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Name
Addy
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Profession
Question
What is your comment on what happened in Karbala’ and Pakistan on the event of Ashoraa’?
Answer
The Iraqi Islamic Party was saddened and deeply shocked by what happened and crimes committed against the Iraqi people and our brethren in Pakistan on the Day of Ashoraa. Our Party has issued a statement an hour after the crime was committed condemning these heinous crimes.
It goes back to our principle that a Muslim blood is preserved and is never to be shed by other Muslims. We should go back to the narration of our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) when he declared in one of his last speeches in Makkah: “Do not go back after I pass away killing each other the way the non-Muslims do.”
Name
Akram
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Profession
Question
We hear about the genocides perpetrated by Shia against the sunnah in Iraq…is this true?
Answer
I cannot call some individualistic acts as genocide, especially some of these acts were perpetrated by a handful of people whom many of the Shia’s organizations in the south have destined themselves from. We blame the media and some foreign influences for pointing the blame on the sunni people as a whole, and some of the of the Muslim parties, just to create ethnic tensions to destabilize Iraq.
Name
Aisha
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Profession
Question
Some recent statistics show that the sunnis are the majority in Iraq. Famous Al-Jazeera broadcaster announced this in his show. What does this mean, the Shia are trying to fool us?
Answer
We believe that the Sunni community in Iraq as a whole, that is the Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmans, all together form a majority of 60% of the Iraqi population. We understand the Shia’s political aspirations by using the majority claim, but unfortunately this claim was used by the protagonists of Iraq to achieve their political and military games to assist as a propaganda tool in the occupation of Iraq. And this claim was propagated by the Americans and the British governments, and soon other governments followed up this claim, without scrutinizing the claim itself.
Iraq has never had a census on the basis of Islamic creed. What is important is the unity of both sects within the big framework of Islam, to unite and achieve and push hard for democracy which will benefit all Iraqis and we will all flourish within it.
Name
Mohamed
- United Kingdom
Profession
Question
As-salaamu 'Alaikum, as an engineer and Muslim, I would like to help. I work for an engineering firm which has many contracts for reconstruction in Iraq. What are your opinions about working for them in Iraq. Is this something that is possible, or would i be classified as a traitor who acknowledged the legitimacy of the occupation.
Answer
If the construction goes into building schools, hospitals, care centers, roads, etc. that benefit the bettered Iraqi people, there is no worry about it.
But if going to Iraq is solely for building and assisting in constructing facilities for the occupation, that is a different matter. So, it depends on the contract itself: will the Iraqi people benefit or the occupiers? Leaving the Iraqi people alone, battered and bruised, facing the occupation alone, is not the right option.
Name
Hanaa
- Ecuador
Profession
Question
Do you expect the eruption of a civil war?
Answer
It is a distant possibility although foreign powers are striving to achieve. In my opinion, it will be a difficult to achieve, but we might see some clashes or tit-for-tat actions on the fringes of both sects in Iraq. We pray to Allah that this will never happen, because if it did, this will engulf the whole region in mayhem and anarchy.
Name
Khadija
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Profession
Question
We always talk about unity, but it is always hard to achieve. The sunnis and the Shia have problems, but the real problem lies in the fact that none of them wants to accept the other. We always here the sunnis talking about the Bid’ahs or Shias and the Aqeeda errors, and on the other hand, we hear about the Shia attacking the sunnis of not being loyal to Ahl-l-Bayt. What I want to ask about, don’t we have things to agree on more than the things we disagree about, and if so, why do we give chance to the Americans and Zionists to enjoy our clashes and fighting?!
Answer
I totally agree with your comment. We have so much in common between the two sects of Islam, and that is why you see in Iraq there is a call of unity after every irresponsible act from the leaders of both communities.
Name
Robert
- United States
Profession
Question
The presence of US soldiers in Iraq can prevent the burst of a civil war from occuring in Iraq. How come Sunnis are for the end of the US presence in Iraq even when they know that once US forces pull out, a civil strife will take fire?
Answer
The presence of US soldiers in Iraq has created the tensions, and I disagree with you totally about the theory of civil war erupting in Iraq if the Americans leave. The history of Iraq showed us that Iraqis are immune from social tensions and clashes like what happened in Lebanon in the seventieth. Furthering the democracy and human rights issue in Iraq will be safety valve for future Iraq.
Name
Ennes
- Greece
Profession
Question
Do you see any foreign involvment in the bombings against the Shias in Iraq? With "Foreign" I mean The Israeli Mossad or the American occupation forces and their secret service. As I think either the sunnis nor the shias have anything to gain by bombing eachother, the only ones in gaining anything are those that are occuping iraq and those who wish to impose their suppremacy over the arab land. ( Israle in this case) . What is your opinion regarding this issue?? Thanks As-Salamu `Alaykum.
Answer
I agree with you! Foreign involvement in the bombings of the Iraq is the most likely theory as yet. Bear in mind, no one has been caught, neither the first bombing of Najaf and the killing of AyatulAllah Al-Hakim nor the second wave of bombings. The perpetrators will always be unknown.
It is well-known that the Mossad and other intelligence organizations have offices in Baghdad and other cities. Unfortunately, Iraq has opened widely after the occupation for the enemies of Islam and the enemies of Iraq.
Name
Ahmed Arrafeeq
-
Profession
Question
Where is the Iraqi Islamic Party from all what is happening? What are you doing, guys? Why did your famous Sheikh Al-Rashed boycott the election meetings suggested by Ayatullah Sistani? Does it not seem ridiculous?
Answer
I could answer your question in two parts:
1. First of all, our Party is inside Iraq, working throughout all the provinces of Iraq, helping out communities and taking part in the political struggle to achieve the freedom of Iraq and to end the occupation. I would refer you to our newspaper Darussalam. You could visit the website dedicated for this newspaper or you could visit our Iraq Islamic Party website at www.iraqiparty.com
I hope by then you will make a better judgment.
2. Referring to your second question, if I understand it right, Sheikh Al-Rashed gave his well-informed opinion on the possibility of holding fair and truly representing general elections in Iraq at this moment of time where we lack the basic infrastructure for such huge undertaking and the lack of security and monitoring bodies, and the presence of occupation in the first place.
I hope this will answer your questions.
Name
Mona
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Profession
Question
What is the solution to the Iraqi dilemma now in the perspective of the Iraqi Islamic Party? Does it lie in joining hands with shia and call for free elections? Or in accepting the Iraqi Governing Council and try to reform it? Or in fighting the Americans and killing as many of them as Iraqis can?
Answer
Our answer to the solution of the Iraqi dilemma is to join hands will all Iraqis irrespective of creed or race and call for the ending of occupation and the pushing for democracy and human rights.
Ending the American occupation would solve major obstacles in the development of Iraq as a society and a country.
Name
tajudeen
- Nigeria
Profession
accountancy
Question
As-Salamu` Alaykum, how strong is the Islamic Republic of Iran presence or influence on the Shiite Muslims in Iraq? Was it true that the Shiite suffered unwholesome horrors during the reign of Saddam Hussien that they want him out by all means? Please be factual on these issues. No sentiments pls.
Answer
Iran has a big influence on the Shia community in Iraq. Don’t forget that many of the political organizations in the Diaspora were based in Iran. Saddam has committed a lot of crimes against Iraq as a whole and against the Shia in particular especially after 1990.
Yes, they wanted Saddam out by all means, but unfortunately this has led us to lose our freedom and endure the horrors of occupation.
Name
A.C
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Profession
Question
What happened to Saddam? When is he going to appear again?
Answer
Saddam is a prisoner of Iraq in an American base in Iraq. I don’t think the US will relinquish its hold of Saddam as he holds so many secrets. That is why he has been considered as a prisoner of war in order not to implicate the United States in any of his misadventures.
Name
Editor
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Profession
Answer
Finally, we would like to thank our guest for speaking to Islamonline viewers today, and we also thank all those who participated in this dialogue. We apologize for not being able to accommodate all the questions within the time allocated to this session. We request our readers to join us in the upcoming sessions.
