The real fear is the mentality of so many people lately- the rift that seems to have worked it?s way through the very heart of the country, dividing people. It?s disheartening to talk to acquaintances- sophisticated, civilized people- and hear how Sunnis are like this, and Shia are like that? To watch people pick up their things to move to ?Sunni neighborhoods? or ?Shia neighborhoods?. How did this happen?
I read constantly analyses mostly written by foreigners or Iraqis who?ve been abroad for decades talking about how there was always a divide between Sunnis and Shia in Iraq (which, ironically, only becomes apparent when you're not actually living amongst Iraqis they claim)? but how under a dictator, nobody saw it or nobody wanted to see it. That is simply not true- if there was a divide, it was between the fanatics on both ends. The extreme Shia and extreme Sunnis. Most people simply didn?t go around making friends or socializing with neighbors based on their sect. People didn't care- you could ask that question, but everyone would look at you like you were silly and rude.
I remember as a child, during a visit, I was playing outside with one of the neighbors children. Amal was exactly my age- we were even born in the same month, only three days apart. We were laughing at a silly joke and suddenly she turned and asked coyly, ?Are you Sanafir or Shanakil?? I stood there, puzzled. ?Sanafir? is the Arabic word for ?Smurfs? and ?Shanakil? is the Arabic word for ?Snorks?. I didn?t understand why she was asking me if I was a Smurf or a Snork. Apparently, it was an indirect way to ask whether I was Sunni (Sanafir) or Shia (Shanakil).
?What???? I asked, half smiling. She laughed and asked me whether I prayed with my hands to my sides or folded against my stomach. I shrugged, not very interested and a little bit ashamed to admit that I still didn?t really know how to pray properly, at the tender age of 10.
Later that evening, I sat at my aunt?s house and remember to ask my mother whether we were Smurfs or Snorks. She gave me the same blank look I had given Amal. ?Mama- do we pray like THIS or like THIS?!? I got up and did both prayer positions. My mother?s eyes cleared and she shook her head and rolled her eyes at my aunt, ?Why are you asking? Who wants to know?? I explained how Amal, our Shanakil neighbor, had asked me earlier that day. ?Well tell Amal we?re not Shanakil and we?re not Sanafir- we?re Muslims- there?s no difference.?
It was years later before I learned that half the family were Sanafir, and the other half were Shanakil, but nobody cared. We didn?t sit around during family reunions or family dinners and argue Sunni Islam or Shia Islam. The family didn?t care about how this cousin prayed with his hands at his side and that one prayed with her hands folded across her stomach. Many Iraqis of my generation have that attitude. We were brought up to believe that people who discriminated in any way- positively or negatively- based on sect or ethnicity were backward, uneducated and uncivilized.
The thing most worrisome about the situation now, is that discrimination based on sect has become so commonplace. For the average educated Iraqi in Baghdad, there is still scorn for all the Sunni/Shia talk. Sadly though, people are being pushed into claiming to be this or that because political parties are promoting it with every speech and every newspaper- the whole ?us? / ?them?. We read constantly about how ?We Sunnis should unite with our Shia brothers?? or how ?We Shia should forgive our Sunni brothers?? (note how us Sunni and Shia sisters don?t really fit into either equation at this point). Politicians and religious figures seem to forget at the end of the day that we?re all simply Iraqis.
Not exactly sure) but what I found telling is the fact that my mom gave me the EXACT same reply...
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