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Religious minorities concerned about prospect of
enlarged role for Islam in new constitution.
Members of Iraq's non-Muslim population say they are
worried about how their rights might be affected if
Islam were to be included as the main source of
legislation in the country's new constitution.
Under the Transitional Administrative Law, TAL,
currently in place, Islam is taken into account as a
source of legislation. But religious Shia, among
others, are pushing for a stronger role for their
religion in governance.
Jalalaldin al-Saghir, a representative of the
Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq
and a member of the parliamentary constitution
committee, argues that Iraq's Islamic identity
should be preserved.
"The constitution should state that Islam is the
basic source for legislation," he said.
But it is this proposition that has met with
opposition from the roughly ten per cent of Iraq's
population that is non-Muslim, most of this minority
being made up of Assyrian, Roman Catholic and
Chaldean Christians.
Other non-Muslim communities in Iraq include Yazidis
- whose religion incorporates elements of Islam and
Christianity - as well as Kakayees and Mandaeans,
whose faiths both trace back to an ancient religious
tradition.
Salim Toma Kako, a leader in the Assyrian Democratic
Movement, worries that if Islam is cited as the main
source of legislation, Christian practices will not
be recognised and non-Muslims will have to obey the
Sharia, or Islamic law.
"We don't have any problems with the religion of
Islam," he said. "We have problems with
interpretations of Islam."
Segvan Murad Jundi, a member of the Yazidi Affairs
Office in Sulaimaniyah, says that the only way to
guarantee the protection of people's rights is to
have a secular constitution.
"If Islam is to be identified as the sole source of
legislation, we won't vote for the constitution," he
said.
Iraq's non-Muslim population are also concerned that
giving a stronger role to Islam could lead to an
expansion in Muslim power, perhaps culminating in
the formation of an Islamic state like Iran.
"We think having Islam as the sole source of
legislation is a big injustice against Iraq and this
will lead us to a dark future," said Zadooq Adam, a
member of the political bureau of the Beth-Nahrain
National Union, part of the Chaldo-Assyrian
Democratic Coalition of Rafidain list.
Kheiri Shangali, general manager of Yazidi affairs
at the ministry of religion in Iraqi Kurdistan, says
that during Ottoman rule, 1.5 million Yazidis were
killed in the name of Islam. Now he is afraid
history will repeat itself.
"The most frightful thing is for Sharia to become
like that of Afghanistan,"
he said. "If so, there is a possibility of
annihilating Yazidis again."
Others are careful to point out that they do not
object to Islam playing a strong role in this
Muslim-majority nation. "But identifying Islam as
the sole source of legislation is a big threat to
all religions, even to Muslims themselves," argued
Rebwar Bawa Weli, a Kakayee. "We have to work with a
new mentality as we live in the 21st century."
Dr Muhammed Omer Mawlood, a member of the TAL
drafting committee, says he has no problem with
Islam being the official religion of Iraq.
But he agreed that citing Islam as the main source
of legislation could be a dangerous move.
"Non-Muslims have a right to be concerned," he said,
"because this might become a factor in their
persecution in the future."
Yaseen Omer and Hemi Baqir are IWPR trainees in
Sulaimaniyah. Dhiya Rasan, an IWPR trainee in
Baghdad, also contributed to this report.
www.iwpr.net
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