The Sunni Endowment Office, or Sunni Endowment Diwan (), is an

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

i agency created by the

Iraqi Governing Council The Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) was the provisional government of Iraq from 13 July 2003 to 1 June 2004. It was established by and served under the United States-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). The IGC consisted of various Iraqi ...

after the fall of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

in 2003. It was created from the dissolution of the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs under former Ba'ath rule, separating from it the religious endowments () of

Shiite Islam Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

and non-Islamic religions. Its function is the administration of

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

s and other endowments of Sunnis in Iraq.

Creation

The creation of the Office occurred through Resolution No. 29 of 30 August 2003, which ordered the dissolution of the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs () and the creation of three new endowment offices () for the administration of the religious endowments of Sunnis, Shiites and other religions: *Sunni Endowment Office * Shiite Endowment Office *Endowment Office of non-Muslim communities The majority of the endowments of the former Ministry of Awqaf were of Sunni mosques, while the number of Shiite endowments was low, because under the previous government only Sunni Islam was protected by law. The President of the Office is chosen by the

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

. In October 2012 the Iraqi General Assembly, with the Laws No. 56 and 57, for the Sunni Waqf and the Shiite Waqf respectively, stated that before appointment by the Iraqi Prime Minister, the President of the Office should be approved by the

Fiqh Council of Senior Scholars for Preaching and Fatwas, as representative of the Sunnis ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

, and the President of the Shiite Endowment Office by the Great Ayatollah, as representative of the Shiites.

History

Since the separation of the holy places of Shiite Muslims and of other religions, the Sunni Endowment Office is responsible only for Sunni mosques and endowments. The office has also a new section for cultural moderation. On 22 October 2003, the

appointed

Adnan al-Dulaimi Adnan al-Dulaimi (, 1932 – 3 May 2017) was a Sunni Iraqi politician who became prominent following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the fall of the regime of Saddam Hussein. He and his supporters largely focused on two issues: ending the US ...

as Office President. In July 2005, the Iraqi Islamic Party, only Sunni party to participate in the new Iraqi General Assembly, appointed its deputy Ahmad Abd al-Ghafur al-Samarrai as Office President. In the following years, as soon as the Iraqi insurgency was defeated, the mosques administrated by the insurgents were transferred by the

Iraqi Army The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), also referred to as the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was formerly known as the Royal Iraq ...

to the Office. In November 2013, during a new escalation of Sunni insurgency, the Shiite prime minister

Nouri al-Maliki Nouri Kamil Muhammad-Hasan al-Maliki (; born 20 June 1950), also known as Jawad al-Maliki (), is an Iraqi politician and leader of the Islamic Dawa Party since 2007. He served as the Prime Minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014 and as Vice President ...

suspended Office President Samarrai and appointed deputy Mahmud al-Sumaydai, considered a more moderate Muslim. In June 2015, new Iraqi Prime Minister

Haider al-Abadi Haider Jawad Kadhim al-Abadi (; born 25 April 1952) is an Iraqi politician who was Prime Minister of Iraq from September 2014 until October 2018. Previously he served as Minister of Communication from 2003 to 2004, in the first government afte ...

, head of a broad government coalition, appointed Abd al-Latif al-Humaym as Office President, despite the veto of the Fiqh Council of Sunni Ulema, of Islamist tendency, and the opposition of the Sunni Iraqi Fatwa Council, linked to the

Popular Mobilization Forces The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF; ), also known as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), is an Iranian-backed paramilitary umbrella group that operates within Iraq. Although formally and legally part of the Iraqi Armed Forces and reportin ...

and to Shiite parties. As soon as the Iraqi Army recaptured areas from

Daesh The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signif ...

, Office President Humaym cooperated to rebuild places destroyed by the war, such as the town of

Ramadi Ramadi ( ''Ar-Ramādī''; also formerly rendered as ''Rumadiyah'' or ''Rumadiya'') is a city in central Iraq, about west of Baghdad and west of Fallujah. It is the capital and largest city of Al Anbar Governorate which shares borders with Syri ...

after its liberation in 2016, and the Great Mosque of al-Nuri of

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

in 2018.

List of presidents

*Adnan al-Dulaymi (April 2003 to July 2005) *Ahmad Abd al-Ghafur al-Samarrai (July 2005 to November 2013) *Mahmud al-Sumaydai (November 2013 to June 2015) * (June 2015 to February 2020) * (February 2020 to March 2022) * (since March 2022)

References

Works cited

* Talmon, Stefan.
The Occupation of Iraq: Volume 2: The Official Documents of the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Governing Council
'. Bloomsbury Publishing, 8 February 2013.

External links