Ayatollah Sayed Muhammad Baker AL-Hakim was born in 1939 A.D,-1358 A.H. in the holy city of Najaf in Iraq, which embraces the biggest theological university for the Shi’ite Muslims in the world. He is the son of Grand Ayatollah imam Sayed Muhsin Al-Hakim, who assumed the general religious leadership (marja’a taqlid) of Shi’ites all over the world for approximately twenty years.

The Al-Hakim family is one of the oldest clerical families in Iraq. The family’s ancestors settled in Iraq in the second Hijri century and spread out to other parts of the world. Sayed Muhammad Baker’s household has been one of the most famous clerical households in modern day Iraq, particularly in the second half of the twentieth century. During the years of Sayed Muhsin Al-Hakim’s assumption of the position of marja’a taqlid, the family gained the respect and love of tens of millions of Shi’ites in Iraq and abroad.

Sayed Al-Hakim got involved in politics at an early stage of his life, when he participated with other ‘ulama, such as the Grand Ayatollah martyr Sayed Muhammad Baker Al-Sadr and Martyr Sayed Muhammad Mahdi Al-Hakim, in planting the seeds of the current Islamic renaissance in Iraq.

During the last years of his father’s life, he apparently assumed responsibility for conducting the confrontation between the religious leadership and the regime of Iraqi president Ahmad Hassan Al-Bakr. He continued in this role until the death of Imam Al-Hakim in 1970.

He reviewed martyr Al-Sadr’s two major and illustrious works, Our Philosophy and Our Economy, which gained Al-Sadr a reputation for being an Islamic intellectual and philosopher of he first order. Martyr Al-Sadr was so pleased with Sayed Al-Hakim’s work on reviewing these two boks that he praised him in the introduction of Our Economy as “my arm for whose sake I would sacrifice my life” (‘adudi al-mufadda).

The following is a list of some of the major books authored by Sayed Muhammad Baker FAl-Hakim:

In the wake of his father’s death, Sayed Al-Hakim emerged as the second most important figure in the leadership of the Islamic movement in Iraq. Clearly, his political activity caused concern on the part of the Iraqi authorities. He was arrested along with martyr Al-Sadr and subjected to ruthless torture by the Bakr regime in 1972. He was released after immense popular pressure.

Following his release from prison, Sayed Al-Hakim continued to exercise his social, scientific, and his political activities amid difficult circumstances and draconian government measure, including a ban on travel. The regime arrested him again on February 11, 1977, following the popular uprising of Safar.

He was sentenced to life in prison without even a summary trial. Yet, popular pressure forced the regime to release Sayed Al-Hakim on July 17, 1978. But he was not allowed to travel and was placed under continuous surveillance by the regime’s secret services.

When the regime of Saddam Hussein put martyr Al-Sadr under house arrest, Sayed Al-Hakim assumed responsibility for establishing a secret channel of contact with Al-Sadr to keep the imprisoned scholar abreast of developments in the political situation and to allow him to continue to take part in planning for political action.

After the murderous execution of Imam Al-Sadr by the regime of Saddam Hussein, Sayed Al-Hakim decided to leave Iraq. He left the country in July 1980 shortly before the eruption of he war between Iraq and Iran.

Since his arrival in Iraq, Sayed Al-Hakim paid a special attention to the unification of the Islamic ranks and struggled for solidifying the foundations of the Islamic movement in Iraq. He also paid attention to the unity of the Iraqi opposition and to the importance of coordinating the activities of its different constituent groups in various fields. These efforts culminated in the establishment of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (ISCI). He was elected as a spokesman for the Assembly and then became its chairmen in 1986.

In the 1980s ISCI held several conferences to highlight the plight of the Iraqi people such as the Saddam’s Crimes Conference (1983), the Islamic Cadres Conference (1985), and the Solidarity With the Iraqi People Conference (1986).

Ever since he took up residence in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Sayed Al-Hakim did not cut off his contacts with his popular base inside Iraq. These contacts were maintained mainly through clandestine ISCI political and military cells and battalions formed inside Iraq to confront the terrorist policies of Saddam Hussein’s regime against the Iraqi people.

He also continued to issue instructions and calls to his broad popular base emphasizing the necessity of combating the regime. ISCI cells and battalions staged a number of major military operations against the regime’s forces. A large number of Iraqi soldiers deserted the army and escaped to Iran and other neighboring countries. A significant number of the army deserters were absorbed into a ISCI military formation known as the Badr Brigade (Faylaq Badr).

Alarmed by the activities of Sayed Al-Hakim, the regime arrested all the members of his household remaining in Iraq and held them hostage. The regime then brutally executed a number of the Sayed’s brothers and relatives after he refused to heed the regime’s threats that he ceases all political activity or else his imprisoned kinfolks will be executed.

Sayed Al-Hakim believes that Leadership in Islam is the function of a qualified jurist 9faqih) who is knowledgeable of the Islamic Shari’ah and possesses such essential qualities as bravery, patience, knowledge, and the courage and savvy to lead the confrontation against the oppressive regimes.

Sayyad Al-Hakim believes in the necessity of securing basic human rights, Sayed Al-Hakim has repeatedly emphasized the importance of field cooperation between all the factions and constituent parts of the Iraqi opposition. He has also stressed the necessity of unifying their stance toward the base issues and challenges in order to achieve victory.

Sayid AL-Hakim believes in the necessity of achieving a peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem in Iraq on the basis of granting the Kurds self-rule within the framework of Islamic fraternity between the Arabs and Kurds and other minorities join nationalistic interests and the territorial integrity of Iraq. He believes that Islam provides the best framework for unifying the movement of the Iraqi people and securing the perfect rights of all religious, ethnic and national groups living in Iraq.