Iraq will be a cemetery for America
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/world/Viewdet.asp?ID=1163&cat=b
25th-26th Sep 2003
Arab Times
BAGHDAD,(RTRS): A Muslim worshipper in Baghdad went to his imam to ask
if he should agree to sell air conditioners to the US forces occupying
Iraq. The imam said no.“I told him he should deal with them only in so
far as it pleases God,” said Sheikh Fadel Muhsin. “I said it was a sin
to cooperate with them (the US occupiers) in harming Iraqis or in any
way that helps consolidate their presence in our country.”
As Iraq struggles to rebuild itself after the war, the role of Muslim
clerics has been strengthening as they seek to fill the leadership
vacuum left by the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s government.
In a troubled community, people need guidance, and in a society where
law and religion are intrinsically linked, clerics are well poised to
fulfill that need. Iraqis have always visited clerics for advice, but
their influence on a confused and leaderless public is growing to such
an extent that they are increasingly also stepping into political and
legal areas.
Power-hungry parties led by clerics who want to see Islamic rule return
to Iraq have sprung up across the country, taking advantage of a
new-found freedom of expression after years of strict government
control. Muslim clerics who see politics as integral to Islam have
exploited the absence of a central authority and the US pre-occupation
with defending its troops to raise the tempo of their anti-American
preaching.
“Sermons are more fiery than before when you were never allowed to talk
about politics,” said Sheikh Kazem al-Nasser. “Now that the tyrant has
gone and the occupiers are unable to prevent such speeches, we are
exploiting this to express the views of the Hawza (Shi’ite religious
authority).” Some clerics are even stepping beyond their own
communities to speak to the Muslim population at large. “Iraq will be a
cemetery for America,” Sheikh Walid al-Azawi told at a joint prayer
session for Sunnis and Shi’ites at Baghdad’s Qabaa mosque.
“They have come to fight Islam and to destroy our values and defile the
sanctity of our holy shrines and tear our unity.” The message is not
always anti-American. In some cases, Muhsin said a Muslim could give
the occupying forces information - for example if it could lead to the
arrest of a Baathist with blood on his hands. But others give strident
messages of armed resistance, saying Jihad, or holy war, is the true
path for Muslims facing occupation by a foreign Christian invader.
Many of Iraq’s mosques, whether Sunni or Shi’ite, hold special prayers
to end the occupation and some hail guerrilla attacks against the
occupiers. Ordinary Iraqis are turning increasingly to clerics for
advice on a whole host of social, ethical and political issues - some
predictable postwar matters, others suspended civil affairs dealt with
previously by Saddam’s now defunct administration. In the absence of a
fully functioning legal system, Shi’ite clerics have proclaimed edicts
to check the unrestrained settling of scores by angry Iraqis against
former Baathists. Some political parties are using mosques as
recruitment centres.
In the Azmayah district of Baghdad, Sheikh Muaid al-Azami said he has
little time for his own family because of all the people asking his
advice. “People always seek Allah in times of hardship and adversity,”
said the bearded Sunni cleric, adding that his role was something like
that of a spiritual healer. Mosque clerics and volunteers played a
leading role in restoring order and protecting public buildings from
looting in the days that followed Saddam’s overthrow.
Clerics said traumatised Iraqis were seeking counselling to cope with
anxiety when they left their homes due to the lack of security on the
streets, where crime is rife and the threat of gunfire or guerrilla
attacks often present. “The successful Imam is the one who tackles real
issues that touch peoples’ lives,” Azami said. “We are needed because
people feel lost because of lawlessness and undisciplined freedom. It
is fear for the safety of their family and their home that is
preoccupying people.”
© arabtimesonline.com
Comment:
The mosques have always been the centre of Islam where issues of state were always discussed and the friday khutbah reflected this, contrast with today where no politics is allowed to be discussed and the friday khutbahs dont address the problems of the muslim ummah. The muslims of Iraq are realising that with man made ideologies comes humiliation in this life and punishment in the akhira and are working tirelessly to remove the invaders and establish the Islamic rule.