Today was the first day of Eid al Fitr. The holy month of Ramadan is over.
This is for Sunnis, of course. And a dilemma for me, it turned out.
Going out of the office, I saw the security guards – I walked over eagerly to say, "A blessed Eid to you!" But I stopped in my tracks… Are they Sunni? Or Shiite? If they were Shiite, would they resent it? Their Eid begins tomorrow. So I just said "as salamu alaikum" and walked by. I felt so bad. And I'm sure they were wondering the same thing about me, and kept their peace, too.
My daughter, my son and I drove off to attend the wonderful traditional family reunion at my parents' – and this is when all of our extended family gathers to celebrate Eid – all four generations of them, and going strong. Before 2003 the spoons I washed after Eid dinners numbered 130 and more. But now so many have left the country, to Syria, to Jordan, to Canada or Europe that only around thirty were there. And we do lunch instead of dinner because everyone needs to be safe at home at a "reasonable" time.
It was great! Small, but great!
For lunch we had prepared many traditional dishes including a huge dish of chicken biryani: spicy rice with roasted almonds and vermicelli, covered with spicy chicken halves. Dolma: vegetables stuffed with ground meat and spices – delicious! We had five or six more beautiful, beautiful dishes that everyone did justice to
After everyone left, we stayed for a while to chat, and then it was time to return. We stopped at a supermarket in Karrada to do a little shopping. We bought, amongst other things, onions and dates at the vegetable section. The assistant was very helpful, but as he was weighing the dates he looked straight into my eyes and said, "This is for Eid? – For tomorrow?" There was absolutely no reason why he should ask me this, and I got scared. If I say "no", I would be telling him I was Sunni. It was Sunnis who were celebrating Eid today. And if I say "yes", I would be lying. We were in a section of Baghdad that was controlled by the Supreme Council – the largest Shiite political party in the country, one known for its highly sectarian agenda. So I unashamedly lied. "Yes – of course." He gave me a knowing look and beamed.
We drove away, but my mind kept going back to his smile. There is nothing wrong with feeling proud of your sect, but this went way beyond that. For a moment there, I felt trapped. There has developed a layer that is underlying all interactions of our life on a daily basis: sectarianism. It has become an ugly fact of our daily lives.
There is nothing less important to fight over than religion.
Posted by: Bobby | September 25, 2009 at 12:34 PM
Dear Bahlool,
Bear with me for a minute.
Close your eyes and imagine a Shiite woman from Amil neighbourhood going to visit relatives in Hurriyah during Eid, and her daughter was with her.
They pass through Sunni neighbourhoods like Jami'a and Adil. They remember to buy chocolates to take with them and therefore stop at a store in Jami'a. But when she is paying, the man looks her in the eye, smiles and asks her, in a very polite, roundabout way, whether she was Sunni or Shiite. Can you perceive her feeling? The fear? The panic?
The idea of my posting is to shed a light, through my daily experiences, on what our lives look like.
You also mentioned that Iraqis "used to" intermarry. The fact is, they still do - at least some of them still do. My Sunni nephew married a wonderful Shiite young lady last year and now they have a beautiful baby boy.
Sectarianism in Iraq is imported - not native. At least that's how I see it. It entered the country after 2003, and created a real fear of "the other" that was not present before. And with all my strength I call on all my Iraqi brothers and sisters to hold fast, and not allow themselves to be swallowed up by this destructive storm. With the grace of God - it will pass.
Posted by: Sahar Issa | September 22, 2009 at 12:08 PM
I think you have forgotten that it was the sunnis, who used to worship (and even to this day still) Saddam, who started this crap. Shias and sunnis used to get married to each other. Now people hate each other.
Tell me, those who are dying in Iraq, the majority of them are shias is that not so? How would you feel if you saw 80-90% of all victims belonging to your sect?
I lost 3 uncles, their crime was that they came from a shia area...So first Saddam slaughered milions of shias and then it continued with help of the sunnis who used to help zarqawi and his wahabis/al qaidah.
As for eid..you didnt have to lie, as i am a shia and i broke fast with my sunni sisters and brothers, as did Iran, the shia country Iran. While sunnis in Kuwait and Oman fasted yesterday and didnt have eid.
I disslike your post as i have noticed its always about secterian problems and i have a hunch that you miss the old good times with Saddam in power and the shias "knowing their place". May Allah protect us from Saddam and his sunnis and my Allah protect us from the shias who are corrupted (and rule this poor country) and who have forgotten the message of the Ahlul Bayt.
Posted by: Bahlool | September 21, 2009 at 04:52 AM
Interesting, sad and happy.
Eid mubarak to you.
Posted by: Ben Rosengart | September 20, 2009 at 09:57 PM