The Failure of The International Community And Islamic Leaders To Protect Minorities In Iraq And Across The Middle East

An excerpt from, "The international community is failing its obligation to protect Iraq’s persecuted minorities" by Lord Alton of Liverpool, Catholic Herald, August 12, 2014:

Almost 75 per cent of the world’s population live in countries with high levels of government restrictions on freedom of religion or belief.

Christian minorities, Mandeans, Yazidis, Baha’is, Jews and Ahmadis are among those who face unspeakable persecution. And so do Muslims.

The head of Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs, Professor Dr Mehmet Gormez, told the World Islamic Scholars Peace, Moderation and Common Sense Initiative that 1,000 Muslims are being killed each day – 90 per cent of their killers are also Muslims.

Article 18 insists that everyone has the right to believe, not to believe, or to change their belief. Tell that to the elderly and sick of Mosul, unable to flee and forced to accept the uncompromising ultimatum by the Islamic State (IS) jihadists, formerly ISIS, to convert or die.

Video Title: Former Iraqi MP Ayad Jamal Al-Din: A Civil State Is the Only Solution to Combat ISIS. Source: MEMRI TV. Date Published: October 20, 2014. Description:

In a recent TV interview, former Iraqi MP Ayad Jamal Al-Din called for the establishment of a civil state in Iraq based on man-made law and equality, rather than on Islamic jurisprudence, as the only way to combat ISIS. He further said that there were thousands of mosques in the U.S. and worldwide that incited and prepared people to join ISIS. "Islam has been politicized and is used as a sword," he said in the Al-Iraqiya TV interview, which aired on October 17.

"Both the Shiite and Sunni fiqh say that the Yazidis should be killed. The Christians and the Jews are considered the People of the Book, and some include the Zoroastrians and the Sabeans, but as for the Buddhists, they should all be killed. This is according to both Shiite and Sunni fiqh. The problem lies with our fiqh, and therefore, I say that either we follow the fiqh, in which case Daesh[ISIL] is more or less right, or else we follow man-made, civil enlightened law, according to which the Yazidis are citizens just like Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

That's why Daesh are saying that they have not invented anything new, but are merely following the fiqh. The Yazidis can either become Muslims, or be sold on the market as slaves. Both the Shiite and Sunni fiqh are in agreement on this. We must make a decision whether to follow man-made civil law, legislated by the Iraqi parliament, or whether to follow the fatwas issued by Islamic jurisprudents." - Former Iraqi MP Ayad Jamal Al-Din.