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Before Ramadan, Baghdad Mosques Without Imams
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Baghdad’s
Sunni mosques were closed in May for three days in protest at the
kidnapping and killing of imams. (Reuters)
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By
Samir Haddad, IOL Correspondent
BAGHDAD,
September 26, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The holy fasting month of
Ramadan is knocking at the door and mosques will be teeming with the
faithful, but Baghdad is badly lacking in imams and preachers after a
massive crackdown by US and Iraqi troops under terror-incitement
claims.
"Out
of 40 mosques in a district like Al-Doura (west of Baghdad), only
seven still have imams," Sheikh Mohammad Al-Jabouri told
IslamOnline.net.
A
new survey by the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), the highest
Sunni religious authority in Iraq, documented a systematic targeting
of Sunni imams, particularly by US and Iraqi forces.
It
said that 107 Sunni imams have been killed since the occupation of
Iraq on April 9, 2003, while more than 163 have been arrested.
The
last victim was Sheikh Mawloud Hassan Al-Turki, 70, who was killed by
an American sniper on Sunday, September 26, while driving his car in
Al-Adhamiya district.
The
AMS study further revealed that 663 Sunni mosques have been raided.
In
May, Sunni leaders declared a three-day closure of Baghdad’s mosques
in an unprecedented move in Iraqi history to protest the
assassinations, torture and arrests of Sunni preachers and worshipers
"by official and semi-official bodies".
Targeted
The
crackdown on Sunni imams has forced many to abandon preaching while
others even went out of sight.
"After
they arrested my brother and killed my son I had to quit my
mosque," lamented Sheikh Munzir Al-Ani.
"Is
this the democracy US President George W. Bush has promised us?"
he asked bitterly.
"They
go on arresting and killing us simply because we express our
opinions."
Similarly,
imams Saleh Al-Mashhadani and Abdul Slam Al-Salehi had to leave their
mosques and homes after Iraqi troops detained worshipers and fellow
preachers earlier in the month.
But
Mashhadani’s body was found Saturday, September 24, in Al-Amel
district in Baghdad hours after being kidnapped by gunmen.
This
persecution motivated some Sunni imams to go even further.
Sheikh
Asaad Al-Hashimi, the imam and preacher of Ali Ibn Abi Taleb mosque in
Baghdad’s Al-Zohour district, trimmed his beard and switched from
the traditional jalabiya and turban outfit to a shirt and trousers to
escape "targeted arrests".
Defiant
Other
imams, however, put up brave faces.
"By
God, we have taken (ousted president) Saddam’s oppression into our
strides and will do the same with the occupiers," Mahmoud Abdel
Aziz Al-Faluji said fervently.
Abdul
Moaen Al-Rawi, a 17 year-old student at the Imams and Preachers
Institute in Baghdad’s Al-Adhamiya district, added enthusiastically
that he would speak his mind out even if it cost him his life.
"We
have nothing to lose after the Americans occupied our land," he
said.
Trying
to meet the severe shortage in imams during approaching Ramadan,
expected someday next week, the Islamic Party and other Sunni bodies
are training Iraqis who received religious education in preaching.
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