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Iraqis invoke Allah against foreign occupation
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By
Samir Haddad, IOL Correspondent
BAGHDAD,
October 26 (IslamOnline.net) – Tarawih prayers in Ramadan are a
chance for Muslims to supplicate, ask for God’s forgiveness and even
for earthly wishes, but for a country suffering from insecurity, chaos
and violence, invoking Allah’s wrath against foreign troops
occupying their homeland tops the list.
“Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) used to pray for Allah at hard times more than usual.
In Iraq now, what could be worse than occupation?” Sheikh Nehad
Hekmat Al-Habbori, the Al-Hadi mosque imam told IslamOnline.net.
He
further saw the US occupation, intensive Jewish and Christian presence
in Iraq as the “worst catastrophe” that hit the Arab, Muslim
country.
“All
imams (leading prayers) should make their supplications consistent
with the hard times and difficult conditions Iraq and Iraqis are going
through.
“Imams
should explicitly invoke Allah against the occupiers. The Prophet
(PBUH) himself invoked Allah against the Jews and tribes plotting
against Islam.”
Sheikh
Omar Al-Shabib, imam of Al-Sa’don mosque, agrees.
“Iraq
suffers from occupation and a list of related diseases; hypocrites,
spies, detainees, captives, bombardment and killing of innocent
children and women. We need to specify our supplications to Allah to
mention all these crises during Tarawih prayers.”
Mosques
of Fallujah have been unusually deserted during the
Muslim holy month this year as people fled the city to avoid a
reported US massive onslaught, under the pretext of arresting Abu
Mosaab Al-Zarqawi and his followers.
Support
for Mujahedeen
Other
Iraqi imams go even further by supplicating explicitly for Allah’s
support to be with the Iraqi resistance against US occupation forces.
“We
openly pray for Allah to support the resistance,” Sheikh Fayek
Al-Tikriti, Al-Yassin mosque imam told IslamOnline.net.
“May
Allah support the Mujahideen and help them.”
On
peoples’ reaction when an imam does that, in light of the fact that
the US forces and the ally the interim government refuse to accept the
presence of resistance. They rather refer to fighters as “militants,
insurgents or terrorists”.
Such
explicit supplications sometimes cause controversy among Iraqis.
“Some
prayers show great sympathy and approval. Their tears even run when I
call for Allah to support the Mujahedeen,” Al-Tikriti said.
“Others,
however, express their fears the mosque might be targeted by US
forces.”
Al-Tikriti
believes those fearful Iraqis are Iraq’s “true defeat”.
Supplication
As
performing the Tarawih prayers during the dawn-to-dusk fasting
month, the Iraqi prayers burst into tears when supplicating for Allah
to end occupation of Iraq, support the resistance and save the
war-ravaged country from daily bloody massacres.
“May
Allah plunge the United States into decay and target it with
punishment. We resort to You Almighty to protect us from their evils
and make their malicious aggressions backfire on them,” an Iraqi
imam gave an example of how he invokes Allah against the United
States.
In
response to a question regarding supplications against non-Muslims
during prayers, Muslim scholars had said that when imams do
supplicate, it is directed against the oppressors among
non-Muslims and aims at those who launch war against
Muslims and against humanity.
Other
Iraqi imams invoke Allah against those who collaborate with the US
occupation.
“May
Allah expose those who betrayed Muslims and the Iraqi people. May the
Almighty make the enemies they sided with be the tool for their
punishment.”
Other
imams supplicate for Allah to support the Iraqi resistance. “May
Allah support the Mujahedeen and destroy the unfaithful and
hypocrites.”
Several
Iraqi towns, particularly Fallujah, come under almost daily attacks by
the US forces under claims of searching for resistance fighters.
In
April, at least 700 Iraqis, mostly
women and children , were killed and 1,500 others
injured in Fallujah when the US occupation forces imposed a tight
siege on the town and intensified air strikes on its densely-populated
areas.
On
September 18, Amnesty International blasted the US for its
barbaric
raids on Fallujah.
