sentences:  His first public appearance was at the age of 16, when he protested against the state's attempt to prevent other Shias from making a pilgrimage to Karbala.He paid for his protest with his freedom, being exiled to Syria and later Iran, where he studied the Qur'an and shari'a for eight years and earned his master's degree in Philosophy.He is on record saying that he does not want a secular state in order to reduce the role of God in people's lives; he wants to liberate religion from the state.