ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - For decades, the religious pulpit in Iraq was considered one of the most important pillars of social and spiritual life, serving as a space for strengthening religious values. But since 2003, after major political changes and the rise of political Islam, pulpits have slowly shifted away from their purely spiritual role to become platforms for electoral mobilization and battlegrounds for influence among political parties and blocs.

With every election season, concerns grow over the mixing of the sacred and the political and the use of mosques, husseiniyas, and religious gatherings to influence voters and stir sectarian emotions. Analysts say this reflects the fragile relationship between religion and politics in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

On Monday, a video circulated online from inside a mosque showing cleric Jalal al-Din al-Saghir addressing those boycotting the elections, asking, “Do you want Abd al-Zahra to go back to serving Omar and the likes of him?” The remarks were widely criticized on social media as fueling sectarianism and turning the pulpit into a tool for electoral gain.

From preaching to political promotion

Research studies note that using pulpits for electioneering represents a fundamental departure from their original purpose. In principle, mosques and husseiniyas are meant to be places of piety and reform, not political propaganda. But in recent years, some pulpits have openly endorsed political candidates, including those accused of corruption, simply because they belong to a particular sect or religious party.

Riyad al-Wuhaili, a political and electoral observer, told The New Region that concern is growing over this trend. “Pulpits exist to reinforce spiritual and moral values, not to be transformed into campaign platforms,” he said.

Wuhaili added that this shift threatens the neutrality of religious institutions and strips the pulpit of its sanctity. By dragging religious discourse into the political arena, he warned, pulpits risk deepening divisions, politicizing sermons, and eroding public trust in clerics and Friday prayers, once viewed as a unifying moral authority.

Legal experts say the absence of binding laws against using pulpits in campaigns has allowed political parties to exploit religious symbolism to rally support. Wuhaili argued that the willingness of some clerics to allow this stems from weak oversight, pressure from powerful political actors, or personal interpretations that lack restraint. “The pulpit is not the personal property of the preacher,” he said, “but a public trust toward society.”

Field studies show that social and political pressure networks play a central role in drawing preachers into electoral politics, particularly in areas dominated by political Islam, where pulpits are used to direct public opinion for narrow partisan interests.

Exploitation of religious pulpits

Academic studies also link the rise of Islamic parties after 2003 with the use of religious pulpits as electoral tools. In Shiite areas, husseiniyas and Hussaini sermons were employed to build emotional support, while in Sunni areas, some Friday sermons were used to guide voters toward specific candidates.

Over time, this practice grew into explicit sectarian appeals, even justifying the election of corrupt politicians simply for belonging to a sectarian group.

Experts told The New Region this trend poses a double danger: it legitimizes corruption in the name of identity and undermines the pulpit’s role as a unifying spiritual space.

Wuhaili noted that both Sunni and Shiite religious authorities have repeatedly called to keep pulpits away from politics and warned against mixing religion with elections, saying it undermines the sanctity of religious discourse. But recent institutional assessments show these warnings remain moral advice only, with no real oversight mechanisms to enforce them.

“What is needed today,” Wuhaili said, “is a clearer and more decisive stance from religious authorities, and stronger official and public oversight to protect the pulpit from politicization.”

Constitutional law experts say addressing the problem requires two approaches: passing electoral laws that prohibit the exploitation of pulpits and stronger efforts by religious authorities to regulate preachers and imams.

Religion is not a ballot card

Human rights activists argue that Islamic parties have turned pulpits into one of their main tools to influence voters, taking advantage of the deep trust clerics hold in Iraqi society.

“The exploitation of religious pulpits has become one of the most prominent tools of Islamist movements in Iraq, and it is a threat to the integrity of the electoral process,” activist Ali Abbas told The New Region.

“Religion exists to reform souls, not to promote political parties,” Abbas said. “Preachers must choose between their religious mission and the electoral contest. Whoever wants politics should leave the pulpit temporarily to those who will preserve its neutrality.”

He added that political manipulation of sacred symbols not only threatens electoral integrity but also undermines the ethics of religious practice itself.

Legal expert Ali Bashikh echoed these concerns, saying the push to involve religious institutions in politics may seem attractive in the short term but carries “great risks for the social fabric.” Such practices, he warned, could deepen divisions within society.

Azam al-Hamdani, a leader in the Azm Alliance, said portraying what happened to Taqaddum Party leader Mohammed al-Halbousi as an attack on Sunnis was a “blatant political ploy aimed at electoral gain.” But, he said, the Sunni public is now more aware and less likely to fall for such tactics.

Hamdani warned that claims by one faction to represent an entire community are “a dangerous attempt that could ignite conflicts within the Sunni house.”

The politicization of pulpits is no longer just an intellectual or media debate but a lived reality. It was most recently highlighted by a tragic incident at Abdul Karim Nasser Mosque in Baghdad, where Imam and preacher Sheikh Abdul Sattar al-Qarghouli was killed. The case shocked Iraqi public opinion.

Religious sources told The New Region the killing exposed deep divisions among groups competing to dominate the religious sphere and exploit it for electoral gain, turning mosques into political battlegrounds instead of houses of worship.

Experts warn that politicizing religion strips the pulpit of its sanctity and transforms it from a unifying force into a source of mobilization and division. This, they caution, threatens social peace and erodes trust in Iraq’s religious institutions.