Shiism Stands Up To ISIS (Daniel 8:3)

Shia pilgrims give ISIS a slap across the face with mass turnout in Iraq

Paul Iddon in Arts & Culture

Photo: Shia pilgrims outside of the Imam Husayn Mosque in Karbala, Iraq.

 

There has probably been some exaggeration about just how many Shia Muslims descended upon the Iraqi holy city of Karbala in order to mark this years Arbaeen commemoration. Arbaeen is the time of year when Shiites mark the end of a forty day period of mourning over the death of their revered Imam Husayn, the grandson of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed who, according to Shite theology, was infamously martyred at the hands of the brutal Umayyad caliph Yazid I in Karbala in 680CE whose rule he defiantly refused to submit to. A defining moment for adherents of the Shiite branch of the Islamic monotheism.

 

What was clear this year from various reports is not how many millions attended this ceremony but the fact that millions surely did. While it might not be as high as 17 million, the number the Iraqi defense minister claims, it is undoubtedly a massive number. One cannot help but be exalted by this fact given the point in time in which it is taking place.

 

The horridly sectarian and violent Islamic State group, which promulgates a very obscurantist form of Sunni Islam, despises the Shiites more than it does anyone else. They refer to them as ‘Safavids’, a reference to the dynasty which promulgated Shiism in neighbouring Iran. As with al-Qaeda from whence they emanate this group would doubtlessly slaughter Shiites wherever they can as well as desecrate and destroy their places of worship.

 

Which is why even a secularist can be exalted at the turnout in Karbala today which is a real slap in the face of these savage sectarians. I’m not implying Shiites do not have sectarians in their ranks, on the contrary. But there are some important distinctions which are of vital importance to take into account.

 

In Samarra many Shiites are standing in defiant defense of the Al-Askari Shrine. An important shrine in Shiite Islam which al-Qaeda blew-up back in 2006. They obviously they don’t wish to see Islamic State forces get within range of that site. Accordingly they are taking a stand. But many of those taking that stand are members of Muqtada al-Sadr’s militia who refer to themselves as ‘Peace Brigades’ (aren’t euphemisms great!), Sadr is calling for an anti-Islamic State jihad. While undoubtedly a sectarian in the past Sadr has nevertheless spoken-up for the rights of Sunni Arab Iraqis who were being discriminated and sidelined by the former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

 

And then there is the most salient case of the most prominent, by far, Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali-Sistani. This Najaf-based cleric, the most senior Shiite cleric by far in Iraq, has a very secular outlook and has urged Shia adherents against joining sectarian militias and instead called on them to join the regular state security forces. A sober call to take up arms in order to preserve a secular multi-denominational Iraq instead of a call to draw more sectarian lines in the dirt. Very level-headed and helpful considering Islamic State have mostly killed other Sunnis, who we mustn’t forget are as much a victim of Islamic State than other minorities and ethnicities, who clearly find their rule reprehensibly violent and fascistic.

 

Similarly the turnout in Karbala isn’t solely a religious one. It also constitutes a defiant stand by members of Iraq’s largest community who are demonstrating through their turnout numbers that they are not going to be terrorized by such a group. Quite an encouraging spectacle to watch unfold when one views it in that context. Even though its the largest community in Iraq and some of its members have been responsible for counterproductive sectarian violence it is quite evident that the majority of Shiites of Iraq are fighting to preserve a peaceful multi-denominational Iraq with their Sunni brethren. It is also clear that this can only be realized when the forces of barbaric reaction are stood up against. And instead of cowering in fear or second-guessing whether or not to venture out, due to potential threats to their safety, the Shiites at Karbala made quite the symbolic stand with this mass turnout this Arbaeen showing that, not unlike their revered Imam, they would rather death to submitting to a tyranny.