Sunni or Shi'ite: Four questions that determine life or death in Iraq

In Iraq, the seemingly benign question “what kind of music do you listen to” could get you killed. Why? Because militants can determine whether someone is Shi’ite or Sunni on the basis of queries like these. According to a report in the New York Times, on several instances militants captured and released Sunni Muslims but kept Shi’ites for execution. But the distinction between the two is made using four seemingly simple questions: What is your name, where do you live, how do you pray and what kind of music do you listen to. The New York Times report cites the example of a disturbing video which surfaced a year ago in which ISIS fighters stopped a truck and are seen asking three truck drivers whether they were Sunnis or Shi’ites. As soon as the drivers claimed they were Sunnis, ISIS fighters asked them how they performed their prayers. [caption id=“attachment_1584609” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational Image. AFP[/caption] “They were asked how they performed each of the prayers: morning, midday and evening. The truck drivers disagreed on their methods, and all were shot,” the article says. “Recordings of religious songs could also be a tipoff. Similarly, even the ringtone on a person’s telephone could be a clue because it might be a Sunni or Shiite religious song.” In the last two weeks, Iraq has seen an unprecedented onslaught of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Sunni tribes and some Kurdish factions. Amid the violence that has led to death of thousands and displaced close to a million, these four little questions have become a litmus death that determines a person’s fate. This website reported yesterday that ISIL and Syrian al-Qaeda have merged. Even as sectarian violence escalates in the nation, the predicted spilling over of Iraq’s ongoing crisis in to neighbouring nations like violence-torn Syria is fast becoming a possibility. Read more here.