Najaf: The holy city for the Shia Muslims. The golden-domed tomb of Imam Ali, the revered imam of the Shia faith, lies at the centre of the city. This is the Shia Vatican.
Kerbala: A second revered city for the Shia. This mosque is built on the site where Imam Hussein, son of Ali, was killed by an overwhelming army loyal to the 'Sunni' caliph.
Kufa: Imam Ali is buried in Najaf but it is at the site of this mosque, 5 km away in Kufa, that he was murdered almost 1400 years ago. Today, the mosque draws the faithful who come to hear the Friday sermon from Muqtada Al-Sadr.
Kufa: Muqtada Sadr preaching. Flanked by armed bodyguards with white shrouds, Al-Sadr gives a typical firebrand sermon denouncing the policies of the West.
Najaf: Muqtada Sadr is glad to see the end of Saddam. The Iraqi dictator assassinated Sadr's outspoken father in 1999. But Sadr highlights the ambivalent attitude to the United States: he says the fall of Saddam has come from God, not the Americans.
Najaf: Sayyid Mohamed Hussein Al-Hakim Family is an important element in Najaf. Sons continue the line set by their fathers. Here, the son of Ayatollah Mohamed Saeed Al-Hakim, talks of the turbulence within the Shia community. He is a voice of moderation and co-existence, despite a bomb attack on his father's house just a few days earlier.
Najaf: A bomb destroyed part of Ayatollah Al-Hakim's house. The cleric was shaken but not hurt. No one claimed responsibility. Here a crowd of supporters flock around the home of Ayatollah Al-Hakim to condemn the attack. A man holds aloft pictures of Ayatollah Al-Hakim and Ayatollah Sistani.
Najaf: Uday, a grave digger, represents the common man in Najaf. With the downfall of Saddam, suddenly such people can openly voice their own opinions. And Uday is not short of opinions: on the Baath party, the clerics, the Americans and the future of the Shia in Iraq.
Najaf: Uday sits with friends amid the gravestones and discusses the deeper issues regarding the future of Iraq, and the place of the Shia in this new entity. The discussion is frank and reveals how the 'street' interprets the religion and politics of its leaders.
Najaf: The heat is on in Najaf. This boy takes a drink from a communal bath tub filled with water in the street to quench the thirst of passers-by.
Najaf: A young girl takes time out from the busy market-place to make a phone call.
Najaf: 29/08/2003 will be like 9/11 for the Shia. A massive car bomb is detonated beside the Imam Ali mosque killing Sayyid Mohamed Bakr Al-Hakim, one of the top Shia clerics. Al-Hakim was the leader of the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq. Despite his group's name, and pro-Iranian backing, Al-Hakim believed it was better to cooperate with the US occupation forces. This may have cost him his life.
Najaf: Over 100 people were killed in the atrocity, leaving the Shia community deeply shocked and angered. The wreckage was cleared away, but the memory will remain for a long time.
Najaf: The day after the bombing, crowds of angry Shia gather in the streets around the mosque.
Najaf: The murdered cleric's nephew makes an impromptu speech from the balcony of a building beside the Imam Ali mosque.
Najaf: Pictures of the killed cleric are raised aloft. For the crowd, Al-Hakim's 'martyrdom' is part of a long line of murdered imams stretching back to the time of Ali and Hussein.
Najaf: For some the pain and loss is too much to bear. Lamentation and mourning are central aspects of Shi'ism. Today, there is a new martyr to cry for.
Sadr City : Meanwhile in the north of Baghdad, two other martyred clerics are remembered in the form of a huge mural. This space was once occupied by a mural of Saddam, which was soon painted over following his downfall.
Sadr City : Arab tribesmen gather in a town hall to air their concerns and grievances to a group of sheikhs.
Sadr City : Sheikh Qais is the notable cleric listening and responding to the tribesmen. He is one of Moqtadr Sadr's chosen men in Sadr City. This scene shows how power has shifted from the tribes to the clerics - this would not have been possible under Saddam.
Sadr City : interview with Sheikh Qais. He details the particular circumstances in Sadr City and highlights how young, dynamic and politically-assertive clerics are emerging among the urban Shia.
Sadr City : The Shia are mobilising. Outside the office of Sheikh Qais, young and old men alike gather to volunteer for the 'Mahdi Army', called by Moqtadr Sadr. This army is named after the expected messiah of the Shia, a portent of the restoration of justice.