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Unity urged, anti-US rhetoric aired, in final pre-June 30th sermons
Preachers in Iraqâs mosques have heaped scorn on the American-run occupation every Friday for weeks, venting their anger and frustration from pulpits across the country. On their final sermons under foreign rule, many delivered messages that remained anti-American but also looked to the future, condemning Thursdayâs bloodshed and calling for unity as Iraq prepares for sovereignty next week. âWe hope that after June 30 Iraqis will be united, loyal to their nation and not allow foreigners to interfere in their affairs,â Sunni cleric Niema Hassan told a congregation at the Grand Mosque in the southern city of Basra.
| "If we want to slaughter each other what's it to them?" |
The violence Thursday, a string of coordinated attacks in several cities that killed about 100 Iraqis, figured in many sermons. The bloodshed drew condemnation - as well as suggestions that Americans, rather than Iraqis, should have been targeted. âIt makes me sad to see that all the victims yesterday were Iraqis,â Sheik Ahmed Hassan al-Taha said at Baghdadâs al-Azimiya mosque, Iraqâs foremost Sunni place of worship.
| That's prob'ly because the Merkins are better armed... |
Sheik Abdul-Ghafour al-Samarai, a member of the influential Sunni group the Association of Muslim Scholars, asked in a sermon in Baghdadâs Umm al-Qura mosque: âWhat sort of religion condones the killing of a Muslim by another Muslim?â
| "They should be killing infidels, instead!" |
âThis is a conspiracy against the people of Iraq and Iraqi resistance,â he said of Thursdayâs carnage. âWe must unite and be heedful of those who want to drive a wedge among us under the cover of Islam.â
"We should get together and kill the Merkins!"
"We tried that. Remember?"
"Oh. Yeah. I guess we did." |
The anti-US content of the Friday sermons also underlines the failure of the United States to win the goodwill of most Iraqis, despite the United Statesâ ridding the country of Saddamâs dictatorship.
| Or at least the failure of the U.S. to win over some of the influential holy men... |
âAmerican soldiers are infidels,â said Youssef Khodeir, a Sunni sheik and imam of the Saad Bani Moaz mosque in Baqouba, scene of the heaviest fighting Thursday. âThe blood that is being shed every day is because we are not closing our ranks. The source of all power comes from adhering to the Quran.â
| We got some 'xplaining to do to Youssef. |
| At least we know what side he's on... |
The sermons also offered different scenarios for who might be behind Thursdayâs attacks, reflecting divisions among Iraqâs main religious groups over the merits of armed resistance and over who is to blame for terror attacks that have claimed hundreds of Iraqi lives in the past year. Some preachers blamed âforeignersâ or Iraqis implementing âevil American schemes.â In a sermon at Imam Hussein mosque in the holy Shiite city of Karbala, Ahmed al-Safi blamed Baathists and Saddam loyalists for the violence. In Sadr City, a prayer leader loyal to militant cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Thursdayâs violence was designed to expose Iraqis as incapable of maintaining security after the occupation ends. âAl-Zarqawi is a myth created by America,â declared sheik Aous al-Khafaji to hundreds of worshippers in Sadr City, where US troops and al-Sadrâs al-Mahdi Army militia have clashed for much of the past 2 1/2 months. Referring to Washingtonâs declared aim that its 2003 war on Iraq was to bring democracy to the Arab nation, a Sunni imam, Mohammed Bashar, told worshippers in Mosul that what America really wanted was âthe freedom to kill and arrest Iraqis.â
| Sounds reasonable to me. It's like when you get roaches or mice in your house. You don't reform them. |
In Basra, a preacher loyal to al-Sadr, Abdul-Rida al-Roueini, called on Iraqâs interim government to step up its fight against terrorism. Another Shiite imam, Ali Sadiq, called for the building of âa new Iraq free of sedition and division.â
Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-06-26 |
