MESA Banner
In Memory of the Baʿth’s Prophet: Commemorating Michel ‘Aflaq in Baghdad
Abstract
Michel ʿAflaq (1910-1989), a Greek Orthodox Christian born in Damascus, was a co-founder of the Arab Socialist Baʿth Party, branches of which eventually took over and ruled both Syria (1963-present) and Iraq (1968-2003). After factional infighting within the Syrian Baʿth Party and feuding between the Iraqi and Syrian branches, ʿAflaq moved to Beirut and later Baghdad, where he served the Iraqi Baʿth as the Secretary General of the National Command, the nominal head of the party. Along with overseeing the Baʿth’s relations with pro-Iraq branches of the Baʿth Party in the Arab world, ‘Aflaq served as a spokesperson for the Iraqi regime, giving the customary address on the anniversary of the party’s founding each year. During his time in Iraq, ‘Aflaq was revered as “the founding leader” (al-qā’id al-mu’assis) and “the professor” (al-ustāḏ) by President Saddam Hussein and his fellow Iraqi Baʿthists until his death in 1989. Having enjoyed a close personal relationship with ‘Aflaq, Saddam quickly ordered that the party take appropriate measures to commemorate his life and work. The anniversary of ‘Aflaq’s passing would be observed by Saddam and the Iraqi Baʿth every year until the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. After announcing ‘Aflaq’s previous conversion to Islam, which the party founder’s son Iyad later confirmed, Saddam ordered that his final resting place must be significant to the Baʿth. On the fourth anniversary of ‘Aflaq’s death in 1993, the Iraqi Baʿth unveiled his mausoleum and museum. Located adjacent to the Baʿth Party’s headquarters in Baghdad, the area underneath the structure would ultimately come to hold the contents of the Baʿth Party Archive. The party records contain the considerations and deliberations surrounding the design and construction of ‘Aflaq’s mausoleum and museum, which allow us to reconstruct the process by which they came into being. This paper will tell this story while illustrating the ways in which the final design of the Iraqi Baʿth’s commemoration of ‘Aflaq came to emphasize his association with Iraq and its Islamic heritage over its pre-Islamic past.
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
Iraq
Sub Area
None