Last week in the Washington Post, Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek authored a column titled, “Why Iraq Is Still Worth the Effort.” He wrote, “Iraq has no Nelson Mandelas, but many of its leaders have shown remarkable patience, courage, and statesmanship….” One such leader is Sayyed Raouf Ayad Jamal al-Din. He is the Iraqiya list’s representative for the predominantly Shiite province of Nasiriyah. Led by a former prime minister, Ayad Allawi, this political grouping is the major progressive movement in post-Saddam Iraq made up of both Sunni and Shiites that are secular, liberal, and supportive of women’s rights.

Mr. al-Din frequently conveys support for American intervention in Iraq:

* “We must discipline ourselves before the Americans … discipline us. We must maintain human rights, which we have neglected for 1,300 or 1,400 years to this day, until the arrival of the Americans. … They came to teach you, the followers of Muhammad, how to respect human rights.” – LBC TV, July 31, 2005

* “We are grateful to America for ridding us of school curricula which promote hatred and animosity.” – Al-Arabiya TV, October 10, 2005

Mr. al-Din is a vocal critic of those he refers to as the “scum” destroying his country and is fearless in taking on Arabs who obstruct progress in Iraq:

* “The Arabs must stop meddling in Iraq’s affairs, and stop inciting hatred, violence, and terrorism. They should not call these terrorist attacks ‘resistance.’ … They are scum. … We have not heard a single Arab jurisprudent condemn the terrorist attacks.” – LBC TV, July 31, 2005

Speaking on Al-Arabiya TV on January 3, 2005, Mr. al-Din was also highly critical of Iranian government “interference” in Iraq accusing that country of trying to add “despair and frustration” among the lives of Iraqis. In response to any suggestions that the average Shiite Iraqi is pro-Iranian, he stated: “I tell the Iranians that if they hear that pictures of Ayatollah Khamenei are hung in Iraqi homes, it is a lie.”

During a May 15th interview with Lebanon’s LBC TV, when asked his opinion about how to deal with terrorists in Iraq, he referred to them as “the dirtiest type of riffraff among the Arabs,” and explained: “In my opinion, it is not permissible to talk to these murderers. A decisive military action is the only remedy.”

Mr. al-Din is also a fierce opponent of the Arab ideology of hatred which has bred Al Qaeda:

* “Who turned Al-Zarqawi into a criminal murderer? … He was just a little boy crawling into his mother’s arms, but then, out of his love for the religion and the mosque. … the imam got hold of him, and turned him into what he is.” – Al-Fayhaa TV, November 30, 2005

Mr. al-Din is highly critical of Arab states for their unwillingness to support his country, stating they fear the spread of democracy:

* “The terrified and self-defeated Arab states, who fear the establishment of a democratic regime in Iraq, would prefer a stupid and reckless dictator like Saddam to a democratic regime in Iraq.” – LBC TV, July 31, 2005

* “How come this country [Israel] has developed a democratic regime, although it too has been at war and is surrounded by enemies, whereas the Arabs have not developed democratic regimes, using the existence of Israel as a pretext?” – Al-Arabiya TV, January 3, 2005

At the age of 16, Mr. al-Din demonstrated against Saddam Hussein’s suppression of Iraqi Shiites practicing their religion. After becoming a target of Saddam’s secret service, he fled to Syria, to Iran for eight years of religious studies, and then became leader of the Shiite community in Dubai.

His vision for the new Iraq includes a country that allows freedom of worship of all religions. An April 17, 2003, Financial Times article reported on an early meeting of leading Iraqis in the post-Saddam era, “Sheikh Ayad Jamal Al-Din … surprised many by demanding ‘a system of government that separates belief from politics. Dictators may not speak in the name of religion,’ he said quoting the Koran.”

Similarly, he stated this summer:

* “I support a secular regime, which will fully separate religion and state. … I believe that my freedom as a Shiite and as a religious person will never be complete unless I preserve the freedom of the Sunni, Christian, Jew, Sabai, or Yazidi.” – LBC TV, July 31, 2005

Mr. al-Din will be visiting Washington D.C. next week. He is an important visionary who is on the forefront of building the new Iraq. He is precisely the kind of man Iraq now needs to lead it and can likewise serve as an inspiration to the entire Arab and Muslim world.

Steven Stalinsky is the executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.