Islamic Religion in Iraq

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Islamic Religion in Iraq

• Custom, Tradition and Faith

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The Middle East
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AllahThe one God

• For believing Muslims this is the name of the one
  God. For them there is no other.
• Allah was originally the name of an astral god
  worshipped by the pagan Arabs before Islam. The
  Kaaba in Mecca is survival of this earlier
  form of religion.
• Islam is a most strictly monotheistic faith.

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The Three Heavenly Religions

• Judaism The Root Stock
• Christianity Clearly comes from the beliefs of
  the Jews but seeing a savior in Jesus.
• Islam In the eyes of non-Muslims, a further
  development of the Judeo-Christian prophetic
  tradition.

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Islam The outsiders view.

• Other peoples views on religion must be
  respected whether or not one shares them.
• Religion is about faith, not reason.
• Debating the truth of religion is for
  theologians, not soldiers.
• Never challenge a Muslim over the value of his
  religion ot yours.
• Nevertheless, an objective view of the subject is
  necessary.

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Emic vs. Etic

• Emic knowledge is that which you learn from
  what people tell you about themselves or others.
• Etic knowledge is what you decide is true about
  the same people after you have evaluated all
  available data, including the Emic knowledge.
• Never! Never! Accept what people tell you about
  themselves at face value.
• People have many reasons for telling you things
  that are not accurate.

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Islam and Arianism

• The Prophet Muhammad was exposed to many forms of
  Judaism and Christianity in his travels.
• Early Christian fathers in the lands captured
  by the Muslims thought Islam was just another
  form of Christianity.
• Arian Christianity was widespread in Arabia.
  It held that Jesus was a great prophet but not
  God. This is like Islam.

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Origins of IslamThe hydraulic theory as
opposed to the message of faith.

• Rainfall in the Arabian Peninsula is both meager
  and uneven.
• An irregular cycle of plentiful rainfall and
  severe drought is unending.
• Plenty of rain means more food, means more
  people.
• Less rain means less food means starve or move.
• Time of the Islamic revelation and its
  establishment as a community corresponds to a
  profound drought.
• Invasion of Syria, Iraq and Egypt followed.

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Mean Rainfall
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World War in BCPersians versus Byzantines

• Persia and the Byzantine Empire were the two
  great powers.
• They fought an all out war for world domination.
  Total kinetic exhaustion was the result.
• The Muslims were lucky enough to expand into that
  vacuum.
• At Qaddisiyah and the Yarmuk River the Muslims
  seized Syria and Iraq.

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ME in 6th Century
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Muslim Empire - 1

• Conquerors organized themselves as garrisons to
  rule the defeated Christians and Persians.
• All loot was shared according to when a person or
  his ancestor had accepted Islam.
• The conquered did not share. This led to great
  bitterness.

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Early Expansion
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Muslim Empire - 2

• First the people of the Hijaz ruled from
  Damascus. They were called the Ommayads.
• Then a mixed dynasty ruled from Baghdad. They
  were called the Abbasids.
• Eventually the empire disintegrated and was ruled
  by foreign slave dynasties, Turks, Mamelukes
  and Mongols.

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Many forms of Islam - 1

• Sunni accepts the authority of Quran, and the
  early example (Sunna) of Islamic community and
  majority community leaders.
• Shia Represents the interests of the
  underclass. Probably developed as a result of
  Arab discrimination against the conquered.
  Identity pinned to the rights of the prophets
  family.

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Muslim Distribution
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Many Forms of Islam - 2

• Shia
• Twelvers. Prevalent in Iraq and south Lebanon.
• Seveners. Exist mainly in India and Pakistan.
• Fivers. Only in Yemen. Nearest Shia sect to
  Sunnis in law. Follow ancient rationalist school
  of law.

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Basic Sunni and Shia Islam

• No ordained clergy. Ulema are scholars and
  officials, not priests.
• No Hierarchy.
• No sacraments. No baptism. Affirmation of Islam
  is substitute. Marriage is a religiously
  certified contract.

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Predominate form of Islam is law driven

• Man is insignificant. God is everything. Mans
  function is to obey God.
• Therefore, knowing the will of God as expressed
  in religious law is all important.
• Determining accepted law and its application is
  the principal function of Ulema (clerics)

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The Roots of the law -1(Usul Fiqh)

• Quran The uncreated word of God. It was no
  written by man (Muslim understanding). It
  descended from heaven and has existed in this
  form and words for all eternity.
• Hadith Various authorized collection of records
  of the practice of Muhammad and the early Muslim
  community. The Shia and Sunni have different
  collections.

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The Roots of the law - 2

• Qiyas analogy from case law.
• Ijma Because Islam has no chain of command,
  consensus of Scholars or any group of Muslims
  effectively determines what law is accepted.
• Ijtihad individual striving for understanding
  of Gods will based on Quran, etc. The Shia
  believe this is still possible but the Sunni have
  not for a thousand years.

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Shia and Sunni beliefs on Ijma

• The Twelver Shia believe that Ijtihad is still
  possible and that certain great scholars have
  this ability. They are certified by the Howza.
  A university of scholars. There are basically
  two, one in Iran and the other in Iraq. The two
  are intimately connected.
• The Sunni think this path to law is now blocked,
  but recent pressure has caused them to at least
  reconsider the subject.

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Schools of Sunni Law

• Hanbali In use only in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
  Relies only on Quran and Hadith for making
  judgments of law. Forms the background of
  Wahhabism, takfiri jihadism and Al-Qaida.
• Hanafi This was the official school of law of
  the Ottoman Empire and for that reason is widely
  accepted.
• Shafai The oldest and most widely accepted
  school.
• Maliki Prevalent in western north Africa.

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Shia Law

• More organizationally structured than Sunni law
  and based on the ijma (consensus) of the great
  mujtahids of Shia Islam. They are also called
  ayatollahs.
• The consensus is formed in the Howza of a great
  center of learning or in the following of a
  single man.
• Such a man is called a marja at-taqliid or
  reference point for emulation.
• Such a mans opinions have no authority after his
  death.

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Ijma and Group Consensus

• Because of the lack of hierarchy, group identity
  within Islam and belief in what Islam is is
  altogether dependent on the groups acceptance of
  the leader or the groups teaching.
• Official Islamic authorities do not accept this
  bit it is effectively the truth.

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The Five Pillars - 1

• Like all great religions Islam exists at
  different levels of sophistication.
• At the top, men like Al-Ghazali, great
  philosophers ranking with Aristotle and Plato.
• At the bottom, a mass of folk religion and
  superstition filled with demons, genies and
  charms.

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The Five Pillars - 2

• Witness There is no God, but God and Muhammad
  is the messenger of God.
• Pilgrimage To Mecca at least once in a lietime
  during Dhu al-Hajj.
• Prayer Five times a day, preferably in
  formation.
• Alms Zakat Tithing, preferably to the poor.
• Fasting- in Ramadan unless one is traveling or
  ill.

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Jihad, Shahadah and Salvation - 1

• Shirk the idea that all but God must be
  de-valued and abandoned.
• Muslims tend to believe that suicide is a crime
  against Gods will but that martyrdom is not
  suicide.
• Muslims tend to believe that murder is a great
  crime but that killing the enemies of religion
  and God is not murder. Consensus rules here.

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Jihad, Shahadah and Salvation - 2

• The pious believe that immediate salvation is the
  reward of the martyr (shahiid). For them there
  is no wait in torment for the last day and
  judgment.

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The Mahdi

• Both Shia and Sunni Islam believe in the
  existence of a Mahdi or savior. This belief is
  probably based on earlier Jewish and Christian
  beliefs.
• In the case of the Shia, the belief is that the
  Mahdi is the same person as the hidden 12th
  Imam of the Twelver Shia community. According to
  their belief this descendant of Muhammad awaits
  the time of final judgment when he will come with
  Jesus to judge all.

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The Sufis - 1

• Orthodox Islam is a matter of law and obedience
  to Gods law.
• This is a view of mans relationship to God which
  is not enough for many.
• In response many Muslims have individually or in
  groups believed that that they could know Gods
  love personally.
• They are called Sufis and their mysticism is
  related to that of Jews and Christians.

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The Sufis - 2

• In the early days of Islam these people were
  persecuted terribly for what was seen to be
  blasphemy.
• Many were burned or crucified for their sin.
• After a few hundred years, a great scholar (alim)
  appeared who reconciled mainstream Islam to the
  Sufis by persuading them to accept the idea that
  they did not actually see God, but, instead only
  his image. This saved them and they are accepted
  today.
• There are many Sufi orders, the members of
  which are often professional people.

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Popular Religion

• The high culture of Islam is only part of the
  story.
• Peoples Religion is the rest of the story.
• Village religion is filled with belief in saints,
  love of God as creator and tribal custom as
  modifying Islam.
• In Iraq, village religion mixes strongly with
  Sufi empathetic feeling and Sharia law to make a
  brew that is inherently hostile to Al-Qaida
  constipated view of Islam.

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Islam is not our enemy

• Only the takfiri jihadis are our enemy and they
  are the enemies of most Muslims as well.

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Muslim World 2000
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ME Ethnicity