NAJAF, May 10 (IslamOnline.net) - Weeks into the end of the U.S.-led invasion and the ouster of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi Shiite scholars are still divided on how best to drive occupation forces out of the country.

Jihad against the U.S.-led forces shall not begin unless there is a ruler legitimately set up to lead Iraq, agreed some key figures of the Hawza, the powerful Shiite institution based in the southern holy city of Najaf Saturday, May 10.

"Jihad should be declared by the legally-appointed leader of the country. Otherwise, it is up to Allah to deal with the American occupiers," said Muqtada Sadr, a Hawza scholar and a son of Shiite religious leader Mohamed Sadeq Sadr who was assassinated in 1999.

Al-Sadr sent it clear that Hawza, the head of religious and political identity for millions of Iraq’s Shiite majority, would not join any government imposed by the U.S. forces in Iraq.

"It is rather preferable to be called a terrorist than to collaborate with the Americans. We refuse their presence in our country," he said, urging Shiite parties to be act in unison and evade prospects for tension among them "which will only act in the interest of the West".

The Hawza functions as a training ground for aspiring Shiite scholars and is home to the most respected Ayatollahs, who are seen as models for common folks. The ayatollahs can issue fatwas, or edicts, that dictate rules of behavior for Iraq's long-repressed sect that made up more than 60 percent of the country’s population.

"We stay as neutral as to the U.S. presence here. We keep a watchful eye on the movement of occupation forces. If they come for reconstruction, we do not mind; if for occupation we will express condemnation," said Ali al-Rabei, a secretary of the Ayatollah Ishaq Fayad.

"U.S. forces should get out of our country immediately. We refuse their presence here," said Ali Nijm, son of Ayatollah Bashir al-Najafi.

Nevertheless, al-Rabei admitted, there is no Shiite leader "who has made statements on the U.S. military presence".

The U.S. forces said they would stay in Iraq as long as it is necessary to stabilize situation in the war-torn country, amid fears Shiite ulema (scholars) might push for an Iranian-styled Islamic regime into the helm of Iraq. Washington has already rejected allowing a Shiite-led Islamic rule, similar to the system in neighboring Iran, to take root in Iraq.

Thousands of mainly Shiite Muslims also rallied in Baghdad, in a further demonstration of their influence in postwar Iraq. They called for their own scholars to be given a role in running the country.

Huge crowds of ecstatic Shiites surging through the holy city of Karbala late in April, chanted such slogans as "No to an American government, no to Chalabi, Yes to Islam". Chalabi is the pro-U.S. leader of the Iraqi National Congress, who has returned to Iraq after decades of exile with eyes on power

But U.S. Secretary of State has said “if you’re suggesting how would we feel about an Iranian-type government with a few ulema running everything into the country, this isn’t going to happen”.

Declaring no struggle against U.S. occupation, Shiite scholars came under fire from other Muslims amid warns of longer-than-anticipated stay.

"The absence of a ruler for the country does not spell out no struggle against occupation of the country's territories," said Massoud Sabri, an Egyptian Islamic researcher.

"Under Sharia (Islamic law), Jihad is obligatory against the occupiers," even without the presence of a legitimate leader to run the country, Massoud said.

He added that if confronting occupation forces is conditioned on the set-up of a leadership, “occupation will continue."

"The Islamic law also calls on women to join Jihad against the aggressors," even without the permission of their husbands, mused the researcher, citing events in which Muslims moved to counter the usurpers, without the waiting for the authorization of Prophet Mohamed.

Noticeably, no Ayatollahs appear in Najaf since the U.S. forces rolled in. Their deputies blamed lack of security for their disappearance.

“The move was necessary for security reasons,” said Ayatollah Najafi’s son.

“Amid such chaotic post-war atmosphere in which U.S. forces moved only to secure oil fields and institutions, it is hard for Shiite leaders to show up,” he added.

Positively, the disappearance saved chapters of tension feared to rise up within Hawza, widely expected to vie for leadership of Iraq given its large base of followers.

Across streets of Najaf, home of the mausoleum of Imam Ali, banners have been put up reading “We are all soldiers of Hawza”

Imam Ali, , the prophet Mohamed’s son in law, was killed in 661 in Kufa, adjacent to Najaf, where he had moved the seat of the caliphate in a power struggle with the ruling Omeyyads.

“Shiite scholars managed with their disappearance to avoid fuelling tension and abort all plots of some parties to sow divisions,” said Ali Rabei, Ayatollah’s Ishaq Fayad secretary, dismissing reports that neighbor Iran was complicated in such bids as “rumors”.