Thursday, February 23, 2006

End attacks on sunnis NOW.

(left) A member of Muqtada Sadrs Mahdi Army stands guard outside a sunni mosque in the mainly shia town of Basra.




After the apocalyptic events of yesterday, there have been reports of well over 130 sunni being killed in reprisal attacks.


THESE MUST STOP IMMEDIATELY.
We are muslims first and foremost. The Sunna of our Holy Prophet (saw) does not teach us to be angry and to let rage cloud our judgement. Our Holy Imams (as) whose graves were desecrated in such an evil manner would also NOT want to see innocent blood spilt as a result of this.
The shia have shown ourselves to be the most patient peoples in the world, bar none. Our doctrine demands violence only in self defence, and even then it MUST be controlled. Surely Allah (swt) does not like those who exceed the limits laid down in the Holy Books. We are cleaner than those who committed this act, whoever it was, and to stoop to their level is to betray our core beliefs and makes us weak.
But it is vital for outsiders to understand that in Iraq we have been the victims of genocide of 35 years, some would even say over 1400 years. For the last 3 years we have been targetted by the arrogant ones, in a shameless manner, our Imams beheaded, our children killed, our mosques bombed, our leaders assassinated. Like warriors we stood firm and didnt snap, but yesterdays events sparked a response from the shia that has never been seen before. There is no moral equivalence between the few shia who have attacked these sunnis recently and the small number of sunnis who have subjected the shia to misery and oppression for years.
We will not allow the Holocaust against the shia to continue for one day longer, however we must not, under any circumstances, resort to killing sunnis just because of the sins of a few who claim they are sunnis. This is not the way of the Prophet (saw), and it makes us as bad as those who committed the atrocities against us. We are better than that as we have the glorious example of Rasulallah (saw) and his Progeny. The Sadr militiaman in the photo above is following this example and we all need to do so, especially at this time when they mock our Prophets (saw) and our faith and try to plunder our wealth.
We showed unity over the cartoon insults and the enemies of Islam became scared. Now, it is an incredible coincidence that that unity is coming under threat at this time. We as muslims must not let that happen.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

End of silence.

Pray4Iraq is ending the silent protest against the gridlocked political system in Iraq to urge for Patience and peace in Iraq after the bombings today in Sammara.


Details are still hazy, however it seems that there have been revenge attacks on 29 sunni mosques, with Moqtada Sadrs militia men swarming baghdads streets to protest the bombs. There have been reports of clashes, and Tarek al Hashimi has threatened revenge for the initial revenge attacks.

Iraqis must stay calm and understand that there is no evidence that such an attack was caused by the sunnis. They must also understand the implications of a civil war. if they rise to the bait, this could lead to a one of the darkest periods of human history. A civil war in Iraq would pit sunni arab vs shia arab. this could lead to the regional powers getting involved (Saudi vs. Iran) and evetually draq in an increasingly energy hungry China against the USA.

Shia of Iraq, the future of the planet could very well lie in our hands. By following the sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh) we must stay calm and not allow anger to cloud our judgement.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Jafaari to remain PM.

Almost two months after the Iraqi elections, Ibrahim Al-Jafaari has been chosen by the UIA to be the next prime minister of Iraq.

This is good news as it makes a unity government between the sunni and shia arabs more likely.

However the negotiations to decide the make up of the rest of the cabinet will take even more time, highlighting the gridlock that has come to characterise Iraqi politics

The protest continues... see you in April perhaps.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Protest

Pray4Iraq will continue to be off-line until an Iraqi government is formed.

It is a protest against the system of spoils which has been used to appoint cabinet ministers. Iraqs ministries are not being run on merit by the best people for the job, but are being handed out to political groups as a reward for their performance during the elections. The Democrats in the US dont hold cabinet positions and neither do the Conservatives in the UK, so why should Iraq be lumbered with such an inefficient system? It is especially depressing, given the fact that the government needs the most skilled people it has to run the country more than ever before. Yet we see ministers filling their offices with people from their own parties, some of whom dont even have high school certificates, and Iraq's most skilled are left jobless, with many having to leave the country to find work.

The process of awarding the ministries is also wasting valuable time, as the squabbling continues. Iraqis just want their lives to be restored to some form of normalcy and the delays brought about by these negotiations arent going to achieve that. Until a government is in place this blog will remain silent.