Ammar al-Hakim

Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim
سید عمار الحكيم
President of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq
Incumbent
Assumed office 2009
Preceded by	Abdul Aziz al-Hakim
Personal details
Born	1971 (age 44–45) Najaf, Iraq
Nationality	Iraqi
Political party	ISIC
Spouse(s)	Married
Children	4
Residence	Najaf, Iraq
Alma mater	University of Qom
Profession	cleric
Religion	Islam (Twelver)

Ammar al-Hakim (Arabic: سید عمار الحكيم‎) is an Iraqi cleric and politician who leads the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq,^[1] which was the largest party in Iraq's Council of Representatives from the 2003 Invasion of Iraq until the 2010 Iraqi elections.

Al-Hakim was born in 1971 in Al-Najaf, the son of Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, who preceded him as leader of ISCI, and the grandson of Muhsin al-Hakim, who led the Iraqi Marja' from 1961. He is a member of the Hakim family of clerics.

He went into exile in Iran in 1979 with his father after the government of Saddam Hussein had executed seven of his uncles and sixty two of his relatives. He attended private schools in Tehran and graduated from the Islamic Arabic University in Qom. He taught Arabic language, Islamic jurisprudence, logic, philosophy and the science of the Qur'an at the same university for several years.

He supervises the establishment and management of many organizations, Scientific and Cultural Institution in the exile, including the “House of Wisdom for Islamic Science”. In 2003 he established “Al-Hakim Foundation”, under the supervision of his uncle Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Al-Hakim. The Al-Hakim Foundation later received consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Headquartered in Najaf, it is now the largest institution of civil society in Iraq, with over 80 offices in all Governorates of Iraq, and working in the field of humanitarian assistance, development, human rights, and dialogue between religions. The Foundation also oversees several schools, colleges and cultural and scientific centers. The foundation holds numerous symposiums, conferences and social and cultural events, in addition to publishing a number of magazines and specialized publications.

On February 23, 2007, he was detained by U.S. forces at a border when he was returning from Iran for 12 hours and he was released. The U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad apologized for the arrest and stressed that Washington did not mean any disrespect to al-Hakim or his family.^[2]

He is married and is the father of four children.

References

1. "Hakim-led Citizen Coalition could shake up Iraqi elections - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East". al-monitor.com. Retrieved 2014-07-25.
2. "The New York Times". nytimes.com. Retrieved 2014-07-25.