While Trump demonizes all Islam, befriends the Saudis, and demonizes Shiite Iraq, just before America’s Inauguration Day tens of millions of Shia Muslims made an incredibly heartening statement, by risking their lives to travel through war-stricken areas to openly defy ISIS.
Shia women, men, elderly, and children made their way to the city of Karbala in Iraq to marks the end of the 40-day mourning period following Ashura, the religious ritual that commemorates the death of the Prophet Mohammad’s grandson Imam Hussein in 680 AD. The holiday pays homage to the shrines of Imam Hussein and his half-brother Abbas in Karbala, where they were killed in a revolt when they refused to pledge allegiance to Yazeed’s Umayyad caliphate. The war was the beginning of the Shia/Sunni split that is also a key to the struggles in Syria and Yemen where Iran supports Shiites against Sunnis. Iran’s support is often termed “terrorism” by the Saudis and their American allies. ISIS is an outgrowth of the Wahabi isolationism fostered by the Saudi’s Wahabi sect of Islam. Isis declares all Shia Muslims apostates and has targeted them in its bloody campaign to establish a hardline caliphate across Iraq and Syria. Pilgrim Jaber Kadhem Khalif said “I came walking from Basra with my wife and three sons … This is the third time. We started walking 13 days ago and reached Karbala on Sunday night, The 40-year-old said his prayers would go to the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary group that has tens of thousands of men deployed on the front lines to fight ISIS.
Umm Ali, who came without her husband, as he is currently fighting ISIS on the front lines, said, “I came with my son and two daughters. I came from Samawa to Najaf by car, then from Najaf to Karbala on foot, to make a plea for my husband’s safety. We ask God to support us against Daesh [ISIS] members, to help us liberate Mosul and urge our politicians to remember the people who have sacrificed so much.”