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ISIS and the Changing Iraqi Dynamics – Toaha Qureshi MBE

A lot has changed since I last wrote about the uprising of ISIS a few days ago. Iraq is supposedly divided into three parts, (the ISIS controlled region, the Kurdish region and the government controlled region). However, ISIS, removing the IS from its abbreviation, is now known as the Islamic State (IS) based on Caliphate and the Saudi government has deployed 30,000 troops on its border.

Abu Bakar Al Baghdadi, the ISIS Chief, is now a self-proclaimed Caliph of the Muslim Ummah, but his aides have gone as far as stating they should destroy the holy city of Makkah, since it is merely a stone that is being worshipped.

Baghdadi declared himself as the ruler of all Muslims. This declaration is a threat not only for minorities in the region, but also for the Shia Muslims who, along with their Holy Shrines, could come under attack from the IS fighters.

So what makes a Caliph? And what are the conditions for establishing a Caliphate?

According to the Islamic historical records the famous caliphs (khalifa in Arabic), the Khulafa e Rashideen (or the true Caliphs), were either elected or nominated by a High Council of scholars and religious leaders. A caliph was never self-proclaimed. This shows that Al Baghdadi does not meet a basic condition to become an Islamic Caliph. Secondly, rarely as per Islamic records, were Muslims killed by a Muslim ruler if they refused to obey him.

As per religious scholars, the issue of Caliphate is not as simple as al Baghdadi makes it out to be. Some scholars have gone as far as to say that Al Baghdadi is a Khariji (Outsider). Khawarij, as per Islam, are those people who refused to obey Ali as a Caliph as thus went outside the circle of Islam.  For a number of years, Al Qaeda and its affiliate groups have also been tagged as Khawarij by Islamic scholars.

Baghdadi is not a fighter or leader as many predict. His past is as tainted as other most wanted terrorist leaders in the world with his head bounty being the second after Ayman al Zawahari. He was apprehended by the US forces, kept in custody of the Iraqi forces for a number of years, and then released in 2009. No one knew his past, but everyone knows his deadly present.

Interesting to note in this chaos is the fact that Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who are diplomatically facing bitter ties, are still indirectly supporting the IS through cash flows, which shows how the common agenda of “IS” is keeping them united for this unholy cause.

Iran, along with Russia, have agreed to deploy fighter jets to assist the US and the Iraqi government fight against the IS. It is still unsure as to who will lead the operations among the Irani and US forces once the offensive starts against the IS.

The United States is surprisingly showing restraint in this whole situation. Although it took no time in invading Iraq for the first time, this time around its approach is cautious. The fact that USA asked Iran for help is a clear enough indication of the US failure in Iraq to deliver on their promise: a stable and peaceful Iraq.

The Muslims of the UK have also come in the spiral of this raging violence. According to MP Khalid Mehmood, some 1500 Muslims may have left the country to fight for IS and its affiliates in Syria and Iraq, whereas Peter Fehy, the head of Prevent, claims the number to be around 500. With such a huge deviation between both the figures, one could safely argue that no one knows what the real number is.

In the midst of this situation, there are elements such as ex-Prevent adviser Farooq Siddiqui, who recently backed and supported the British Muslims fighting in Syria. According to him, “walking the walk” against the Syrian Assad regime shall not be considered a crime and thus those who return from their fighting endeavors back to the UK shall not be arrested. Such elements and statements would do further harm in creating anti-Muslim sentiments as the media has taken a U Turn on groups in Iraq and Syria, calling them terrorists. That is why, Muslims associated with these groups, even of British origin, will ultimately be brought under the same bracket of militancy.

Further, comments from Fadhil al Miliani, a Shia Cleric, were also welcoming as he barred the British Shia Muslims from going to fight in Iraq or Syria. According to him, Ayatollah Sistani’s recent call to Shias to fight against the ISIS was subject to Shias living in Iraq, and not around the world.

What further worries me is the fact that radicalization is increasing, and not reducing, in the UK day by day. Current initiatives like Prevent and funding think tanks like the Quilliam Foundation have done no good to the cause of de-radicalization in the British society. What these initiatives and think tanks are lacking is the grass route approach and access. During the tenure of the last government, there were programmes run to tackle extremism and radicalisation as well as offer de-radicalisation techniques through credible, grass roots organisations with the capacity to execute them successfully.

The quagmire in the Middle East is going deeper and deeper sucking with itself countless innocent lives. What makes the situation scary and chaotic is IS’s brutal means of operation. IS, just like Al Qaeda, believes in use of force and violence to gain power, but their use of force is something unseen and unheard of. In their quest for power, the IS has not even spared Al Qaeda and its members, even beheading a number of those of defied Baghdadi, showing their brutal side. To this extent, Taliban have also called IS extreme. Furthermore, the IS is also recruiting kids as young as 10 and training them to fight. What will happen of the next young generation of Iraq with the breeding of these child soldiers?

Saudi Arabia has created a monster which even it cannot control anymore. Now the question which everyone should ask is:

Is it Saudi Arabia’s turn after Iraq?

About the Author:

Toaha Qureshi is a British Pakistani educationist, strategist, policy analyst and philanthropist. He is Chairman of Forum for International Relations Development (FIRD). Toaha Qureshi was appointed Member of the Order of The British Empire after being awarded an MBE by Her Majesty the Queen, Elizabeth II, in 2009 for services rendered for community relations.


 


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