The invasion of Iraq in 2003 by coalition forces led by the Americans and the British was welcomed by the Mandaean community who thought they would benefit from the promises of tolerance and democracy made by the political leaders of the invading armies. Mandaeans are a pacifist people, strictly forbidden by their religion from carrying weapons. The chaos and violence unleashed by the invasion has decimated their community – ordinary Mandaeans, their leaders and lay people have all been targets for assassination, kidnapping, forced conversion, torture, rape, expulsion and other forms of violence. Their temples have been targeted for destruction and their numbers have been reduced from an estimated 50,000 - 60,000 before the invasion to an estimated 2,500 - 5,000 today.
The following is the text of a research paper I finished on the Mandaean people of Iraq. I'm putting it here as a diary because I'd like to bring publicity to their plight. Names of those interviewed for this project have been redacted both for their protection and the protection of their family members still in Iraq today. Ignore in-text citations.
Mandaean Beginnings
The Mandaean religion is one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world. Commonly (and mistakenly) referred to as "The Last Gnostics" Mandaeans are followers of John the Baptist and are completely independent of Judaism, Christianity or Islam. They consider themselves the true children of Adam, the first man and in particular the direct descendants of Shem, son of Noah. In Arabic the Mandaean community are sometimes called "Sabeans" (sābi ūn) and are thought by some to be the group referred to in the Qur’an as protected (Ahl al-Kitāb) "people of the book" along with Christians and Jews (Lupieri 3). Mandaeans have traditionally spoken a dialect of Aramaic but the pressures of cultural homogenization have led to a decline in the number of native speakers and the majority of Mandaeans now speak only Arabic or in Iran – Farsi.
As are the beginnings of most religions early Mandaean history is shrouded in mystery, but it is thought Mandaeans came to Iraq and Iran within 30 years of the crucifixion of Jesus. Mandaeans view both Christians and Jews as unclean and because they do not practice circumcision are particularly appalled by that particular Jewish custom. They also are opposed to celibacy for priests and in their ancient texts compare Christianity to "a dried up river" (Lupieri 252)
Mandaeans require free flowing water (Iardna) for their religious purposes and so historically they have settled near rivers, springs and streams. In Mesopotamia and the Persian Empire the locations of the Tigris and Euphrates and Karun rivers and in particular the delta of the Tigris and the Euphrates proved hospitable to the Mandaeans.
The water Mandaeans use for consumption and for baptism cannot be "broken", meaning it cannot be piped or taken from its original free-flowing source such as a river or a spring. Mandaean services mandate full-immersion baptism at least once a week and more often when "polluted." Examples of pollution are many and include eating meat that hasn’t been prepared in the Mandaean-ritual fashion or having any contact with a woman who is menstruating (Weinberger).
In Iraq and Iran the Mandaeans developed the historical trades they would carry forward into the modern age – goldsmiths, blackmiths, carpenters, jewelers and in the modern era proprietors of liquor stores, physicians and pharmacists (Saidi, Int). They developed their own tight-knit communities in Southern Mesopotamia, Baghdad and as far north as Mosul (Lupieri 7). In the Persian empire Mandaeans settled primarily in the ethnic-Arab province of Arabistan (Khuzestan).
Early life in Mandaean communities
As insular a community as the Mandaeans are they have always been under threat by the larger cultures which surround them. Due to their pacifist leanings they have not had the protection of established militias of which other groups in Mesopotamia or Persia have traditionally availed themselves. Thus they were easy targets for pillage and conversion from the Muslims whom they abhor. Mandaeans were the victims of several massacres carried out by Muslim forces in various parts of Iran and Iraq in 1782, 1837, 1839 and 1870. The enmity between Mandaeans and Muslims is spoken of in the Mandaean holy texts, which speak of Mohammed (Mhamat) in this manner:
After that I explain to you, perfect and faithful: After all the prophets a prophet will rise up from the earth. The Arab prophet comes and rules over all the peoples. Thus wretchedness is great in the world dominion the world will be in confusion. After the Arab Mhamat, son of Bizbat, no prophet will come into the world, and the faithful will disappear from the earth. GR1.203 (Pet. 29, Lid. 30) (Lupieri 254)
In Mesopotamia (now Iraq) Mandaeans suffered through the same invasions as did the larger Shiite and Sunni communities, whether by the Mongols, Turks or the Persians. Despite the upheaval which continually surrounded their community Mandaeans had always managed to maintain a deep sense of religious, cultural and social cohesion. As with the rest of the Arab world the carefully structured existence of the Mandaeans began to fracture with the rise of the secular state in Iran and Iraq after WWII. At this point a "period of transformation and acculturation began for the Mandaeans" and led to the most challenging period so far in their 2,000 year-long history (Lupieri).
Arab Nationalism, Baathism and the Mandaeans
After WWII the rise of Arab nationalism led to a suppression of minority cultural expression in the form of language and dress. This phenomenon affected minorities around the Arab world, from the Berbers in North Africa to the Kurds in Syria and Iraq to the Mandaeans in Iraq.
Despite the pressure to conform to the new Arab identity Mandaean life up until the time of the overthrow of the Iraqi Hashemite ruler was, in the words of one Mandaean: "Pretty good, we fared pretty well in the time when we were a kingdom, then came the overthrow of the king and the establishment of a national security government when they came to take a lot of Mandaeans because they were involved in non-violent protests" (S)
After the overthrow of the Iraqi Hashemite king and the establishment of the 14 July Revolutionary Government the situation of the Mandaeans became more precarious (Cleveland 327). It is not beyond the realm of reason to believe that small, vulnerable populations are always going to be the first to bear the brunt of political, ethnic or religious instability. In the case of the Mandaeans this was the case, as "the radicalization of Arab politics" led to a greater emphasis on Arab identity in Iraq. Because the Mandaeans were neither Arab nor Muslim nor spoke Arabic as their primary language they were viewed with suspicion by the larger Arab population.
The situation of the Mandaeans between the 14 July Revolution and the rise of the Baath party in 1968 is difficult to piece together as first-hand account are not easy to come by. The face-to-face interviews conducted for this paper were helpful in providing a context of life in Iraq, but as both subjects were under 40 they had little memory of this time. The overwhelming impression given by Mandaean interviewees of life in Iraq was a feeling of separateness, of not feeling a part of the Iraqi nation because they were not Muslim. One Mandaean interviewee said:
"And everybody knows and it’s a question on every form, like here when you fill out a job application [in Iraq] one of the questions will be "What is your religion?" and everyone will ask you that. In school they teach a class on Islam and of course I am not Muslim and everybody knows that. And I used to sit in these classes in elementary and middle school just because my dad wanted me to have the knowledge and one time in 3rd grade the teacher said "Hopefully one day God will lead you to Islam, you will find your way to God." and I went to my parents and they said "You already are a believer." So everybody knows" (S. Z).
The time after the establishment of the Baath regime is well-documented. Mandaeans universally speak ill of Saddam Hussein and state repeatedly that they felt obligated to give in to Saddam’s demands, that they felt "bought off" by the Baath regime and despite the protection they received living under Baathism they still suffered tremendously because of the wars started by Saddam and the sanctions which followed.
"Saddam used to protect all the minority groups, this is how he operated – to buy off communities. He gave the Mandaeans a key piece of land on the river in Central Baghdad, in return they gave him a copy of their holy book translated into Arabic. You had to cooperate with the regime to survive." (Taneja 13)
"The country was in better shape all together before he took power and even right after he took power, until the Iran war started things weren’t that bad at least that’s what people used to say, everyone compares, talks about things in relative terms, things were better but were they really good? Or are they just better than what they have now?" (S)
The Iran-Iraq War and Mandaeans in Iran
In Iran the situation of the Mandaeans was positive until the overthrow of Shah Reza Pahlavi in 1979. Protected under the Shah the Mandaeans were unsure how they would be treated by the new Islamic government. Mandaean leaders took their holy books to Tehran and requested a meeting with an influential member of the Iranian parliament, Ayatollah Taleqani. The response they received from the Ayatollah was not the one they were hoping to hear. They were told they would all be given a chance to convert to Islam (Lupieri 3).
The subject of an interview for this project stated:
"When Khomeini took power he ruled by the shariah and he gave them the shariah equivalent of the law, you’re entitled to leave, take all your possessions, but if you stay you’ll have to live by the Islamic rule and pay the Jiyzihah – that’s the religious tax and basically become a second-class citizen" (S).
Mandaeans are a people who straddle the borders between Iran and Iraq. They are concentrated primarily in the south of Iraq and the Arab-populated Iranian province of Khuzestan. Because their community exists on both sides of the border families are often split between Iraq and Iran, with brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents divided between the two countries. Prior to the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980 this didn’t present a problem, but after the outbreak of the war Mandaeans suffered as much if not more than the general populace of either country (Amnesty).
Despite the fact that Mandaeans are pacifists who are forbidden by their religion to carry a weapon or to kill they were forced into both the Iranian and Iraqi armed forces. There are reports that Iraqi Mandaeans who were captured by the Iranian Army were forced to convert to Islam and denied the chance to return to Iraq after the war. A Mandaean who was interviewed for this project said the following:
"My uncle is MIA, he’s missing since 1982 in Mohamara, we had reports that somebody had spotted him, that he was a convert [to Islam[ but it’s nothing we have confirmed. We couldn’t confirm that [he had converted] but we had some relatives in Iran too, especially after this recent war were able to go look but they couldn’t confirm" (S).
The war brought ruin to both Iran and Iraq but in particular to the communities living in the south of both countries. The back and forth battles over the Shaat al-Arab waterway devastated the region and the people who lived there, especially the Marsh Arabs and the Mandaeans.
Mandaeans from Gulf War I to Gulf War II
The Shiite uprising that followed the first Gulf War was a harbinger of what lay in store for Mandaeans in the future. The Mandaean community did not participate in the uprising and indeed suffered at the hands of some rebellious Shiites during that time. In the words of an interviewee:
"I have my mother’s uncles in the South and one of them was shot by the neighbors because they told him "you are an infidel." They didn’t kill him but he was shot in the leg. This was right after the invasion and during the uprising and lawlessness that dominated everybody felt entitled to do what they think is right. They definitely, at least the ones that I know, they did not participate in the uprising. Were they targeted by the government simply because they lived there? I don’t know. They used to look for people based on their names and what they looked like to see if they were Shiite" (S)
After the end of the first Gulf War the Mandaean population was as much affected by the UN sanctions regime as the rest of Iraq. As XXXX said in an interview:
"After the sanctions and the embargo things were extremely difficult, living basic lives, barely getting by, that is not to say others didn’t prosper, a lot of the Mandaean people do have goldsmiths and jewelry shops, it’s kind of a heritage thing, and those managed to do well, but if you were an employee in any type of government job, they used to pay you ok, but your pay with the inflation and the sinking of the Dinar it was useless, a month’s salary would buy you two dozen eggs and that’s it, so people were working overtime, doing other things, doing things they would rather have not done, to survive" (S).
The Mandaean Community in the "New Iraq."
Mandaeans initially welcomed the possibility of invasion by coalition forces in Iraq in 2003, Indeed several of those interviewed for this project stated that they wished the United States and its allied had invaded and deposed Saddam Hussein in 1991 (Mandaean Associations Union).
But as lawlessness enveloped Iraq immediately after the invasion and was quickly followed by the growth of the Sunni insurgency many Mandaeans began to be targeted by insurgents and militia groups from both the Sunni and Shiite communities. In an atmosphere where everyone was heavily armed the Mandaeans were conspicuous for their lack of protection, either personal or provided by a militia. Seeing this they became "easy targets" for those who despised them because they were not Muslim or because they desired the properties they occupied or the wealth the Mandaean community was thought to possess.
The statistics are grim. Estimated vary but the Mandaean community in Iraq, once thought to number greater than 50,000, is now thought to not include more than 2500 individuals (Saidi). Many Mandaeans have fled to Jordan and Syria and from there further onward to Australia, Sweden and the United States (Mandaean Association Union).
Mandaean religious leaders have been targeted for assassination in front of their families; in 2006 two primary Mandaean religious leaders were killed in Baghdad. Mandaean goldsmiths have also been targeted for murder, sometimes being killed in their shops in front of their children. Kidnappings for ransom are epidemic, at times Mandaean children are returned to their families dead despite their families having paid the requested ransom. Forced circumcision and conversion to Islam of Mandaean boys is common as is the rape and forced conversion of Mandaean girls and women (Mandaean Associations Union)
Mandaean houses of worship have been targeted for destruction. In July of 2007 the Mandaean baptism place in Umara was machine-gunned, three worshipers were injured. In June of 2006 the Mandaean place of prayer in Basra was attacked and damaged (Mandaean Associations Union). Because the Mandaean community has so few places of worship the loss of even one would prove devastating to their sense of morale and community. In addition to the other attacks their holiest temple in Baghdad has come under small-arms fire. This temple is known to hold the holiest of Mandaean holy books, which if lost would be irreplaceable (S. Z).
Violence is a fact of life in Iraq. But the impact of that violence is magnified when a community is as small and defenseless as the Mandaeans. In the face of daily assaults on their religious freedom and their lives is there any hope for the Mandaean community in Iraq?
The answer, sadly, appear to be no. In discussing the impact on the Mandaean community of leaving Iraq one of the Mandaean interviewees said this: "We were discussing the issue of leaving Iraq and we said ‘If we leave we’re [the Mandaean community] done.’" Asked to elaborate further the Mandaean community member said:
"Religious wise, because you know, again we’ll be all over the place, although there was a promise to keep people all together the "togetherness" is not really going to stick for long. Now, after what’s been happening it has turned into more of human rights issue, of course with a focus on religion but it’s mostly trying to save these people’s lives. And there are folks in Jordan and Syria who were offered to come to the States but they really wanted to go to Sweden because they had relatives there. You know and vice-versa, so I and the priest, Satar, went to Washington and had three days worth of meetings with staffers and various groups, and one of the things that they raised was that not only should we try and get people out we should really try and put them in one place. And the priest actually visited various Mandaean communities around the world and he thought the best thing, the best chance was to bring everyone to the US or Australia. He figured those would be viable communities. As opposed to a little bit of folks in Canada, or Holland or Germany or wherever "(S).
Proposals have been circulated by members of the US Congress to allow the US government to bring the entire Mandaean community to the United States – en masse. An Op-Ed piece in the New York Times written by one of the world’s foremost experts on the Mandaean religion stated:
Of the mere 500 Iraqi refugees who were allowed into the United States from April 2003 to April 2007, only a few were Mandaeans. And despite the Bush administration’s commitment to let in 7,000 refugees in the fiscal year that ended last month, fewer than 2,000, including just three Iraqi Mandaean families, entered the country.
In September, the Senate took a step in the right direction when it unanimously passed an amendment to a defense bill that grants privileged refugee status to members of a religious or minority community who are identified by the State Department as a persecuted group and have close relatives in the United States. But because so few Mandaeans live here, this will do little for those seeking asylum. The legislation, however, also authorizes the State and Homeland Security Departments to grant privileged status to "other persecuted groups," as they see fit.
If all Iraqi Mandaeans are granted privileged status and allowed to enter the United States in significant numbers, it may just be enough to save them and their ancient culture from destruction. If not, after 2,000 years of history, of persecution and tenacious survival, the last Gnostics will finally disappear, victims of an extinction inadvertently set into motion by our nation’s negligence in Iraq (Deutsch, New York Times Op-Ed)
When asked the response by US officials to their pleas one representative of the Mandaean community in the United States said:
"Promises, just promises. The problem is there are bills they are working on in Congress and the Senate but they don’t really focus on individual minority groups, they want to make a political statement too, but if you put the Mandaeans with the other minorities and throw in like other types of hate crimes that will happen they might not move along" (Saidi).
The record of the United States in protecting religious minorities in Iraq is shameful. After invading Iraq and upsetting the social and religious order in the country the United States refused to get involved in what it saw as "inter-religious matters." It is the stated policy of the United States Armed Forces to not involve themselves in the protection of any specific religious group in Iraq for fear of upsetting the delicate balance between religious groups in the country. This policy of benign neglect has proven devastating to the Mandaeans and has allowed their exploitation and murder to continue for the benefit of more numerically and militarily superior factions in Iraq.
In addition the failure of the United States to admit persecuted ethnic and religious minorities as refugees has been scandalous. The Mandaean community in Iraq is in danger of extinction. Because of their small size they do not have a geographically-based area where they can gather for protection from either American forces or the Iraqi Police (IP). They are entirely at the mercy of those who surround them in Iraq and as a consequence the fabric of their community has been wrent, perhaps beyond repair.
Conclusion
The evidence is overwhelming: there is no future for the Mandaean community in its ancient homeland. Right now the focus isn’t on maintaining the Mandaean community in Iraq it’s on getting them out so they have a chance of survival. Numerically tiny, pacifist in belief, perceived as being both wealthy and heretical the Mandaeans do not have a future in "the new Iraq." As the focus has shifted more and more to attempting to transplant the entire community out of the country in order to guarantee its survival the question has arisen as to whether this ancient community will have a future after it leaves Iraq.
That question is best left to anthropologists to answer. There are signs of hope for Mandaeans who have immigrated to the United States, Canada and Australia as well as Europe. Two subjects of an interview conducted for this project held the first ever Mandaean wedding in the United States in 1999, officiated at by a Mandaean priest from Australia. Mandaeans in the United States and Canada have organized politically to advocate on behalf of their beleaguered brethren in Iraq and Iran. They have also followed the immigrant experience of those who came here before them by organizing summer camps and day schools in which to provide a continuity of the Mandaean experience for their children. The Mandaean community is also confronting the issues of modern society such as the thorny issue of conversion, currently forbidden but one which is spoken about as a means of survival by more and more in the Mandaean Diaspora.
Even amongst the tales of horror and exile there remains a small amount of hope for these ancient people. The morass that is Iraq may turn out to be a fully functional country at some point in the near future; anyone concerned with the future of Iraq must have this hope. But for the Mandaeans the very small window that was their lives in Iraq appears to have been closed by the forces of sectarianism and religious intolerance, both of which are not only beyond their control but oftentimes their understanding as well. Always a stranger this tiny community, the last remnant of Gnosticism in Mesopotamia, must look abroad to its future and once again confront the prospect of exile.
Mandaean Associations Union
Minority Rights Group International
