Wasita, Intercession - A Two Way Street

One of the questions that a friend of mine asked was how he could tell if "the juice was worth the squeeze" with respect to whether or not a person in Iraq was a "mover and shaker." This is interesting to me, as I am sure that Iraqis themselves are wondering which of us can actually help them, and which of us can't. I wish I had the answer to both issues.

However, this does bring to light an interesting facet that some of us love to delight ourselves with because we think that we understand it. The concept is called "Wasita," which is loosely translated as having somebody important that can help in a pinch. It's much like "guan xi," which in Chinese means having a relationship with someone that is mutually beneficial.

Wasita runs deep. It's more than just having somebody that can help you achieve your earthly aspirations. It's a manifestation of something deep in the Iraqi collective soul.

I could try to write about it - but somebody else did. His name is 'Ali Al-Wardi. Here's my rough translation of pages 16 and 17 of "Lamahat Ijtima'iya," Volume 1. I hope that it brings light to the subject. So, as we look for those who are important in Iraq, who can help us forge stronger ties with Iraqi society, know that they are looking for us, too.

Translation is as follows:

"The Principle of Intercession

It is possible to say that the core of religious ideology in and of itself is centered on the concept of intercession, and thus people turn to the traditions embodied by Prophet’s companions or the members of his family, but they don’t mean to follow their way of life Rather, they mean to acquire intercession on their behalf on the day of resurrection. People believed that the world was temporary, and thus it didn’t deserve the concern of humans. Thus, one should be concerned with other things instead. In their view, the most important means of final victory was to take part in religious rituals on one hand, and to get intercession with God for their loved ones on the other, but as for ethics, good dealings and such, it wasn’t so important because all sins, in their view, would be forgiven by God through intercession for all of those whom God loves without reservation.

The concept of intercession also emanates from the nature of government to which the people were accustomed in ancient times, as perhaps they were used to seeing a person who was close to the sultan as being able to save any person from the noose or make him fortunate materially or financially. This image reflects their religious ideology, and they came to believe that intercession was important with God as well as with their rulers on earth.

This might help us explain many seemingly contradictory social phenomena that riddled the Ottoman age from the perspective of peoples’ popular and governmental concerns – in the building of mosques or holy shrines, and in the extreme care taken in religious rites and demonstrations during times of widespread oppression, looting and violence. The government oppressed people, and people oppressed each other – but everybody was sure that they would go to heaven tomorrow by means of noble intercession.

The most important issue that inspires discord between Sunnis and Shi’ites is the issue of the caliphate – who should have been the caliph after the prophet died, ‘Ali or Abu Bakar? Whoever looks into this issue now from a seemingly neutral point of view feels that it is an issue of the distant past that is no longer important and has no relationship to our current reality. But Iraqis viewed it from another point of view, for they viewed that person A was more worthy than person B to be caliph, and they considered that their judgment with respect to this would benefit them on the day of resurrection because their choice for caliph would intercede on their behalf with God to save them from the torture of hell!

The Shi’ite ideology revolves around the family of Prophet, and thus they feel that they are closer to God and the only ones able to receive salvation and intercession, and for those who wish the benefit of the same should be loyal to them, and thus they will be saved from their enemies. It was not possible to love Shi'ites and love their enemies at the same time. As for the Sunni community, they took another ideological route that is summarized in the saying “We love them all and will be saved by all of them.” Indeed, they love both Abu Bakar and ‘Ali just as they love the Prophet’s companions and his family, and thus they lean towards the belief that they will be saved by all of them.

It is also important to note at this time that the principle of intercession is present in sects and religions of all types, but we can say that this principle is magnified in its influence in the first phase of religious edification, and thus if people are concerned with good works more than intercession, as time passes their stature increases in terms of ancient social values, and thus they are able to overcome the world and forget earthly religion – but then they find themselves indulging in sin and they have no hope of salvation unless they have a man that is favorable to God to intercede on their behalves. For example, if there was a criminal who was about to go to court that had no hope of salvation unless he had an intercessor, he would seek refuge with an intercessor with a request that he intervene, for his fate was in his hands. And he would think that the intercessor would open his heart and be magnanimous, and would intercede no matter what.

It is possible to say that the principle of intercession fulfills a popular psychological need, and that people are satisfied to seek refuge with him for the sake of forgiving their sins only, but they also seek intercession in their material issues, as well, for if a loved one becomes sick, if they were suddenly impoverished or drowning in debt, if a plague broke out, or if they were stricken by some disaster, they hurry to the shrine of one of the Imams or historical figures and cry to him for their salvation. They don’t call upon God for their need because they imagine that God is like a Sultan – one can’t get to him except by means of those who were close to him and who were most uprighteous.

In summary, we can’t understand many religious phenomena in Iraqi society or others that resemble it unless we understand the concept of intercession and the extent to which it has infiltrated the depths of peoples'hearts. They'll deny the effect of this principle in themselves at times, but they are servile to it even if they don’t feel as such, for if not they would feel lost."

End of Translation


So, 'Ali Al-Wardi shows us that wasita is a symptom - not a cause. The cause is that Iraq has traditionally been a very religious society comprised of two differing sects of the same religion, which clash based on succession issues and consequently who is best able to intercede between the people and God to save their souls. Iraqis want someone to intercede on their behalf in heaven, and on earth. So, which Iraqis have wasita with us with respect to material affairs in Iraq?

I think the shaykhs who led and participated fully in the Tribal Awakening earned some wasita. They intervened to save themselves from disaster at the hands of terrorists posing as holy men - and they saved us in the process. In fact, Iraqi shaykhs mostly believe that their fates are intertwined with ours. Can we intercede on their behalf if they need us? I hope so. Can they intercede on our behalf? They did already. We might owe them a big favor, and maybe we are already in the process of delivering on that. It's not fair to say that "giving them their freedom" is enough, and that our work finishes there. Intercession has got to be a two way street with no end.