The Sectarian Imagining of the 1920 Revolution and the Construction of a Shi'i Victimization Narrative

Abstract

This paper argues that the sectarian definition of the 1920 "revolution" as a Shi'i event whose "fruits" were "stolen" by non-Shi'is (typically Sunnis) and eventually leading to the ongoing marginalization of Iraq's Shia as a group, is a narrative that represents a much-publicized ideological construction that gained momentum with the rise of Iraqi Shi'i Islamism following the triumph of the Iranian revolution in 1979 and the consequent establishment of the Islamic government in Iran with Ayatollah Khomeini as its spiritual and official leader. This paper also finds that the modern narrative of Shia-targeting also fits well with the traditional Shia historical definition of self, which considers the faith and its adherents as targets for powerful proto-Sunni, and later Sunni, forces.