Iraq
Shiite Leader Calls for Islamic Rule after returning from a lengthy exile in Iran,
Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, head of SCIRI (Supreme Council of the Islamic
Revolution of Iraq), declared his support for moderate Islam in Iraq to a crowd of
supporters in Basra: "We don't want
extremist Islam, but an Islam of independence, justice and freedom;" an article written
by Associated
Press writer, Ali Akbar
Dareini
(May 10, 2003).
Shiite Religious Parties Fill
Vacuum in Southern Iraq is the best online scholarly article to discuss the major
Iraqi Shi'ite
groups
as they jockey for power at the beginning of post-Saddam Iraq; by Juan Cole, professor
of Middle Eastern and South Asian History at the University of Michigan (MERIP, April
22,
2003).
Shi'ites
in Anti-American Protest in Baghdad briefly discusses protests concerning the
arrest of Shaykh Muhammad al-Fartusi, who may be close to the Shi'i faction
that was involved in the killing of Abdul Majid al-Khoei (Reuters, April 21, 2003)
Shi'ite
Demands Pose Challenge to U.S. (link fixed 18 August 2005) a news article that briefly discusses the major
Shi'ite groups
that have emerged immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein: 1) Followers of
Ayatollah 'Ali Sistani; 2) the Supreme Council
for the Islamic Revolution in Iraqi, (SCIRI); 3) the followers of Ayatollah
Mohammed Sadiq Sadr (assassinated 1999) and his son Muqtada Sadr; 4) Da'wa Islamiyah
(Islamic Call) (John Mintz and Dana Priest
, Washington
Post, April 15, 2003).
The Prospect of a
Shiite-Led Iraq Needn't Scare Us(where "Us" refers to the United States) by Prof.
Yitzhak Nakash (Los Angeles Times, April
13, 2003, online at the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan-PUK- website!).
Siege of Iraqi
Shi'ite Cleric Over (link fixed 18 August 2005) It was announced by Mohammad Baqir Mohri,
an aide to
Ayatollah Sistani, that Shi'ite tribal leaders had managed to establish order in Najaf
and end the seige of Ayatollah Sistani's house. (Reuters, April 14, 2003)
The Murder
of Abdul Majid al-Khoei and the Threats Against Ayatollah Sistani ( Seestani )
On April 10, 2003, prominent Shi'ite cleric Abdul Majid al-Khoei was murdered in the
shrine of Imam 'Ali in Najaf, Iraq. Abdul Majid, who was the son of one of Iraq's most
revered Ayatollah's, Abulqasim al-Khoei (d. 1991), had just returned from self-imposed
exile in London with the hope of helping to lead the Iraqi Shi'ite community in
post-Saddam Iraq. Some accounts assert that his murderers were connected with
Saddam. Nevertheless, the perpetrators of this murder (according to the Washington
Post
article linked below) seem to have been followers of Muqtada Sadr, a 30 (but most
articles say 22) year-old son of
Ayatollah
Muhammad Sadiq Sadr. Ayatollah Sadiq Sadr, along with two of his sons, was
assassinated apparently
by agents connected to Saddam in Najaf in February, 1999. [Following Ayatollah Sadiq
Sadr's
assassination there were three days of riots in Saddam City, a poor area of Baghdad
populated largely by about 2 million Shi'ites.]
The assertion that the murderers of
Abdul Magid Khoei were followers of Ayatollah Sadr's son seems to be more
plausible
in view of two facts: 1) that the mob was originally seeking Haidar Kelidar (
as noted by most sources and in an article in the Pakistani publication "Dawn," Shia Leader Shot Dead
in Najaf --the name used in a few sources, Haider Kadar, seems to be a mistake)
-- who had been an official in Saddam's Ministry of Religion, who was regarded as
a traitor (or even an "animal" as one account stated), and whose family were
the traditional custodians of the shrine of Ali-- but Abdul Magid Khoei
intervened and attempted to quell the violent mood of the mob (link fixed 25 December 2005); and 2) Saturday April
12th's news, in which it was reported that the house of the
chief Iraqi Shi'ite leader, Ayatollah Seestani ( Sistani ) was being surrounded by a
mob led by Muqtada Sadr, who was
ordering Ayatollah
Seestani (and other non-Iraqi born Ayatollahs) to
leave Iraq within 48 hours. Although Ayatollah Seestani was apparently not inside the
house, Seestani's son was there. One source indicated that the violence was
extending into Najaf beyond simply the house of Ayatollah Seestani. Ayatollah Abulqasim
Dibaji, a Kuwaiti-based Ayatollah, said, "Total terror reigns
in Najaf." As of noon on Sunday, April 13,
it was finally being reported that US troops were now helping restore order.
Although as of about 10 pm US EST, Lt. Cmdr Charles Owens (a spokesman of the US
Central Command) in a report originating with the Associated Press indicated
that
as far as US troops were concerned, the
problem was none of their business.
Mob
Demands Top Iraqi Shiite Cleric Leave (Yahoo News/Associated Press, about 10 pm US
EST, April 13, 2003.)
Armed
Group Tells Top Shi'ite Leader to Leave Iraq This is the account, refered to
above, of the actions and threats of Muqtada Sadr and his thugs against Ayatollah
Seestani. The report is based in part on comments made by Kuwait-based Ayatollah
Abulqasim
Dibaji. (Mehrdad Balali and Esmat Salaheddin, Yahoo News, Sunday, April 13, 2003.)
Divided Shi'ites
in Power Play by Hooman Peimani, who focuses on how the Iran-based organization,
Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI) is positioning itself to
influence the development of post-Saddam Iraqi Shi'ism, especially in view of the
recent murder of Abd al-Majid al-Khoei, who was seen as being aligned with Western
interests, in contrast to SAIRI. (Asia Times, April 12, 2003.)
Killing of Shi'ite cleric is
blow to plans for pro-West government This article cites an unnamed Western
intelligence source who blames Iranian agents for Abdul Majid al-Khoei's murder. This
contrasts with other sources that assert that the murder was carried out by those Shi'a
who are not only against Western influences (al-Khoei was not opposed to the US) but
against Iranian Shi'ite leadership (World Tribune.com, April 12, 2003).
Mob Kills Two Clerics At Shiite Shrine a detailed report containing eyewitness
accounts (Glenn Frankel and Nora Boustany Washington Post, April 11, 2003 (Offline 25 December 2005)).
Iraqi Shiite cleric
Abdul Majid Khoei murdered in Najaf (link fixed 18 August 2005) a notice on
his murder from Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) Headline News.
Allied Forces
Respecting Shiite Muslim Holy Sites by Ann Rodgers-Melnick, Pittsburgh Post
Gazette.com, April 7, 2003.
History
of Iraqi Shi'ism
Shi'ite Islam has had a rich history in Iraq. Some of the most
important and tragic
events of early Islam occured there. One of these was the
asassination (in 661 AD) in Kufa
of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, whom Shi'ites regard as their first imam (believing
that he was the rightful political and spiritual successor of the Prophet
Muhammad). The very word "Shi'a" is an abbreviation of the phrase "Shi'at 'Ali,"
meaning "the partisans of 'Ali." In addition,
for Sunnis, Ali is beloved as the husband of the Prophet's daughter Fatimah and
respected as fourth of the "rightly guided caliphs" (al-khulafa'
ar-rashidun), and for Sufis he is also regarded as the first recipient in
a lineage of spiritual transmission from the Prophet and reaching down to
them even in present times. In 656, after the asassination of the
third caliph, 'Uthman, 'Ali succeeded him and in 656 had moved to Kufa,
an early center
of the
Shi'is that is just slightly to the northeast of Najaf.
Unfortunately for Muslim unity, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan ibn Harb
(supported
by a significant
number
of Muslims) came to lead those who
opposed --for various reasons--
Ali's caliphate. (It should not be
forgotten that Abu Sufyan - Mu'awiya's father- had been one of the
most significant leaders of the Meccans who had opposed Muhammad
and Islam, until after the surrender of Mecca, when he embraced
Islam.)
The rebellion led
by Mu'awiya ultimately resulted in the
bloody battle of Siffin (Safar, 37 AH / July, 657 CE). But just as
it seemed that Ali and his
supporters were about to be victorious, Mu'awiya (as advised by
'Amr ibn 'As) instructed his soldiers to
put leaves of the Qur'an on their spears, as a sign that the
battle should end and that the issue of the caliphate should be
decided by God's book, the Qur'an. A significant number of Ali's
supporters
were receptive to this ploy; and consequently Ali reluctantly
agreed. So on 13 Safar 37 AH / 30
July 657 CE, Ali signed an
agreement submitting to
arbitration concerning the issue of who should hold the office of
caliph (khalifa). The result of the arbitration, which was
concluded in Sha'ban 37 AH / January 658 CE, was that neither
should 'Ali nor Mu'awiya be Caliph. Ali, however, did not view
the result as being valid. It is reported that he said, "The
judgement is not based upon the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah, which
was the condition for arbitration. Therefore it cannot be
accepted." The Kharijites (an early group of
extremists who had from the beginning rejected as being un-Islamic
the idea
of the arbitration)
became open rebels, opposing both
Mu'awiya and 'Ali, ultimately decided to attempt to assassinate
'Ali,
Mu'awiya, and 'Amr ibn 'As. Nevertheless, only their
assassination of 'Ali
succeeded. It was in
Kufa that in 661, Ibn Muljam,
one of the Kharijites,
asassinated him.
More information about these events is available at a The
origins of the Shia/Sunni division - Part I and The
origins of the Shia/Sunni division - Part II
Read here an
account of Ali's martyrdom (from a larger book on Ali
put online at a Sunni website). (Links fixed 18 August 2005.)
A second tragedy in Iraq, even more significant in the lives of Shi'ites
down
through the centuries and today, was the massacre (by the army of the
Yazid, the son of the Sunni Caliph Mu'awiya) of the Prophet's
grandson, Ali's son Husayn, along with most of his family and many of his
followers, at Karbala in 680 AD. Read
here the full story of the tragedy, from the
perspective of the Shi'a. This tragedy is commemorated by annual
ritual mourning by
Shi'ites all over the world during Ashura in the month of Muharram.
Historically the city of Najaf (which according to one etymology is derived from
the phrase "nay jaff" meaning "dry river" or possibly dry reed; it may also mean "sand
hill or dune" and which is located about 120 miles south of
Baghdad) where Ali's shrine is located,
has been a major Shi'ite center. Similarly the city of Karbala (which according to one
etymology offered by the famed Muslim geographer, Yaqut al-Hamawi, is derived from a
word meaning "soft earth" [karbalat]) located
about 50 miles southwest of Baghdad and the
site of Husayn's martyrdom and his shrine, also became a very important
Shi'ite center. Najaf is on a canal linked to the
Euphrates river, while Karbala is slightly to the west of the river and
north of Najaf. Kufa,
which is where 'Ali was actually
killed is 11 km northeast of Najaf.
Karbala
and Najaf: Shia Holy Cities A BBC News Report,
March 26, 2003.
Archive of
Pictures of Najaf (links 18 August 2005) contains over a hundred and fifty pictures, most of
which are of the shrine of 'Ali.
Archive of
Pictures of Karbala (link fixed 18 August 2005) (also sometimes written
as Kerbala) containing a large number of pictures of the shrine of Imam
Husayn. Here is one of the few pictures that shows the shrine of
Imam Husayn from a distance.
Archive
of Pictures of Kufa includes pictures of the place
in which 'Ali was
fatally wounded by his assassin in the mosque of Kufa, the mosque
of Kufa
itself,
and the gate of 'Ali's house, among other pictures.
The Origins and Early
Development of Shi'a Islam by S. H. M. Jafri is a scholarly and detailed work
Shi'ites have been a presence in Iraq from the very beginning of Shi'ism. Their
presence continued during the days of
glory of Sunni Islam in Iraq, which peaked during the Abbasid Caliphate, beginning in
750 AD. Locating their capital at Baghdad, the Abbasids reined until the Mongols
destroyed them in 1258 AD. After that time, for five centuries Iraq did not have a
strong central government. In addition, even after the Ottomans made
Iraq an Ottoman territory after they took possession of Baghdad in 1533, between the
sixteenth and twentieth centuries Iraq became a frontier zone, a region for which both
the largely Sunni Ottoman empire (centered in Istanbul) and the Shi'ite Safavid empire
(in
Iran) vied. Because of the frontier quality of Ottoman Iraq (as well as its distance
from Istanbul), Ottoman control over
Iraq was often rather minimal (Nakash, The Shi'is of Iraq, pp. 14-15).
During this period some Bedouin tribes converted to Shi'ism, being
motivated in part by their
independent spirit and their desire not to be controlled by the Ottoman
authorities (Yann Richard, Shi'ite Islam, p. 110). At the end of the 16th century
(AD), Iraqi Shi'ites were predominantly Arab. Persians, however, began moving to Iraq
in
large numbers in the 18th century and by mid-19th century Persian 'ulama'
(religious scholars) controlled most of the religious endowments and schools
(madrasas) (Nakash, The Shi'is, p. 14-15).
In modern Iraq, Shi'ism only began to flower in the mid-18th century, even though
Shi'ism had come to characterize Iranian society in the 16th and 17th centuries.
There are two particular qualities of this distinctly Iraqi flowering at this
time: 1) Najaf and
Karbala began to attain more prominence as Shi'ite centers in the mid-18th century, a
prominence that previously had been difficult to gain on account of Ottoman rule; and
2) The
settled tribes of Iraq had converted to Shi'ism but maintained their traditional Arab
tribal values and customs--in contrast to the Persian customs and values that pervaded
Iranian Shi'ism (Nakash, "The Nature of Shi'ism in Iraq," pp. 23).
Although it might be thought that since, over the centuries, Shi'ites in Iran
were able to develop enough of a power base to eventually defeat the Shah of
Iran, Shi'ites of Iraq should have been able to do the same in Iraq. Nakash, however,
points out two characteristics of Iraqi Shi'ites that limited their power,
characteristics that were not qualities of Iranian Shi'ites.
Unlike in Iran, Shi'ism in Iraq has never been characterized by a
close interdependence
between the 'ulama (religious scholars) and the commercial classes. Consequently,
Iraqi Shi'ite opposition
groups have not been able to rely on Shi'ite merchants for their support. In addition,
unlike the case in Iran, Iraqi Shi'ites do not possess significant endowment properties
(waqf) and hence lack the waqf-based revenues that Iranian Shi'ites have. Hence, with
neither support from the bazaar nor from endowments, Iraqi Shi'ites have been unable to
finance sustained opposition to the state in Iraq (Ibid, pp. 24-26).
The
Making of Iraqi Shi'i Society See excerpt 1-6 for the beginning of
the first chapter of Prof.
Yitzhak Nakash's book,The Shi'is of Iraq.
The Future of Shi'ism in Iraq
In the West one commonly hears the fear expressed that in a post-Saddam Iraq,
the Shi'ites of Iraq will unite with Iranian Shi'ites with the result being a huge
Shi'ite power bloc that would be a realistic threat to stability in the Middle East.
Nevertheless, the leading
authority on Iraqi Shi'ism, Yitzhak Nakash of Brandeis University rejects this
possibility and asserted in a presentation to The Washington Institute for Near East Policy in
February, 2003, entitled "The Shi'is and the Future of Iraq"
that as a result of the birth of a representative government in
post-Saddam Iraq, Iraqi Shi'ites will most likely be able to establish themselves as a moderate
political bloc that will be independent of the influence of Iran.
He characterizes Iraqi Shi'ism as historically being more in line with Iraqi nationalism than Ayatollah
Khomeini's doctrine that the responsibility to rule should rest in the hands of the Shi'ite
clerics (vilayat-e faqih). Although the summary of Nakash's paper does not mention
the example of the Iraqi Grand Marja' (authority), Ayatollah al-Kho'i (d.
1992), he is certainly an example of the kind of political moderation to
which Nakash is referring.
Al-Kho'i's policies reflected the principle that
"the religious establishment should not be directly involved, in general
terms, in political affairs" (Yousif al-Kho'i, "Grand Ayatollah Abu al-Qassim (sic)
al-Kho'i," p. 226). It is possible that this principle was the basis of a statement
reputedly made (linked 18 August 2005) by the current
pre-eminent authority in Iraq, Ayatollah
Seestani (or Sistani) (link fixed 18 August 2005), in which he advised
Shi'ites not to oppose American troops in their conflict with Saddam's troops.
Furthermore in suggesting as evidence for his contention
that
Iraqi Shi'ites will not align themselves with Iran, Nakash cited the example of the
Iran-Iraq
war, in which Iraqi Shi'ites were the majority of the infantry who faught against
Iranian Shi'ites; and also the example of the events following the 1991 Gulf War,
when the Iraqi Shi'ite
authorities did not support the Shi'ite rebellion against Saddam. Consequently,
Nakash contends that Iraqi Shi'ites will act as an
alternative to
both hardline Iranian Shi'ism and the militancy
of Shaykh Mohamed Hussein Fadlallah (of Lebanon) and others who are regarded as
extremist Shi'is.
In
addition, another hope is that an invigorated moderate Iraqi Shi'ism
will be able to counterbalance growing extremist Arab Sunni
wahhabism, which at best sees Shi'is as only marginal Muslims and at worst
views them as unbelievers. Given the Bush administration's deep
connections with the Washington Institute (click here and
scroll down to
see the Institute's Board of Advisors), it is likely that Professor
Nakash's views are an important component of the administration's Iraq
policy. See below the
summary of Prof. Nakash's address to the Washington Institute:
The
Shi'is and the Future of Iraq is a report (March 3, 2003) prepared by
Evan Langenhahn on the basis of an address (on February 21, 2003) by
Yitzhak Nakash at the
Washington Institute's Special
Policy Forum. Dr. Nakash, professor of Middle East History at Brandeis
University, is the author of the authoritative word on Iraqi Shi'ites, The
Shiis of Iraq (Princeton University
Press,
1994.
Yet even more important than Prof. Nakash assessment is no doubt a document titled
The
Declaration of the Shi'a of Iraq (English version). (See also the
Arabic text. if Arabic does not appear, on MS Explorer go to the view menu, choose
"encoding," then "more," then "Arabic Windows.") This was the product of two years of
discussions
among Shi'i leaders (apparently in exile). The document elucidates the changes that the
signees feel need to occur in the Iraq, which are as follows:
1) The abolition of dictatorship and its replacement with democracy.
2)
The abolition of ethnic discrimination and its replacement with a federal structure for
Kurdistan.
3) The abolition of the policy of discrimination against the Shia.
See Fear
Not the Shias by Stephen Schwartz, which summarizes the declaration and adds
further evidence supporting the contention that Iraqi Shi'ites are strongly motivated
to end Saddam Hossein's rule and form a civil society that will be independent of
outside Shi'i influences.
Links for Shi'ism in Iraq
Biography of Grand
Ayatollah
al-Sayyid al-Seestani This biography is more detailed than the one linked above and
is provided courtesy of the Imam Ali
Foundation website at Ayatollah al-Seestani's liason office in London (links fixed 24 December 2005).
Books of Ayatollah
Seestani and Others at Ayatollah al-Seestani's Imam Ali Foundation. These can
either be read online or downloaded.
Downloadable Books of Ayatollah Seestani
in addition to the Tawdih al-masa'il of Ayatollah al-Kho'i (archived; fixed 24 December 2005).
Biography of Grand
Ayatollah al-Khoei ( al-Khu'i or al-Kho'i ) somewhat detailed, by Yasin T.
al-Jibouri (October 1, 1992).
Iraq's
Forgotten Majority by independent journalist, Frank Smyth, New York Times
(October 3, 2002) (link fixed 24 Decemeber 2005).
The Supreme
Council for Islamic Resistance in Iraq (SCIRI) The official website of the
Shi'ite oranization founded
by Grand Ayatollah Muhsin Al Hakim and which is now headed by his son, Ayatollah
Sayed Mohamad Baqir Al-Hakim. An important question is the degree to which SCIRI
actually represents Iraqi Shi'ites.
Questions and
Answers: Iraqi Opposition Leader Seyyed [Muhammad Baqer] Hakim is an
MSNBC News and Newsweek interview that done in December of 2002. The
good quality jpg image of Seyyed Hakim is particularly striking.
The Role Of
Muhammad Baqir Al-Sadr In Shi'a Political Activism In Iraq From 1958 TO 1980, by
T.M Aziz, an online book written in a scholarly manner.
The
Fate of 106 Religious Clerics and Students Still Unknown After Ten Years, an
Amnesty International
Report concerning students or followers of Grand Ayatollah al-Kho'i, following the 1991
Shi'i uprising in
Iraq (March 29, 2001).
Iraqi Sunni Kurds
The four main political groups among the Iraqi Sunni Kurds are the Kurdish Democratic
Party (KDP), the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the Islamic Movement in Iraqi
Kurdistan (IMIK) and the extremist group, Ansar al-Islam (Partisans of Islam). Each of
these groups has
a degree of religious affiliation, but this varies. On the one hand,the two latter
groups have an
Islamic orientation as their focus; on the other hand, it should be emphasized
that the KDP and PUK
are
secular, nevertheless they do have connections with Sufi orders,
the Naqshbandi Sufi order in the case of the KDP and the Qadiri Sufi order for PUK.
These affiliations are by no means exclusive (I was recently informed of some
Naqshbandi connections in the PUK, for example); and the extent of involvement of
members of the KDP and PUK with the Sufi orders is not clear and needs to be studied.
Naqshbandi Sufi Order
Today the Naqshbandi order is
followed in northern Kurdistan as well as to a certain degree in western Kurdistan.
Until late in the 19th century, however, these areas had been dominated by the Qadiri
order; but at that time the Naqshbandi order began to spread there due to the
influence of Mawlana Khalid Naqshbandi (d. 1827). The Barzani tribe, which leads the
Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), is affiliated with the Naqshbandi order (Izady, The
Kurds). Although its longtime leader, Mulla Mustafa Barzani (1903-1979), spent years in
the Soviet Union, he abandonned communism in the mid 1960s (Kullberg, The Strategic
Game). An important elderly Kurdish Naqhsbandi leader, Shaykh Ma'sum, heads a
different branch of the Naqshbandi order traditionally centered in Biyara (which for
a few years was a
stronghold of the terrorist group, Ansar al-Islam) and
lives today in Arizona (US).
Qadiri Sufi Order
The Qadiri order, on the other hand, is followed by "most people" in southern,
central, and eastern Kurdistan, being centered in Barzanja, which is close to
Sulaymaniya
(Izady, The Kurds). Between 1920 and 1940, an important Qadiri shaykh of Barzanji
named Shaykh
Mahmud led many Kurdish uprisings against the British while they were colonizing Iraq.
The Tâlabâni tribe, which leads the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), is affiliated
with the Qadiri Sufi order (Izady, The Kurds). Unlike the Naqshbandi Barzani, who gave
up communism, Kurds who wanted to retain communism were those who founded the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) (Kuhlberg, "The Strategic Game"). Today the PUK is
considered to be "staunchly secular" (ICG, "Radical Islam").
Tariqa
Casnazaniyyah or Kasnazaniya is originally a Kurdish branch of the Qadiri Sufi
order. Pictures of
a dhikr ceremony taken in 1996 can be seen here. As of 1996, the shaykh, Muhammad al-Shaykh
Abdul Carim al-Casnazani al-Hussainy, lived in Baghdad.
Islamic Movement of Iraqi Kurdistan (IMIK)
The Islamic Movement of Iraqi Kurdistan (IMIK) is the third largest Iraqi Kurdish
political force, but in 1992 elections in Iraqi Kurdistan it was not able to attain the
minimum figure of 7% of the vote, which would have been necessary for it to obtain
seats in the regional parliament. It is centered in Halabja. The IMIK is considered to
be the largest group of the Kurdish "Islamists" (ICG, "Radical Islam") -- with the
vague term "Islamist" usually denoting Muslims whose primary focus is to build an
Islamic state. IMIK has its origins in the spread of the Muslim Brotherhood into Iraq
around the year 1952. As time went on, particularly after increasing Ba'thist
persecution of the Kurds, leading Kurds who were members of the Brotherhood became
dissatisfied with the Iraqi Brotherhood's lack of effort to work for the establishment
of a Kurdish state and lack of willingness to call for "armed struggle" against the
Ba'thist party and government. These men rejected the Muslim Brotherhood's primary
method of political change, which in Iraq at that time had focused on peaceful and
pious methods in order to advanced toward their political goals (Noted in the "Iraq:
Country Assessment, 3.22, UK).
Then, in 1986, the Islamic Movement of Iraqi Kurdistan (IMIK) --Bizutnewey Islami le
Kurdistani Iraq (Kurdish) and al-Haraka al-Islamiyya fi Kurdistan al-'Iraq (Arabic)
-- was founded by a group of Sunni religious leaders (mullahs) who had been affiliated
with a non-political organization called the "Union of Religious Scholars" (Yaketi
Mamostayani Ayni Islami -- in Kurdish-- and Ittihad 'Ulama ' al-Din --in Arabic).
Among these mullahs was Shaykh 'Uthman 'Abd al-'Aziz, whom IMIK appointed as their
mufti (one who is empowered to make fatwas, which are religiously binding decrees) (UK,
"Country Assessment") and who was considered to be the "main spiritual guide" of the
movement (Shourush, "Islamic Fundamentalist Movements"). He died in 1999, and his
brother, Mullah 'Ali 'Abd al-'Aziz, centered in Halabja, became the leading figure in
the party. IMIK has received assistance from Iran and other Islamic countries (UK,
Country Assessment). In 1998 the US also began assisting it (as well as six other
Iraqi opposition groups) (UK, Country Assessment). It was reported in one source that
during the year 2001, the IMIK split up into four factions in contention with each
other: 1) "Islamic Group," 2) Unification movement (probably "Tawhid" referred to
below), 3) Soran Force, and 4) Jund al-Islam (The Force of Islam) (UK, "Iraq: Country
Assessment, 3.22)
Ansar al-Islam
This terrorist group, which had a stronghold for a few years in Biyara, in
Eastern
Iraqi Kurdistan, appears to have been driven out and defeated by the beginning of
April, 2003. (See Villagers
Rejoice Over Freedom From Militants by Gretel Kovach, Beliefnet.com) (link fixed 24 December 2005). Their
history seems to have begun in 1998,
when Najm al-Din Faraj, generally known as Mullah Krekar (also spelled Kerekaar )
along with other militants, some of whom were veterans of the Afghan war, left IMIK and
formed an extremist organization which was at first called Kurdish Hamas. Another
similar splinter group was called Tawhid. These later merged and were called "Soldiers
of Islam" (jund al-islam). A few months after 9/11 Mullah Krekar became the head of
this group, which now became known as Ansar al-Islam. Earlier the Jund al-islam had
declared a jihad against the secular Kurdish parties; and the Ansar appear to be
continuing this policy (ICG, Radical Islam). Among their extremist tactics is
assassination of rival Muslim leaders, an example of which was their murder of Shawkat
Hajji Mushir, a high level PUK leader with whom they were supposedly negotiating.
Also, in a manner typical of wahhabi-influenced extremists, they desecrated the graves
of the Naqshbandi shaykhs of Biyara. (See Ansar
Al-Islam: Iraq's Al-Qaeda Connection, by Jonathan Schanzer, January 17, 2003.)
The information on the various groups of Iraqi Kurds came from the following sources:
Mehrad Izady,
The Kurds: A
Concise Handbook (1992) (Sufism
section);
Anssi Kristian Kullberg (University of Tartu), The Strategic Game on (sic) Iraq's Kurds, in
The Eurasian Politician, Issue 2 (link fixed 24 December 2005).
International Crisis
Group (ICG), Radical
Islam in Iraqi Kurdistan: The Mouse That Roared (Link fixed 18 August 2005) (which is a PDF
file; click here for an html
formatted summary (link fixed 18 August 2005);
Country Information and Policy Unit, Immigration and Nationality
Directory, Home Office, UK, Country
Assessment - Iraq (a PDF file), 44pp, October, 2001;
Sami Shourush, "Islamic Fundamentalist Movements Among the Kurds," (from a paper
originally delivered in 1997) in Ayatollahs,
Sufis and Ideologues: State, Religion and Social Movements in Iraq, ed. by Faleh
Abdul-Jabar, London, Saqi Books, 2002, pp. 177-182.
The
Kurds and Islam by Professor Martin van Bruinessen (link fixed June 28, 2003).
This is a
detailed study focusing on the whole of
Kurdistan, although van Bruinessen (one of the few experts on Kurdish
Islam) does extensively discuss the
Kurds of Iraq. Published as "The Kurds and
Islam," Working
Paper no. 13, Islamic Area Studies Project, Tokyo, Japan, 1999 [slightly
revised version of the article in Islam des Kurdes (Les Annales de l'Autre
Islam, No.5). Paris: INALCO, 1998, pp. 13-35].
For general information on
Sufis and
Sufi orders see Sufism, Sufis, and Sufi Orders,.
For the Kurds see also the following links:
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the official
site.
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the official
site.
Religions in Kurdistan from
The Kurds: A Concise Handbook (link fixed 18 August 2005), by Dr. M. R. Izady, Department of Near Eastern
Languages
and Civilizations, Harvard University, USA, 1992
The Kurds
of Iraq: Recent History, Future Prospects by Professor Carole A. O'Leary, of the
American University Center for Global Peace (MERIA, vol. 6, no. 4, Dec. 2002). While
this article does not deal with the Islamic aspect of the Kurdish situation, it does
provide useful political information.
Research Guide: Kurdish
Studies by Hamit Bozarslan, Associate Professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en
Sciences Sociales, Paris. (Online at MERIA) Also, see below at Resources in Print for a useful bibliography.
Iraqi Arab Sunnis
The chief mainstream Iraqi Arab Sunni organization to emerge after the fall of
Saddam Hussein
is the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq (AMS - Hay'at
al-'Ulama' al-Muslimin fi
al-'Iraq), also known as Association of Muslim Clerics, the Muslim
Clerics Council (MCC), the
Sunni Muslim Clerics Association, the Muslim Ulama Council,
or the Ulema Council, headed by Shaykh Harith al-Dhari (al-Dari -- spelled not with a dhal but with a daad,
alif, ra', yaa) (link fixed 24 December 2005). A brief but useful summary of the history and
aims of council can be found at Association
of Muslims Scholars webpage on the Global Security.Org
website.
Another important Iraqi Arab
Sunni organization is the Iraqi Islamic Party, which is the Iraqi branch of
the worldwide Muslim Brotherhood, the secretary general of which
is
Muhsin
Abdul Hamid (the link is to a recent photo of him with
professor Mark Juergensmeyer of the University of California,
Santa Barbara). See Iraqi
Islamic Party compiled by Global Security.Org. See also the
party's own website (in Arabic) Al-Hizb al-Islami al-'Iraqi.
In addition to the above two Sunni organizations, which are religiously oriented,
there
appear to be three main Sunni secular political parties:
1) the Iraqi National Movement, led by Hathem Mukhlis;
2)the Constitutional Monarchy Party, led by Sharif Ali bin Hussein;
and
3)the Assembly of Independent Democrats, led by 80 year old
Adnan Pachachi.
Although Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi and his branch of
al-Qaeda is a
Sunni Arab organization operating in Iraq, he and his organization do not represent
a large number of Iraqis.
Iraqi
Sunnis make US pullout top priority, quoting a leading
cleric in the Sunni Muslim Clerics Association, Abdel Salam
al-Kubaisi (Daily Times, February
19, 2005).
Drawing
Lines (And Crossing Them) about efforts toward
Muslims Sunni-Shi'ite unity in Iraq, efforts explicitly connected
to the Association of Muslim
Scholars; written in Baghdad by journalist David Enders (Mother
Jones, February 16, 2005).
Constitutional
Participation in Iraq deals with strategies for involving
Sunni Arabs in democratic Iraq.
Andrew Arato, Professor at the New School University, argues for
certain strategies and against others.
(February 4,
2005).
Similarities
Seen in Iraqi, British Vote, meaning that there are
similarities between the current election in Iraq and previous
elections when Iraq was controlled by Britain from the 1920s
though the 1950s. By Antonio Castaneda, San Jose Mercury
News, January 28, 2005.
Lost
in the shuffle, Sunni Arabs ponder their role in new order Quoting Muhsin Abdul
Hamid, chairman of the Iraqi Islamic Party; Hachim Hassani, a Sunni and Iraq's
minister of Industry and Minerals, and Adnan Pachachi, a Sunni and former member of the
now-defunct Governing Council. By Edmund Sanders and
Ashraf Khalil, Los Angeles Times (published here in the Seattle Times), January 27,
2005.
'The
US is behaving as if every Sunni [in Iraq] is a terrorist' by Ghaith
Abdul-Ahad in the Guardian, January 26, 2005.
Iraq's
Sunni Muslims ready to take part in post-poll politics,
quoting Sheik Ibrahim Al-Adhami, a senior member of the Muslim
Scholars Association. The article was written by the
Press Trust of India and published in the Hindustan Times, January
25, 2005.
Fear of
Civil War as Sunnis Turn Away from Polls by Rory McCarthy in Baghdad,
published in the Guardian, January
24, 2005.
Islamic
Group Intervenes to Release Chinese Hostages is a short article noting the
efforts of the Iraqi Association of Muslim Scholars to gain the release of
eight
Chinese hostages in Iraq. Published on al-Jazeera.com, January 20, 2005.
Despite
a likely Sunni boycott, Iraq's divisions are overstated (link fixed 24 December 2005)
By Kamran Karadaghi, The Daily Star, January 18, 2005
Sunni
Election Dilemma
"The prevalent view from outside Iraq is that Sunnis will boycott the elections -
but the situation is not so cut and dried." The article discusses the attitudes
toward the election on the part of the Association of Muslim Scholars and the
Iraqi Islamic Party (branch of the Muslim Brotherhood); written by Kamran
Al-Karadaghi in London, published at the Institue for War and Peace
Reporting
(ICR No. 97,
14-Jan-2005).
Sunnis May Participate in
Iraq's Elections This article, originally published in aljazeera.com, refers
to the Association of Muslim Scholars as the "most powerful Sunni group." It
also refers to Sheikh Harith al-Dhari as the leader of the Association and
to Abdul-Salam al-Kobeisi as its public relations chief.
January 09, 2005.
Muslim
scholars arrested in Iraq "US forces in Iraq have arrested a number of members
of the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) in Iraq after their participation in a
conference calling for boycotting Iraqi elections." The most significant scholar
arrested was 'Abd al-Sattar 'Abd al-Jabbar. The article quotes the spokesman of
the AMS, Bashar Muhammad al-Faydhi. By Ahmed Janabi in
Aljazeera.net, October 22, 2004.
Militant Group Asks
Sunni Muslim Body in Iraq for Religious Edict on Kidnappings (link fixed 25 December 2005). In the course of
the article, Abdel Satar Abdel Jabar, a spokesman for the Association of Muslim
Scholars, is quoted.
By Bassem Mroue, Associated Press Writer, published Sept. 05, 2004.
[Muthannah Harith] Al-Dari's Arrest US 'Punishment' (link fixed 24 December 2005) Is the statement of Muhammad Bashar al-Faydi, the
official spokesman of the Sunni Association of Muslim
Scholars (AMS) in Iraq. Muthannah Harith al-Dari is the son of the chairman of
the Association, Harith al-Dari, and the media spokesman of the Association's
Shura Council at the time of his
arrest. The article is an English translation of a transcript of an
interview done with al-Faydi on Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic
on August 02, 2004.
Radical Islam grows
among Iraq's Sunnis By Dan Murphy, Staff writer of The Christian Science
Monitor, July 28, 2004.
Sunni
Disposition: These moderates should be our friends."
By Hedieh Mirahmadi, former senior advisor, US embassy, Kabul. She
argues for improved relations with Iraqi Sunni Sufis. Published in the
National Review Online, May 7, 2004.
Feeling
Besieged, Iraq's Sunnis Unite
Once-Dominant Minority Forms Council To Counter Shiites and Negotiate
Future
By Alan Sipress,
Washington Post Foreign Service,
Tuesday, January 6, 2004
Sufi
Baathists among Fallujah insurgents published in the
Financial
Times originally on or before April 21, 2004. Among the names
and places mentioned in the article are takiya (tekke) of
Shaykh Hassan the Flying Man (al-Tayyar ?) (d. 14th cent.?);
Mohammed Eissawi, shaykh of the Qadiriya order and khatib
(preacher)
at the Gailani mosque of Baghdad; Mohammed Abu Khomra, shaykh of
the Rifa'iya order; Salah Hashem al-Janabi, a popular singer from
Fallujah; Abdulwahab al-Toma, an imam at the Gailani mosque;
Sheikh al-Qummer takiya in northern Baghdad and its shaykh, Thahir
al-Sheik Qummer; Sheikh Dhari (whose grandson heads the Council of
Muslim Scholars) who participated in the Shi'i revolt
in the 1920s and shot the "arrogant" British political
officer at the time Colonel Gerard Leachman; Saddam Hussein's
deputy Ezzat al-Douri, who is reputed to have been a Sufi
devotee; the son of Shaykh Abu Khomra, who set up a political
party named the Coalition for
Iraqi National Unity (CUNI), and who publishes the
newspaper, al-Mashriq; and Paishrow Abdel Kadir, who is either a
second son of Shaykh Abu Khomra, or his brother, who
runs the Establishment
Protection Company, a Sufi militia providing guards for the
Coalition Provisional Authority base in Kirkuk.
The Iraqi Tribes and the Post-Saddam System, discusses the
Iraqi Sunni tribes and leaders, by
Amatzia Baram, Professor of Middle East History, University of
Haifa, Israel. Iraq Memo #18, Brookings Institution,
July 8, 2003.
A "Third
Force"
Awaits the US in Iraq by Syed Saleem Shahzad in Asia Times Online (March 1, 2003),
discusses the revival of the Muslim Brotherhood in Iraq in recent years.
Bin Laden Gives
Iraq an Unlikely Unity by Syed Saleem Shahzad. Syed Saleem in this article
attempted to argue the point that Bin Laden is supported by Iraqi Sufis and Shi'ites.
Nevertheless he did not successfully support his contention. He visited a couple of
men
whom he regarded as being (Sunni)
Sufis in Baghdad:
Sheikh Bakar Samaray, who is the prayer leader at the mosque at the Sheikh Abdul Qadir
Jilani in Baghdad; Syed Ahmed Gillani (sic), the custodian of the shrine of Shaykh
Abdul
Qadir; Shahzad notes but does not quote or paraphrase two other Sufi shaykhs, Sheikh
Mostafa bin Abdullah of the
Naqshbandi order in Arbil, of whom Mulla Omar
of the Taliban apparently is a disciple (according to Shahzad!); and Maulana Khalid
(who may be a descendant of the well-known Kurdish Naqshbandi, Mawlana Khalid) of
the
Naqshandi order, in Baghdad, who Shahzad states has good ties with Izzat Ibrahim, the
deputy leader of Iraq, who is himself a Sufi of the Qadiri and Rifa'i orders. Syed
Saleem did, however, visit and obtain quotes supporting Bin Laden from two custodians
of Shi'i shrines.
The Saddam Branch
of Islam contains some interesting remarks about the Muslims Brotherhood, Iraqi
attitudes to Wahhabi Islam and Ben Ladin, and remarks from an Iraqi Sufi, Syed
Ahmed Gillani (sic) who is
a descendant of Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, the founder of the Qadiriya Sufi order. (By
Syed Saleem Shahzad, Asia
Times Online, February 8, 2003).
Association
of Muslim Scholars in Iraq (Hayat al-'Ulama' al-Muslimin fi al-'Iraq)-- the chairman
of which, as of October 22, 2004, was Harith
al-Dhari--has
emerged in post-Saddam Iraq as the leading
mainstream Iraqi Sunni organization. This article, provided by
www.globalsecurity.org, is to a short notice describing
them.
Al-Basa'ir News (Jaridat al-Basa'ir)
is the newsservice of the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq. (Only in Arabic.)
The Muslim
Brotherhood in Iraq until 1991 is a brief summary written by Dr. Godlas and
derived from a lenghthier article by Basim al-'Azami.
The Iraqi Islamic Party The website of the
Iraqi Muslim Brotherhood. Unfortunately it is only in Arabic at this time.
Miscellaneous Iraqi Islamic Organizations
Iraqi Islamic Patriotic Front: one of its representatives is Shaikh Mohamad Nadeem
Al-Tae.
Underlying Causes of the Crisis
Iraq
and the Failures of Democracy, by Prof. Richard Falk (Princeton) and David Krieger,
Feb. 24, 2003
Concerning Muslim Responses to the Crisis
A Muslim
World Torn (link fixed 18 August 2005) notes the strong but sometimes ambivalent feelings that Muslims around
the world have toward the war in Iraq (Glenn Frankel, Washington Post, April 6, 2003).
At Least
50,000 Muslims Protest {in Bangladesh] Against Iraqi War (link fixed 18 August 2005) From Reuters reporting
about demonstrations occuring in Dhaka (the capital of Bangladesh).
(South Africa Broadcasting Corporation, SABC News, March 29,
2003.)
View from the
Street This article is comprised of interviews with Muslims in a variety of
countries in the Arab world. (The Guardian, March 19, 2003)
[Indonesian]
Religious leaders take over peace campaign by Richel Langit in Asia
Times online, March 15, 2003.
The War on
Iraq would be seen as an attack on Islam, says former [UK] Cabinet minister,
The Muslim News (UK), March 14, 2003.
Muslims
plead for 'return from the brink' by Jeevan Vasagar in the Guardian
(UK), March, 7, 2003. This notes that "in contrast to the attack
on Afghanistan, when Muslim MPs and peers supported military action, every
leading British Muslim politician has come out against war with Iraq."
U.S.
Asks Muslims' Reaction to Attack on Iraq a NewsMax.com wire originally
from United Press International, February 14, 2002.
Indonesian
Muslims hold huge protest against war in Iraq (link fixed 24 Decemeber 2005) eTaiwanNews.com,
February 10, 2003.
[Nigerian] Government
Stops Muslims' Pro-Iraq Protest in Abuja (link fixed 24 December 2005) written by Kingsley Omonobi
and Victoria Ojeme in the newspaper "Vanguard" (Lagos), February 8, 2003. Scroll to near the bottom of the page.
Thai
Muslims Rally Against Iraq War, BBC, February 6, 2003.
The
Impending Slaughter of Muslims in Iraq , by Nadeem Ilyas, at the online
radical Islamic journal, Khilafah.com , the point of this article (and the
entire website) is to motivate Muslims worldwide "to work... to rid their
lands of any foreign influcence" and to work for "regime and ideology change
in Islamic lands" in order to unite and form a single Islamic government;
February 2, 2003.
Muslims
Urge Iraq Co-operation The countries of Turkey, Iran, Syria, Saudi
Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt urged 'Iraq to co-operate with the UN weapons'
inspectors; from the newspaper, Herald Sun (Australia), January 24, 2003.
Islamic Hackers Step Up
Attacks A report by the BBC stating that in response to US plans for war in
Iraq, Islamic hacking groups are stepping up
their attacks on websites run by Western governments and large corporations. (October
29, 2002.)
American Muslim Responses to the Crisis
Muslims
[in the US] React, Respond to Iraq War A report in the Daily Illini based on
interviews with Muslim
students at the University of Illinois. (April 3, 2003.)
Muslims in U.S. Gripped by Iraq War
A MSNBC news report based largely on interviews with Muslim students in the US, by
Vidushi Sinha. (March 27, 2003.)
New
Jersey Muslims Cheer, Fear Start of War (link fixed 18 August, 2005) by Wayne Parry, AP writer, at Newsday.com
(March 20, 2003).
Muslim Public
Affairs Council (MPAC) Statement on the Brink of War This American Muslim
organization states its opposition to the war in Iraq but does not jump on the
bandwagon of
those Muslim organizations outside the US that are calling for jihad.
Even A Quick
War Has Negative Consequences Say [ American ] Muslims a U.S. newswire from the
Washington-based Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR), March 19, 2003 (link fixed 25 December 2005).
American Muslims
Prepare for Backlash by Mark O'Keefe, Newhouse News Service, March 19, 2003.
Iraqi
Immigrants Want Saddam Ousted (link fixed 18 August, 2005) Based on interviews with Detroit area Iraqi Muslim
and Christian Americans. (Steve Miller, Washinton Times, March 11, 2003.)
Muslim Students
Lead War Protests (link fixed 18 August, 2005) A news report noting that Muslims students in a variety
of universities across the US are playing important roles in the anti-war
movement. (Julia Duin, Washington Times, March 5, 2003.)
Local
[Houston] Muslims discuss possible attack against Iraq , by Paris Achen of the
Houston Chronicle and based on actual interviews March 4, 2003.
Department of
State and Defense Produce Brochure for US Muslims, a brochure "aimed at
influencing
American Muslims to support action against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein."
A Newsmax wire
(January 23, 2003). The same report, apparently written by by Pamela Hess , San
Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center, was interestingly introduced on the
website of pollster John Zogby as The [American]
Regime Caught Red Handed Distributing
Pentagon Psyops Propaganda In USA.
Responses of Muslim Scholars and Leaders Concerning
the Crisis
Iraq
leader hedges on Islam's role in law (link fixed 24 December 2005) discusses a statement by
the
president of Iraq's Governing Council, Mohsen Abdul-Hamid, an Arab
Sunni; written by
Scheherezade
Faramarzi, Seattle Times, Feb. 19, 2004.
Top Cleric Urges
Shi'ites Not to Resist Allies (link fixed 18 August 2005) discusses Ayatollah Sistani's fatwa and its
positive
implications for the US effort to topple Saddam Hussein and rebuild Iraq, by David
Sands (Washington Times, April 4, 2003).
Shiites Told to
Stand Aside (link fixed 24 December 2005) discusses the fatwa of Ayatollah Ali Sistani in which he called on Shi'ites to "remain calm and to not interfere with coalition actions" (Todd Zeranski,
April 4, 2003.)
Syrian
Mufti Calls for Suicide Operations This UPI article discusses a
statement made by Sheikh Ahmad Kaftaro, who is the chief legal authority of Syria. (March 27, 2003) (link fixed 25 December 2005).
Fear
Not the Shias by Stephen Schwartz, the author of The Two Faces of Islam,
who
asserts that Iraqi Shi'is support the ousting of Saddam Hussain and that in a
post-Saddam Iraq they will not
represent a threat to a unified and moderate Iraq. (The Weekly Standard, Volume 008,
Issue 27, March 24, 2003.)
Muslim Cleric from
Iraq Supports Removal of Saddam Hussein Shaykh Fadhel al-Sahlani, who is the
president of the Imam Al-Khoei Islamic
Center in New York and representative of marhum Ayatollah al-Khoei, states that
concerning Saddam that "... I
believe he has to be removed by any means" (Judy Aita,
March 22, 2003).
Hamas
Urges Iraqi Suicide Attacks on US-Led Forces a news article -- referring to
statements by Hamas leaders Abdel Aziz-al-Rantissi and Sheikh Ahmed Yassin -- by Nidal
al-Mughrabi, reporting from Gaza for Reuters (March 21, 2003).
Furious Arabs Protest
Invasion of Iraq (link fixed 18 August 2005), Fox News story, briefly describes the call to martyrdom in
an address
given to 4000 Palestinians in Amman, Jordan, by Hamza Mansour, who is a cleric
leader of the
Muslim
Brotherhood. In contrast, King Abdullah II of Jordan advised Jordanians to act in a
"civilized manner." This Fox News report notes a call to jihad given in a sermon by
Mohammed Sayed
Tantawi, the grand sheik of Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, Egypt, and a similar call
delivered to 6000 Muslims at the Friday prayer in India's largest mosque in New Delhi
by Syed Ahmed Bukhari. (March 21, 2003.)
Asian
Muslims Denounce Attack on Iraq Statements made by leaders of Muslim organizations
in Southeast Asia just after the US began its attack on Iraq (Yahoo, relying on
Reuters, March 20, 2003).
Iraq
War and Call for Jihad a PBS interview of Prof. Akbar Ahmed of American University
in Washington by Bob Abernethy concerning the recent declaration concerning jihad on
the part of the
scholars of the Islamic Research Academy of al-Azhar University. (Religion and Ethics
Newsweekly, March 14, 2003).
Scholars
Urge Jihad in the Event of Iraq War (link fixed 20 August, 2005) Muslim scholars of the Islamic Research
Academy of al-Azhar University in Cairo issued a statement on March 10,
2003, urging Muslims to defend themselves and engage in jihad in the event of a US invasion of Iraq.
(Washington Post, March, 10, 2003.)
Resisting
U.S. Aggression Islamic Duty: Al-Azhar Grand Imam, Shaykh Tantawi stated, [It is]
"a
religious duty to side with Iraq against any aggression to befall it." The article also
included a statement made by Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, one of the most highly regarded
Muslim scholars, in which he asserted that fighting U.S. troops (deployed to attack
Iraq) is “legal Jihad”. He added that “death while defending Iraq is a kind of
martyrdom”, as it comes in the defense of a Muslim land against aggressor enemies.
(Sobhi Mujahid, February 22, 2003).
Muslim
leaders' Declaration on Iraq (link fixed 20 August, 2005), originally published in the newspaper, Al-Quds
Al-Arabi on February 13, 2003, and then put online by the Muslim Association of Britain
(MABOnline.net),
this article discusses a statement signed by more than two hundred prominent Muslim
Scholars and public opinion leaders from all over the Muslim world, a statement that,
among other things, said that "any contribution to war on Iraq is not permissible by
Shari'ah."
Sheikh
calls for unity against Iraq war Statement of the Shaykh Tantawi, the
"Shaykh
al-Azhar", who is the leading institutional Sunni Muslim authority in Egypt. Reported
in the Middle East Times, January 31, 2003 (link fixed 24 December 2005).
Colonialism,
Iraq, and Islam, a paper delivered by Dr. Imran Waheed, spokesman for
British branch of the Hizb al-Tahrir, a radical Muslim organization,
at a panel discusssion at St. Annes College, University of Oxford, on
Tuesday 29th October 2002.
Fatwe
[ie. fatwa] seen as dividing Muslims and Arabs on Iraq
by Uwe Siemon-Netto in the Middle East Times, August 19, 2002 (link fixed 24 December 2005).
Fadlallah
bans Muslims from collaborating with Americans against Iraq
a fatwa (religious edict) issued by the chief Shi'ite leader of Lebanon,
Grand Ayatullah Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah, on August 12, 2002.
Responses from Non-Islamic Religions
Christian, Muslim Clergy
Stand Together Against War (link fixed 20 August, 2005) discusses a joint statement issued by 200 Lebanese
clerics. (Samer Wehbi, The Daily Star, April 7, 2003)
Muslims, Christians side by side as Iraq peace protests sweep globe (link fixed 24 December 2005; scroll halfway down page) as reported by Yahoo
News Australia, March 31, 2003.
Episcopalians
Respond to Beginning of War with Iraq (link fixed 24 December 2005) An article on the official website of US
branch of the Episcopal Church asserting that the war should be seen as a defeat for
humanity; and that it is not a war of Christianty
against Islam. (James Solheim, March 26, 2003.)
Why Jews Should Oppose the
War in Iraq is the text of a statement signed by 465 Jews (including 125 rabbis)
and published as a full-page ad in the New York Times on March 21, 2003. (Rabbi Arthur
Waskow, The Shalom Center) (link fixed 24 December 2005).
Confronting
Iraq: Might Doesn't Make Right by Ian Urbina and Archbishop Desmond
Tutu (winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984), International Herald Tribune,
March 14, 2003
Don't
Iritate 1 Billion Muslims By Attacking Iraq: Vatican Warns a
Press International (PINA) press release online at Arabic.com; January
31, 2003.
Bishop
[of Stafford, UK] starts dialogue with Muslims, A brief article about
a statement (including the statement) made by Anglican Bishop, Christopher
Hill, in which he asserts that a war against Iraq is not a war against
Islam, January 26, 2003 (link fixed 24 December 2005).
War in Iraq is wrong, 51
church leaders say by George Tasker, Miami Herald (October 21, 2002).
Conservative
Christians Biggest Backers of Iraq War by journalist Jim Lobe in the
progressive Common Dreams News Center. Lobe focuses on the
coalition of fundamentalist Christians and Jewish supporters of
Israel (October 10, 2002).
Iraqi Americans
Iraqis
in U.S. Hail Crumbling of Regime by Wayne Parry, Associated Press,
April 9, 2003.
Iraqi
American Council (link fixed 20 August, 2005), appears to be an official website containing useful
information about Iraqi Americans as well as the "mission statement" of the
organization and a description of the organizations activities in the past year.
Iraqi Christians
The last "reliable" census of Iraq in 1957 (under the monarchy) showed that the
Christians comprised 3% of the population. A recent article (January 3, 2003) in the
Church of
Ireland
Gazette Online asserted that the number of Iraqi Christians was about 650,000.
An
American of Iraqi Christian
descent who is "ministering" to the Iraqi Christians in his an article titled, The
Forgotten Christians of Iraq
asserted that the population of Iraqi (Assyrian) Christians still
living in Iraq
is 1.2
million:"approximately 200,000 in Northern Iraq, approximately 1,000,000 in Central
Iraq, mostly in Baghdad and a third smaller group of a few thousand in Southern Iraq"
One View from Iraq on the Eve of
War Here an American Christian visiting Iraq tells readers about some of
the
fears of Iraqi
Christians (and some Muslims) that he met a couple of months before the war began. He
noted that although Christian and Muslim Iraqis had lived in harmony for "hundreds and
hundreds of years," recent events in Iraq were threatening that.
Iraqi
Christians, fearing war, called to prayer (link fixed 20 August, 2005), by Rainer Lang, Ecumenical
News Service, November 15, 2002.
Kurdish
Christians (link fixed 20 August, 2005) from Mehrdad Izady, The Kurds: A Concise Handbook
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, USA, 1992
Bin Laden, al-Qa'ida, and Iraq
Alleged
Bin Laden Tapes a Call to Arms, CNN, February 14, 2003.
Ben
Laden Urges Muslims to Support Iraq (link fixed 24 December 2005), ABC News, February 11, 2003.
Ansar
Al-Islam: Iraq's Al-Qaeda Connection, by Jonathan Schanzer of the Washington
Institute for Near East Policy, published online in Frontpage Magazine.com,
January 17, 2003
Iraqi
fundamentalist leader deported from the Netherlands (link fixed 20 August, 2005)
by Toby Sterling, Associated Press, deals with the deportation of Mullah Krekar, the
head of the Ansar al-Islam. (January 13, 2003)
General Websites on the Iraq Crisis
The
Crisis Over Iraq, by Daniel Varisco Martin, Professor of Anthropology,
Hofstra University. This contains links in the following categories:
latest news, background information, Iraqi governmental website, Iraqi
opposition groups, and anti-war protests
Resources in Print on Muslims,
Islam, and Iraq
Ayatollahs,
Sufis and Ideologues: State, Religion and Social Movements in Iraq,
edited by Faleh Abdul-Jabar. Up until recently, there was no comprehensive
work on Islam in Iraq. Abdul-Jabar's work, published by Saqi Books (August
2002) and distributed by Palgrave/Macmillan in the US, is a major
step in this direction.
The
Shi'is of Iraq by Yitzhak Nakash (Professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies
at Brandeis University) (Princeton, 1994); see above for a discussion of Nakash and his
work.
The
Arab
Shi'a: The Forgotten Muslims a book by Graham E. Fuller (Senior Political Analyst
at RAND Corporation) and Rend Rahim Francke (Executive Director of the Iraq
Foundation), contains one chapter for every Arab country that contains a significant
Shi'a population, including one chapter that deals with the Shi'a of Iraq; in addition,
other relevant chapters are topic centered, such as "The Shia Identity,"
"The Shi’a in a Sunni Stae,"
"Shi’ite Demands and PoliticalStrategy," and
"The Iranian Connection." (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2000 [hardcover], 2001
[paperback]) (Link fixed August 29, 2003)
Research Guide: A
Bibiliography of the Kurdish Question in the Middle East by Engin Erdem, Ph.D.
student, International Studies at Old Dominion University, VA.(Online at MERIA)
"Modernity and Tradition in the Islamic Movements in Iraq: continuity
and
discontinuity," dealing with the Shi'ite Da'wa Party, by Keiko Sakai of the
Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization (IDE-JETO) in Arab
Studies Quarterly, vol. 23, no.1, Winter issue, 2001.
Iraqi Governing Council
The Iraqi Governing Council, chosen by the US
administration in Iraq, is
comprised of 25 people who represent Iraq's various
religious and
ethnic groups. The proportion of each of these groups within the
population of Iraq as a whole is roughly the same as their representation
in the governing council.
The Iraqi
Governing Council Members is an article from the BBC news service. It
includes brief biographies of each member as well as group picture. (July
14, 2003)
Miscellaneous Relevant Links
For the most part, these are links that do not fall within the primary
categories of this website but that have been suggested to me by scholars affiliated
with the Study of Islam section of the American Academy of Religion.
Iraqi
Forces Take Cover in Ancient Mosque is a Yahoo News report about Iraqi
troops using the shrine of 'Ali in Najaf and about the instructions given
to American troops not to damage the shrine, which, after Mecca and
Medina, is the holiest city for Shi'ites.
A Postwar
Who's Who By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.,
Corine Hegland and John Maggs
(National Journal
March 28, 2003).
The Iraq Foundation,
established in 1991, is
an organization of expatriate Iraqis the main purpose of which is to work for a
democratic Iraq.
Carnegie
Endowment for
International Peace: War in Iraq contains extensive news and analytical articles
as well as many web resources.
Iraqi
Opposition Groups A useful synopsis of the major Iraqi opposition
groups. (CNN.com)
Iraqi Opposition
Groups and Individuals A detailed and hypertext linked description of the Iraqi
opposition to Saddam
Hussain. See also the Members of the Follow-Up and
Arrangement Committee , 65 individuals who were selected to be on the Follow-Up and
Arrangement Committee (FUAC) of the Iraqi opposition during the London conference of
14-17 December 2002.
The Iraqi
National Congress (link fixed 24 December 2005) (INC) is an umbrella organization formed in 1991
designed to unite and coordinate all Iraqi groups opposed to Saddam
Hussein.
Is the War on Iraq
Lawful? by Professor Michael C. Dorf of Columbia Law School, is a
concise analysis that examines the following: 1) three possible grounds for war from
the
perspective of international law; 2) the legality of war from the
perspective of American law; and 3) the war from a moral and
practical perspective.(FindLaw's Legal Commentary, March 19, 2003.)
Today,
I Weep for My Country Summary of Senator Robert Byrd's speech to the US
Congress denouncing President
Bush as being misguided, a speech given just prior to the US invasion of Iraq.
Bush Justifies First
Strike (link fixed 20 August, 2005) referring to a prime time address that President Bush delivered on Monday,
March 17 from the White House; an article (accompanied by a video broadcast of the
address) by Marsha Mercer, Media General New Service,
March 21, 2003.
Letter from Coleman Barks, translator of Rumi, to President
Bush urging him to rethink the war.
How
to Build a New Iraq After Saddam included here is the complete
introduction to the book by Patrick Clawson, the Deputy Director of the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy, which may be the most
influential think-tank on American Middle East and Iraqi policy.
Human Rights Watch World Report 2003: Iraq
and Iraqi Kurdistan And see the earlier State Department Country Report on Human
Rights Practices: Iraq - 2001
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
March 4, 2002
Opposing War is Good, But
Not Good Enough an article by Faleh A. Jabar, Research Fellow, Birkbeck College,
University of
London. He is the editor of the only comprehensive work dealing with
Islam and modern Iraq: Ayatollahs, Sufis, and Ideologues: State, Religion, and
Social Movements in Iraq (The Progressive, January 2003) (link fixed 24 December 2005).
The Iraqi
Opposition's Evolution: From Conflict to Unity? by Dr. Robert Rabil, Project
Mnager of the Iraq Research
and Documentation Project at the Iraq Foundation, Washington, DC (MERIA, vol. 6, no.
4, December 2002).
Exploiting
Islam, a chapter in the US government's publication Apparatus of Lies:
Saddam'’s Disinformation and Propagana, 1990-2003
A Pilgrim's
Guide to the Holy Places in Iraq by a Pakistani shaykh of the Qadiri Sufi order,
Hazrat Syedna Tahir Alauddin al-Qadri al-Gilani. This includes the tombs of Sufis,
Shi'is, companions of the Prophet, important Sunnis, and prophets (PDF format).
