Iraqi Politician Sheikh Jalal Al-Din Al-Saghir: Khamenei Is Our Source of Authority, We Are Committed to the Iraqi Constitution because He Authorized It

Sheikh Jalal Al-Din Al-Saghir, a member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, said that "the [Islamic] Supreme Council believes in the authority of Sayyid Khamenei, and believes him to be the supreme religious source of authority of the Shi'a." The council's commitment to the Iraqi constitution is "not because the constitution has priority in matters of jurisprudence, but because the Jurisprudent [Khamenei] authorized us to work with this constitution," he said. Sheikh Al-Saghir was speaking on the Iraqi Al-Nujaba TV on January 6.

Sheikh Jalal Al-Din Al-Saghir: "The [Islamic] Supreme Council believes in the authority of Sayyid Khamenei, and believes him to be the supreme religious source of authority of the Shi'a. This has nothing to do with the nature of the civil government in Iraq. When the Jurisprudent [Khamenei] approved our subordination to the Iraqi constitution, the Islamic Supreme Council became genuinely committed to the constitution – not because the constitution has priority in matters of jurisprudence, but because the Jurisprudent authorized us to work with this constitution. Let’s assume that [the government] does something in violation of the shari'a. Will we be obligated by it, just because the government is operating in keeping with the constitution? Of course not. We will not be obligated by something that is in violation of the shari'a."