France offers asylum to Mosul's Christians

[INDIC]

Sad.
"I'M RIGHT YOUR WRONG YOU DONT KNOW THE TRUTH STOP BLAMING AMERICANS."

Ah well, this is the internet after all.

Who are the Iraqi Shia?

The Shia: a force to be reckoned with
Shia Muslims were oppressed by Iraq's Baathist regime for more than 30 years and excluded from the highest ranks of power.

They make up the majority of Iraq's population - accounting for as much as 60% - and their support is seen as vital if any new Iraqi government is to have legitimacy.

They were also the largest group by far, to turn out in the January 2005 elections, after their spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Sistani ruled that voting was a national duty.

The so-called Shia list, a coalition backed by the ayatollah, was allocated just over half the seats in the transitional National Assembly.

Sunni Arabs, who make up barely 20% of Iraq's population, have dominated the politics of modern Iraq since British rule began in 1921. More recently Saddam Hussein's Baath Party was dominated by Sunni Muslims and he centralised power in his Sunni clan.

Oppressed and neglected

The Shia heartland is in the south-east of the country. It includes Basra and the sacred cities of Najaf and Karbala - home to shrines revered by millions of Shia across the East.

Click here to see where Iraq's ethnic and religious groups live

Enlarge Map
The Shia also make up a sizeable minority of the population in the capital Baghdad, where most live in poverty in sprawling slum areas on the outskirts.
One such area is Sadr City - formally called Saddam City. In Saddam's time the million or so Shia inhabitants of this slum lived under constant surveillance by the authorities. In the late 1990s, this oppression led to unrest that shook the government.

Shia both in Iraq and in exile had acknowledged that they had been waiting for Saddam Hussein's overthrow for decades.

Under his rule, Shia opposition groups were fiercely oppressed and political and religious leaders murdered.

As a result, the opposition tended to look to neighbouring Iran, which is also governed by Shia religious leaders, for support.

In the late 1970s, thousands of Iraqi Shia were expelled to Iran under the pretext of their "Persian connections".

HOLY CITIES
Najaf, 190km south of Baghdad, was once the Shia power centre
Karbala, 80km southwest of Baghdad, replaced Isfahan in Iran as the centre of Shia scholarship
Samarra, 95km north of Baghdad, sacred tombs of Ali al-Hadi and al-Hasan al-Askari, the 10th and 11th Imams, and the site where the 12th Imam, Mohammed al-Mahdi, disappeared

Iraq's Shia shrines
Samarra: Pilgrimage centre
In 1991, after the Gulf War, the first President George Bush encouraged Iraqis to rise up against their leader. The Shia believed this would mean the US would back a rebellion.

But, lacking US support, a massive southern rebellion was brutally suppressed by Saddam Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid - otherwise known as Chemical Ali. He was captured by American troops in 2003.

The defeat of the uprising deeply alienated the Shia.


BBC NEWS | Middle East | Who are the Iraqi Shia?[/ur

 

[Mujahid Memon]

When Palestinian are being attach by Israel to counter terrorism. all Muslim countries cries. but when in iraq lots of shia and peoples relating to other religion is being harassed nobody condemn it.

who is this "nobody" ??

what isis is doing in iraq less or more same thing israel is doing in Palestine. And both are condemnable

 

[Mujahid Memon]

The question is are the taxes the same for Muslims and Christians?

(Not to support isis), but for ur question Muslims pay Zakat, which is an alternate of tax

 

[Contrarian]

(Not to support isis), but for ur question Muslims pay Zakat, which is an alternate of tax

I know zakat. I also jizya.
I know what each is. And the concept of protection money called jizya.
I am also aware that zakat is fixed while jizya is not. So any amount can be charged as jizya.

 

[flamer84]

They are fleeing from terrorists, not Muslims. How come they didn't flee in past 1300 years they lived there peacefully?

They fled constantly,year by year their numbers dwindled,everywhere in the ME,even in authocratic ruled Egypt,let's face it,they were always 2nd hand citizens and now it's even worse.

What i find particularly annoying is that some posters came here only to wine "why the racist europeans don't bring muslims to ?"....how about showing sympathy for those people who are actually forced to leave their ancestral homes instead of crying all sorts of stupid things ? ....Oh,i know,they have the Palestine threads to moan like it's the end of the world and while the Palestinians numbers grow bigger every year like they always did after 1948 under "apartheid",the christians in the ME are a dying breed.Logic is to much for some posters in here i guess.

 

[LordTyrannus]

They fled constantly,year by year their numbers dwindled,everywhere in the ME,even in authocratic ruled Egypt,let's face it,they were always 2nd hand citizens and now it's even worse.

What i find particularly annoying is that some posters came here only to wine "why the racist europeans don't bring muslims to ?"....how about showing sympathy for those people who are actually forced to leave their ancestral homes instead of crying all sorts of stupid things ? ....Oh,i know,they have the Palestine threads to moan like it's the end of the world and while the Palestinians numbers grow bigger every year like they always did after 1948 under "apartheid",the christians in the ME are a dying breed.Logic is to much for some posters in here i guess.

Christians, jews and moslems are all the same death cult, installed by free masons to control the dumb masses.

Roman empire was ruled by satanists who obeyed occultism. Occultism is the only true religion in the world.

Semitic death cults offer only destruction to dumb masses. It is a slaughterhouse to DIVIDE ET IMPERA.

Christians in ME are all araps which are beeing payed to play christians.

 

[ozzy22]

We Muslims need to start protecting our minorities better. Absolutely disgusting

 

[flamer84]

We Muslims need to start protecting our minorities better. Absolutely disgusting

There won't be anymore minorities when you eventually start "protecting" them.

 

[1000]

Iraqis Christians are dumb, all they needed to do is pay %8 tax from their income and they could live happy in their cities, instead they choose to flee, they should learn from Christians in Raqqa, Syria.

Pay tax to your bedouin brothers ? If they did they would be 'dumb'.
There is no income in Mosul anymore, they would be giving away their assets and end up with nothing.

 

[TheNoob]

Omelette du fromage

 

[Hiptullha]

Who are the Iraqi Shia?

The Shia: a force to be reckoned with
Shia Muslims were oppressed by Iraq's Baathist regime for more than 30 years and excluded from the highest ranks of power.

They make up the majority of Iraq's population - accounting for as much as 60% - and their support is seen as vital if any new Iraqi government is to have legitimacy.

They were also the largest group by far, to turn out in the January 2005 elections, after their spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Sistani ruled that voting was a national duty.

The so-called Shia list, a coalition backed by the ayatollah, was allocated just over half the seats in the transitional National Assembly.

Sunni Arabs, who make up barely 20% of Iraq's population, have dominated the politics of modern Iraq since British rule began in 1921. More recently Saddam Hussein's Baath Party was dominated by Sunni Muslims and he centralised power in his Sunni clan.

Oppressed and neglected

The Shia heartland is in the south-east of the country. It includes Basra and the sacred cities of Najaf and Karbala - home to shrines revered by millions of Shia across the East.

Click here to see where Iraq's ethnic and religious groups live

Enlarge Map
The Shia also make up a sizeable minority of the population in the capital Baghdad, where most live in poverty in sprawling slum areas on the outskirts.
One such area is Sadr City - formally called Saddam City. In Saddam's time the million or so Shia inhabitants of this slum lived under constant surveillance by the authorities. In the late 1990s, this oppression led to unrest that shook the government.

Shia both in Iraq and in exile had acknowledged that they had been waiting for Saddam Hussein's overthrow for decades.
Under his rule, Shia opposition groups were fiercely oppressed and political and religious leaders murdered.

As a result, the opposition tended to look to neighbouring Iran, which is also governed by Shia religious leaders, for support.

In the late 1970s, thousands of Iraqi Shia were expelled to Iran under the pretext of their "Persian connections".

HOLY CITIES
Najaf, 190km south of Baghdad, was once the Shia power centre
Karbala, 80km southwest of Baghdad, replaced Isfahan in Iran as the centre of Shia scholarship
Samarra, 95km north of Baghdad, sacred tombs of Ali al-Hadi and al-Hasan al-Askari, the 10th and 11th Imams, and the site where the 12th Imam, Mohammed al-Mahdi, disappeared

Iraq's Shia shrines
Samarra: Pilgrimage centre
In 1991, after the Gulf War, the first President George Bush encouraged Iraqis to rise up against their leader. The Shia believed this would mean the US would back a rebellion.

But, lacking US support, a massive southern rebellion was brutally suppressed by Saddam Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid - otherwise known as Chemical Ali. He was captured by American troops in 2003.

The defeat of the uprising deeply alienated the Shia.


BBC NEWS | Middle East | Who are the Iraqi Shia?[/ur

Like you told me to do, I did some research. Saddam cracked down on Shia's because they represented opposition. While his party was in the Left of the political spectrum, the Shias were going Right and focusing more on Islam. In fact, a party called Al-Dawa was formed. One of their major goals was to create an Islamic state.
During the Islamic Revolution, they were supportive of Khomeini, as he too was Shia. Dluring the Iran-Iraq war, they aided the Iranians, but unfortunately for them, the war ended with stalemate and Saddam continued to rule.