The approximately 150 000 Marsh Arabs, also known as Ma’dan, are located in the marshes of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the triangle of the Southern Iraqi cities of Basra, Nasariyah and Qurnah. This is a Biblically significant area as Ur – the original home of Abraham – is located outside the town of Nasariyah and Qurnah is located on the intersection of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers which is believed to be the location of the Garden of Eden.
Marsh Arab life and culture
The Marsh Arabs live off the marshes selling fish, weaving mats and other objects from the reeds from the marshes and raising buffalo being some of the main occupations. They are extremely poor and are dominated by their tribal sheikhs who tend to exploit them. A prominent feature unique to the Marsh Arabs is the “Mudhif” which is a long hall with an arched roof traditionally made out of reeds but some modern day mudhifs have been built with bricks. The mudhif is a community hall used for entertaining guests, community gatherings and meetings but for the men and boys only. Marsh Arab life is very hard as they venture out on their boats on the marshes fishing or gathering reeds often in the blazing Iraqi sun. Women can be seen carrying bundles of reeds on their heads or washing their clothes on the banks of a river. The difficulties of Marsh Arab life were made worse in the early 1990s when Saddam Hussein turned on them, draining the marshes, and so wiping out their livelihood. The Marsh Arabs, however, aren’t merely innocent people without their own sinful weaknesses. They are known to be militantly aggressive and thieves. They are made up of a number of tribes which are often embroiled in battles with one another. They are quite heavily armed. When visiting the marshes with Iraqis from Basra our Basra friends were quite terrified to stop in Marsh Arabs villages just to take photos as they thought that the Marsh Arabs may quickly gather and turn on us. However this wasn’t our experience as we were shown the usual Arab hospitality with some young men running off to buy us cold drinks and another offering us to have tea in his home. My South African friends who live in Iraq and had stayed in a Marsh Arab village for a few days were also shown the warm hospitality normally demonstrated by Arabs to guests in their homes. Many Marsh Arabs have moved to Basra where the city people despise them saying, “our troubles and crime are due to these country people coming to stay here.” They often squat on vacant land or possess empty houses and have to be paid to leave.
A mudhif being built
Marsh Arabs after gathering reeds
They are Shia Muslims without any known believers in Jesus Christ amongst them. Being staunch Shia Muslims their allegiance is to Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, and Hussein, one of the sons of Ali. Massive portraits of Ali and Hussein are displayed on walls, bill-boards and sides of buildings throughout the area. Although Muharram is the first month of the year in the Islamic calendar it isn’t a time of celebration but of mourning the death of Hussein. They don’t have any singing or weddings during this month. Hussein died in the battle of Karbala in 61 AH (Islamic calendar) on the 10th of Muharram (10 October 680 AD) and so Ashura – which means “ten” in Arabic – is particularly a day of mourning where the Shias dress in black and show outward expressions of mourning but many people cook and give free food and gifts to others during this time. The Marsh Arabs get together during Ashura and re-enact the battle of Karbala and the death of Hussein. Then forty days later they observe Al-arba’een – which means “fortieth” in Arabic – which is the Shia pilgrimage to the shrine of Hussein in Karbala, south-west of Baghdad and 500km from Basra. Many of them walk to Karbala but some do go by car or public transport. Although Shia Muslims practise self-flagellation the Marsh Arabs don’t adhere to that practice as their Shia religious head, Ali al-Sistani, has issued a fatwa – an Islamic interdict – against the practice.
Reaching them with the Gospel
As stated before there are no known believers amongst the Marsh Arabs with only two missionaries endeavouring to reach them with the Gospel. The challenge is great for a number of reasons.
1) The Marsh Arab Shia Muslim mind-set and culture is a deterrent for them to accept Christ.
2) Iraq is a volatile country with ISIS, Shia militia and the Marsh Arab militant aggressiveness.
3) It’s difficult for foreigners to get to the marshes without Iraqi assistance due to the many police road blocks that have to be passed through where foreign nationals have to produce their passports at each of them. As mentioned earlier non-Marsh Arab Iraqis have a fear of going to the marshes.
4) Living in or near the marshes is difficult, if not impossible, for foreign nationals as visa stipulations would only allow foreigners to have their work in cities such as Basra.
5) The Sheikhs dominate and determine who will be allowed to work in the villages.
6) The Marsh Arabs living in the cities aren’t always easily identified and it’s inappropriate in Arab culture to ask people what community they’re from. Marsh Arab women are identified by tattoos on their faces but many younger women are no longer following that practice.
So do we then neglect to take the Gospel to the Marsh Arabs, for whom Christ died, because of these challenges? May it never be! God loves them and desire their salvation and will give his people the wisdom to overcome these challenges for their salvation. We don’t reach out to them because they’re good people – they aren’t – but we reach out to them because they’re sinners in need of a Saviour. Would it not be better if they served a risen Saviour rather than a dead Imam?
For more information on the work amongst the Marsh Arabs please visit the website www.marsharabtrust.org or email info@marsharabtrust.org
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