7 July 2016 at the Karrada Parish
Sisters, Brothers,
There is a spiritual, moral, and patriotic side for our prayer this evening. In such a tragedy, we are joining millions of Muslims in praying for the affected families that may God have mercy on the victims and bless the wounded with a speedy recovery.
We express our shock, sadness, solidarity with Iraqis and strongly condemn these cruel acts that affected innocent people, stole the happiness of preparing to celebrate Eid al-Fitr and converted it to a national mourning.
Terrorism has nothing to do with religion, but may be linked to political games that allow killing Muslims, Christians, Mandaeans and Yazidis as “infidels”. Such crimes defy religious values and people’s lives, which is a gift from the Creator. Therefore, everyone should understand that killing innocent people leads to hell rather than to heaven, which is a big lie and a brain-wash.
In Islam, God is merciful “Rahman Rahim” and in Christianity it is the Jubilee year of Mercy. Therefore, we have to move from the phenomenon of barbarism – savagery to a culture of compassion “mercy” – humanization. In other word, when we tolerate and forgive each other, God will forgive us, which is the only way to fight extremism, hatred and terrorism.
Our prayers this evening will help us learn lessons from this tragedy and find effective and permanent solutions. If the government was coherent and politicians worked as one team, ISIS wouldn’t be able to: commit these crimes; tamper with the country’s security and stability; killing thousands of innocent people; displace millions; and destruct the Iraqi national fabric and peaceful co-existence.
In conclusion, we call on everyone to be held responsible for turning the Karrada massacre to a collective stance for peace; stability; provision of public services; creating jobs; and the elimination of sectarian quotas, corruption and terrorism.
