Soldiers of Heaven

The Soldiers of Heaven or Jund As-Samaa (Arabic: جند السماء‎‎), were an armed Iraqi Shi'a messianic sect which was led by Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim, who reportedly died in fighting in Basra, Iraq on 29 January 2007.^{[1] [2][3]}

The group has been described as an apocalyptic Muslim cult and is reported to believe that spreading chaos will hasten the return of the 12th Imam.^[4][5][6]

Leadership

A previous leader, Dia Abdul-Zahra, also known as Abu Kamar, claimed to be the Mahdi, a prophet or messiah-like figure in Islam.^[7]

Membership

The members of the group, which numbered around 1,000,^[8] appeared to be mostly poor Shi'a farmers from an agricultural area 19 kilometres northeast of Najaf, but they also seemed to have been heavily armed. In spite of their poverty, the group appeared to have amassed a great deal of wealth.^[9]

Activities

On January 28, 2007, the group apparently fought a bizarre battle with Iraqi and U.S. forces near Najaf where it is alleged about 200-300 of their members were killed, including its leader, and 300-400 were captured.^[10] Asaad Abu Gilel, the governor of Najaf has claimed that members of the group, including women and children, planned to disguise themselves as pilgrims and kill leading Shi'a clerics during the Ashoura holiday.^[11]

Significant questions remain regarding the group and the combat effectiveness it displayed, including shooting down an American AH-64 Apache helicopter gunship. Virtually all information about the group and the battle has come from Iraqi officials, who have released incomplete and sometimes contradictory accounts.^[12] Iraqi officials, including Najaf deputy governor Abdel Hussein Attan, had claimed that the group had links with al-Qaeda, but given that Sunni jihadists are fiercely anti-Shia, this seemed unlikely.^[13]

After the battle, Iraqi police rounded up hundreds of sect members and put them on trial. On September 2, 2007, the criminal court passed judgement on 458 accused. Ten leaders of the Soldiers of Heaven were sentenced to death, 54 members were released, and the rest were sentenced to jail terms ranging from 15 years to life, Najaf police chief Brigadier General Abdel Karim Mustapha said.^[14]

On January 18, 2008 the Soldiers of Heaven were involved in fighting in Basra and Nassiriya.^{[15] [16]}

Beliefs

The Soldiers of Heaven held the following beliefs:

• Their former leader Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim was the Mahdi and he was the reincarnation of Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib.
• Spreading chaos will hasten the return of the Hidden Imam.
• They regarded the religious leadership in Najaf as illegitimate.

See also

• List of extinct Shia sects

References