SOLINGEN, Germany (AP) — The Islamic State The group claimed responsibility for a knife attack in Solingen, Germany, on Saturday that left three people dead and eight others injured, in accordance with its news site Amaq.

The group said the attacker targeted Christians and was an “Islamic State soldier” who carried out the attack “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and around the world.”

The police have begun a raid on an asylum seekers' home in downtown Solingen, including with special forces, reported the German news agency DPA.

“We have received information and are currently taking police action,” said a police spokesman.

Special police units were involved within the seek for the unknown knife attacker who slit the throats of revelers at a well-attended festival within the western German city, killing three people and injuring at the least eight others, 4 of them seriously.

A 15-year-old boy was arrested early Saturday. Police said he was suspected of knowing concerning the planned attack and never informing authorities, but was not the attacker.

Markus Caspers of the anti-terrorism department of the general public prosecutor's office said at a press conference on Saturday that the authorities had not yet found the perpetrator.

“So far we have not been able to identify a motive, but given the overall circumstances we cannot rule out the possibility of terrorism,” Caspers said, without giving further details.

The three dead were two men aged 67 and 56 and a 56-year-old woman, authorities said. Police said the attacker apparently aimed specifically at his victims' throats.

Thorsten Fleiss of the German police, who served as operations manager on Friday evening, said that police throughout the state of North Rhine-Westphalia were carrying out various search and investigation measures that may last throughout the day.

He said it was a “huge challenge” to bring together existing evidence and witness statements to form an overall picture.

Fleiss also said police found several knives, but added he couldn’t confirm whether the perpetrator used any of them as a weapon within the attack.

Police warned the general public to stay vigilant at the same time as well-wishers began laying flowers on the scene. Authorities arrange a web-based portal where witnesses could upload footage and other information relevant to the attack.

Solingen's churches have opened their doors and offer space for prayer and emergency pastoral care.

Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser visited Solingen on Saturday evening. She said the federal government would do every part it could to support the town and the people of Solingen.

“We will not allow such a terrible attack to divide our society,” she said along with North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst and State Minister of the Interior Herbert Reul.

Wüst described the attack as “a terrorist act against the security and freedom of this country.” But Faeser, the country's top security official, didn’t classify it as a “terrorist attack.”

Reul announced that the Interior Minister's planned visit to the crime scene wouldn’t happen as a result of the continued police operation within the affected districts. He appealed to the population to “give the police time” in order that they may do their job. He also announced that police presence could be increased at larger events, particularly since the perpetrator had not yet been caught.

Shortly after 9:30 p.m. on Friday, the police were alerted because an unknown attacker had injured several individuals with a knife within the central square, the Fronhof.

“Last night it broke our hearts. We Solingen residents are filled with horror and sadness. What happened in our city yesterday is making it hard for us to sleep,” said Solingen Mayor Tim Kurzbach to journalists near the crime scene on Saturday.

The “Festival of Diversity” to mark the town's 650th anniversary began on Friday and was scheduled to run until Sunday. Attractions equivalent to live music, cabaret and acrobatics were to be offered on several stages within the central streets.

The attack occurred in the group in front of a stage. Hours after the attack, the stage lights were still on while police and forensics searched the cordoned-off area for clues. The remainder of the festival was canceled.

Solingen has about 160,000 inhabitants and is situated near the main cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf.

Caspers said on the news conference that the 15-year-old boy was arrested after two female witnesses contacted police. They said they overheard a conversation between the boy and an unknown person before the attack during which intentions were discussed that were consistent with the events that followed.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday that the perpetrator should be caught quickly and punished to the fullest extent of the law.

“The attack in Solingen is a terrible event that has shocked me deeply. An attacker brutally killed several people. I have just spoken to Solingen's mayor, Tim Kurzbach. We mourn the victims and support their families,” Scholz said on X.

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also spoke with Kurzbach on Saturday morning.

“The perpetrator must be brought to justice. Let us stand together against hatred and violence.”

There are fears of a rise in knife violence in Germany and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser recently proposed tightening the gun laws. In future, carrying knives in public will only be permitted if the blade is as much as six centimetres long. Currently, only 12 centimetres is permitted.

---

Stephanie Liechtenstein reported from Vienna.

August 2024 marks the Tenth anniversary of the genocide by the terrorist militia “Islamic State”which was attended by hundreds of individuals from Iraq’s marginalized communities, including Yazidis, Christians and Shiiteswere killed in Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, and the encompassing areas.

The Yazidiswho belong to a monotheistic religion wherein the Peacock Angel is an important of seven divine beings, and who’ve been usually persecuted up to now, suffered greatly. From 2014 to 2017 no less than 5,000 were brutally murdered, 6,000 women and kids were enslaved; a whole lot of hundreds were expelled from Sinjar and the Nineveh Plain near Mosul.

The Assyrian Christians in Iraq, who belong to an indigenous Mesopotamian community consisting of early converts to a Syriac type of Eastern Christianity, also suffered under ISIn Mosul, IS marked Christian houses and forced them to either pay the jizyaa tax historically imposed on non-Muslims. Leave or be killed.

Even Muslims, especially Shiites, who’re considered heretics by IS because they adhere to types of Islam that transcend the narrow version of Sunni Islam that the group represents, were killedWhile Shiite Muslims form the bulk in Iraq, they’re within the minority in Mosul and the north, where the bulk are Sunnis.

Iraq is the country where I used to be born. During a visit in the summertime of 2016, I used to be capable of see ISIS men coming out of an old monastery on a mountain near Mosul, which particularly fearful me. Although IS was largely defeated by Iraqi forcesalong with a broader international coalition led by the United States, the implications of the genocidal violence they committed are still being felt.

Yazidis and Christians specifically proceed to suffer marginalisation, the regions wherein they live remain unstable and their heritage is subject to ongoing destruction. Scholar of IraqI’m particularly concerned concerning the Loss of intangible heritage reminiscent of prayers, songs and historical stories – which I’m now working on preserving.

Historical significance

Since the 2003 US-led invasion of IraqThe political parties in power operated on a sectarian basis to marginalize minorities reminiscent of Christians and Yazidis.

The variety of Christians on this area has declined from 1.5 million in 2003 to several hundred thousand today. Other Islamic fundamentalist groups reminiscent of al-Qaeda also targeted Christians before ISIS did so. The Alliance for Iraqi Minorities, a nonprofit organization based in Iraq, reported that From 2003 to 2014, 1,200 Christians were killed.

One reason for his or her suffering is that the region they’ve historically inhabited, particularly the Nineveh Plain, wanted for its resources. It is wealthy in oil It also houses a few of Iraq's most significant cultural monuments from the early pre-Islamic period.

But it also has a special value for the Assyrian Christians in Iraq. Nineveh and the encompassing areas reminiscent of Nimrud and Alqosh have necessary artifacts, monasteries and church complexesdating back to the earliest times of Christianity. These areas were once a part of Mesopotamia, a melting pot of civilization, and contain a wealthy heritage of medieval literaturepreserved in helpful manuscripts These date back to the fifth century.

Also bordering the Nineveh Plain is Lalish, the holiest shrine of the Yazidis. It is home to the twelfth century shrine of Sheikh Adi, who was considered influential holy figure within the Yazidi faith.

These communities draw their cultural identity from this history. For Assyrian Christians, the traditional Mesopotamian heritage, including Christianity, is intertwined with a novel oral heritage that features songs, folk tales, recipes and tools for crafts which have been utilized by villagers for hundreds of years as a part of their current endangered Aramaic language and culture.

The peasant language utilized by these communities retains some influences of the Akkadian language utilized by the traditional Mesopotamian empires. In the dialect of the town of Baghdeda within the Nineveh Plain, for instance, the word for grain storage in Aramaic is “bakhshima,” which is an in depth descendant of ““bet hashiimi” means barn in Akkadian.

Preservation of cultural heritage

Even before the rise of IS, rural and ethno-religious communities that didn’t hold a central position of power were subject to state neglect and inadequate preservation of their heritage. In particular, Arab nationalist governments reminiscent of the Baath Party, which ruled Iraq from 1968 to 2003, destroyed the villages of Assyrian Christians. force their expulsion in large urban centers in Iraq. The Yazidis were similarly targeted.

Throughout the twentieth century, Iraq's national libraries and museums showed little interest in presenting the heritage of provincial and rural communities.

IS brought much more destruction. Churches and shrines, cultural institutions and ancient heritage – including the town of Nimrod – were destroyed by IS. Those charged with preserving the heritage and other community members were expelled from their towns and villages or killed. Some 400,000 Yazidis and about 200,000 Christians were expelled from the region between 2014 and 2017.

In doing so, IS also erased memories of communities that were passed on to future generations. The damage was particularly severe for the Yazidi community, which has no written language. In each communities, many traditions were passed down orally by men and ladies – who were often themselves illiterate – in the numerous languages ​​of the region.

The aim of IS, my colleagues and I discovered, was to wipe out not only these communities themselves, but in addition the types of intercommunal coexistence that had historically shaped northern Iraq. Many of the religious sites that IS targeted were revered by multiple religions. For example, Mosul's Mosque of Nabi Yunis was built on the positioning of a Christian church that was believed to be the sanctuary of the biblical prophet Jonah. According to the Bible, Jonah was commissioned by God to save lots of the Ninevites. The destruction of this site by ISIS revealed an Assyrian palace. under the church converted right into a mosquewhich was dedicated to Jonah.

The way forward

Our current project documents the intangible and textual heritage of each the Yazidis and the Christians. The oral heritage uses ancient languages ​​and dialects – particularly the endangered Neo-Aramaic dialects of the Middle East spoken by Christians. We also document the Kurmanji version of Kurdish spoken by Yazidis.

The memories and stories are usually not only necessary for Yazidis and Christians, but for the pluralistic history of the northern region and Iraq as an entire. One example is “Dazike Batzmie” or the “Blessing of the String” – a sacred white and red woolen string worn by Yazidis as a superb luck charm.

Another example is Pokhin – a mix of seven grains and salt that’s eaten on the conclusion of the “Ninevite Supplication,” a quick observed by Assyrian Christians to commemorate Jonah and their repentance before God. It is believed that those that fast may have prophetic dreams, and the salty Pokhin mixture helps thirsty singles dream of their future soul mates.

Such rituals are passed down by elders and related to the lands with which these communities are connected.

Today, these communities are still scattered and their suffering continues. Many of the locals involved in our project, including colleagues who’ve been defenders of their culture, have given up – often leaving the region, preferring to turn into refugees in unknown lands with an uncertain future. Younger generations may not realize the depth of the connections between religious practices and community legends, that are intertwined through oral traditions.

The enormous political and economic pressure and insecurity they proceed to feel are the explanations for his or her flight. But as someone who knows the region thoroughly, I imagine that safeguarding the region's traditions and cultural diversity through efforts to preserve them can provide hope and pave a way forward.

At least 1,300 people died resulting from the scorching heat in the course of the Hajj pilgrimage in June 2024. This shouldn’t be the primary time that a pilgrimage has been hit by such a tragic incident. More than a thousand were killed in a Heatwave 1985and deaths resulting from mass panics and other disasters brought on by crowds of individuals have been reported lately.

But despite the risks, hundreds of thousands of Muslims make the pilgrimage; this 12 months alone, around 1.8 million took part.

I too performed Hajj this 12 months, traveling from the United States to Saudi Arabia. This not only enabled me to satisfy my religious duty as a Muslim, but in addition gave me the chance to watch the variety of Muslim societies. a social scientist who studies Islam and politics.

While the tragic deaths was the main focus of media coverageThere were many other elements of Hajj 2024. Hajj is a private spiritual journey that also brings together Muslims from different backgrounds. However, the Saudi government's organization of this gathering has recently been criticized, especially with regard to the destruction of the historic landscape of Mecca.

Religious meaning

Hajj is one in all the five pillars of Islam, together with the declaration of religion, day by day prayers, fasting and almsgiving. Muslims who’re financially and physically in a position to make the pilgrimage are obligated to perform it at the very least once of their lifetime.

During most Hajj rituals, men wear two unhemmed white garments, symbolizing humility and equality, while women can wear any garment they like. Together, men and girls walk seven times across the Kaaba – the cube-shaped constructing considered the “House of God” in Mecca. Muslims around the globe face the Kaaba after they pray five times a day.

The Hajj has many spiritual elements, comparable to contemplation, asking for forgiveness and supplication, nevertheless it also brings with it physical challenges. For example, an important requirement of the Hajj is the journey to Arafat, This is about 24 kilometers from the Kaabafor a full day of prayer.

The physical challenges include sleeping in tents for 3 to 4 days in Mina, about 8 kilometers from the Kaaba, and spending one night under the celebs in Muzdalifah, a spot about 13 kilometers from the Kaaba.

Travelling to all these places and performing the rituals in Mecca requires a substantial distance on foot. I calculated that I covered about 129 kilometres during my pilgrimage. And the acute heat this 12 months has only added to the challenge.

Multiracial Global Islam

The Hajj reflects the ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of some 2 billion Muslims around the globe. The importance of the Hajj for race relations was famously expressed by Malcolm Xa number one African-American activist and mental.

Malcolm X’s Hajj in 1964 played a crucial role in his transformation to be a black nationalist to adopt the mainstream Islamic concept of acceptance of all races. In a letter to his followers Malcolm X explains how his interaction with white pilgrims was very positive: “Here there are Muslims of all colors and from all parts of the world. … I could look into their blue eyes and see that they saw me the same way (as brothers) because their belief in the one God (Allah) had actually banished the word 'white' from their minds.”

This 12 months pilgrims got here to the Hajj from 180 countrieswhere various Islamic theological and legal schools were practiced.

It is difficult to differentiate between pilgrims who follow Sunni, Shia or other interpretations of Islam, as there aren’t any significant differences between their Hajj rituals. I actually have had conversations with pilgrims from the United States, Norway, Finland, Albania, Turkey, Mali, India, Malaysia and Indonesia without knowing their religious schools.

Nevertheless, some differences might be observed. For example, while circumambulating the Kaaba, I saw a dozen Iranians reciting loudly:Jawshan“- a prayer book of the Shiites that isn’t accepted by the Sunnis.

Critical perspectives

Islamic scholars generally encourage pilgrims to deal with personal devotion and rituals. However, this will not stop some pilgrims from criticizing the Saudi government's administration of the Hajj, including its attempts to commercialize this devotional event.

In his 2014 book The British Muslim mental Ziauddin Sardar Reviews how the Saudi government destroyed historical gravesShrines and other buildings in Mecca have been replaced by towering hotels and shopping malls, including the Clock Tower, the fourth tallest constructing on the earth. The Clock Tower is situated right next to the Kaaba and dwarfs the holy structure.

The Saudis’ destruction of the historical buildings in Mecca was based on their fear that these historical sites and never God Objects of WorshipFor this reason, no historical buildings remain in Mecca except the Kaaba.

Interestingly, the House of Saud seems to have finally realized its mistake. In each Mecca And MadinahI actually have seen recently opened museums that indicate a brand new attitude towards monument preservation.

However, many pilgrims ignore these problems and deal with the spiritual dimension of their journey. The Hajj is a novel experience that enables one to fulfill and even live alongside people from completely different backgrounds. It reflects the racial, ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of the worldwide Muslim community. And this 12 months, not even the exceptional heat could prevent this.

From childhood we’re told that patience is a virtue and that good things occur to those that wait. That's why lots of us work to develop patience.

This often starts with learning to attend your turn with a coveted toy. As an adult, you’ve got to stay patient with long lines on the Department of Motor Vehicles, misbehaving children, or the slow pace of political change. This exertions can have Mental health advantages. It is just correlates with per capita income and productivity.

But it's also about becoming a very good person.

It's clear to me when Scholar of spiritual ethicsthat patience is a term that lots of us use, but we could all profit from understanding its meaning a bit of higher.

In religious traditions, patience is greater than just waiting and even greater than enduring hardship. But what’s “more” and the way does patience make us higher people?

The Writings of Medieval Islamic Thinkers Abu Hamid al-Ghazali can provide us insight or help us understand why we want to practice patience – and likewise when to not be patient.

Who was al-Ghazali?

Al-Ghazali was born in Iran in 1058 and was well known as a lawyer, philosopher and theologian. He traveled so far as Baghdad and Jerusalem to defend Islam, arguing that this was not the case Contradiction between reason and revelation. In particular, he was known for balancing the philosophy of Aristotle, which he probably read in Arabic translationwith Islamic theology.

Al-Ghazali was a prolific author, and one among his most vital works – Revival of Religious Studies or Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn – delivers a practical guide to an ethical Muslim life.

This work consists of a complete of 40 volumes, divided into 4 parts of 10 books each. Part 1 deals with Islamic rituals; Part 2, local customs; Part 3: Vices to Avoid; and Part 4: Virtues to Strive for. Al-Ghazali's discussion of patience may be present in Volume 32 of Part 4: “About patience and gratitude” or “Kitāb al-sabr waʾl-shukr”.

He describes patience as a fundamental human trait that’s critical to achieving value-driven goals and notes a caveat when impatience is suitable.

1. What is patience?

According to al-Ghazali, humans have competing impulses: the impulse of faith, or bāʿith al-dīn, and the impulse of desire, or bāʿith al-hawā.

Life is a struggle between these two impulses, which he describes with the metaphor of a battle: “The support for the religious impulse comes from the angels reinforcing the troops of God, while the support for the impulse of desire comes.” comes from the devils who strengthen the enemies of God.”

The patience we’ve will determine who wins the battle. As al-Ghazali puts it: “If a man remains steadfast until the religious impulse prevails…then the troops of God are victorious and he joins the troops of the patient.” But if he slacks and grows weaker until the appetite overwhelms him … he joins the followers of the devils.” In other words, for al-Ghazali, patience is the determining think about whether we realize our full human potential for ethical living.

2. Patience, values ​​and goals

According to al-Ghazali, patience can be mandatory to be a very good Muslim. But his understanding of how patience works is predicated on a theory of ethics and may be applied outside of his explicitly Islamic worldview.

Everything begins with a commitment to core values. For a Muslim like al-Ghazali, these values ​​are shaped by Islamic tradition and community, or “ummah,” and include things like justice and mercy. These specific values ​​may very well be universally applicable. Or there are other values ​​which are vital to you. Maybe a commitment to social justice or being a very good friend or not lying.

The moral life is about living in accordance with these core values. And patience it’s, in accordance with al-Ghazali how we consistently make sure that our actions serve this purpose.

That said, patience isn't nearly enduring the pain of a toddler's tantrum. It's about enduring that pain with a goal in mind. The successful application of patience is measured not by how much pain we endure, but by our progress toward a selected goal, similar to raising a healthy and blissful child who can eventually regulate their emotions.

According to al-Ghazali's understanding of patience, all of us need patience to stay true to our core principles and concepts when things don't go our way.

3. When impatience is required

One criticism of the thought of ​​patience is that it might probably result in inaction or be used to silence legitimate grievances. For example, a scholar of Africana studies Julius Fleming argues in his book “Black patience” for the importance of a “radical refusal to wait” under conditions of systemic racism. Certainly there are types of injustice and suffering on the earth that we must always not endure quietly.

Despite his acknowledgment of the importance of patience for an ethical life, al-Ghazali also leaves room for impatience. He writes“It is forbidden for one to endure harm (that is forbidden); for example, having your hand chopped off or watching your son's hand being chopped off and remaining silent.”

These are examples of harming yourself or your family members. But can the necessity for impatience be prolonged to social harms similar to systemic racism or poverty? And as Quranic scholars Ahmad Ismail and Ahmad Solahuddin have argued: True patience sometimes requires motion.

As al-Ghazali writes: “Just because patience is half of faith, don’t think that everything is praiseworthy; What is meant are certain forms of patience.”

In conclusion, not all patience is sweet; Only patience serving righteous purposes is the important thing to moral life. We all should answer the query of which goals are fair for ourselves.