Iraqi Christians in Danger
October 13th, 2008Dear Friends,
Again the terror hit Iraq, today it is targeting the defenseless Iraqi Christians, it was not enough that our Parliament made a deal to remove paragraph 50 of elections law, that preserve the rights of Iraqi minorities in having fair representation in government, but a new campaign to force the few of Iraqi Christians living in Mosul to leave their houses ,by killing them and forcing them to change their religion, wearing vails, and paying gezia (Islamic taxes on non Muslims.)
This is done by a group of people who are working to give Islam false image ,destroying our work as Iraqi Muslims to live for peace and to reconstructs our country.
Some say they are paid by Al Qaida, others accuse the Kurds, and radical Sunni parties in Mosul provinces government, some say the attacks are carries by people wearing official Iraqi army clothes.
But in the end we reached the days when there is a fatwa from some radical people to prevent Christians from going to hospitals, this is a crime against Islam before anything else, as no law of God or human prevent the sick or injuries from receiving treatment.
11 Christian were killed during this week, one was a doctor (his body was cut to pieces), a pharmacist, engineer, and a 15 year old boy.
We as activists need to work together to stop such crimes that destroy religion good faith in living together, and attack the weak, the peaceful and defenseless.
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I have no doubt that if Muhammad (PBUH) would witness this he would weep bitterly. And pray. And take action to right the wrongs with patience and determination. Let that be our example. We are not alone.
I agree with the spirit of message Martijn Rep wrote. If he were alive today, he would have spit on those evil forces who are bent upon destroying civility and humanity.
It’s not a good omen for a society when it deals with its marginal sections atrociously.
[...] at Mideast Youth, Iraqi Wameeth warns Iraqi Christians living in Mosul are in danger. Posted by Amira Al Hussaini [...]
Wameeth, remain steadfast in the trust of the Coalition forces to hunt for and bring justice to any victims of atrocities committed inside your Iraq.
Your leaders appear to want Sharia Law, and to remain an antagonistic nation as it stands with other nations of the free world. Your men act contrary to why Coalition forces are inside Iraq in the first place. I fear it will be your leaders stubborn adherence to the religion Islam which will bring still more, future despair and ruin to your nation, again. Your men in power appear to be very unwise, and dangerous.
This is cruel and unjust, but commenters like “Kur” need to stop using such cases as an opportunity to further their own pitiful political agendas and sickening Islamophobia. It’s disrespectful and equally disturbing.
As for this specific statement:
Your hypocracy never ceases to amaze me. I find your comment to be both extremely ignorant and arrogant. A “free country” is one that is tolerant of all religions, not one that specifically targets one as the “problem.” You’re advocating right-wing extremism and we have already seen that the US military is not part of Iraq’s answers but rather, part of the widespread problem. Iraqis have to confide in themselves and in their own strength, not in anyone else’s failing interferences. No one else understands and can solve Iraq’s problems but Iraqis themselves; no military occupation in the world can change that.
Never underestimate Iraqis as a nation. Wameeth is a great example of an Iraqi active on his country’s behalf; it’s people like him who will bravely fight through this until justice is won.
Wameeth, you have our prayers, and we hope soon to see a free and tolerant Iraq, which only Iraqis can achieve. We pray for an Iraq that houses neither right-wing nor supposedly “Islamic” extremism.
Esra’a opined:
If you read the Iraqi constitution, the document that gives or takes away rights of the Iraqi citizen, tell me how Christians will ever be free once all Sharia Laws are implemented and take affect? And once the “interfering” Coalition forces have gone home, how will Sharia Law blend in with YOUR QUOTE that “[A] free country is one that is tolerant of all religions?” How, dear Esra’a, will the full force of Sharia Laws implemented into Iraqi society ever tolerate Christians, or any non-Muslim group? You know what Sharia Laws say, and demand for everyone better than I do. Who you think you’re fooling? Talk to everyone about how a true, devout Muslim (leader of a nation) will read and believe they must seek Sharia Laws over the lands they inhabit, and how my right-wing extremism can coincide with this?
Esra’a, tell your audience your personal views about Sharia Laws? Maybe we just misunderstand each other? As a proud Muslim, surely you don’t have qualms expressing personal thoughts, these views?
I won’t refute that Sharia discriminates against minorities because it does. However, your statement makes it seem as if Sharia is rigid and unchangeable, but that is not the case. Sharia law is based on interpretations and is fluid and has undergone many transfomations over the centuries.
Not every Muslim country under Sharia Law expresses disrespect against its religious minorities or actively discriminates against them. I live in a country under Sharia Law, we have Jews, Christians, Baha’is and Hindus working together and the government itself has accepted members of minority religions to represent it. Arab Christians here have no issues; in fact we have at least 7 churches and several Bible schools to service this minority.
It is therefore CRUCIAL, that instead of pointing fingers at Islam and its billion followers, to learn how to distinguish extremism from the pure practice of a certain religion. It is also hypocritical to claim that a religious minority should be respected all the while painting another religion as some sort of an evil cult.
I’m not proud of everyone I share my religion with, and such is the case for people within every faith in the world. I’m certainly not proud or supportive of these fools who go around killing their own brethren on the premise of religious dominance, but such violence is not Islamic and you will find VERY few Muslims justifying this behavior. Just like you will find Christians in America justifying nuking Iran, or Jews claiming to speak on their religion’s behalf when justifying crimes on Palestinians; they all represent a shallow, violent minority/group who sometimes unfortunately do hold more power. In no way do these people truly speak on behalf of their entire religion/nation, and blindly assuming that they do is dangerous for everybody.
I’m not going to start entertaining the comparison of Qur’anic verses with you. All the splits and divisions bringing all the sects of modern day Islam are because of interpretations of the Qur’an. And I’m afraid to say that Esra’a interpretation of Islam is only one more type of Islam that is now in the world. Is your interpretation truly the right way, the better way? Even were your way considered to be The Perfect interpretation by the majority of Muslims around the world, who are you Esra’a if other Muslims can continue to promote these other false interpretations of the Qur’an? You are just one of several hundred other interpretations of the Qur’an. And a century from today you and the majority of your followers will still remain just one of many interpretation of the Qur’an. All the other interpretations still gain foothold in the peoples minds, and daily year in year out violence continues … in the name of Islam. Rather, in the name of “My Interpretation of the Qur’an is true and yours is not true” does the violence continue.
And because you know Sharia Law better than I do, you should know that there is no way to reinterpret those passages inside the Qur’an to stop the literal call to violence for Islam to achieve world dominance. You Esra’a appear not to have taken those passages literally and to heart, (though you may only be a sneaky little rascal someone only needs to tame and settle down (:~). How do you stop others in the future from following those passages I’m referring to? There will always be people and groups forming who read those passages in the Qur’an and understand perfectly well what the goal of the true Muslim is about, and so there will always be those groups who claim to be true to the call of Allah and will commit violence in the name of Islam. Read it with your own eyes, and the message is perfectly clear. Who needs someone to help them interpret and tell them otherwise? No one.
My favorite Muslim, Esra’a, listen, and don’t (try not to) change the subject. Inside that book of yours, and inside the Iraqi constitution is the spark for thought s in men and women to take away my freedoms and replace it with Sharia Law. If not me within my lifetime, than the Muslim is to continue to strive and do so to the future generations. Those passages inside the Qur’an are clear what a true, devoted Muslim is required to do. No one needs interpretation of those verses.
Esra’a, how do people like us stop this? The problem is what?
Your comment more or less applies to every religion in the world, why you choose Islam alone as the target of your criticism is beyond my comprehension. These innocent Christian victims died in the hands of extremists and criminals who, believe it or not, killed more Muslims than Christians in the past 5 years. Said criminals should individually be held responsible for their despicable crimes, instead of blindly assuming that the problem is Islam, a religion that most of these innocent victims shared.
Ironically, the more anyone blames Islam, the more they are indirectly justifying what criminals do on a daily basis.
Esra’a, the thoughts and intentions inside the minds of those criminals who committed those murders originated not because of some organic brain defect. All these perpetrators are not suffering chemical imbalances of the brain and are not schizoid, psychotic, or could not be declared insane, psychologically, in a court of law. They weren’t acting in self-defense of their lives or others, either. The intentions and thoughts responsible for those murderous acts were generated by the words read or heard from inside the Qur’an. The instigator is …
I’m perhaps crushing you. Not sorry, but I feel your pain. I really do. And like I asked before, how are we going to fix this right, once and for all? Truth is power.
I’m gone for about a month. You’re one tough cookie, Esra’a. You could be a force for good over there, if you’re strong.
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Anyone can take any Holy Book, any concept, any ideology, and interpret it in a way that allows them to apply it violently. Again your assumption that Islam is the problem is incorrect, in my opinion. It’s extremism, which is inspired by many sources, and comes in far too many forms to be traced solely to the Quran, again the same Book that millions of innocent and decent people follow. Politics has much more to do with this than religion. This is about leadership.
I think things that are against rationale, reason and appear time-warped are generally misconstrued as shariah. In most cases, the savage tribal laws are mixed and they pass off as Islamic laws. Unless awareness is made in this respect, ignorant people can’t be made civil and tolerant.
Dear freinds
please you must understand that what happens in iraqi today is example of what happens in all the world today ,there is a war for power and money ,in which religion ,ethencity ,and people lives are used as a cards in a very big poker game.
we ned to think how to help every one regardleess of any religouse ,ethnic bases ,cause violence is a viruse that transmite through air ,i am a muslim but i will die for any person from iraq ,even if he had no relgion ,because i belife in good right ,and humanty ,and i think any GOD belive in them too ,
i am afraid that the violence and hatful feelings and crull actions against people in iraq ,will spread to every way ,and we will start to live in some weird world of hat and refusal of the other
that is way we need to stick together and defend our right in freedom ,life as free human with the ability to express our minds with no fear in our hearts
Esra’a, Bahrain is by far the most tolerant Islamic country on the planet. There are certain discrimination issues with other religions, but most conflict is between ruling Sunnis and majority Shia. The Sunni’s that control the country have wisely decided that Religious Freedom is to their best interest. Even so, sharia law, by its very definition, discriminates against non-Muslims. Any Muslim that justifies sharia contributes to this discrimination, even if this discrimination is mild (as in the case of Bahrain). The question is if the present situation will continue in the face of increasing radicalization of Muslim societies. I am pessimistic.
The problem is that this violence and oppression can be easily justified by verses from the Quran and ahadeeth. The passages are so many and so clear that it cannot be a matter of “interpretation” unless one argues that the Quran is badly written and vague (which contradicts the Quran, which declares itself to be simple, direct and easy to understand). How can one group (non-Muslims) be equal if the Quran says they are evil and are to be subjugated?
The problem is that the so-called moderate Muslims either do not know their own theology and writings, or are in denial. Thus we have people here (Martijn) that tells us that Muhammad “would weep bitterly” because of what Muslims are doing. Would this be the same Muhammad that attacked, conquered and expelled non-Muslims and took half of all produce to let some of them remain on their lands? Read the hadith – that is what they say. Obviously Muslims don’t read the words the way that non-Muslims do. Just imaging the Quran says nice things or that Islam’s prophet did only noble deeds does not help anyone. It seems that the only people that really understand Islam are the radicals. This is why the so-called moderates are losing, everywhere. This is why non-Muslims are in big trouble in all Islamic countries. This is why it will get worse. I blame Islam.
It will not get better because Muslims refuse to be critical and honest about their religion. They prefer to blame all the hate and violence on “a few misguided people” who don’t follow the “real Islam” (whatever that is).
Anyway, Thank you Wameeth and Esraa for your concern and for speaking out. If things get worse and you guys take a stand for others, you will both suffer, too! The future will not be nice.
Kactuz
Sorry, but you certainly don’t know much about the Islamic world do you? Know anything about Qatar? The UAE? Morocco? Tunisia, et al? All Muslim countries with many religious minorities that have been successfully integrated within society, and in most instances treated equally within the law. Of course, you see a few cases in very few countries and blindly claim that all of them are discrimanatory. Then you hear a success story from an Islamic country, and assume that it’s “by far” the most tolerant Islamic country on the planet. I’m sorry, but your comment is both highly annoying and extremely daft. You’re simply unaware of the Islamic world and you shouldn’t claim that you do while making dangerous assumptions.
Frankly, Islamophobia is quickly evolving into a sickness.