Abdul-Majid al-Khoei

Life[edit]

al-Khoei was born in Najaf. He lived and studied under his father in Najaf until 1991. During the Shia uprising of 1991 he took part in the fighting against Saddam's Ba'ath Party but also acted as a force of moderation attempting to minimize revenge killings. When the uprising was crushed he was forced to leave Iraq. His father died a year later in 1992 at the age of 93, while still under house arrest in Iraq.


In exile in London, he worked for the al-Khoei Foundation, a charitable foundation set up by his father in 1989. He became its head in 1994 when his brother, Mohammed Taqi, was killed whilst driving back to Najaf from a visit to Kerbala.^[2]


He was a critic of Saddam Hussein's rule: "The regime's criminal acts, beginning in 1968, have been never-ending. Executions, the closing of schools, mosques and shrines sacred to Shia worshipers; the burning of old religious scriptures; looting the sacred sites of gifts left by presidents and kings." He did, however, also call for unity. Speaking in December 2002, al-Khoei said, "We are looking for a new Iraq in which everyone has a share... we want to forget the past and shake the hand of everyone".^[3]