Sabean-Mandaeans celebrate the Creation Feast

Shafaq News/ On Wednesday, the Mandaean Sabaeans celebrated the Creation Feast on the banks of the Tigris River in Baghdad. Every year, the Sabaean-Mandaean sect celebrates the Feast of Creation between March 17 and 21, during which baptism rituals and religious ceremonies occur on the rivers' banks. Baptism in water constitutes a fundamental pillar of their religion because water means life to them. Shafaq News Agency's lens documented the Mandaean families gathering to celebrate the rituals on the banks of the Tigris River in Al-Jadiriya area at the headquarters of the Sabaean sect in the center of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. According to Minority Rights Group, a leading human rights organization, Sabean-Mandaeans are confined to lower Iraq, except for minuscule communities in Khorramshahr and Ahwaz, in southwestern Iran, and a community of silversmiths and their families in Baghdad. They are primarily located in the Marshes or on the two rivers, at al-Amara, Qal'at-Salih, Nasiriya, Suq al-Shuyukh and Qurna. The size of the community is estimated at less than 5,000 in Iraq. The religion is a form of Gnosticism, descended from ancient Mesopotamian worship, with rituals that resemble those of Zoroastrian and Nestorian worship. John the Baptist is its central prophet, and they practise immersion in flowing water, symbolic of the creative life force, as an act of ritual purity. Nevertheless, scholars believe that the Sabean-Mandaean religion pre-dates Baptism. Sabean-Mandaean faith bars the use of violence or the carrying of weapons. Adherents have dhimmi status as 'People of the Book,' mentioned in the Qur'an, although this is disputed. The Mandean population in Iraq has experienced a significant decline in recent years, particularly following the 2003 invasion. The Kurdistan24 quoted Sattar Jabbar Helou, the worldwide leader of the sect, saying that approximately 90 percent of the Mandean community left the country between 2003 and 2019, as reported by Al-Monitor in 2019. As a result, only around 3,000 adherents remain in Iraq. Additionally, some of the Mandean population resides in the autonomous Kurdistan Region. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs estimates that approximately 400 followers of the sect live in the capital city of Erbil, with another 40-50 individuals residing in A;-Sulaimaniyah and Duhok.