What does the future hold for Mandaeans worldwide?

What does the future hold for Mandaeans worldwide?

For this first time in the Mandaean people’s history, they are spread across the globe, for the first time in history the Mandaean nation is made up of people speaking new languages, following new cultures and meeting new peoples. What does this mean for the Mandaean nation? In the following article, I will discuss the problems of Diaspora, the changes it has caused to the community and my prediction of what will happen to the Mandaean nation in the future.

Firstly, what is Diaspora? Diaspora: ‘a dispersion of a people, language, or culture that was formerly concentrated in one place’.

For the Mandaeans, who underwent a process of displacement due to persecution, Diaspora affects them greatly. The reason for that is the Mandaean community was very small due to a cholera epidemic in the 1830s, which killed most of the community and wiped the clergy out. The death of all the clergy meant that many ‘priestly’ family-lines were killed and this has been a large factor in the present shortage of clergymen.

Historically, the Mandaean population has always been kept small massacres and forced conversion.

The small Mandaean community has been displaced by war and religious and political persecution ever since the reign of Saddam. The tiny rock of 70,000 or so people, in the beautiful country that is Iraq diminished into grains of sand, sprinkled across the globe. In this current situation, it is difficult for some first-generation Mandaeans to keep or figure out their identity. “Okay, my parents are Mandaean and what? I have no place to worship, the community is small and individuals are busy helping relatives back home, the culture is totally different…who am I? Am I an Arab, a Mandaean or a European or what?” This situation has not been helped by the fact that many Mandaean parents do not know much about the religion. This is no fault of their own, many priests in the past were reluctant to release information because they were afraid of persecution or the consequences from wider society. If the priests were killed who would create new priests? The laymen couldn’t and for this reason, many Mandaeans were not educated in Iraq about their religion. For their own safety and so that the clergy was safe – in that situation, the priests made the correct decision. However, this has brought problems to the present day. When a Mandaean child asks questions about their spirituality, many Mandaeans have trouble going in much depth.

What does this mean? It means fear from persecution has succeeded in trying to breakdown the Mandaean community but the Mandaean community still holds on. In new countries many Mandaean clergymen are free to speak and free from fear. This means that the clergy have begun a new programme to give their people a more in depth knowledge to the religion, through books, meetings, internet, conventions and regular baptisms. It is an uphill struggle that is very fragile and like a building in the process of being constructed – the community also requires a scaffold which can come from governments and support from people.

Marriage also became difficult for ‘first generation’ Mandaeans. Thirty years ago, a Mandaean would have to look no further than their homeland, Iraq, for a partner. It was quite straightforward – like many ordinary marriages, not arranged, not planned, people just get to know each other and it happens. These days, a Mandaean may have to travel to Austrailia, North America or the Middle East for a partner and many governments’ lack of awareness about the Mandaean plight does not make this any easier. It is essential that a Mandaean must find a Mandaean partner, as the religion is not a missionary on and therefore there is no such concept as conversion. This means that the Mandaean population is very delicate.

Mandaean places of worship practically do not exist anywhere but Iran, Iraq and Australia. Communities in many countries are finding it difficult to establish a community centre and place of worship. Usually the land is expensive to buy, there are various religious specifications that need to bet met, Mandaean people are usually spread far apart in the same country and many other problems.

The point is, is that in the new countries many Mandaean communities are having trouble establishing themselves. What does this mean for the future though?

The following part of the article is my prediction. Firstly, I’ll tell you what I think and then I’ll try to justify it! I think that as the new generation of Mandaeans grow up, there will be an interest in their heritage. That interest may blossom into a passion, a passion which can be brought into a broken community and help rebuild that community. A plant must be fed, watered, given space and treated in order for it to blossom. It then spreads its seed and more plants blossom.

The water is symbolic of motivation by Mandaean community itself to initiate a movement that will raise the existing problems to the surface and get fellow peoples to support our cause to peace and the right to determine our own future. This can be done by being allowed to live in a free and democratic country. The ‘food’ and growing space – protection and support by governments, positive and truthful media exposure and general awareness by the public. By ‘treatment’ I mean advice, from religious leaders, from politicians and people who care. Ways in which we can make sure our community will survive. Analogies always contains weaknesses though but I hope I’m clarifying the Mandaean situation for you. The Mandaean community is like a seed, it is still being watered and in the early stages of growth but this growth can easily be disrupted or destroyed.

Do not judge Mandaean communities around the world on what they are now, they are very new. I have full confidence that with enough help and support they will get back on their feet but without the support from wider society the future is uncertain. History will be lost, lives will be lost and the last Gnostic religion will be lost. Governments, organisations, historians, teachers and people of the world will not know what they have lost until they have lost it though and I hope it never gets to this situation because the Mandaean people deserve every right to determine their future in a free, secure and democratic country.

Right now, people need to know about the regular killings, kidnap and rape of Mandaean people in Iraq and the terrible living conditions in Syria and neighbouring countries. The bulk of our people are still located in these areas. If they are lost, it will be a catastrophe.

Peace

Noah Kimit.

A short introduction to the Modern Mandaean community

An essay on the modern Mandaean community

In the early 20th Century, most Mandaeans lived together in small communities in the south of Iraq and a few in Iran. They lived very simple lives where religion played a major role in their way of life. Their diet was very healthy and consisted of vegetables and little meat, mainly fish. Partly because it was plentiful in the nearby rivers, did not need to be farmed and due to religious reasons. They lived in small mud huts usually near a river so that they could regularly do their prayers and baptisms. In the past, Mandaean communities built their mud huts in a unique way, this made them look different, this meant that you could tell a Mandaean family by the hut in which they lived.

The second part of the 19th Century saw a change within attitudes in the Mandaean community. More Mandaeans went in pursuit of better jobs and opportunity. The community wasn’t looking only for financial opportunities but educational ones too. Mandaeans were known for their secretive and cautious past but during this time Mandaeans wanted to become involved in society and they knew they could do this by becoming important members of society through education and business. Therefore we see a large amount of Mandaeans becoming doctors, teachers, businessmen, physicists and other occupations of importance during the 1950s to this day. This change in attitudes within the community meant that many families moved to the capital from cities such as Basra and Amara. With many Mandaean people’s focus on new objectives the religious aspects of their life like the strict dietary laws and regular long prayers were not upheld as rigorously as they were in the past because they were either too strict or there wasn’t enough time. The only exception is the clergy who have maintained this very religious way of life along with a few lay peoples.

An interesting observation between the classical, if you like, Mandaeans and the first modern ones is that the classical Mandaeans had a much longer lifespan. This is probably because their diet was much healthier. As Professor Buckley pointed out many Mandaeans were living so long they’d usually die because of Pneumonia (while doing prayers in the river) during the winter season rather than old age.

During the second half of the 20th Century the Mandaean community produced many famous figures. The most well-known person though is the renowned physicist Abdul Jabbar Abdullah. As well as being the president of Baghdad university, he worked with NASA and helped create the spacecraft which put the first man on the moon.

After Saddam’s entry to power in 1979 many Mandaeans did not know what to expect. In my opinion I think many Mandaeans were glad that he was not a religious fundamentalist. Although Saddam’s secular policy allowed Mandaeans to integrate into society throughout the 80s many Mandaeans still suffered.

It just happened that instead of working with the secular but authoritarian Baathist regime many ordinary Mandaeans, youths, the working class, the intellectuals joined groups that claimed to be a pro-democratic or alternative to the Baathist regime. This meant many Mandaeans were murdered in an attempt to secure Saddam’s iron grip on the country. The fear that spread among the Mandaean community, especially the political figures, meant that those who could flee did so and ended up in places such as Sweden, the USA, Austrailia, Denmark, Holland and Britain. In my opinion, the political persecution of the Mandaeans was the starting cause of Diaspora within the community.

Political problems were followed by the Iraq-Iran war, which meant many Mandaean men were sent off to the frontline knowing that returning alive or able-bodied was highly unlikely. As I mentioned in an earlier article the high rate of deaths caused the community to have more women than men. This led to problems when Mandaeans wanted to get married as some women simply couldn’t find partners. The Iraq-Iran war increased the number of Mandaean families fleeing. A few families however did not go, thinking that the worst was over. For a few years, this was true but then more political turmoil led to the invasion of Kuwait in 1991. Again, men were conscripted into the army, many men died and the Mandaean community suffered.

After the Kuwait war the trade embargo meant that healthcare, education and oil revenues all decreased. Inflation began to rise. The embargo of 1991 onwards and the wars meant that Iraq’s economical progress was beginning to be lost as well as losing its title as the medical and educational beacon of the Middle East. The deteriorating conditions meant people became more extreme, Saddam became more suspicious increasing the country’s secret services. Religious extremism was on the rise again and this worried the Mandaeans. By the year 1995 most Mandaean people were trying to leave or had already done so. Those who stayed were bound by responsibility, fear or poverty.

Mandaeans were and still are scattered all over the world from Austrailia to Britain and in-between – in my opinion not many want to return to their homeland due to the existing conditions.

The Modern Mandaean community wants to regroup in a democratic country, with a well established economy and educational opportunities so that the community will be free to flourish for the first time in history.

Many Mandaeans see this place as Austrailia or America.

Noah Kimit