Many Shias, not just Sunnis, suspect federalism of being an American-Kurdish plot to break up Iraq.
Iraq's Shias, who make up 60% of the population, have clamoured for direct elections.
Many non-Shias admire the party and take pride in the courage and skill of its fighters.
Mr Sadr's followers, by contrast, are shanty-town Shias who have never enjoyed any kind of power.
ECONOMIST: Most Iraqis want peace, but it takes only a few to make war
This angered many Iraqi Sunnis and increased sectarian tensions, even though more Shias are on the list.
Sunnis, Shias and Kurds alike still see their respective militias as a hedge against an uncertain future.
She wished that Sunnis and Shias could live side by side, as they do during the Hajj.
Most Lebanese, including a growing number of Shias, are tired of being held hostage to outmoded heroic notions.
As a punishment, the hauza, the Shias' religious establishment, has deprived him of a share of shrine donations.
Hizbullah claims the loyalty of most of Lebanon's Shias, who make up around a third of the population.
Muqtada al-Sadr, a radical Shia leader, strongly opposes federalism: in Najaf this week, his men fought fellow Shias.
ECONOMIST: The peril of defeat and the danger of victory | The
In Saudi Arabia, the Shias have mobilised in advance of municipal elections to be held over the coming months.
The Shias' five recalcitrants say they backed down only because Mr Sistani changed his mind to avoid a crisis.
Last week, prominent Shias, representing a long-suppressed community that makes up 5-10% of the population, called for an end to discrimination.
No group has so far said it carried out the attack, which comes amid heightened tensions between Sunnis and Shias in Iraq.
Iraqi Shias, for instance, are still wary of Iranian meddling in Iraq, even though Iraq's main Shia parties have close relations with Iran.
But the ability of the authorities to protect Shias is being severely tested, correspondents say - and this as elections are around the corner.
Correspondents say Sunni militants may have planted the mine - the upper Kurram area is dominated by Shias who do not oppose anti-polio efforts.
The first Shias, of course, were Arabs, who split from the larger Sunni sect in the seventh century over the succession to the prophet Muhammad.
Most Shias voted keenly in elections in 2006, despite a boycott by Shia factions demanding fairer rules, fuller rights and a transition to constitutional monarchy.
America has pleaded for the Shias to include them in government.
ECONOMIST: Iraq's Shias stick with the devil they know | The
But by no means all Iraq's Shias recognise Mr Sistani's authority.
As might be expected, the response from Shias has been furious.
Since Shias make up two-thirds of the region's population, a landslide for lists picked by the two dominant and allied Shia parties, Hizbullah and Amal, was certain.
While the triangular tussle between Sunnis, Shias and Kurds has at least a chance of being settled, a struggle for dominance between the Shia factions is proceeding apace.
Some Shias have criticised Ayatollah Hakim for co-operating with America.
Can such secular-minded Shias win broad backing, even among non-Shias?
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