Is Sadr Retarded, Literally?

My friend in Iraq sent me this funny tidbit of information. Sistani's abdication of any political role will drive the Shi'a into the arms of more radical clerics for political guidance. This means Sadr for the vast majority. This is where it gets funny. According to my friend, he has heard independently, from both Sunni and Shi'a, that Sadr is considered retarded. Here is what he has to say:

"Moderate Iraqis insist that Sadr is retarded. Literally. My rudimentary Arabic is not even close to sufficient to make such a discernment, but apparently our asshole friend Moqtada has a thick, heavily slurred voice. Apparently, his grammar and syntax are abysmal. Apparently, when he's not reading from notes, his slurred, grammatically- and syntactically-flawed sentences are incoherent babble. I can't say it's true, and I've searched and searched for any similar reports on the Internet to little avail, but that's what I've heard from various independent sources."

And something which I can verify, " Moqtada al-Sadr has about as much religious standing to be a cleric as I do. Theologically, he's on the apron strings of an exiled Iranian cleric in Qom who knew his father. Politically, nobody is really sure who tells him what to do. The main point, though, is that he's a theological nobody. "

I hadn't heard that about al-Sadr before; If anyone has more concrete evidence on this matter, I would love to see it.

Posted by Peter