Comment Moderation

Unfortunately not everyone has good intentions when it comes to posting comments on my blog. Some genuinely criticize and question me and I welcome it because it is always good to have an open and healthy discussion on any issue. So to those people, who are the vast majority, nothing here will change. But the problem starts when people obsess over things that only exist in their imagination. As many of you have noticed, these people are almost always "anonymous" and believe I am an American/British/Israeli (delete as appropriate) agent on a mission to destroy the real Islam.

I don't know what drives them to go on their arm-chair jihad every now and again. It could be jealousy, cowardice, ignorance or a mixture of all three but one thing is for certain, the reason they never post under their real names or level any of these accusations face to face is because they know defamation is a serious crime and so they try to score a few points on cyber-space to make themselves feel better. I have decided to moderate comments because it will give them a chance to do something more constructive in their lives instead of using this blog as a platform to spread whatever it is they feel so obliged to spread.

I feel sorry for these people who are probably miserably lonely with no lives of their own (that’s why they are so obsessed with other individuals) and will take full advantage of this God-given opportunity in Ramadhan to pray they get some help.

God Bless, Cheers and Shalom.

Anti-Shia Hackers

Yesterday several Shia websites, including Sistani's official website www.sistani.org, were hacked by an extremist Sunni group who call themselves Group XP.

www.sistani.net was also hacked but now it redirects to www.al-sistani.ir which seems to be working properly. www.al-shia.com was also hacked, all the websites show the same message. The website of the "Zoroastrian Safavid" has been hacked with the "help of Allah". The word "Shia" isn't even used once, instead they are referred to as rejectionists, descendants of Ibn al-Alqami, Zoroastrians and "sons of the Persians".

It is the typical language used by Salafis who do not consider Shias within the realm of Islam. They have posted a youtube video which begins with Bill Maher's mockery of Sistani and then cuts to an audio of Sistani's (and Khoei's) fatwas on sex.

www.sistani.org

Update: It seems the Salafis attacked hundreds of Shia sites, although many of them are up and running again.

The Hate Triangle

There was no real outrage in July this year when the Iraqi President shook hands with the Israeli Defence Minister. In many parts of the world, a handshake between a President and Israeli Minister would be seen as nothing more than a formality, but bear in mind Iraq is located in a backward part of the world and so Talabani's office had to ‘justify’ the meeting with Barak so that backward people would not have a heart attack and drop dead. The excuse given by his office was that Talabani went to the Socialist International meeting in Athens as a leader of his PUK party, not as President. On paper Iraq is still at war with Israel but no one in Baghdad dared accuse the Iraqi President of treason. Some Islamist MP’s were angry but the reaction was nothing like we have seen with Alusi.

When Mithal al-Alusi decided to attend a conference aimed at tackling terrorism in Israel the world came crashing down on his head. His immunity was stripped, he was banned from travelling and barred from attending sessions in parliament and to top it all off he was accused of being an Israeli agent.

MP's are outraged because Israel is regarded as a "historic enemy". So let us talk history. Let us compare Israel with Iran.

In 1948 Israel did not threaten Iraq, but Iraq was the one that declared war on Israel. In 1982 Iraq offered Iran an olive-branch, but Iran turned it down and was determined to drag the war for 6 more years. In 1991, despite Israel not being involved in the Gulf War, Iraq attacked Israel but Israel did not even retaliate. After the fall of Saddam in 2003 Iraq did not threaten Iran, but Iran has spent the last 5 years (and hundreds of millions of dollars) trying to destroy Iraq. Israel’s last hostile attack against Iraq was the 1981 air strike that destroyed Osirak, and that in itself should be seen as a favour to humanity.

So which country has done more harm to Iraq? Israel or Iran? Israel has an impressive track record when it comes to fighting terrorism and Iraq can learn a lot from their experience. Israel is surrounded by enemies, like Iraq is today, but has managed to survive and prosper.

The Iraqi parliament has ignored all the above and chosen to cling on to a 39-year old Ba'athist law and punish anyone who breaks it.

Alusi is one man trying to help Iraq and is a thorn in the eyes of those who are trying to destroy it. He took part in an international attempt to help rid this world of the cancer (terrorism) that has plagued Iraq and the region for over 1,000 years. Since after the birth of Islam till today this cancer has taken many shapes, forms and names, but it has been the Iraqi people that have always suffered.

With Iranian agents and Arab mujahideen breeding like cockroaches in Iraq I am surprised Alusi has managed to make it this far in the first place. I salute Alusi for his courage. The sad reality is that Iraq is not ready for a man like him. In 20 years time someone like Alusi could be Prime Minister, but for now he is simply a maverick MP who refuses to follow everyone like sheep.

The Light

On Saturday I spent over 30 minutes waiting by the roadside for a taxi in the usually crowded and busy Muthana street in Najaf. After 10 minutes I began to worry, as far as I could see only 3 shops in the entire street were open, only a handful of other pedestrians were walking and I saw more donkey-drawn carts than cars. My phones battery was dead and so I couldn't call anyone to ask if something had happened. After half an hour I finally managed to flag down a car. Just as I was about to ask him if he knew what was going on I looked at my watch and it hit me instantly. From 10-11pm almost everyone in Najaf (and the rest of Iraq) tunes in to MBC 4 to watch the Turkish drama series Gümüs, which has been dubbed in Arabic and titled Noor.

Iraq went into an unofficial 3-day mourning when Muhanned, the co-star of the series, was stabbed and left for dead in one of the last episodes. Ihlamurlar Altinda, the other Turkish drama that is dubbed and titled Sanawat al-Dhiya' is also religiously followed by millions of Arabs across the globe.

I find it very refreshing to see that Iraqis, who have gone through hell and back themselves, are able to show so much emotion towards a series like this. In coffee shops locals analyse the consequences of Maliki going to war with the Sons of Iraq ('sahwa') and then discuss, with equal vigour, whether or not Noor really deserves to get back with Muhanned. It brings some sense of normality in this otherwise not so normal country.

Many people who can only afford to switch on their generators for a few hours a day sacrifice one hour of electricity in the afternoon/evening and bear the heat just so they can watch Noor later at night. Anyone who was unfortunate enough to miss an episode could easily be filled in the next day by their local grocer, tailor, or baker.

Hawza students in Najaf, when not debating philosophy, history or law, were consumed by Noor and her never-ending mood swings. An MP in Baghdad said even the Green Zone was not immune from the Noor phenomena that swept the country. Now that the marathon series has come to an end, maybe the politicians can get back to running the country.