He was born in 1953, the son of Grand Ayatollah Muhsin Al-Hakim, the spiritual leader of the world's Shi'a from 1955-1970. He played a leading role in the Safar Intifada in 1977 and was imprisoned in 1972, 1977 and 1979. He went into exile in Iran in 1980, where he was a founder member in 1982 of SCIRI and headed their military wing, the Badr Brigade. He the top candidate listed for the United Iraqi Coalition during the first Iraqi legislative election of January 2005 but has not sought a government post because the Alliance had decided not to include theologians in the government. 