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Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Bath PHD The new political settlement in Iraq An examination of the role of Shi’a NGOs Aljabiri, Janan Award date: 2015 Awarding institution: University of Bath Link to publication Alternative formats If you require this document in an alternative format, please contact: [email protected] General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 02. Oct. 2021 The new political settlement in Iraq: An examination of the role of Shi’a NGOs Janan Mudalal Aljabiri A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Bath Department of Social and Policy Sciences April 2015 Copyright Attention is drawn to the fact that copyright of this thesis rests with the author. A copy of this thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that they must not copy it or use material from it except as permitted by law or with the consent of the author. This thesis may be made available for consultation within the University Library and may be photocopied or lent to other libraries for the purposes of consultation 1 Contents Contents ...........................................................................................................................2 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................5 Abstract ............................................................................................................................7 Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................9 Glossary ......................................................................................................................... 11 Part 1 ............................................................................................................................. 13 Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................... 13 1.1 The NGOs in the Western context: motivation and roles......................................... 13 1.2 The NGOs in the Islamic context: motivation and roles ........................................... 15 1.3 My positioning in the field ........................................................................................ 17 1.4 The aims and objectives of the research .................................................................. 18 1.5 The contentions and findings of the research .......................................................... 20 1.6 The organisation of the thesis ................................................................................... 22 Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................................................. 25 2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 25 2.2 An introduction to NGOs in the developed and developing contexts ...................... 25 2.2.1 NGOs: Definition and tasks ................................................................................ 28 2.3 Introducing religious NGOs ....................................................................................... 32 2.4 Islamic NGOs: Islam, charity and politics .................................................................. 35 2.4.1 Political Islam ..................................................................................................... 36 2.4.2 Islamisation ........................................................................................................ 38 2.5 Islamic Sunni NGOs in the Middle East ..................................................................... 39 2.6 Islamic Shi’a NGOs in the Middle East ...................................................................... 44 2.6.1 Hezbollah linked NGOs ....................................................................................... 44 2.6.2 Bonyads: Social welfare organisations in Iran ................................................... 46 2.7 The thesis theoretical framework ............................................................................. 49 2.8 Religious NGOs and clientelism ................................................................................ 52 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 54 Chapter 3: Approaching Shi’a NGOs - Methodology ................................................... 56 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 56 3.2 Ontological approach ................................................................................................ 56 3.3 Epistemological approach ......................................................................................... 57 3.4 The research methodology ....................................................................................... 58 3.5 Access and the researcher’s position: insider and outsider ..................................... 60 3.6 Data collection .......................................................................................................... 67 3.7 Data analysis.............................................................................................................. 69 3.8 The trustworthiness of the research ......................................................................... 73 3.9 Ethical considerations for conducting the research ................................................. 75 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 76 Part 2 ............................................................................................................................. 77 Chapter 4: Iraq, a country profile ................................................................................... 77 4.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 77 4.2 The demographic structure of the country ............................................................... 77 4.3 The post war new political settlement ..................................................................... 79 2 4.4 The post war political economy ................................................................................ 86 4.5 Post war state social policies .................................................................................... 89 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 90 Chapter 5: The emergence of Shi’a NGOs in Iraq......................................................... 92 5.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 92 5.2 Who are the Shi’a? .................................................................................................... 93 5.2.1 The revival of the Shi’a ....................................................................................... 97 5.2.2 Quietism and Activism ....................................................................................... 98 5.3 The new political opportunity and the formation of NGOs .................................... 100 5.4 Shi’a NGOs’ sources of funding for their activities ................................................. 113 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 117 Chapter 6: Social services activities of the Shi’a NGOs .............................................. 118 6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 118 6.2 Sponsoring widows and orphans - or Kafalat al-Yateem ........................................ 119 6.2.1 Kafalat al-Yateem (sponsorship of orphans): Religious justification .............. 119 6.2.2 The religious motivation for social provision .................................................. 120 6.3 The Kafala provision to protect the family and the wider society .......................... 121 6.3.1 The Shi’a NGOs Kafala provision and other support ...................................... 124 6.3.2 Khums, the main financial source of Kafala provision .................................... 128 6.3.3 The criteria for Kafala provision ...................................................................... 130 6.3.4 The procedures to identity entitled widowed families ....................................
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