The Islamic Dawa Party was formed in 1957 in the Iraqi holy City of Najaf. Their aim was to create a movement which would promote Islamic values and ethics, and which would become an instrument for political activeness. This came at a time when there was widespread ignorance about religion and politics in Iraq. Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr laid out the foundations for the party and its political ideology, based on Wilayat Al-Umma (Governance of the people).

The Islamic Dawa Party – Iraq Organisation (Arabic:

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

 Ḥizb al Daʿwa al-Islāmiyya - Tanzim al-Iraq) is a political party in Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 which is a component of the United Iraqi Alliance

United Iraqi Alliance

The National Iraqi Alliance , also known as the Watani List, is an Iraqi electoral coalition that contested the Iraqi legislative election, 2010. The Alliance is mainly composed of Shi'a Islamist parties...

. It split from the Islamic Dawa Party

Islamic Dawa Party

The Islamic Dawa Party or Islamic Call Party is a political party in Iraq. Dawa and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council are two of the main parties in the religious-Shiite United Iraqi Alliance, which won a plurality of seats in both the provisional January 2005 Iraqi election and the longer-term...

 during the regime of Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...

 when most of the leaders of Dawa were in exile. It was allocated 12 seats by the Alliance after the elections in December 2005

Iraqi legislative election, December 2005

Following the ratification of the Constitution of Iraq on 15 October 2005, a general election was held on 15 December to elect a permanent 275-member Iraqi Council of Representatives....

. It is led by Hashim Al-Mosawy

Hashim Al-Mosawy

Hashim Al-Mosawy is an Iraqi politician. He is the current leader and Secretary-General of the Islamic Dawa Party - Iraq Organisation, the fifth largest party within the ruling United Iraqi Alliance coalition.-References:...

, who is its Secretary-General. The head of the parliamentary bloc of the party is Kasim Muhammad Taqi al-Sahlani

Kasim Muhammad Taqi al-Sahlani

Kasim Muhammad Taqi al-Sahlani was an Iraqi politician. He was a member of the National Assembly of Iraq and was the head of the parliamentary bloc of the Islamic Dawa Party - Iraq Organisation, the fifth largest party within the ruling United Iraqi Alliance coalition...

.