Security concerns scale back Mandaean Parwanaya festival

2026-03-15 - 10:43

Shafaq News- Baghdad War and unrest across the Middle East have overshadowed the Parwanaya, or Creation Festival, one of Iraq’s most important religious celebrations for the Mandaean Sabaeans. This year, the community has restricted observance to core rituals, skipping public gatherings and festive events. Also called the “Five White Days,” the festival coincides with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan for the third year in a row. During this time, Mandaean Sabaeans fast strictly, avoiding meat, bread, eggs, and other foods, many of which must be prepared at home. The Sabaean faith, among the world’s oldest monotheistic religions, traces its spiritual roots to the prophet John the Baptist (Yahya ibn Zakariya). Rituals are conducted in Aramaic, a language dating to the tenth century BC, preserved in the community’s sacred text, Ginza Rabba. The Ginza Rabba, or “The Great Treasure,” contains writings attributed to the prophet Adam. Its first section recounts creation, the teachings of Eternal Life, and the struggle between good and evil. The second part details the soul’s journey after death, describing its passage to the World of Light and the reward or punishment that follows. Speaking to Shafaq News, Sheikh Sattar Al-Hilu, Spiritual Leader of the Mandaean Sabaeans in Iraq and worldwide, framed Benja, or Parwanaya, as central to Mandaean belief. “The festival reflects the Creator’s power and divine attributes revealed over five days, marking the beginning of the creation of the upper World of Light,” Al-Hilu explained. “On the first day, the Great Living God revealed himself as the Lord of Greatness, followed on the second by the Most High Lord, on the third by the All-Knowing, on the fourth by the Lord of Truth, and on the fifth by the flowing waters from which life emerged.” Samer Naim Hanzal, representative of the Mandaean Sabaean community in Dhi Qar province, described Benja as a commemoration of the creation of the Worlds of Light, commonly understood as paradise. The festival begins after five days of fasting. “Mandaean Sabaeans observe two types of fasting: the greater fast and the lesser fast. The lesser fast involves abstaining from anything that has life, such as chicken or eggs,” Hanzal noted. Parwanaya is also a time to honor ancestors. Families pray for deceased relatives through a meal known as Lofani, or the meal of forgiveness, while baptisms in flowing water take place on the festival’s first day. Normally, religious services and gatherings take place inside the Mandaean Sabaean temple, or mandi, bringing families together. But Hanzal stressed that security concerns have led the community to limit celebrations to essential rituals only. Meanwhile, Osama Al-Badri, a former lawmaker representing the Mandaean Sabaean community, noted that families traditionally spend Parwanaya at baptism sites in Baghdad and other provinces, performing ritual immersion, sharing the Lofani meal as charity, and offering alms in memory of the deceased. The Mandaean population in Iraq is now estimated to be significantly smaller than its pre-2003 figure of up to 70,000, with current estimates often ranging from 3,000 to 15,000 people, and they are primarily located in southern Iraq (especially in Basra, Dhi Qar, and Maysan), as well as in smaller numbers in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region. Following migration waves that began in the late 1990s, Mandaean communities have spread to countries such as Sweden, Germany, Australia, and the United States, where they have established mandis (temples) and received official recognition to freely practice their religious rites and traditions. Read more: Five days to eternity: inside the Mandaeans' sacred Brunaya