Iraq Bans Import, Production, and Sale of Alcoholic Beverages

Liquor sales in Iraq have been an issue for decades. (NewsNGR)

The Iraqi constitution guarantees “personal, religious and cultural freedom,” protestors say to a law that prohibits the sale of alcohol in the country say the law violates the constitution.

Iraq has great religious diversity. Most of the population is Shiite and Sunni Muslims, but there are also sizable communities of Christians, Yazidis, Zoroastrians, Mandaeans and others. Some analysts believe the law is a step toward turning Iraq into an Islamic country.

“This is ethnic discrimination,” Diya Butros, an activist in the predominantly Chaldean Catholic town of Ankawa, told Al-Monitor. “It’s a violation of the rights of non-Muslim religions that do not forbid alcohol.”

Ali Saheb, an Iraqi political analyst, told Independent Arabia on March 6 that Iraq is not an Islamic country, and “Some religions allow drinking alcohol, and the government cannot impose a certain opinion or ideology on others.”

Unlike Islam, the Yazidi and Christian faiths do not forbid alcohol consumption. Some even use it in their religious rituals. As long as there is any leeway at all, Sharia tenets will continue to expand and encroach upon all citizens of Iraq.

– Al-Monitor