbe internally contradictory.  While it might be possible at a<br \/>\ntheoretical level to distance himself from Iran while also<br \/>\narguing the right of Saudi Shi&#8217;a to seek foreign assistance,<br \/>\nat the de facto level Iran is certainly the only country at<br \/>\nthis time that might work with the Saudi Shi&#8217;a to undermine<br \/>\nSAG control &#8211; a future Shi&#8217;a Iraq being the only other actor<br \/>\nof any possibility.  It is perhaps this reality that leads<br \/>\nsome local analysts to believe that al-Nimr would not<br \/>\nhesitate to join Iranian agents in a possible uprising. <\/p>\n<p>14. (S\/NF) Also notable for the purpose of predicting<br \/>\nal-Nimr&#8217;s future behavior was his recognition of his own<br \/>\ngrowing popularity, an observation supported by many in the<br \/>\ncommunity.  Post contacts have described al-Nimr as someone<br \/>\nwho in previous years was largely an apolitical religious<br \/>\nfigure, and is still a secondary player in local politics.<br \/>\nThese contacts point to the death of Ayatollah Shirazi as the<br \/>\nmoment when al-Nimr began to take more political stances, his<br \/>\npoliticization a product of desire for greater community<br \/>\ninfluence.  Assuming al-Nimr&#8217;s primary goals are greater<br \/>\nrights for Shi&#8217;a and greater personal influence, it would<br \/>\nseem his plan will be to continue forcefully calling for<br \/>\nreform and creating unrest, endearing him to the disaffected,<br \/>\nand fitting with his vision of instability as being the only<br \/>\ncatalyst for real change in the Kingdom. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>There is a real risk that Nimr&#8217;s execution will exacerbate sectarian tension. Therefore I think that it is vital that people have at least a general understanding of what Nimr himself believed, rather than allow him to be defined by either Saudi Arabia, or Iran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday, the Saudi government executed the Shi&#8217;a cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, as an enemy of the state. His nephew, Ali Mohammed al-Nimr (who was 17 when arrested), is in prison and sentenced to death by crucifixion, though there is still time for diplomacy to intervene. Naturally, Shi&#8217;a worldwide were enraged, and the Iranian government did&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,2],"tags":[232,57,24,28,163,56],"class_list":["post-2707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shia-crescent","category-the-gash-of-civilizations","tag-bahai","tag-iran","tag-islam","tag-muslims","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-shia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Who was Saudi Shi&#039;a Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr? - City of Brass<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who was Saudi Shi&#039;a Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr? - City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yesterday, the Saudi government executed the Shi&#8217;a cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, as an enemy of the state. His nephew, Ali Mohammed al-Nimr (who was 17 when arrested), is in prison and sentenced to death by crucifixion, though there is still time for diplomacy to intervene. Naturally, Shi&#8217;a worldwide were enraged, and the Iranian government did&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/01\/who-was-saudi-shia-sheikh-nimr-al-nimr.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-03T19:12:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-01-03T19:18:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/files\/2016\/01\/nimr-al-nimr.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Aziz Poonawalla\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Who was Saudi Shi'a Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr? - City of Brass","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Who was Saudi Shi'a Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr? - City of Brass","og_description":"Yesterday, the Saudi government executed the Shi&#8217;a cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, as an enemy of the state. His nephew, Ali Mohammed al-Nimr (who was 17 when arrested), is in prison and sentenced to death by crucifixion, though there is still time for diplomacy to intervene. Naturally, Shi&#8217;a worldwide were enraged, and the Iranian government did&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/01\/who-was-saudi-shia-sheikh-nimr-al-nimr.html","og_site_name":"City of Brass","article_published_time":"2016-01-03T19:12:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-01-03T19:18:45+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/files\/2016\/01\/nimr-al-nimr.jpg"}],"author":"Aziz Poonawalla","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/01\/who-was-saudi-shia-sheikh-nimr-al-nimr.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/01\/who-was-saudi-shia-sheikh-nimr-al-nimr.html","name":"Who was Saudi Shi'a Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr? - City of Brass","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/01\/who-was-saudi-shia-sheikh-nimr-al-nimr.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/01\/who-was-saudi-shia-sheikh-nimr-al-nimr.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/files\/2016\/01\/nimr-al-nimr.jpg","datePublished":"2016-01-03T19:12:32+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-03T19:18:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/87dfd5533a0222456bb5ad6eaf152fbb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/01\/who-was-saudi-shia-sheikh-nimr-al-nimr.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/01\/who-was-saudi-shia-sheikh-nimr-al-nimr.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/01\/who-was-saudi-shia-sheikh-nimr-al-nimr.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/files\/2016\/01\/nimr-al-nimr.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/files\/2016\/01\/nimr-al-nimr.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/01\/who-was-saudi-shia-sheikh-nimr-al-nimr.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Who was Saudi Shi&#8217;a Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/","name":"City of Brass","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Aziz Poonawalla","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/87dfd5533a0222456bb5ad6eaf152fbb","name":"Aziz Poonawalla","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a95\/a95f814e7f2984c887f3b03aed357433x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a95\/a95f814e7f2984c887f3b03aed357433x96.jpg","caption":"Aziz Poonawalla"},"description":"Aziz Poonawalla is a member of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, and currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. City of Brass is his weblog, which was founded in 2002 under the name UNMEDIA. He is a co-founder of the annual Brass Crescent Awards. The name City of Brass refers to the Story of the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights, and the poem by Rudyard Kipling of the same name: Here was a people whom, after their works, thou shalt see wept over for their lost dominion; And in this palace is the last information respecting lords collected in the dust. -- Thousand and One Nights, Story of the City of Brass IN A land that the sand overlays, the ways to her gates are untrod, A multitude ended their days whose fates were made splendid by God, Till they grew drunk and were smitten with madness and went to their fall, And of these is a story written: but Allah Alone knoweth all! -- Rudyard Kipling, The City of Brass (1909)"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2707"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2710,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2707\/revisions\/2710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}