In an Iraqi holy city, Cupid, extremism collide
Religious conservatives say Valentine’s Day is sacrilege; young lovers call it harmless
Hasanain al-Rufaye was busy in his flower shop wrapping bouquets, stuffing dolls into gift boxes and sprinkling petals into others labeled with “LOVE,” while simultaneously fielding orders.
“It’s Valentine’s these days. On normal days, it would have been 10 minutes but today that would be impossible,” he told one customer on the phone about the wait time to get an order ready.
For all the frenzied activity and lightheartedness in the shop there was more than just love in the air for al-Rufaye: “There’s still some worry and fear.”
Valentine’s Days past could be fraught with tensions. One year, an angry crowd burst into his store yelling “Shut it down, shut it down” while others shouted “infidels!” Heart-shaped balloons framing the entrance of the store were popped by the mob. Al-Rufaye was beaten and his clothes torn. Windows were shattered and the teddy bears he sells set ablaze, he said. “It was the most difficult day of my life.”
In recent years, Valentine’s Day in the southern city of Najaf has emerged as a battleground. On one side are personal freedom advocates and revelers who see it as harmless fun.
Pitted against them are conservatives who view it as sacrilege — a foreign celebration that has no place in a city sacred to Shiite Muslims, site of the shrine of the much revered Imam Ali, son-in-law and cousin of the Prophet Muhammad.
In the last few years, a religious mourning event was held near stores selling Valentine’s gifts in part to counter the love festivities. This year, that event was scrapped for security reasons after at least eight anti-government protesters were killed this month in a nearby protest camp.
“Thank God, I observe my religion. I pray and I fast, but I am not a hardliner when it comes to religion,” al-Rufaye said. “I love life. I love for people to be optimistic and happy.”
“Najaf is a holy city and I am against people singing or dancing on the street ... but if someone is buying a gift for his fiancée, wife, mother or sister, then what’s the problem?” he asked.
“It’s just a teddy bear or a flower.” Religion is ingrained into Najaf ’s DNA. The holy city is an esteemed seat for Shiite learning. Low-slung houses tucked away in dusty alleys are home to clerical luminaries including Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Pilgrims — the women covered up in billowing black abayas--flock to the city. Mourning processions commemorating the death of Shiite saints weave through its streets as believers pound their chests in grief. And its vast cemetery is a coveted final resting place for Shiites. The issue of Najaf ’s “sanctity” has spurred heated debates. Some have been clamoring for a law outlawing women not wearing the veil in public or stores displaying women’s clothes in windows or on the street “in a way that runs contrary to public morality.”
The now-dissolved provincial council hosted talks between supporters and opponents, including clerics, lawyers and activists, said Hussein al-Essawi, the head of its legal committee. It ended up not supporting the veil and clothing proposals but it did adopt a provincial decree last year keeping some articles, such as one against holding parties with dancing or singing “that violate public decency” on the street.
“Some people exploit the sanctity of the city and the status of Najaf to try to restrict freedoms,” al-Essawi said. “Religion means tolerance; it means culture, freedom and democracy.” Many clerics were against stifling freedoms, he said.
“Najaf is a holy city whether there is a law or there isn’t a law,” he said.
But Hasan Hamza, a member of the dissolved council, argued a decree was necessary because of offensive behavior, including women dressing immodestly or some cafes employing women to attract a male clientele. “We took into consideration human rights, modernity and democracy,” he said.
Celebrations such as Valentine’s Day should be held in private places like hotels, not on the street, he said. “This ru±es the feathers of others in society.”
Emad Rasoul, one of the organizers of the mourning events around Valentine’s time in Najaf, said that besides religious and other reasons — such as commemorating fighters killed in the battle against Islamic State militants — they wanted to send a message to the young. “This is not our celebration to observe. This celebration runs contrary to our religious and social constants,” he said.
“The purpose is not to turn Najaf into a closed-off or uncivilized city ... but there are opportunists who want to tarnish the image of Najaf and of its sect,” he argued. “They want to undermine the city with such ideas as Valentine’s. There is no such a thing as Valentine’s in Najaf.”