Religion and Ethnicity

Although there are a number of different religions and ethnic groups in Iraq, the majority religion is Islam. There are 3 main groups in the country – Shia, Sunni, and Kurdish –all of which follow Islam in one way or another.

When the majority Shia Iran underwent its Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran’s leader Ayatollah Khomeini (Shia) tried to encourage Shia Muslims living in Iraq to revolt against Saddam and start an Islamic Republic, as in Iran. Although this never happened, Iraq’s Shia Muslims were deeply divided on the issue, with many wanting to follow Iran, and others opting to side with Saddam Hussein. It is interesting to note that although Saddam was Sunni, and his government was mostly Sunni, Iraq is a majority Shia country.

The basic difference between Shia and Sunni Muslims goes back to the birth of the religion. They disagree about who was the next leader of the Muslim community after the prophet Muhammad died. They are all part of the Muslim faith but follow it in different ways. Sunni is the most common form of Islam around the world, although Shia is the most followed form in Iraq.

Shia uprising:

When Saddam was about to be defeated in the 1991 Gulf War, the Shia Muslims rose up to try and get rid of him, being Sunni he feared for his position. What followed was a brutal crushing of the Shia rebellion, with many being arrested, tortured and killed. This led to many Shia Muslims in Iraq wanting to crush Sunni power after Saddam was finally removed in 2003. The government in Iraq nowadays is majority Shia, with many Sunni’s claiming the government is using ‘death squads’ to persecute and kill Sunni’s. This has increased tension between the two groups.

Kurds:

There are about 20 -25 million Kurds worldwide, with 5-6 million of them living in Iraq, making up roughly 20% of its population. Typically they are found in the Middle East, with large populations in Turkey, Iran, and Syria, but they do not have a country of their own.

The majority of Kurdish people follow a type of Sunni Islam, and they separate themselves from their surrounding countries with particular rituals, customs, cultures and traditions that are unique to the Kurdish people.

The Kurds suffered a lot under Saddam’s regime, often fighting battles with his security forces. Things got even worse for the Kurdish people in 1988 when during the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam Hussein ordered the gassing of Halabja, a Kurdish town in the Kurdish area of Iraq. 5000-15,000 people were killed or wounded in the attack.