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DETROIT - Leaders of the North American Shi'i and Sunni communities are concerned about increasing sectarian violence in Iraq.
Each individual "The Arab American News" spoke with had a different take on what is the root problem behind the violence, but all had the same bleak assessment - sectarianism is threatening to tear Iraq apart and needs to end if the country is to move forward.
Both Muneer Fareed and Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi said that religion is not the root cause behind the violence, but is intimately linked with questions of power in Iraq. Fareed is the Secretary General of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), an umbrella for various Islamic organizations. Rizvi is Grand Ayatollah Seestani's representative to Canada and imam of the Jafari Islamic Centre, Toronto's largest Shi'i religious center.
"The violence is not primarily really a religious issue, it is an issue of political domination. It is simply a matter of the Shi'a being a majority. The Shi'a have been suppressed for decades if not a century, and this is the first true democratic election. Of course those who were in power and privileged under Saddam's regime would like to oppose that," said Rizvi.
"The violence is not primarily motivated by religion. There is an orchestration taking place because of political factors. But those pulling the strings have a need for individuals who feel emotionally committed enough to actually commit the violence themselves. And that's where I think the role of religion comes in," said Fareed.
Former ISNA president Muhammad Nur said that he "didn't know why the killings were happening" but placed much blame for the violence on the Shi'i community.
"There is a notion that Saddam is a Sunni and that's why the Shi'a were being killed for years and now is the time for revenge. It's very clear that the Shi'a are behind this and that Sunnis are now being tortured and killed," said Nur, a Sunni.
But both Fareed and Rizvi agreed that the Shi'a were brutally oppressed under Saddam. "There are many places in the world where conflict is taking place and...