By Gashmid Mohammadi, IOL Tajikistan Correspondent

DUSHANBE, March 13 (IslamOnline.net) - The Iraq crisis and looming U.S.-led war on Baghdad are the talk of Tajiks from all walks of life although there are no massive anti-war rallies in the country.

Surveying the positions and sentiments of Muslims vis-à-vis the potential aggression on the fellow Muslim country, IslamOnline.net tried to shed light on how the Muslim people of Tajikistan are thinking about the Iraqi people and their dilemma.

Some of the intelligentsia and most of students and scholars believe Muslims around the globe should not turn a blind eye to any intervention in the Iraqi internal affairs or to mounting war threats by the United States.

A majority think the threatened U.S.-led war, if it broke out, would spill over into other countries and would not be confined to Iraq.

They charge that it is a declaration of war on Islam and Muslims and bid to annihilate the values of the Islamic civilization starting from Baghdad and ending up with other Islamic metropolitans.

Abdullah Babayov, a 24-year-old university student, accused the U.S. of launching another Crusade (a series of colonial military invasion of Muslim countries launched by a number of countries under the pretext of defending Christians) against Muslims under the pretext of fighting terrorism and combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

"I as a Muslim stands shoulder to shoulder with the Iraqi people and all down-trodden peoples in light of the latest developments in the (Gulf) region," he told IslamOnline.net on Wednesday, March 12.

He further said the looming war would paper over the heinous Israeli crimes against the armless Palestinian people.

"We mustn’t forget the Palestinian people and their daily suffering and the brazen injustice done to them at the hands of the Israelis for more than half a century.

"It (the Palestinian cause) is a crucial issue. And I think the war on Iraq is aimed at covering up the crimes perpetrated by the Zionists in Palestine," he underlined.

"Although the U.S. tries to justify its potential war on Iraq, however, this justification is only to deceive people and put out the wrath of Muslims," said Soliman Hamzyov, a physician.

"Everybody should be mindful of the fact that the war on Iraq is a war on Islam and Muslims," he added.

There is another reason, as a point of fact, that makes the Tajik people sympathize with the Iraqis in their plight and suffering, namely, that they are both Sunnis.

Many Tajiks were used to visiting the mausoleums of great Sunni scholars lie buried in Iraq.

"After I had performed Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), I went to Iraq to visit the mausoleum of great Muslim scholar Imam Abu Hanifa.

"Though delighted by the visit, my heart was breaking due to the appalling conditions of the Iraqi people whose land was rich in natural resources," said Hajj Abdal Jabbar, 60.

Saddam Must Go

The deteriorating situation of the Iraqi people over the past years makes most of the Tajik people harbor feelings of hatred towards Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

They accuse him of being a traitor, tyrant, self-centered, let alone his unbridled aggression on the Kuwaiti people, placing his Muslim people in an unenviable situation and giving the U.S. free reign in the region.

"We used to think that Saddam can fight the Americans and defend the sovereignty of Muslims, but it seems as if he is giving the U.S. a golden opportunity to occupy the Islamic territories and put Muslim countries at risk," charged a Tajik who declined to reveal his name.

In fact, each Tajik prays to Allah to help the Iraqis in their plight and spare them more sufferings.

"Muslims have a weapons not possessed by others. It is supplication. Iraqis should resort to Allah in their fix. All Muslims all over the world should do everything in their power to support the Iraqis," said Ramadan Haider, 40.

"And if we have nothing but to pray for them, we then should invoke Allah from the bottom of our hearts," he added.

Tajikistan has experienced three changes in government and a five-year civil war since it gained independence in 1991 from the former USSR.