Iraq offers incentive to intermarry

When religions loose sight of their higher calling, and hardened divisions make of believers and religious bodies causes of social disorder and conflict, sometimes people in the political sphere prove themselves to be more visionary and high-minded

Ahmed Fadaam and Aamer Madhani ("USA Today," November 23, 2009)

BAGHDAD -- Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi has an unusual proposal to mend some of Iraq's sectarian wounds: He offers mixed couples a $2,000 "gift" if they get married.

Before the U.S. invasion, intermarriage between Shiites and Sunnis was fairly common. As sectarian fighting ripped apart the country, intermarriage became a rarity.

Now that the security situation is relatively calm, the Iraqi government wants to nudge couples of mixed sects to get hitched, hoping that will repair the relationship between Iraq's majority Shiite and minority Sunni populations.

"After 2006, we found that mixed marriages had stopped," said Raad Majeed Mohammed, an aide to al-Hashemi, a Sunni and one of Iraq's two vice presidents. "The idea behind this project is that promoting love and socializing between Iraq's people is good for the country."

About a dozen mixed couples will take part in a mass wedding Friday and will receive their $2,000 gifts, Mohammed said. An additional 375 same-sect couples will join the celebration, but they'll receive $750, Mohammed said. The government wants to help those cash-strapped couples in getting their start, he said.

Mohammed said the mass wedding celebration will include a banquet and music. The government is paying for gowns for the brides and suits for the grooms, as well as for hotel rooms for the couples to spend their first night together as husband and wife.

She said she is hopeful that Iraq's worst days are in the past, so she and al-Rubaiee can raise a family without concern about their different sects and possible violence.

"Mohammed is a good man," al-Samaraee said. "We read the same Quran, worship the same God and have faith in the same prophet. God willing, there will be no more division."



Even so, some of the couples who signed up for the cash reward say their plans to marry across sectarian lines draw mixed feelings from loved ones.

"I even noticed some hesitation from my own family," said Aws Saad Abdul Jabbar, 23, a Sunni marrying a Shiite woman this week. "I told them I like the girl, and being from another sect is not a factor. Her way of thinking and morals are more important than sect."

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