Iraqi society, whose roots go back thousands of years, consists of a diverse mix that includes different religions, beliefs and races, weaving from it one of the most beautiful mosaics of religions in the world.
With the launch of international activities to celebrate the International Day of Religions on the third Sunday of January of each year, which corresponds to January 15, 2023, Iraqis renew their affirmation of adherence to the spirit of coexistence and harmony among them.
Religious pluralism in Iraq is a common heritage that is reflected in the behavior of Iraqis and their aspiration for the future (Al-Jazeera)
Diversity of religions
Iraq is distinguished for being the home of heavenly and earthly religions, and many sects, especially Islamic ones, arose in it, because it is the cradle of civilizations and in it the first existential question was raised about what this universe is and who is its creator, and this matter was embodied in the Sumerian civilization more than 3500 years ago BC, Al-Baqaa was a religious center thousands of years ago to the present day, according to the Iraqi writer Salam Harba.
Harba points out - in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net - that Iraq used to include religious, intellectual and cultural councils and schools for all denominations and sects, from the heavenly religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and non-heavenly religions from the Mandaean Sabeans, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Baha'i and others, and many Islamic sects.
According to Harba, "Judaism is the oldest monotheistic religion in Iraq, as its origins and Talmud were formed in the land of Babylon. As for Mandaeism, it is Iraqi par excellence, and it is older than Judaism. It also spread in Iraq before Judaism: the Magian Zoroastrian religion, and the influence of this religion is still on some Islamic sects in Iraq.
The writer warns that Iraq was prosperous with the diversity of its cultures and religions, but in other recent times it became a source of disintegration and dispersal of the social fabric of countries, because religious parties pulled these religions and sects to their own and partisan interests, and the conflict began supported by internal and external forces that do not want Iraq or its religions and sects to be good. , according to Harba.
A side of Zoroastrian rituals in Iraq (Al-Jazeera)
Unique symbiosis
The founder of the Institute for Studies of Religious Diversity, Dr. Saad Salloum, says that religious coexistence prevailed in Iraq during the past centuries. philosophical.
Salloum shows - to Al-Jazeera Net - that Iraq is a country of many religions, nationalities and sects, where the geographical neighborhood, cities, villages, districts and districts testified to the coexistence between different groups in terms of religion and ethnicity, so the components of Iraq were affected by each other in terms of customs and traditions greatly.
Salloum cites an example from the Nineveh Plain region in the north of the country, which includes Christians of their various denominations, Shabak, Turkmen, Kurds, Kakai and Yezidis, and says, "We notice the influence of the similar architecture pattern, such as some domes that are considered mosques for the Shabak, but they are more like Yezidi architecture, or for example, we find many ancient generations of Christians used to wear the Arab dress that you find in southern Iraq, in addition to many common feasts or rituals accompanying feasts that have many similarities.
Saad Salloum confirmed that religions, nationalities and sects in Iraq were greatly affected by each other (Al-Jazeera)
One of the most prominent images, according to Salloum, is that you can see the mosque in many parts of Iraq and its cities in front of the church and other temples within one geographical area, and this is a clear example of coexistence.
Salloum believes that one of the indications of this is that Iraq is not a country of one component, two components, or three, but rather a pluralistic country, as its roots are originally pluralistic, and this pluralism has not excluded, in principle, since ancient times, any religious, ethnic or linguistic group, and represents the common heritage that is reflected On the behavior of Iraqis and their aspiration for the future.
A church in Baghdad (Reuters)
existential challenges
The Iraqi reality indicates the existence of national, religious and sectarian pluralism within society. Pluralism is a common condition in eastern and western societies throughout ancient and present history, and in general they are coexistent societies with a few exceptions, according to the researcher at the Iraq Center for Foresight Studies, Raed Al-Hamid.
And Al-Hamid adds - to Al-Jazeera Net - that Iraq did not witness religious immigration in the true sense other than the immigration of Jews to occupied Palestine at the end of the forties and the beginning of the fifties of the last century, and it was an organized migration of Zionist forces and organizations that wanted to gather the diaspora of the Jews in the State of Palestine.
Al-Hamid stresses that there are forces that benefit from the displacement process, especially after 2003, when it was noticed that there was an absence of the national identity, and the supremacy of sub-identities, so that each component became working for its own interest only.
The Iraqi researcher expresses his belief that there are beneficiary political parties working to bring about demographic change and manipulate the demographics to achieve political, economic and other gains, pointing to the role of the United Nations Migration Organization in encouraging Christians to leave Iraq and immigrate to Canada, the United States, Australia and the European Union countries, and facilitating this. According to him.
reality and the future
The academic and researcher in beliefs and religions, Dr. Thabet Mahdi Al-Janabi, believes that the stability of the situation in Iraq today has restored religious coexistence to what it was before, despite the fears of some religious minorities who were wary of returning, but these fears have dissipated little by little.
And he adds - to Al-Jazeera Net - that the improvement of the security situation, the availability of services, and the work to build bridges of trust and meaningful communication between all components of one people, prompted most of the displaced families from religious minorities to return and settle in their areas without any significant problems.
Al-Janabi - who is the assistant dean of the College of Islamic Sciences at the University of Mosul - reveals initiatives from the highest levels in the country to return immigrant minorities, and there is a project adopted by the National Security Adviser that has worked and is still working continuously to return the displaced and the displaced to their areas of residence, and to secure all their needs, as well as Providing the necessary services that would work to encourage and expedite their return to the bosom of the homeland.
In order to preserve the diversity that has existed for thousands of years, Al-Janabi called for changing the political and religious discourse that depends on foreign agendas, and making the discourse Iraqi in the interest of the people of the same country who have lived in harmony and peace for centuries, despite the ethnic diversity that is a source of strength for this people. As well as building bridges of trust and meaningful communication between all components of the people.
Al-Janabi stressed the need to strengthen the interdependence between the people of Iraq of their various religions, by providing security and services that would contribute to the advancement of the civilized level of the individual, paying attention to science, law and justice, and spreading a culture of acceptance of the other in accordance with the correct Islamic constants, with a focus on good citizenship and the loyalty of the individual. For the homeland first and nothing else, in addition to paying attention to the rights of minorities and involving them in the responsibility of building the homeland.