102 Al Hawza of Najaf in Iraq custodian’s worldly functions. In other words, in the past, it was an incubator that granted its managers worldly authority based in religion. Through the shrine, the custodian governed the city. The position was passed on as an inheritance, and it was subject to religious, political, and social pressures. The shrine transitioned to a different role after 2003, through which its function evolved into the pursuit of secular, economic, and commercial roles. Although it played no political role, it had broad political clout that enabled it to influence politics, protect its economic interests, and expand its capabilities and its dominance of the public social space. Why the two Karbala shrines, and not the one in Najaf? It is important for us to point out that the activity of the two Karbala shrines was linked primarily to the fact that, per Shari‘a, the person responsible for them was Supreme Marji‘ Sayyid Ali al-Sistani. It became established that the secretaries­general of the shrines are his representatives, and they convey his vision to the people through the sermons at Friday prayers. In addition, they and two others were the only ones directly installed as agents by al-Sistani and the other three top maraji‘ in Najaf – Muhammad Saeed al-Hakim, Ishaq al-Fayadh, and Bashir al-Najafi – soon after 2003. Returning to the question that provides the title of this section, we seek to understand why the two Karbala shrines, and not the Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf, were chosen as a voice of al-Sistani’s marja‘iyya. We will find that there is no profound philosophy behind it, so much as it was a choice imposed by the circumstances. After 2003, Muqtada al-Sadr’s movement accelerated. Muhammad Baqir al­Hakim came to Najaf and became the imam for Friday prayers at the Imam Ali Shrine, and Sadr al-Din al-Qabbanji succeeded al-Hakim after the bombing that claimed his life. Clashes occurred between the worshippers behind al­Qabbanji and the Sadrist current while the city was under al-Sadr’s control in 2005. 76 Skirmishes followed the end of the Sadrists’ war in Najaf and included fighting between the Sadrists and the management of the Imam Ali Shrine, 77 * 76  Ali al-Mathloum, op. cit., p. 31. 77  After the Mahdi Army lay down their weapons and left Najaf, the area around al-Sadr’s office, across from the Imam Ali Shrine at the edge of al-Buraq, was demolished except for al-Sadr’s office. It was an unwise step or an attempt by Ayad Allawi, the prime minister of the interim government, to avoid creating a crisis. The office remained closed up for some weeks, then was opened. At that time, the people of Najaf engaged in angry demonstrations reviling Muqtada al-Sadr and opposing the re-opening of the office. Three people were killed later. At the funeral, which included three