Iraqi Muslim cleric: ‘Defensive jihad’ protected the homeland and was a pivotal moment in Iraq’s modern history

FEB 5, 2026 11:00 AM
BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS

The West still hasn’t collectively wrapped its head around the fact that bloody jihad is the way for mainstream Muslims who follow normative Islam and the texts of Qur’an and Hadith. It is the doctrine that established Islamic countries and still is regarded as necessary to continue the expansion of what is regarded as divine law, the Sharia. Iraqi leader and cleric Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim praised jihad as  fundamental to the survival of the “homeland”: “Al-Hakim: Defensive Jihad Fatwa restored balance and Protected the Homeland,” Iraqi News Agency, February 4, 2026: The head of the National State Forces Alliance, Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim, affirmed on Wednesday that the fatwa of defensive jihad restored balance and protected the homeland during the most trying times.

Al-Hakim said in a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that “the fatwa of defensive jihad issued by the Supreme Religious Authority was a pivotal moment in Iraq’s modern history, as it restored balance and protected the homeland during the most severe trials.”…

The National State Forces Alliance (NSFA) is an Iraqi political coalition headed by Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim and former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi that secured the most seats in the 2025 elections. The NFSA a key member of the Shia Coordination Framework,  an alliance of Shia political parties and encompasses their associated militias, which operate even outside government control and legal framework. Violent jihadists and stealth jihadists (including Islamic clerics and political leaders) have a symbiotic relationship as they both work to expand the hegemony of Islam.

Westerners have a mental block in seeing Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim as mainstream. Yet it is as plain as ever when he extols the virtues of jihad. Dubbed as “one of Iraq’s most influential politicians,” al-Hakim refers to “the fatwa of defensive jihad” that “restored balance and protected the homeland,” in Islamic terms, where “defensive” means not only protecting the ummah, but expanding it via violence. Al-Hakim has also praised the “heroic armed forces in all their branches,” as well as “righteous martyrs” (those who died waging violent jihad).

Regarding regional politics, Al-Hakim as urged Islamic unity, and for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Arab League to stand against “Israeli aggression.” He also views support of Israel as a “betrayal of humanity,” and refers to America as partners with Israel. As such, both must be opposed in his view, in defense of both Iran and Iraq. He has stressed “close cultural and political ties” between Iran and Iraq.

Westerners, especially leftists, still think that violent jihad is an aberration and perversion of Islam. 1,400 years of history has not convinced them otherwise.


Muqtada al-Sadr rejects US-produced 'infidel' coronavirus vaccine

Firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has a dedicated following among young Iraqis [Getty]

The New Arab
Date of publication: 12 March, 2020 

Iraq's influential cleric Muqtada Sadr blamed Donald Trump for the spread of COVID-19 and announced he would not take any cure produced by the 'infidel' United States.

Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has been mocked online after tweeting he would not accept any coronavirus cure made by the "infidel" United States, as the outbreak's death toll continues to mount.

The influential Shia leader posted on Wednesday addressing US President Trump, blaming him for the spread of the disease and accusing the US of having the most coronavirus cases.

"Trump, you have filled the world with wars, occupations and poverty, and now you claim that you are the healer.. But this disease is spreading because of your awful policies," his statement said.

He said that he does not want any medicine from Trump because he is an "infidel", adding that he and his supporters rely solely on God for the treatment of diseases.

Social media users slammed the tweet, accusing Sadr of hypocrisy, as US-made drugs are widely used in Iraq.

Others called on Sadr to cooperate with the rest of the world in order to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, that risks turning into a humanitarian crisis if it spreads widely in Iraq. 

Iraq's health ministry confirmed 79 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, with the death toll having risen to eight.

Baghdad has been quick to take measures to contain the spread of the disease, shutting down schools and universities last week and banning travel to virus-hit states.

The government will also closed all land borders with Iran and Kuwait as of 16 March, and has banned travel to and from China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Italy, Bahrain, France and Spain.

The global death toll from the virus is over 4,700 with more than 127,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organisation.


Scandal of young Iraqi girls sold for sex in temporary 'pleasure marriages' that can last as little as an hour - as one Shia cleric claims it is 'no problem at all' to wed a nine-year-old

Shia clerics were filmed offering brief marriages in a BBC documentary in Iraq
One claimed there was 'no problem at all' with 'marrying' girls as young as nine 
Undercover With The Clerics - Iraq’s Secret Sex Trade is on BBC iPlayer 

By TIM STICKINGS FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 07:50 EST, 4 October 2019 

Young Iraqi girls are being sold for sex in temporary 'marriages' that can last as little as an hour, a BBC documentary has revealed.

Shia clerics were filmed offering 'pleasure marriages' in which men, usually banned from having sex outside marriage, can pay a dowry for an interim wife.

One cleric claimed it would be 'no problem at all' to marry girls as young as nine under Islamic law.  
The practice is banned in Iraq but eight out of 10 Shia clerics who were approached were willing to carry it out - and one of them even offered to help procure young girls, the BBC News investigation found.

The religious rite dates back centuries, partly intended to allow men to have a legitimate relationship while away from their wives. 

However, some Iraqi men and Shia clerics are now abusing it to give a veneer of legitimacy to child prostitution. 

One cleric in Karbala, an important religious site in Iraq, told the undercover BBC journalist that girls as young as nine could be subject to the procedure. 

'According to Sharia, there's no problem,' he said, when asked if it was acceptable to conduct a temporary marriage with a young girl. 

When the reporter voiced concern that he was exploiting the girl, the cleric told him: 'No way'.  

Another cleric, also filmed secretly, was asked if a temporary marriage with a 13-year-old virgin would be permissible under Islamic law. 

'Just be careful she doesn't lose her virginity,' the cleric replied, suggesting other forms of sexual interaction instead. 

Asked what happens if the girl gets hurt, the cleric said: 'That's between you and her.' 

Later in the documentary, that second cleric went even further and offered to help procure the girls as well as conducting the marriages. 

Offering to take a photo of a girl and send it to the undercover client, he added: 'Then when you come back, she's yours.'  

That cleric also reassured the reporter that there was no child exploitation taking place. 

'She was willing and you paid her,' he said.  

The length of the marriage must be specified in advance, and can be fixed at anything from one hour to 99 years. 

Some girls said that clerics had provided them with contraceptive injections to ensure they did not become pregnant.  

The practice is not permitted under Sunni Islam and was banned under Saddam Hussein's Sunni-led government. 

However, the practice flourished in the wake of the 2003 invasion as Iraq's new government struggled to impose its authority on the country and Shia clerics grew in influence.  

One girl said she could not even remember how many times she had been 'married' and said she relied on the dowries for her income.  

Young women also fear that losing their virginity in a temporary marriage will leave them unable to find a permanent husband in future. 

One 14-year-old said she feared the consequences if a future husband found out that she was not a virgin.  

However, an Iraqi government spokesman said there was little that authorities could do if girls did not complain to the police.   

'If women don't go to the police with their complaints against clerics, it's difficult for the authorities to act,' they told the BBC.   
 
Islamic Rioters Attack Christian Shops in Northern Iraq

First widespread violence against Christians in once-safe Kurdish region.
 
By Damaris Kremida
December 8, 11
ChristianNewsToday.com
 
ISTANBUL – Attacks against Christian Assyrian businesses in northern Iraq over the weekend, which local sources said were organized by a pro-Islamic political party, marked the first such destruction of Christian establishments in the Kurdish region.
 
The rampage threatens the frail security of Iraq’s dwindling Christian population, sources said.
 
After mullah Mala Ismail Osman Sindi’s sermon claiming there was moral corruption in massage parlors in the northern town of Zakho on Friday (Dec. 2), a group of young men attacked and burned shops in the town, most of them Christian-owned. The businesses included liquor stores, hotels, a beauty salon and a massage parlor, according to Ankawa News.
 
“The interesting thing with this incident is the place where it happened,” Archdeacon Emanuel Youkhana of the Assyrian Church of the East said. “KRG [the Kurdish Regional Government] is, for the most part, safe and secure, and all inhabitants enjoy prosperity and security, until now at least. The future is, by all means, bleak for the Christians and other minorities living there.”
 
Some of the assailants waved banners stating, “There Is No God but Allah,” according to Ankawa News. Sources said local authorities were slow in responding, resulting in heavy financial losses.
 
Thousands of Christians had fled to the Kurdish region since the U.S.-led military intervention in Iraq in 2003.
 
Mullah Sindi denied accusations that he provoked the violence against northern Iraq’s Christian community, according to Ankawa News. After Sindi’s sermon, a man reportedly stood up in the mosque and said that since there were un-Islamic massage parlors in Zakho, Muslims should go destroy them. The mob started with the town’s only massage parlor and continued to stores selling liquor and three hotels, where they lit fires, according to Ankawa News.
 
Later on Friday, the mob tried to attack the Christian quarters of Zakho, but authorities stopped them.
 
Violence also erupted on Saturday morning (Dec. 3) on the outskirts of Dohuk in two Christian neighborhoods, where groups attacked liquor stores and burned a Christian cultural club. Yesterday (Dec. 5) small pockets of violence against Christian communities were quickly extinguished near the Kurdish capital, Erbil, and in the center of Sulaymaniyah, 200 kilometers (124 miles) south.
 
In Zakho, near the border with Turkey, owners of liquor shops and other establishments whose shops were burned and vandalized found leaflets on the walls of their destroyed shops yesterday (Dec. 5) threatening to kill them if they re-opened, according to Ankawa News. Some of the shop owners were Yezidis, a local religious sect.
 
The attacks were reportedly organized by the Kurdistan Islamic Union party, which is inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the region’s oldest Islamist parties and founded in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood strives to influence governments in the region toward more Islamic values.
 
In retaliation for the Zakho attacks, members of the Kurdish ruling party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), on Friday evening (Dec. 2) burned an Islamic Union office in Zakho. Over the weekend, KDP members ransacked and destroyed 10 Islamic Union offices in Dohuk province. The KDP claimed the Islamic Union planned the weekend attacks, and the Islamic Union blamed the KDP for storming their offices in retaliation, according to Ankawa News.
 
The unrest in the KRG in the last few days is a reflection of the unrest in the region, and as commonly happens, Christians were caught in the middle as innocent victims, Christian sources told Compass.
 
“I think these attacks were organized,” Chaldean Archbishop of Kirkuk Louis Sako said. “They might be connected not only to domestic issues, but also to events outside the country. Unfortunately, it’s always the Christians who pay the price.”
 
The motives of the mobs in Zakho were not purely religious, according to General Secretary of the Chaldo-Assyrian Student and Youth Union Kaldo Oghanna. Some of the young men may have attacked the mostly Christian establishments out of religious motives, but Oghanna said many of them joined the attacks only out of frustration toward the government. Others probably joined for personal benefit, as some members of the mob stole money and even liquor from the shops they destroyed, he said.
 
Most importantly, however, the attacks reflect the attitude of intolerance and discrimination that threaten the stability, safety and democratic process of the Kurdish region, Oghanna said.
 
“This attack is not a normal attack,” Oghanna said. “It threatened our businesses, and it is threatening the situation in Kurdistan. They attacked the democracy of the Kurdish region, its safety and security. Of course, we think there are international and domestic influences that made this situation escalate, but we also think this is in the mentality of those people: that they do not tolerate those who are different. This is our real struggle here.”
 
The greatest challenge of Iraq’s Christian Assyrian community since 2003 has been its dwindling population. The waves of the Iraqi Christian exodus have usually come after violent attacks on their communities. Archbishop Sako said he fears this attack may inspire more to leave.
 
“Now, maybe, because Christians are shocked and afraid, they will start to emigrate, and this is a bigger challenge,” he said. “We are encouraging them to stay.”

Female Genital Mutilation "An Obligation" According to Iraqi Muslim Cleric

by Irfan Al-Alawi
August 18, 2011
Hudson New York

In June, the parliament of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) adopted a ban on domestic violence, including female genital mutilation (FGM), a "procedure" that is widespread among Iraqi Kurds. The law will come into effect once it is signed by KRG president Mesud Barzani, who represents the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

But a local cleric, Ismail Sussai, in the major Iraqi Kurdish city of Arbil, has delivered a televised sermon in which he described FGM as "obligatory," called on fathers to kill themselves, on pain of losing their "honor," if they are legally prevented from abusing their daughters for using mobile phones; and he defended the beating of wives and children.

The Kurdish cleric was particularly offended by use of mobile phones among girls, as well as by suggestions that the beating of women and children should be legislatively curbed, along with the FGM that was inflicted on the mothers and grandmothers of present-day Iraqi Kurdish leaders, and is still suffered by a majority of Kurdish girls.

He went on to threaten political opposition to the KRG if Barzani signs the law against domestic violence and FGM.

Sussai's diatribe included the claim that sanctions against FGM were forced on the Iraqi Kurds by a conference of "Jews" in the Chinese capital of Beijing -- a bizarre charge that is apparently based in the condemnation of FGM by the Fourth World Conference on Women hosted by the United Nations in Beijing in 1995.

Sussai based his argument for FGM on support for it by the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence, one of four Sunni schools. While Shafi'i legalists have declared FGM obligatory, its imposition on girls has not been uniform. Shafi'i jurisprudence is widely adhered to in Muslim communities in East Africa, as well as in Egypt and Indonesia, with additional enclaves of support in the other Arab lands, the Indian ocean, and Southeast Asia. But FGM is rare in large areas of the Muslim geographical region that recognizes Shafi'i religious law.

FGM is a pre-Islamic practice that appears to have been assimilated into Shafi'i jurisprudence through adoption of local customs. It is more common among Black Africans of differing religious affiliation, as well as Arabs in diverse areas of Saudi Arabia and its neighbours, including Egypt. Immigrants from both parts of the globe have introduced FGM into Europe and the U.S., where it is banned. Parents who insist on it may send their daughters back to their homelands for infliction of FGM, but in doing so violate the law.

Along with many Western countries, Indonesia and Egypt have prohibited FGM, although some extremist clerics in both countries emphasize their support for it in the style of the Kurdish Ismail Sussai.

FGM is unknown in the Muslim Balkans, rare in Turkey and Central Asia, and absent from India and Bangladesh. The custom is controversial and despised by most of the Islamic global community. Even the radical cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who is influential in Egypt, has averred that while he supports the practice in a "moderate" Islamic way "indicated" in some of the hadiths (oral commentaries) of Prophet Muhammad, "such hadiths are not confirmed to be authentic."

Muslims should work to end FGM, so-called "honour" murders, beatings, and other abuses imposed on women and children under cover of religion. With all its many problems, the intentions of Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which has a secular history, and of the Kurdistan Regional Government, are correct in banning these practices.

President Barzani should sign and enforce the law against domestic violence, including its anti-FGM components, and disregard the retrograde harangues of extremist clerics like Ismail Sussai.

But members of the Shafi'i school and non-Shafi'i Muslim clerics must also recognize a duty to unambiguously repudiate "Islamic" pretexts for FGM and other family crimes.