2 Mandaeans killed in robbery in Basra

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: Two Mandaean Sabians were killed by gunmen in an armed robbery on their stores in al-Zubeir souk (market) in western Basra on Saturday, the sect’s representative in the province said. “Unidentified gunm en carried out an armed robbery on two stores selling gold jewelry in al-Zubeir souk (35 km) western Basra , and shot dead their owners with guns attached with silencers,” the source told Iraqi News. “The two dead men – Qassem Abdulrazzaq and Farqad Shawqi Othman – both belonged to the Mandaean Sabian sect,” the source added. The oil-rich port city of Basra lies 590 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad . The Mandaean Sabians spread in different areas of southern Iraqi provinces and near rivers, which they believe as sources of purity, sanctity, growth and life. Mandaeism or Mandaeanism is a monotheistic religion with a strongly dualistic worldview. Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam Abel, Seth, Enosh, Noah, Shem, Aram, and espcially John the Baptist. They describe Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad as false Prophets. Mandaeans consider John the Baptist to be God’s most honorable messenger. Worldwide, there are thought to be between 60,000 and 70,000 Mandaeans, and until the 2003 Iraq war, almost all of them lived in Iraq. The 2003 Iraq war reduced the population of Iraqi Mandaeans to approximately 5,000 by 2007. Most Iraqi Mandaeans fled to Syria and Jordan under the threat of violence by Islamic extremists and the turmoil of the war. Mandaeism has historically been practiced primarily in the country around the lower Euphrates and Tigris and the rivers that surround the Shatt al-Arab. In Islam, the term Sabian is used as a blanket term for adherents to a number of religions, including that of the Mandaeans. AmR (S)/SR 1