http://www.mandaeanunion.com/ar/views/item/112-2013-02-14-20-04-19
وفي لقاء مع المرشد الأعلى للثورة الأسلامية آية الله علي خامنئي في إيران لتوضيح ديانتهم وبعد الأطلاع عليها نفت المرجعية هناك وعلى لسان آية اللة علي الخامئني في كتابه ( الصابئة حكمهم الشرعي وحقيقتهم الدينية ) ، أن تكون ديانتهم متفرعه من الديانات الأخرى بل نظر اليها كديانة مستقلة وقال فيهم (( فمن جملة عقائدهم التي يدعونها ويصرون عليها التوحيد)) ، كما وجه الخامنئي نقدا" للفقهاء الذين لم ينظروا في أمر هذا الدين ، وهو حي بينهم حيث قال في رسالته النقدية (( والحق الذي ينبغي الأعتراف به هو أننا لا نعرف من المعارف والأحكام الدينية لهذه النحلة التاريخية ( المندائيون ) والتي أصبح المنتمون إليها موجودين بين أيدينا وفي عقر بلادنا )) . ورغم هذا الموقف لم تصدر فتوى من المرجعيات الدينية في إيران تحرم قتل المندائيين .
In an interview with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran to clarify their religion and after reading it, the Marjah there denied the words of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in his book (Sabean rule and religious legitimacy), that their faith is part of other religions, "The truth that should be recognized is that we do not know what knowledge and judgments are," he said. The religious of this historic bee (Manna Daiyun), whose members are now in our hands and in our country. "Despite this position, no fatwa has been issued by the religious authorities in Iran forbidding the killing of Mandaeans.
.....
لقد قامت رئاسة الطائفة ممثلة برئيس الطائفة وبعض الشخصيات المندائية بمقابلة العديد من المرجعيات الدينية الشيعية والسنية ومنهم مرجعية آية الله العظمى السيد علي السيستاني والسيد مقتدى الصدر ، والمرحوم محمد باقر الحكيم وهيئة علماء المسلمين لغرض توضيح معاناة المندائيين وما يتعرضون له وطالبوا بإصدر فتوى تحرم قتل المندائيين ولكن ومنذ سنوات على هذه اللقاءات لم تصدر مثل هذه الفتاوى . لأسباب قد تكون معروفة للكل .
The leaders of the community, represented by the head of the sect and some Mandaean personalities, met many Shiite and Sunni religious authorities, including the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Muqtada al-Sadr, the late Muhammed Baqir al-Hakim and the Muslim Scholars' Association for the purpose of explaining the suffering of the Mandaeans and what they are exposed to and demanded the issuance of a fatwa forbidding the killing of Mandaeans, but years since these meetings did not issue such fatwas. For reasons that may be known to all.
http://www.mandaeanunion.org/ar/views/item/356
ربما يعود الأمر إلى ما جاء في رسالة آية الله الخميني «تحرير الوسيلة»: «فلا يقبل من غير الطوائف الثلاث (اليهود والنصارى والمجوس) إلا الإسلام أو القتل». بينما اعترف لهم مرشد الدولة آية الله خامنئي بأنهم من أهل الكتاب. قال: «بحسب الأدلة أن الصابئيين يعدّون من أهل الكتاب» (الصابئة حكمهم الشرعي). والمتقدمان، كما هو معروف، قطبا ولاية الفقيه المطلقة بإيران. أحسب كم هي ورطة رجال الدين في السياسة والدولة، وخصوصاً إذا تباينت وتضاربت الفتاوى حول دماء الناس!
Perhaps it is due to Ayatollah Khomeini's "Tahrir al-Wasilah": "For those who are not from the three sects (Jews, Christians and Magi) only Islam or death is accepted." While the state guide Ayatollah Khamenei recognized them as people of the book. He said: According to evidence, the Saba'is are counted among the people of the Book. The advanced, as is well known, poles of the absolute rule of the jurist in Iran. I figured out how much trouble the clergy had in politics and the state, especially if the fatwas differed about people's blood!
وفي العراق، يتعرض المندائيون لتهديدات ومقاتل، من قبل متشددين سُنَّة وشيعة (أطلعت على تهديدين: من كتائب التحرير بالكرخ، ومن مكتب الصدر بالبصرة باسم الشيخ ميثم العقيلي). هددت الجماعتان بتصفيتهم، ومحو وجودهم الديني، وتهمتهم ممارسة السحر والتنجيم والزنى والكفر باطلاً. بينما حرم كتابهم السحر: «لا تستشيروا العرافين والمنجمين والساحرين والكاذبين في أموركم مخافة أن يرمي بكم أسوة بهؤلاء إلى الظلمات» (الكنز ربا). وحرم الزنى: «لا تعشقوا نساء الآخرين. ولا تقترفوا الزنى...احذروا أن يستحوذ على قلوبكم الشيطان، المملوء بأحابيل السحر والخذاع والغواية. ذلك أنه يستطيع أن يقلب نوايا الصالحين المحمودة إلى عكسها، ويجعل قلوب المؤمنين تتعثر وتتحول» (الكنزا ربا). وحرموا عبادة الكواكب: «لا تسبحوا للشمس والقمر» (الكنز ربا). ومَنْ لم يعرف الآرامية فكتابهم المقدس مترجم إلى اللغة العربية، وهو «الكنز ربا» أو «الكنز العظيم»، وهم يعتقدون أنه نزل على أول الأنبياء وأبي البشر، ويسمونه «سدرة آدم» أيضاً، أي كتاب آدم. أقول أليس من العدل على مَنْ أفتى، عن جهل، ضدهم مراجعة الكتاب؟!
In Iraq, the Mandaeans are threatened and battered by Sunni and Shia militants (who have seen two threats: the Liberation Battalions in Kirkuk and the Sadr Office in Basra on behalf of [Ayatollah] Sheikh Maitham al-Aqili). The two groups threatened to liquidate them, erase their religious existence, and accuse them of practicing magic, astrology, adultery and blasphemy. While their book forbids magic: "Do not consult the diviners, the astrologers, the magicians, and the liars in your affairs, fearing that he will throw you like these into the darkness." And forbidding adultery: "Do not love the wives of others. Do not commit adultery ... Be careful that the devil captures your heart, filled with the likes of magic and cheating and seduction. Because it can turn the intentions of the righteous righteous to the opposite, and make the hearts of believers stumble and turn »(treasure Raba). They forbade the worship of planets: "Do not swim to the sun and the moon." Those who do not know Aramaic, their holy book translated into Arabic, the "treasure Raba" or "the great treasure", they believe that he descended on the first prophets and the father of human beings, also called Adam's Sidra, the Book of Adam. I say, is not it fair to those who have sinned, for ignorance, against them to review the book ?!
http://www.mandaeanunion.org/ar/history/item/92-2013-02-10-18-49-38
http://mandaean.dk/node/24059
بعد بيان آراء الفقهاء والعلماء المسلمين في أمر الصابئة المندائيين نود المرور على رسالة استلمتها عبر البريد موقعة باسم الشيخ ميثم العقيلي عن المؤسسة الإعلامية للسيد الشهيد الصدر بالبصرة، بعد التاسع من نيسان 2003، جاء فيها أن الصابئة يمارسون أعمال الدجل والشعوذة والزنا والتفريق بين المرء وأهله. قبل اتهام ديانة كاملة بمثل هذه الممارسات علينا التذكر جيداً ما يُتهم فيه الخصوم المذاهب الإسلامية الأخرى، وأخص بالذكر مذهبنا الشيعي .
After the statement of the opinions of scholars and scholars in the matter of Sabean Mandaeans, we would like to pass on a letter received by mail signed on behalf of Sheikh Maitham al-Aqili for the media institution of Mr. Sadr in Basra, after the ninth of April 2003, which stated that Sabians practiced the work of dajjal and witchcraft and adultery and separate one from his family. Before accusing an entire religion of such practices, we must remember well what the adversaries accuse other Islamic doctrines, especially the Shiite doctrine.
http://mandaeannetwork.com/Mandaean/ar_alsabia_in_islam.html?i1
بداية من صاحب أكبر موسوعة فقهية "جواهر الكلام" النجفي، من أعلام القرن التاسع عشر، وانتهاء بالسيد السيستاني، المرجع الشيعي الحالي بالنجف، لم نجد رأياً محرضاً في التعامل ضد أهل هذا الدين، بل أن آية ال العظمى له أبا القاسم الخوئي اعبرهم من أهل الكتاب، وقدم مرشد الدولة الإيرانية آية الله علي خامنئي بحثاً مفصلاً فيهم عدهم من أهل الكتاب ومن الأديان الموحدة .
(From the author of the largest encyclopedia of jurisprudence "Jawahar al-Kalam" Najafi, from the flags of the nineteenth century, and ending with Mr. Sistani, the current Shiite cleric Najaf, we did not find an inciting opinion in dealing with the people of this religion, but the Grand Ayatollah Abu al-Qasim Al-Khoei expressed them from the people The book, presented by Iranian state guide Ayatollah Ali Khamenei detailed research, including the people of the book and the unified religions.)
....
قال آية الله أبو القاسم الخوئي "الصابئي كان من أهل الكتاب كما هو الظاهر"( 50) جاء ذلك في أمر رجل صابئي أشهر إسلامه معتنقاً المذهب الجعفري، وطالبته زوجته بالنفقة في محكمة من محاكم بغداد الشرعية .
(Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei said: "The Saba'i was one of the people of the Book, as is apparent." [50] This came in the command of a Sunni man who converted to Jaafari, and his wife asked him for alimony in a court in Baghdad.)
Despite
its dhimmi status, Shi'a and Sunni Islamic militants have targeted
the group. This is made all the easier, as Mandaeans are prohibited
by their beliefs from attempting armed self-defence. Hundreds of
killings, abductions and incidents of torture have often been
accompanied by rhetoric accusing Sabians of witchcraft, impurity, and
systematic adultery. Sabian Mandaean women have been targeted for not
covering their heads. In Baghdad, Mandaean goldsmiths, silversmiths
and jewellers have been targeted for theft and murder at much higher
rates than their Muslim colleagues. Faced with systematic pressure to
convert, leave, or die, many Sabian Mandaeans have chosen to leave.
The
community continue to be actively targeted by militant groups. In
June 2013, gunmen entered the house of Bashier Hamied, a
Sabean-Mandaean priest in Amarah [Shia-majority], firing shots at him and his family
members without succeeding in killing any of them. In July 2013, a
newly built Mandaean house of worship was set on fire in Diwaniyah [Shia-majority].
In October 2013, a Baghdad goldsmith was the victim of an armed
robbery, and suffered severe wounds after being shot in the chest by
a silenced revolver. The same month, four young goldsmiths living in
Baiji in the north of Iraq received threats and were blackmailed for
ransoms of several thousand dollars each. In November and December
2013, two Sabean-Mandaean police officers living and working in
Kirkuk were killed in separate attacks while a third police officer
was seriously injured. Similar attacks occurred in 2014. In January,
a Sabean-Mandaean man was killed in his home in Basra. His attackers
slit his throat and then burned his body, but did not steal any of
his possessions. In June, another member of the community was
murdered by shotgun as he was closing up his shop in Al-Mahmoudia,
south of Baghdad.
https://www.academia.edu/23197710/Christians_Yazidis_and_Mandaeans_in_Iraq_A_Survival_Issue
https://www.gfbv.de/en/news/mandaeans-in-iraq-729/
2006:
The April 2005 issue of the US magazine "Christianity Today" carried an article on rapes of Mandaean women. "Armed individuals attack Mandaeans without fear of punishment. They kidnap Mandaean women and girls in particular", stated 23-year-old Shayma, herself the victim of abduction and rape. She was seized on her way to the shops in the Baghdad neighbourhood of Zayoona. She was taken out into the countryside to a place where she was repeatedly raped and tortured over a period of eight days. Her kidnappers demanded a ransom of 10,000 US dollars. "While they were abusing me, they kept shouting, "You are an unbeliever! Your life and everything you own belongs to us!", Shayma reported.
http://www.ea.org.au/ea-family/Religious-Liberty/Iraq--Christians-and-Mandaeans
https://www.ecoi.net/local_link/63537/453897_en.html
http://www.oldassistnews.net/Stories/2003/s03090119.htm
2003:
The Sabian Mandaean Association in Australia (SMAA) has been advised that Muslims have confiscated the Mandaeans’ places of worship (mandi) in Anbaar, Wasset, Dewanya, Deyala and Baghdad. The Muslims have subsequently occupied these premises.
The SMAA has also received reports of fatwas being issued against the Mandaean community in Iraq. The SMAA have documents that appear to emanate from the Shi’ite faction of El-Sadr. The "great Ayatollah Elsayed Mohammed Said El-Tabaei El-Hakim" deems the Mandaeans "unclean" on the grounds that "It was not proven that the Sabians [Mandaeans] are ’People of the Book’."
https://newmatilda.com/2008/05/13/if-you-are-not-muslim-iraq-you-are-trash/ https://www.gfbv.de/en/news/mandaeans-in-iraq-729/
2006:
The April 2005 issue of the US magazine "Christianity Today" carried an article on rapes of Mandaean women. "Armed individuals attack Mandaeans without fear of punishment. They kidnap Mandaean women and girls in particular", stated 23-year-old Shayma, herself the victim of abduction and rape. She was seized on her way to the shops in the Baghdad neighbourhood of Zayoona. She was taken out into the countryside to a place where she was repeatedly raped and tortured over a period of eight days. Her kidnappers demanded a ransom of 10,000 US dollars. "While they were abusing me, they kept shouting, "You are an unbeliever! Your life and everything you own belongs to us!", Shayma reported.
http://www.ea.org.au/ea-family/Religious-Liberty/Iraq--Christians-and-Mandaeans
https://www.ecoi.net/local_link/63537/453897_en.html
http://www.oldassistnews.net/Stories/2003/s03090119.htm
2003:
The Sabian Mandaean Association in Australia (SMAA) has been advised that Muslims have confiscated the Mandaeans’ places of worship (mandi) in Anbaar, Wasset, Dewanya, Deyala and Baghdad. The Muslims have subsequently occupied these premises.
The SMAA has also received reports of fatwas being issued against the Mandaean community in Iraq. The SMAA have documents that appear to emanate from the Shi’ite faction of El-Sadr. The "great Ayatollah Elsayed Mohammed Said El-Tabaei El-Hakim" deems the Mandaeans "unclean" on the grounds that "It was not proven that the Sabians [Mandaeans] are ’People of the Book’."
"In
2003, the late Shiite leader, Ayatollah Al-Hakeem, decreed that
Mandaeans are "impure" and may be killed or forcibly
converted. In 2005, another fatwa reportedly issued by the
Information Foundation of Al-Sadr Office in Basra reiterated this
edict, accusing Mandaeans of "systematic adultery" and
"trickery". Since then, hundreds have been killed,
kidnapped, and forcibly converted.
"Before
his assassination in August, the prominent Shiite leader Ayatollah
Al-Hakim gave a decree, also posted on his website, that, unlike
Christians and Jews, Mandaeans were not People of the Book
(Ahl-i-Kitab). This meant that they were “unclean” (najes), were
not protected by Islamic law and, like the Bahais in neighboring
Iran, could be killed without penalty or punishment. (Among many
reports of their persecution is that in Falluja alone 35 Mandaean
families have been forcibly converted to Islam and their women and
girls married off to Muslims."
31 January
2004: "Before his assassination at the Tomb of Imam
Ali in Najaf in August 2003, prominent Shiite leader and jurist
Ayatollah Al-Hakeem decreed that Mandaeans do not have the status of
People of the Book (Ahl-i-Kitab). This declaration remains on his
Arabic website. This means Mandaeans are “unclean” (najes) and
not to be “protected” as People of the Book. They may be killed
or forcibly converted to Islam. This indeed appears to be what is
happening on the ground."
The major reasons for the ongoing flight
of Mandeans from Iraq are: fear from assaults by radical segments of
the Muslim society, fear of forced conversions, restrictions on the
freedom of worship, concerns regarding security (in particular of
women and children) as well as increasing social discrimination
against Mandaeans in general. These fears are further fuelled by
several religious edicts(fatwas) issued against the Mandaean
community, characterising them as 'impure' and denouncing their
beliefs. A recently issued fatwa accuses Mandaeans of systematic
adultery and trickery and Muslims were called upon to 'lead' them to
Islam.
The
majority of these fatwas was issued by Sunni teacher Al-Saied
Al-Tabtabee Al-Hakeem [Probably he is referring to Grand
Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Sa'id al-Tabataba'i al-Hakim] and/or by
the 'Information Foundation of Al-Sadr Office' in Basra. It is worth
mentioning that no similar fatwas were issued or adopted by Grand
Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani.
In
Sadr City in Baghdad, Falluja, Basra, during the Friday mosque
sermon, extremist clerics have declared that it is religiously
acceptable to attack and loot the property of the "infidels"
as long as part of the loot is given for the "Islamic cause".
... Alkuee, a Shiite Islamic leader, recognized the Mandaeans as
People of the Book in 1979, while Khomeyni, another Shiite, and
exactly at the same time, did not. The fear of genocide has always
been present.
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/mandaeans-4
Present-day situation. Three Koranic verses (2:62, 5:69, 22:17) mention the Sabeans (Ṣābeʾin; perhaps a general term for baptist sects in the first century of Islam [7th century CE], clearly including the Mandaeans; see Fahd) together with the Jews and Christians, thus classifying them as a protected religion. These are “People of the Book,” (Ahl al-ketāb), that is, a people which possesses a sacred scripture and has a recognized prophet. Subsequently, Zoroastrians also were included in this category. By Ayatollah Khomeini’s decree after the 1979 Revolution, the Mandaeans lost their status as a protected religion in Persia, while the status of Jews, Zoroastrians, and Christians remained as before. The Mandaeans have worked, so far without success, to regain their position as a legally protected religion. Situated far from the power centers of Tehran and Qom, the Mandaeans are at the mercy of the local authorities of Khuzestan, legal powers that encourage and enforce increased harassment and persecution of the Mandaean population. (Records of many international cases for asylum-seeking Mandaeans may be found at: Amnesty International; International Rescue Committee; The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society; UNHCR; The United States Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom.)
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/mandaeans-4
Present-day situation. Three Koranic verses (2:62, 5:69, 22:17) mention the Sabeans (Ṣābeʾin; perhaps a general term for baptist sects in the first century of Islam [7th century CE], clearly including the Mandaeans; see Fahd) together with the Jews and Christians, thus classifying them as a protected religion. These are “People of the Book,” (Ahl al-ketāb), that is, a people which possesses a sacred scripture and has a recognized prophet. Subsequently, Zoroastrians also were included in this category. By Ayatollah Khomeini’s decree after the 1979 Revolution, the Mandaeans lost their status as a protected religion in Persia, while the status of Jews, Zoroastrians, and Christians remained as before. The Mandaeans have worked, so far without success, to regain their position as a legally protected religion. Situated far from the power centers of Tehran and Qom, the Mandaeans are at the mercy of the local authorities of Khuzestan, legal powers that encourage and enforce increased harassment and persecution of the Mandaean population. (Records of many international cases for asylum-seeking Mandaeans may be found at: Amnesty International; International Rescue Committee; The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society; UNHCR; The United States Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom.)
http://www.mandaeanunion.com/images/MAU/MHRG/MHRG_Docs/MHRG%20Report%202007%20(January).pdf
http://www.mandaeanunion.org/mhrg/item/511-sabian-mandaeans
2003:
Threats of death were sent to (name held for protection of Family)
and her 7-year-old daughter unless she converted to Islam. This
action forced the woman to escape with her daughter out of the area.
This happened in Baghdad, Thawrah City [also called Sadr city, a
Shia-dominated area], and sector 31.
Six
Mandaean jewelry stores were damaged by gunfire on a single night in
Thawra City. The original intent was to kill the owners. The
following statement was written on one of the six stores: "Your
day is coming sobba!" Sobba (Sobi) is a name used quite
frequently by the local Muslims instead of the term Mandaean.....
Attaching of leaflets in the jewelry shopping center of Al Jamhuria
City in Basra in which the Mandaeans are accused of Magic and
fornication, then threatened with severe punishment soon. ..... April
through June of 2003 saw the destruction of homes and businesses with
explosives in [Shia-dominated] Kut / Sowerah city. The criminals who
perpetrated these bombing attacks were well-known Muslim extremists
from the area. .... Recently in Basra a distribution of
leaflets, in Al-Tanuma Square, calling on Sunnis, Christians and
Mandaeans to leave the city (Basra) has been reported. Several of the
Mandaean families, along with thousands of Christian families, have
started to flee Basra along heading to safer areas.
https://www.rferl.org/a/1053864.html
14 July 2004:
However, nowadays Sabaeans are often disliked by radical Muslim groups.
"We suffered from [the Saddam Hussein] regime but our main grievance is that we suffer as a nation which is [always] treated as third-rate,” says Helo. “Not only Sabaeans [suffer] but also our Christian brothers [in Iraq]. This is a complex [of this society]. They consider those of us who are not Muslims to be atheists. And it is permissible to kill or rob an atheist.
Helo says that some radical Shi'a Muslim clerics have delivered fatwas, or religious orders, condemning Sabaeans.
In
January 2005, Read Radhi Habib, a 40-year-old engineer and president
of the Mandaean Supreme Spiritual Council, Basra Branch,
was shot and killed after being approached by three gunmen who
demanded that he convert to Islam. In February, the SMAA reported
that a group of Muslims approached a Sabian deacon and priest trainee
in Al Sowaira,
demanding that he convert to Islam and assist in the conversion of
other Sabians. The deacon was severely beaten when he refused.
http://williambowles.info/iraq/uruk/2006/0606/uruk_290606.html
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/07/01/18284469.php
http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_22382.shtml
June 29, 2006: In a dispatch posted at 8:05pm Makkah time Thursday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that armed Shi'i sectarian militias in the southern Iraqi city of al-Basrah blew up and destroyed a Sabean temple in the al-'Ashshar district in the middle of the city.
The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses as saying that the bombing caused very heavy damaged to the temple. The witnesses said that the Shi'i sectarian militias raided the temple late at night and then blew it up. Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Shi'i militias were believed to have blown up the Sabean temple as part of their effort to establish a Shi'i "Islamic State" in southern Iraq, to which end they wish to eliminate all "pagans."
http://www.seattletimes.com/news/because-of-iraq-war-a-small-religious-group-suffers/
http://www.chron.com/life/houston-belief/article/Mandaeans-ponder-their-survival-1629523.php
Feb
10, 2007: Meanwhile, the few thousand Mandaeans still living in Iraq
are finding their lives increasingly in danger, targeted by
extremists of every political stripe and religious faith. Nashi said
a cousin on his father's side, Suhail Jani Sahar, was killed by
Shiite fighters in November. A more distant cousin on his mother's
side, Yahya Al-Chuhaily, was killed by Sunnis in June.
"Where
there are areas where the Shia are the majority, they'll kill the
Mandaeans and the Christians along with the Sunnis. Where there are
areas where the Sunni are the majority, they'll kill the Mandaeans
and the Christians along with the Shia," Nashi said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6412453.stm
March
4, 2007: Mandaean elders use words like annihilation and genocide -
they believe Islamic militants, both Sunni and Shia, offer them two
choices - convert or die. "Some will not consider us
people of the book... they see us as unbelievers, as a result our
killing is allowed," says Kanzfra Sattar, one of only five
Mandaean bishops left worldwide.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-09-27-iraqweek_N.htm
Sep 27, 2007: About 57 Sabians have been killed since February of last year, he says, many by sectarian militias who seek to occupy their homes....
The militias asked for a $100,000 ransom — unusually high for Iraq — believing, incorrectly, that Kareem's family was still wealthy. With great difficulty, his relatives were able to gather $30,000, and Kareem was released. "The good thing is I am still alive, because in most cases even when you pay, you get killed," Kareem says. Many in the group have started going by names that are both Sunni and Shiite in origin, hoping to avoid being targeted at illegal checkpoints erected by sectarian militias around Baghdad.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-09-27-iraqweek_N.htm
Sep 27, 2007: About 57 Sabians have been killed since February of last year, he says, many by sectarian militias who seek to occupy their homes....
The militias asked for a $100,000 ransom — unusually high for Iraq — believing, incorrectly, that Kareem's family was still wealthy. With great difficulty, his relatives were able to gather $30,000, and Kareem was released. "The good thing is I am still alive, because in most cases even when you pay, you get killed," Kareem says. Many in the group have started going by names that are both Sunni and Shiite in origin, hoping to avoid being targeted at illegal checkpoints erected by sectarian militias around Baghdad.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2008-11-16/news/0811160073_1_sect-iraqi-kurdistan-sunni-nor-shiite
Nov
16, 2008: "I don't have any friends," said
Hamsa, whose Shiite schoolmates shunned her after the U.S. invasion.
"They say: 'You come from a dirty sect; you don't pray, you
don't read the Quran.'" Laith and his father were forced
to flee their goldsmith business in the western province of Anbar in
2006 by Sunni insurgents who threatened them with death unless they
converted to Islam. Laith's uncle, Falah Jassim, 54, pulled up
his pant legs to reveal the scars of the acid he says was poured on
him after he was kidnapped in 2003 by Shiite militias in the southern
town of Kut. "They told me, 'You are dirty, we don't want
you here anymore,'" recalled Falah, who was beaten and left for
dead in a field. He fled to Baghdad, where his eldest son was
kidnapped and tortured by Sunnis in 2004.
http://www.rferl.org/content/Ethnic_Mandaeans_Killed_In_Iraqi_Jewelry_Store_Robberies/1829230.html
Sep 23, 2009: The killing of two ethnic Mandaeans in neighboring jewelry stores in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on September 19 is being considered a religious hate crime.
Sep
30, 2009: Members of the Iraqi Sabian Mandaean
community in the Iraqi Basra province spoke of their dismay at the
Iraqi government’s silence with regards to the killings,
kidnapping, and extortion carried out by armed groups targeting their
community. The Sabian Mandaean’s in Bara claim that these groups
are affiliated to political parties in power.
....
Al-Zuhairi
also told Asharq Al-Awsat “Members of the Mandaean community [in
Basra] have been exposed to terrorist attacks since 2003, and until
now almost 30 people have been killed. ...Al-Zuhairi revealed to
Asharq Al-Awsat “The 36 kg of gold that was stolen from a
[Mandaean] jewelers in the Tawaji area of Baghdad…was found by
security forces in the Najaf province, however the [political]
parties in power strongly intervened to attempt to prevent the police
from arresting the perpetrators and retrieving the gold.” ... “many
of the offenders who were arrested for committing crimes against
members of the [Mandaean] community had their cases transferred to
other provinces following pressure by the [political] parties, and
this results in them being released due to lack of evidence”
https://www.hrw.org/report/2011/02/21/crossroads/human-rights-iraq-eight-years-after-us-led-invasion
Feb
21, 2011: An
estimated 3,500 to 5,000 Sabians remain in Iraq today, compared with
a reported 50,000 to 60,000 in 2003.
....
[Basra]
Ganeen...said his kidnappers kept referring to him as "negis"
(impure) and said he had to pay them jizya...Because
their elders traditionally wear long beards, they have been attacked
by Shia militants who have mistaken them for strictly observant Sunni
Arabs... in July 2006. "They dragged us out, kicking and
punching us and shooting their weapons around us. They took us to a
school where they were going to execute us because they said they
suspected us of being Wahhabis. The Sabian elder was
saved as an Iraqi army unit happened to drive into the area.
....
According
to another Sabian elder in Basra, there are no schools that teach
their children in Aramaic. Sabian children must undertake Qur'anic
studies at public schools. In history classes there are no references
to Sabians, despite their being among the oldest communities in the
country. Their girls and women also feel pressured to veil when in
public, although their religion does not mandate this.
Community
leaders complained that they are unable to practice their religion
freely and without fear. Governments at all levels have failed to
prevent their exodus, they said. In 2006, assailants using Ak-47s and
other weapons attacked the Basra temple, damaging the structure.
Sheikh
Sattar said that some militant imams "have issued fatwas
[religious edicts] against us, calling us infidels and people not of
the book. These fatwas have encouraged extremists to target us for
killings, forced conversions, kidnappings, and arbitrary taxes."
....
"We
can't touch the food or fish of Muslims. Teachers don't let Sabian
students drink from or share the same cup of water with other
students—they need to bring their own cups in order to drink."
2013:
Faten fled Iraq by the time she was 21. Her two brothers and sister
had all been kidnapped at different times. They were all tortured.
Both of her brothers ended up in the hospital and her sister was able
to escape her captors. Her father had received a letter directly
addressed to him from Asaib Ahl El Haq threatening him to
convert or leave Baghdad. In June 2013, militia members came to her
house; she suspects they were members of Asaib Ahl El Haq.
They trapped her husband, hit her son on his back, who was only a few
months old at the time and hit her and tossed her around. She
screamed, but none of the neighbors came to their aid. The militia
members asked if they were Sabean, took all of the gold her husband
had for work, told them all Sabeans were “dirty,” and insulted
her. Her 3-year-old daughter witnessed all of these events.
2013:
On February 13, an individual attacked the Chairman of the
Sabean-Mandaean Society, Saleem Dhamin, in his house in Suq
al-Shuyooq, Dhi Qar Province. The attacker stabbed Dhamim and his
wife during an alleged robbery. Local police arrested the attacker,
who remained in custody and under investigation. According to a human
rights organization, Dhamin was threatened prior to the attack in
relation to an allocation of land to build a Mandaean place of
worship. On June 23 in Amarah, an unidentified gunman entered the
house of a Mandaean termitha (priest), Bashier Hamied, during the
night and fired at him and his family. No one was injured. On July 15
in Diwaniyah, unknown arsonists set on fire a recently constructed
Mandaean place of worship which, according to a human rights
organization, burned for over four hours while nearby firefighters
failed to intervene.
... In January 2014, Rami Jebbar Swadi Al-Mesodni was killed in his home in Basra. His attackers slit his throat and then burned his body, but did not steal any of his possessions.
On
25 June 2014, Ayed Nezzal Khalif Al-Kohaili was murdered by shotgun
as he was closing up his shop in Al-Mahmoudia, south of Baghdad. He
had apparently previously applied for asylum in Sweden but was
refused and forced to return to Iraq.
In
August, the community experienced a wave of kidnappings. On 1 August
2014, a 21-year old SabeanMandaean goldsmith was kidnapped in Amarah,
Missan Province. At the time of writing of this report, he had not
been released despite the fact that his family had paid the ransom.
On
18 August 2014, 25-year old Nowar Hussein Rathi Zeboon was kidnapped
in Baghdad AlJedida area. Despite the fact that his family paid a
ransom of $50,000, he was later found killed and thrown in a rubbish
collecting site, with signs of torture on his body.
Attacks
on Sabean-Mandaeans are rarely investigated or prosecuted. According
to Reshamma Sattar, the head of the community, the authorities merely
record the details of the crimes, but do not follow up. The Reshamma
referred to a case two years ago of 40-year old Haythem Jabbar Matr,
who was kidnapped in Amarah and whose badly disfigured corpse was
later discovered near Najaf. Despite the fact that the perpetrators
admitted to the crime and despite the existence of audio and video
evidence incriminating them, there has still been no verdict against
them.
Due
to the high prevalence of threats, attacks and kidnappings, the
attendance of Sabean-Mandaeans at religious ceremonies is very low.
In
March 2014 for example, the Sabean-Mandaean community in Kirkuk was
forced to cancel celebrations for the 5-day festival of creation, due
to the deteriorating security situation. Sabean-Mandaean families
have also been affected by the advance of ISIS forces in Northern
Iraq.
Dec
5, 2015: At an evening gathering at Najaf’s
Writers' Union, some of the Yazidi and Mandean women dispensed with
their scarves and, from the podium, told off Iraq’s education
ministry for failing to amend the school textbooks which deride
religious minorities, calling the Yazidis Satan-worshippers and
berating the Sabeans for bowing to stars. The women received such an
enthusiastic reception from the hall that a Christian woman from
Baghdad pronounced she would move to Najaf with her family.
....
For
all the clerical reprimands, Shia militias have engaged in sectarian
cleansing, chasing out long-standing Sunni communities across much of
the south. Mandean parents at their faith's temple in Basra, the main
southern city, worry that teachers are encouraging students to mock
their daughters for not wearing the veil. Some say they have been
spat on.
2015:Mandaeans
usually interact positively with the Muslim majority and they
participate regularly in Muslim religious events. However, this
interaction is very one-sided, according to a young Mandaean living
in al-Amarah: “We join the rituals of our Shiite brothers every
year, and we share their joys and sorrows with them, but I have never
received any congratulatory note from any of them on Mandaean holy
occasions. It could be that they do not know about our holy days
because the government gives no significance either to Mandaean
holidays or Mandaean society. When the Muslim festivals come to an
end, I end up back where I started in their esteem, because they only
accept me in these specific moments.”
This
young man shared with Masarat a story that left a very deep
impression on him, making him believe that his Mandaean identity may
prevent him from ever being accepted in Iraqi society. “We
Mandaeans frequently join Iraqi Shiites in their ceremonial visits to
the shrines of Muslim imams. On the road to the shrine of Imam Ali in
Najaf and Imam Hussein in Karbala, there are tents offering food and
beverages to visitors free of charge. One year, while drinking tea in
one of these tents, the young man pouring the tea found out that I
was a Mandaean. When I finished, he broke the cup. He said it was
forbidden for a Muslim to drink from a cup used by a Mandaean.“(4)
This
discriminatory attitude towards the Mandaeans follows from the social
isolation that has been imposed on them. Some Muslims refuse to eat
or shake hands with Mandaeans because they are “impure”—ironic,
perhaps, because of the Mandaean religion’s foundation upon the
principle of cleanliness and a reverence of “running water.”
....
On
November 13, 2014, an unidentified gang opened fire on the house of
the Basra branch head of the Mandaean Affairs Council. Many believe
this attack was related to the man’s efforts to end the desecration
committed against the Mandaean Community Cemetery in Basra.
In
early 2015, Mandaean-run gold shops were held up by armed robbers in
the Shaab
area [Shia-majority] in Baghdad. The robbers seized large quantities
of money and jewelry.
1
May 2016: After close relatives were either killed or
abducted by Muslim Shia militias and criminal gangs, Sarmad
Kamil, one of the few thousands of the Sabean religious minority
living in Iraq, is trying to keep his faith to himself. He
joined a Shia Muslim tribe to gain its protection.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/01/iraq-religious-minority-mandean.html#ixzz4HDxaJ1HU
2016:
Mandaeans complain of a discriminatory preferential treatment
regarding the construction of places of worship. While it is easy for
Muslims to build a mosque or a Shiite shrine, constructing a mandi
requires cumbersome administrative measures and prior approvals.
Mandaeans
have no place to perform their rituals in numerous regions [in Iraq],
especially in al-Qurnah in Basra province, in Kut, which is the
center of Wasit province, and in Sawira in Wasit province. A large
number of Mandaean families reside in these regions [there are no
official statistics whether from Mandaeans or the state]. There is an
urgent need for constructing mandis to allow the Mandaean population
to practice their religious rituals, especially in light of the
scarce financial resources of this sect and the lack of sufficient
financial allocations in Iraq’s budget to the divan to allow it to
acquire real estates and build mandis.
Mandaeans
also complain of a discriminatory preferential treatment on another
level, related to the investment of their endowments and properties.
While it is permissible for Muslim endowments by the Ministry of
Planning to invest their lands in projects, such as using them as
parking spaces, building hotels, playgrounds and other projects,
Mandaeans are not allowed to construct guest houses or religious
schools or even residence complexes for their clergy. The Mandaeans
are even not allowed to invest in projects of public interest, such
as the construction of a hospital, for example.
8
Nov 2016:
The
Iraqi religious minorities of Mandaeans and Sabians accuse
high-ranking people from the Iraqi government of encroachment on
their lands and confiscation of their properties.
Leader
of Mandaeans and Sabians minorities has recently said some officials
in Baghdad and other provinces have forged ownership documents of
properties, including farming lands, houses and shops, that
originally belong to others from their community.
Rish
Ima, Sattar Jabbar revealed that in the most recent incident, a group
of unknown armed men looted a jewelry belonging to a Sabian citizen
in Baghdad, and they fled with no punishment expected to face them.
Jabbar
warns about the migration of Mandaeans and Sabians due to such
discriminations by the government. “Only 10,000 Sabians are
remaining in Iraq and yet they are being considered and second-class
citizens,” the Sabian leader said.
However,
Jabbar believes, these sort of discriminations do not occur only
against Mandaeans and Sabians as Christians in Iraq suffer the same
issue.
2017:
Mazen Nayef,
the leader of Basra's Sabaean Mandaean community, told
Al-Sumaria News on July 23 that Iraqi authorities recently denied
the community's request to build a house of worship, despite legally
owning the land where it would be built. The Mandaeans fear
that this will lead to further marginalization of the community and
its culture.
As
part of a campaign against the Mandaeans in Iraq, videos
and rumors about
the community's purported use of magic and sorcery have spread like
wildfire. Consequently, the leader of the Sabaean Mandaean
community in Iraq, Sheikh
Satar Jabar Helou, said Aug.
16 that his community has nothing to do with witchcraft.
.....
In
April 2017, Iraqi customs
authorities at
the Shalamjah border crossing prevented the entry of copies of a
Mandaean religious text, “The Great Book, Ginza
Rba,”
which is the group's source of commandments and teachings.
“The
members of the community cannot practice their rituals in public,"
said a Sabaean Mandaean from Diwaniya, on condition of
anonymity. "They are forced to do so indoors and in
private. At the same time, they find themselves compelled to
engage in Muslim rituals, in order to avoid any misunderstandings.”
Only a limited number of Mandaeans remain in Diwaniya
in light of the ongoing emigration of their community.
....
Article
26 of the National Identity Card Law, according to Hamidi,
"encourages the Islamization of [youth] minorities when a parent
converts to Islam, which constitutes a threat to religious freedom.”
He added that “not one school in all of Iraq is dedicated to the
young generation of Mandaeans.”
Selim
Khamisi, 70, a Sabaean who works in the gold trade in Babil
province, where only dozens of Mandaeans remain, told Al-Monitor,
“The fear of security instability and the increasing sectarian
strife in Iraq has made us practice our religious rituals, such
as prayer, fasting and baptism, in relatively isolated places and out
of sight.”
Khamisi
said the community’s demands to obtain land to establish a Mandaean
cemetery were "completely ignored" by local authorities.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/02/jordan-iraq-mandaean-refugees-religion.html#ixzz56Bd1BaAN
4 Feb 2018:
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/02/jordan-iraq-mandaean-refugees-religion.html#ixzz56Bd1BaAN
4 Feb 2018:
The suffering of Mandaeans began in 2014 when IS took over Samarra in southern Iraq, an area where adherents of this religion are concentrated. They were faced with two choices: death or converting to Islam as IS considered them infidels, Nader told Al-Monitor.
Nader added, “Amid terror, murders and the captivity of women, we fled through the dirt road from Maryam neighborhood in Samarra to al-Suwaira in Wasit province, which is controlled by Shiite militias and the Popular Mobilization Units, in search of safety.”
But the situation was not much better. The family of seven was threatened with murder and forced by Shiite militias to pay large sums of money to spare their lives. The militias killed many Mandaeans, most of whom worked in jewelry making, in al-Suwaira.
