I R A Q

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Cultural and Spiritual Landscape

Religious and Ethnic Faultlines
Situation Summary

Weapons of mass destruction sit not only in the hands of a volatile dictator but also at the center of religious conflicts between two kinds of Arabs, the Kurds, and several exotic minorities.

In doctrine and bloody rivalry, Sunni and Shiite history parallels that of Protestants and Catholics. Sunni standards for faith and practice derive primarily from "the written word" -- the Qur'an and Sunna. Ancient biographical stories about Muhammad called Haddiths are compiled to make the Sunna. (Accounts of Jesus are gospels.) The principle of relying on "only the Qur'an and Haddith" parallels the Protestant reformers' slogan "sola scriptura."

As Roman Catholics believe Saint Peter's divine leadership passes down through a succession of Popes, Shiites maintain that Muhammad's divine authority continued in a line of Imams that began with Ali, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law. Although the line of Imams terminated with the twelfth who is supposed to return as a messiah, Shiites still revere their Ayatollahs, but Sunnis disdain them the way Protestants disregard priests and popes.

Sunni orthodoxy, like Protestantism, considers venerating saints to be heresy (though many Sunni are not orthodox in this regard). For Shiites, tombs and relics of the Imams establish holy sites for pilgrimage. Shiite Islam's four holiest cities, Najaf, Karbala, Kazimayn, and Samarra, are all in Iraq.

In the war against Shiite Iran (1980-88), Saddam Hussein minimized Islam's distinctions and civic role. He united Shiites and Sunnis around himself and a common Arab identity.

During the Gulf War, however, most Iraqi Shiites allied themselves with the coalition against Hussein. Since then, Shiites have been marginalized and their pilgrimages restricted. Over half of Iraq's population is Shiite.

Saddam Hussein's tightly knit power base falls within the minority Syro-Mesopotamian Arabs who comprise just one quarter of the population. They are mostly Sunni Muslims of the Hanafite system of Muslim law and predominate centrally between the mountains and lowlands. Saddam Hussein himself hails from Tikrit, a town on the banks of the Tigris River just north of Baghdad.

The Kurds are also oppressed. They live in mountains across Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. They are mostly Sunni Muslims of the Shafite system of Muslim law, but they speak several dialects and belong to different political factions. In their bid for national autonomy, they end up fighting each other more than their respective host country governments. Yes, Saddam Hussein has used nerve gas to subdue these rebellious citizens of his own nation, but he would hardly consider them to be his own people.

Other sometimes persecuted groups trying to keep a low profile include Christian Assyrians and Chaldeans, Shiite Persians (from Iran) Azerbaijanis (also called Turkomen), and Sunni Bedouins speaking the Nadji Arabic dialect.

Some Iraqis practice Mandaeanism which traces back to 2nd century gnosticism. Some of the Kurds practice Yazidi which mixes elements from Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Mandaeanism, Nestorian Christianity, and Islam. Jews in Iraq have dwindled from 250,000 before WWII to fewer than 200. The Baha'i religion was outlawed in 1970, but about 2,600 practitioners remain. Arab Christians in Iraq are few but growing.

Most of Iraq's Christians have ancient roots. Like the native American Indians, Iraqi Christian peoples have either been killed off, assimilated, or "put on reservations" to be preserved as curiosities. Chaldeans, Assyrians and Syrians use Syriac liturgy, and still speak Syriac language in some villages. In small, mostly Christian communities, state schools actually teach Christian religion. Some Armenian Orthodox and Armenian Catholics established communities in Iraq when they fled post WWI Turkish massacres. Roman Catholic expatriates do medical and educational work around Baghdad and Mosul.

Resouce Contact Information

R E S O U R C E S     F O R     M I N I S T R Y     I N     I R A Q
Resources Sponsors Phone Number Web Site
Online digital Scriptures:
    various Arabic dialects,
    Azerbaijani, Farsi
    and Kurdish dialects
Ethnic Harvest
International Bible Society
Farsi Net (Farsi)
The Grace (Arabic)
Arabic Bible Outreach
Bible Gateway
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www.ethnicharvest.org/bibles
www.gospelcom.net/ibs/bibles
www.farsinet.com/bible
www.thegrace.com
www.arabicbible.com
www.bible.gospelcom.net/languages
Christian Radio Broadcasting:
    Arabic dialects, Azerbaijani
    Kurmanji, & Kurdi
(broadcast frequencies & times)
Trans World Radio (TWR)
FEBA / FEBC
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1-800-456-7897
1-562-947-4651
www.wb2000.org
www.twr.org
www.feba.org.uk
Christian Television:
    Arabic dialects & Farsi
Sat7 (program guide) 1-610-995-9151 www.sat7.org
Audio Messages & Scriptures:
    various Arabic dialects,
    Azerbaijani, Farsi,
    Sorani & Kurmanji Kurdish
Faith Comes by Hearing
Audio Scripture Ministries
Bible Gateway (online in Farsi)
Global Recordings Network
1-800-545-6552
1-941-748-4100
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1-888-444-7872
www.fcbh.org
www.gospelcom.net/aurora/pages/general/home.htm
http://bible.gospelcom.net/languages
www.globalrecordings.net
Bibles & New Testaments:
    various Arabic dialects,
    Azerbaijani, Farsi,
    Kurdish dialects,
    Aramaic & Syriac
Amazon.Com
Multi-Language Media
The Good Way
International Bible Society
American Bible Society
Scripture Gift Mission
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1-717-738-0582
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1-800-524-1588
1-800-322-4253
1-877-873-2746
www.amazon.com
www.multilanguage.com
www.the-good-way.com
www.gospelcom.net/ibs
www.americanbible.org
www.gospelcom.net/asgm
Books & Literature:
    various Arabic dialects,
    Azerbaijani, Farsi,
    & Kurdish dialects
Multi-Language Media
CCCI (Four Spiritual Laws)
Arab World Ministries
The Good Way
1-717-738-0582
1-407-826-2000
1-800-447-3566
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www.multilanguage.com
ccci.org/laws/languages.html
www.gospelcom.net/awm/resource.htm
www.the-good-way.com
Arab Christian Resources:
    audio, video, magazines
    books & literature
Middle East Media
Arabic Bible Outreach
Good News Radio
Hadith Al-Asdika
The Light of Life
Through the Bible
Voice of Preaching the Gospel
Call of Hope
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1-719-574-5900
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www.middleeastmedia.org
www.arabicbible.com
www.inarabic.org/index1.htm
www.domini.org/malaga
www.light-of-life.com
www.ttb.org/arabic.htm
www.vopg.org
www.call-of-hope.com
Farsi Christian Resources:
Farsi Net - www.farsinet.com
Jesus Film, Video & DVD:
    all major Iraqi languages
CCCI, Jesus FILM Project
Multi-Language Media
1-800-560-8713
1-717-738-0582
www.jesusfilm.org
www.multilanguage.com
Christian Videos:
    in Arabic
 
    note: VTV has many titles!
Jeremiah Films
Arab World Ministries
Films for Christ
Vision Through Video (VTV)
1-800-828-2290
1-800-447-3566
1-800-332-2261
Cyprus 3574650953
www.jeremiahfilms.com
www.gospelcom.net/awm/resource.htm
www.EdenCatalog.com
e-mail: vtvcy@vtvcy.charis.co.uk
Bible Correspondence Courses:
    in Arabic & Farsi
Voice of Preaching the Gospel 1-719-574-5900 www.vopg.org/free/bible_corr.htm
Database for many languages:
Minority Language Resource File - sheperd.com/mlrf
Language Learning:
    phrases & products online
    self study courses
    Kurmanji dictionary and lessons
 
TravLang.Com
Transparent.Com
POC: Ms. Cherie Rempel
 
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1-888-245-1829
1-703-455-5741
 
www.travlang.com/languages/cgi-bin/langchoice.cgi
www.transparent.com
e-mail: CJRempel@cs.com
Classic Bible Films:
    (in English)
Mount Carmel 1-800-272-2442 www.mountcarmel.com/cart/videos/biblical.htm

R E S O U R C E S     F O R     U N D E R S T A N D I N G     A N D     M I N I S T E R I N G
Resources Phone Number Web Site
  Working With Middle-Easterners online brochure
  Center for Ministry to Muslims material on Islam
  Arab World Ministries material on Islam
  Dialog / Q&A via the Internet
  Support for Christian Women Married to or Dating Muslim Men
1-770-410-6000
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1-800-447-3566
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www.namb.net/cp/About_CPG/brochures.asp
www.cmmequip.org
www.gospelcom.net/awm
answering-islam.org
www.domini.org/lam/home.html

R E C O M M E N D E D     R E A D I N G
Title Author Publisher
  Daughers of Islam: Building Bridges with Muslim Women
  Magic and the Kingdom of God: Church Planting Among Folk Muslims
  Ministry to Muslim Women: Longing to Call Them Sisters
  Touching the Soul of Islam: Sharing the Gospel in Muslim Cultures
  The Cross and the Crescent: Reflections on Christian-Muslim Spirituality
Miriam Adeney
Rick Love
Fran Love & Jeleta Eckheart
Bill Musk
Phil Parshall
Intervarsity Press, 2002
William Carey Library, 2000
William Carey Library, 2000
Broadway House, 1995
Tyndale House, 1989

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