 |
| A billboard in central Basra, advertises a cellular telephone service. The woman's face has been covered in black paint, a
message to people in the city to follow a strict Islamic code. Sam Dagher |
'Shiite Taliban' rises as British depart Basra
Many in the Iraqi port city say social freedoms are eroding as radical militias gain power.
from the September 18, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Most Shiites in Iraq do not particularly espouse the Iranian model under which the clerical establishment rules on behalf of Imam Mahdi, who is believed to be in a state of occultation, and that paves the way for the return of this Messiah-like figure as a savior.
The idea of a clerical state is still very controversial among Shiites. But Iran has been able to forge ties with Shiite forces across the Iraqi spectrum by tapping into a range of aspirations and sentiments. With powerful allies, such as the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, once based in Iran, it is bolstering Islamist Shiite control in Iraq, while elements of the Mahdi Army are fighting the so-called Western intruders and "enemies of the faith."
A leader in Mr. Sadr's movement in Basra, who gave his name as Abu Zahra, says that he and many of his partisans firmly believe that the US and its allies invaded Iraq to fight Imam Mahdi and prevent his reemergence.
He says the Mahdi Army is against violence in propagating what they consider Islamic behavior, but that it's difficult to rein in all members. "Some are overzealous sometimes and come up with their own interpretations, but Sayyed Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr was clear: Unveiled women must be shunned," he says, referring to Sadr's late father and the movement's spiritual leader. "We are a Muslim majority and we want to apply Islamic law."
Aside from Sadrists, many people argue that this is what an increasingly religious population wants, adding that the trend began in the south long before Hussein was toppled. "Until about a year ago, we had music, but we stopped after more and more customers told us to turn it off," says a manager at one restaurant, an AK-47 by his side. "Society has become more conservative."
"There is a certain desire for sanctity on the street that we can't touch," says Mahdi al-Tamimi, a local official with the Ministry of Human Rights.
But several people explain that the Islamist parties that dominate the provincial council, many of which maintain close ties to Shiite Iran, are doing little to stop the tide of hard-line Islamic values because it suits their own long-term agendas of establishing an Islamic state in Iraq.
"There are those trying to apply Khomeini's experiment in Iraq although his fatwas [edicts] on music failed in Iran," says Ahmed Mukhtar, a renowned oud player and a professor of music at the University of London who hailed originally from southern Iraq. He says there is nothing in Islam that bans music, for instance, and that Shiites are even more tolerant in this respect than their Sunni counterparts.
An official with a party close to Iran says his party is simply trying to spread Islamic values through education and reason. "We reject violence. We just educate people, and it's ultimately up to them to decide if they want to declare an Islamic state," says Qassim Muhammad who is with the Sayyed al-Shuhada Movement.
Social freedoms are eroding
But the pressure on women to cover up, even if they are not Muslim, is tremendous, says the female Iraqi activist. Both men and women must dress conservatively, and males are segregated from families in restaurants, similar to the public segregation in conservative countries such as Saudi Arabia.
"There is nothing to stop these people; they are getting stronger in preventing women from fulfilling their role in society," says the activist.
Now, all women holding public-sector jobs must be veiled, and female students at universities regularly receive written notices warning them to cover up and dress modestly, she says. Off-campus picnics and gatherings by Basra University students have been banned since March 2005, when militiamen viciously beat up a group of mixed-gender picnickers.
A student at the College of Fine Arts recounted how militiamen led by a turbaned cleric recently descended on their campus threatening to "finish off the dean with two bullets in the head" if the department was not shut down. "They called us immoral gypsies," he says.
RSS feed
