Religious communities in Iraq
The religious communities in Iraq are following the fall of Saddam Hussein again important factors in the political process.
Political situation
The situation in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein is complex: the emergence of new political groups, the reawakening of traditional religious movements and the birth of new formations, the return of religious leaders living in exile and the influence of the neighboring countries create a framework against the backdrop of which political ones emerge and religious authorities often overlap and inside each group wants to secure its own place in the future Iraq.
Most obvious was the development of the Shiite Muslims : through mass rallies and a capillary organization at the grassroots level, the Shiites are trying to re-establish their own identity after the oppression by the Saddam regime. As a majority denomination (63% of Iraqis are Shiites), the Shiites indicate that they want a say in the planning of the new Iraq. However, there are also problems that are not easy to solve.
These problems include the theocratic nation model that some Shiites envision, pointing to the need for a Muslim state, while some Shiite religious leaders are demanding the immediate withdrawal of coalition forces from Iraqi territory. In the last few years, some young radical religious leaders have stood out in the ranks of the Shiite religious community who challenge the more moderate traditional clergy, which consists mainly of religious representatives who until recently lived in exile. Another open question is the extent of the Shiite neighboring country Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah fighters.
On the other hand, the Sunni religious community, to which 34% of Iraqis belong, has suffered from the overthrow of the Saddam regime because it was considered a power group during the time of the Ba'ath Party . After an arduous reorganization after the end of the war, the Sunni religious community was confronted with the rise of Shiite Islam after the years of oppression under Saddam. In the course of the reorganization process, Wahhabi elements and groups representing the anti-Western ideology of al-Qaeda were able to creep in.
According to various observers, this anti-Western ideology, which rejects the presence of foreign troops in Iraq, is said to have led to an increasing coalescence between Shiites and Sunnis, between whom there is actually a historical split. More credible, however, is the assumption that a “temporary alliance” was forged between the two branches of the Prophet's followers, or rather between some Sunni and Shiite groups, to pursue common goals, especially to regain direct political sovereignty over the country.
The group of mainly Sunni Kurds , which is essentially split into two wings, also wants to participate in the country's government despite the internal split. The Kurds are united on the one hand in the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP) under the leadership of Masud Barzani and on the other hand in the Patriotic Union Kurdistan (PUK) under Jalal Talabani . The leaders of both groups belonged to the Iraqi government council and each have their own soldiers, the so-called peshmerga .
Against such a background, the Christian denomination with its various denominations emphasizes its solidarity with the Iraqi people and the will to build fraternal relationships with the other religious communities and to participate in the construction of a new Iraq. It is also worth mentioning that the Christian engagement in the social field , which is mainly carried out by Caritas in Iraq, to support poor Iraqi families often also benefits non-Christian families.
Muslims
Shiites
Dawa
One of the best-known Shiite groups is the Dawa party , founded in 1950 , the oldest Shiite movement in Iraq. After several leaders of this group were assassinated under Saddam, the movement was completely disbanded and suppressed, resulting in many Shiites living underground. Under the leadership of Sheikh Muhammad Nasseri , who had returned from exile in Iran after the end of the war , two representatives of the Dawa movement sat on the Iraqi government council. Nasseri has said several times that the period of occupation by the coalition should not last longer than six months. Today the Dawa party, which entered the United Iraqi Alliance ( UIA ) for election on January 30, 2005, is the prime minister of Iraq in the new Iraqi government , Ibrahim al-Jafari .
Supreme Islamic Council in Iraq
Another Shiite movement that has made a name for itself over the past year is the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) under Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim , who was murdered in an attack in Najaf in August 2003 . Hakim, who had thousands of followers in the country, had also returned from exile to which he had been banished by Saddam. Before his death, he had promised the government council his support and made it known among the Shiite believers. His place at the head of the movement was taken over by his brother Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim , who maintains close ties with Iran and has a seat on the government council for his movement. It is estimated that between 4,000 and 10,000 men belong to the armed wing of the Revolutionary Council, the so-called Badr Organization . The SCIRI also joined the UIA election. In the new Iraqi government, the SCIRI provides a deputy president , namely Adil Abd al-Mahdi , and the interior minister Bayan Baqir Sulagh .
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani
The most important Shiite leader in Iraq is the 85-year-old Ali al-Sistani , who perhaps also seems to be well disposed towards the coalition forces in view of the persecution under the old regime. Al-Sistani spent many years in prison because he refused to go into exile. During the war, he advocated coalition intervention. Today, numerous young Shiite leaders compete with him in search of a place in the Shiite community. Although he had expressed reservations about the draft constitution for Iraq at the time, he always avoided criticism of the work of the government council, in which some of its sympathizers were also represented. Al-Sistani advocates the separation between state and religion and rejects the use of weapons, but he calls for compliance with the deadlines for the transfer of power to the Iraqis, not least because dissatisfaction with the coalition's policy is growing among Shiites . According to many observers, he is taking a “wait and see” attitude: he does not want to come into conflict with the American government, which liberated the country from the dictatorship of Saddam, but he is waiting for the transfer of power in order to ascertain the numerical superiority of the Shiites in the new political scene in Iraq, under an elected government.
Movement of Muqtada as-Sadr
The radical Shiite groups include the movement led by Muqtada al-Sadr , whose father was murdered by the Ba'ath Party during the years of dictatorship . Al-Sadr rejects the traditional Shiite leaders. He set up his base camp in Najaf, from where he fought the “American occupiers”. Al-Sadr, who is persecuted by the coalition authorities, always called for Islamic laws in his speeches and appealed to Iraqi national pride, presenting himself as a counter-figure to the most important Shiite leader in Iraq, the Grand Ayatollah Ali as-Sistani . Sadr is estimated to have around 10,000 militiamen and numerous supporters, especially in the Shiite district of Baghdad, which is also called Sadr City (after his father). He threatened the coalition troops with the use of suicide bombers should they penetrate into the holy Shiite cities of Najaf and Karbala . According to observers, al-Sadr is rejected by the rest of the Shiite religious community. There are three supporters of al-Sadr in the new Iraqi cabinet.
Arab Sunnis
Among the Arab Sunnis, the group around the Islamic theologian Muhsin Abd al-Hamid , who was a member of the Iraqi government council, stood out. Hamid is the leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party and belongs to the Islamic Brethren. Because of his moderate position, there was a dispute with Ahmad el Kebeisey , who teaches Islamic studies at the University of Baghdad and is one of the preachers at the Friday prayers in the Hanifa mosque in the Sunni district of Baghdad. The imam had already stoked anti-American hatreds several times and called for protests against the coalition forces.
The ongoing fighting and kidnappings in Iraq have created new groups in Iraq, including the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) , which became famous after mediating and negotiating the ceasefire between Sunni units and American forces in Fallujah contributed to the release of seven kidnapped Chinese.
Sheikh Harith adh-Dhari , one of the leaders of this association, declared that "the organization is religious but also social and political" and acts "in the interests of the country". The union emerged from the vacuum in the Sunni ranks in the post-war period. The association is also nationalist and has important ulema of the Abi Haanifa and Abd al Kadr mosques in Baghdad, which makes it a fairly influential institution. Although she was not represented on the government council, it was supported by her, and she said that she identified with the positions of the Iraqi Islamic Party . The association also maintains connections to the Kurdish community and, according to its own statements, tries to maintain good relations with the Shiites.
Kurdish Muslims
The majority of the Kurds, split into two groups, are also Sunni Muslims. Despite their internal division, the Kurds sought to participate in the then future government of Iraq. The Kurds united on the one hand in the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) under Masud Barzani and on the other hand in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) under Jalal Talabani . Both were represented on the Iraqi Governing Council and each have autonomous military units. To vote, they formed the Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan . In the new Iraqi government, the PUK is Jalal Talabani as the president.
In addition to Orthodox Islam and the Sufi orders, there are various Islamic special groups whose followers are predominantly Kurds, such as the Ahl-e Haqq (similar to the Alevis and Alawis ), Shabak or Haqqa .
The Kurds were persecuted under Saddam Hussein because of their demands for autonomy (or sometimes secessionist aspirations ). After the establishment of the no-fly zone by the United Nations in 1991, Kurdistan was placed under international protection, which enabled the Kurds to achieve a certain degree of autonomy ( Kurdish Autonomous Region ).
Yazidis
Christians
Assyrian Church
After the fall of the Saddam regime, the Christian Assyrians also hope that they will be able to freely practice their religious and cultural identity in Iraq again in the future. One of their representatives, Younadem Kana , was the only Christian on the governing council. The Christian Assyrians in Iraq are members of the Assyrian Church of the East and, together with the Chaldean Church united with Rome, are descendants of the early Catholic Church of Seleukia-Ctesiphon. The Assyrians were persecuted after the Ba'ath Party came to power under Saddam Hussein and only now have a certain freedom again with regard to the various forms of expression of their culture, their customs and their cult.
The Assyrian Church of the East is an independent ( autocephalous ) not with Rome, but also not with the Byzantine Orthodox Churches, United Church. The original settlement area of the Assyrians, which arose mainly from the preaching of the disciples of the apostle Thomas , Mar Addai and Mar Mari, from the 1st to the 4th century AD, is largely in the Mesopotamian region and in the Armeno-Kurdish mountainous region in today's Syria, Iraq and Iran. The Assyrian Church of the East became independent after the councils in Seleukia (410) and Markabata (424) and also calls its patriarch " Catholicos ".
The Assyrian Church went through a period of crisis in the middle of the 15th century. When Pope Julius III. Appointed the “Chaldean Patriarch” Simon VIII in 1553 , the division between the Assyrian and Chaldean churches began and continues to this day.
But since the historical split, relations between the Chaldeans and Assyrians have improved again. A new era of dialogue and good relations began after the signing of the joint Christological Declaration by Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV in Rome in November 1994. In August 1997, the Holy Synod of the Chaldean Church and the Assyrian Churches a dialogue commission set up to deal with pastoral cooperation at the various levels.
The patriarchs, especially Catholicos Shimun XXI. , and the semi-autonomous Assyrian tribes took part militarily in the First World War on the side of the opponents of the Ottoman Empire. As a result, many Assyrians had to leave their traditional settlement areas in the mountains around Qudshanis ( Hakkâri , Turkey) and were settled as refugees in Iraq. Their expectation of return or autonomy was not fulfilled. After Iraq gained independence (1932), they were widely regarded as enemies of the government and victims of massacres of Iraqi soldiers. In commemoration of these events, the Assyrians celebrate August 7th as the day of “Assyrian martyrdom”. Today around 70,000 Assyrians live in Northern Iraq, where they have been able to maintain their own cultural, linguistic and religious identity. Syrian (a late form of Aramaic ) has been allowed to be taught in Assyrian primary schools since the 1970s , after the government in Baghdad granted Assyrians and Turkomans their own cultural and administrative rights.
Syrian Orthodox Church
The rest of the Iraqi Christians (Arameans), the so-called Monophysites in the West , belong to the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch with its Archdioceses Baghdad and Basra (Archbishop Mor Severius Jamil Hawa), Mosul (Archbishop Mor Gregorius Saliba Shamoun) and the Archdiocese of Mor Mattai Monastery (Archbishop Mor Dioskoros Luka Sha'ya).
Catholics
In addition to the Chaldean Church, the Catholics in Iraq belong to three other churches that have emerged recently:
Chaldean Catholic Church
The Chaldean population, to which most of the Christians in Iraq belong, is the third largest ethnic group in the country after the Arabs and Kurds: their presence has always been important in professional life, as well as in society and administration in Iraq. In the period after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Christians tried to create their own position in political and social life, advocating a pluralistic, secular state that treats all religious minorities with respect.
Despite the positive initial situation, as a result of later tensions in the country there were renewed threats against the Christian denomination, which had been voiced by extremist groups in various Iraqi cities and particularly in Mosul. The political tensions between Sunnis and Shiites did not offer Christians any secure prospects. Christian families then left the capital Baghdad and moved to the northern parts of the country, where they felt safer.
Christians attach great importance to being regarded as full Iraqis: Christians have lived in this region, which extends from Iraq to India , since the time of the apostle Paul , who preached among the peoples of the Middle East from 40 AD.
Today's Christians are descendants of these peoples who were unable to convert to Islam even under the Arab occupation in the 7th century. 70% of Iraqi Christians are followers of the Chaldean Church. A total of around 800,000 Christians live in Iraq, which makes up around 3% of the population. Most of them are ancient oriental Christians and Catholics . Protestants have only existed in Iraq for a few years.
Most of the Iraqi Christians are Chaldeans. This church was created from 1553 through unions of the Assyrian Church with the Pope in Rome. Today the seat of the patriarchate is Baghdad. After the death of the Patriarch Raphael I. Bidawid , the auxiliary bishop emeritus Emmanuel III. Delly , 76 years old, appointed his successor in the office of Chaldean "Patriarch of Babylon". A very lively Chaldean religious community lives in a predominantly Muslim environment, which is primarily dedicated to catechesis and education: there is a patriarchal seminary in Baghdad and the College of Babylonia was recently founded there, which is a patriarchal college with the Pontifical Urbaniana University under the direction of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples . This college offers courses in philosophy and theology that can be attended by candidates for priesthood and laypeople.
The liturgical and theological language of the Chaldean Church is a late form of Aramaic. However, since the majority of the faithful speak Arabic , the Arabic colloquial language of the population is increasingly being used for reading prayers, Bible passages and some liturgical formulas, and Holy Mass is often bilingual. With the exception of the mountain villages in northern Iraq, where Aramaic is still spoken today, religious instruction takes place in Arabic.
There are also two Chaldean communities of sisters in Iraq : the Sisters of the Sacred Heart and the Daughters of the Immaculate Mary . In the Chaldean Church there are also monks who are missionary: the Chaldean monks originally founded their monasteries in the mountainous region in northern Iraq, where they visited the Kurdish villages and still do so today, teaching in schools as teachers and giving religious instruction . From the mountains they came to Mosul and finally to Baghdad, where the seat of the superior general is today. The Chaldean monks now have 400 monasteries in Iraq and one in Rome, as well as a mission in America. Today over 700,000 Chaldean Christians live in Iraq. About as many live in Chaldean diaspora communities around the world.
The Chaldean Church was the mainstay of the state at the time of Saddam Hussein. Prime Minister Tariq Aziz was an important member .
Syrian Catholic Church
A total of 75,000 Christians of the Syrian Catholic faith community live in Iraq in the two dioceses of Baghdad and Mosul. The Syrian Catholic Bishop of Baghdad is Athanase Matti Shaba Matoka , while the Syrian Catholic Diocese of Mosul is headed by Basile Georges Casmoussa .
In Iraq there are Syrian Catholics living both in the south and in the north: there is a small community in Basra , there are around 30,000 Syrian Catholics in Baghdad; in Kirkuk and Mosul there are a total of around 45,000. The liturgical language is primarily Arabic in the cities, while Aramaic is still used as the liturgical language predominantly in the rural areas around Mosul, but also in Baghdida with its around 25,000 believers. The patriarchate of the Syrian Catholic Church is based in Beirut ( Lebanon ).
Armenian Catholic Church
The communities of the Armenian Catholic denomination in Iraq are mainly descended from the emigrants and forced deportees who came to the country in 1915 as a result of the massacres in the course of the Armenian genocide under the regime of the Young Turks (see also Christianity in Turkey ).
In Baghdad, the Armenian sisters run a school that is attended by around 800 Armenian and half Muslim students. Around 2,000 Armenian Catholic believers live in Iraq under the leadership of Bishop Andon Atamian . Up until the 1990s there were around 20,000 to 30,000 Armenian believers of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches in Iraq. In the past decade many have left the country as a result of poverty.
Catholics of the Latin Rite
For three centuries, numerous missionaries of the Latin rite have been working closely with the Chaldean religious community in Iraq: Religious of the Latin Church are active in pastoral care in the Chaldean communities in Baghdad and in the north of the country, they give religious instruction for children and young people or donate the sacraments And last but not least, we are also committed to the poor. Missionaries of the Latin Church learn Arabic and know the liturgy and tradition of the Chaldean Church and fully integrate into the local culture.
Redemptorists , Dominicans , Carmelites , Salesians and Chaldean monks from Lebanon live and work in Iraq . Among the religious orders active in Iraq are: the Franciscan Missionary Sisters , Dominican Sisters of the Representation of the Virgin of Tours (who run the St. Raphael Hospital in Baghdad); Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena , the Little Sisters of Jesus and the Missionaries of Charity , who work on the model of Mother Teresa of Calcutta and, above all, look after handicapped children. The majority of the Catholics of the Latin Rite (around 2,500) live in Baghdad and are looked after by Archbishop Jean Benjamin Sleiman .
Mandaeans
Several thousand to one hundred thousand Mandaeans still live in southern Iraq today . Since Islam tolerates the Mandaeans as a so-called " book religion ", they were a protected religious minority under Islamic rule and were able to practice their faith. They too experienced tolerance under Saddam Hussein and are now exposed to increased persecution by Islamist circles who regard their religion as not being tolerated by Islam. In addition, they lost the political instrument they had through the Religious Council under the Ba'ath regime in which they were represented.
Judaism
In 1948, 135,000 Jews were still living in Iraq, half of them living in Baghdad. In the years 1946 to 1950 there were numerous riots against the Jewish minority. Jews were not allowed to emigrate from Iraq until 1950. The Iraqi government, like the other Islamic Arab states, was against Zionism. After repeated reprisals by the Iraqi state, the Israeli government began to airlift 95 percent of the Jews to Israel by 1952. In 1958 the status of the Jewish community was revoked from the Jews , whereupon numerous Jews emigrated again. Today there are only 28 Jews left in Iraq.
Zoroastrians
The number of Zoroastrians has risen in recent years, in particular as a result of conversions by former Muslims. The Zoroastrians are currently seeking official status for their religion in the Kurdish Autonomous Region .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Source: Fides Service Iraq Dossier
- ↑ Source: BAFl
- ↑ Source: Zionismus.info: Jews in Arab States
- ↑ The Anti-IS Religion . FAZ. September 6, 2015. Accessed May 16, 2016.
- ^ Zoroastrianism in Iraq seeks official recognition . Al monitor. February 17, 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2016.