AlSadr

The al-Sadr family is a prominent Shia clerical lineage with branches that have influenced religious life and politics in Iraq and Lebanon since the 19th century. The Najaf-based Iraqi wing has produced influential scholars and jurists, while a Lebanese branch became a central force in Lebanon’s Shia community through Musa al-Sadr, a key cleric who founded the Amal Movement and led Shia organizing in Lebanon before his disappearance in 1978.

Notable members include Musa al-Sadr (c. 1928–1978, disappeared) of Lebanon, founder of Amal; Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr (1934–1980), Iraqi cleric and reformist thinker who was executed by Saddam Hussein; Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr (1943–1999), Iraqi cleric and political figure, father of Muqtada al-Sadr, killed during the 1999 crackdown; and Muqtada al-Sadr (born 1973), Iraqi cleric and political leader, founder of the Sadrist Movement, who has been a major force in post-2003 Iraqi politics and in various militia and political activities.

The al-Sadr name is associated with a broader network of Shia religious and political activity. The family’s influence has evolved through periods of conflict, occupation, and governance, with Sadrist movements often emphasizing nationalist and social welfare-oriented policies within Iraq and the broader Shia public. Today, the al-Sadr surname remains one of the most recognizable in contemporary Middle Eastern religious and political life.