Words Over Weapons
Iraqi fashion brand spreads messages of peace and compassion as an antidote to violence
It took several years for Mohammed Abdulimam Mohammed to stop feeling angry about the murder of his best friend at a wedding in 2016. He was late that day, caught up at work, so he arrived after the bomb went off. Nothing prepared him for the scene at the smoldering wedding hall as people raced past, carrying the dead and injured on stretchers, sirens echoing down the street as ambulances pulled up.
The years that followed were among the most difficult of Mohammed’s life. He struggled to come to terms with the devastation he had witnessed, ricocheting between bitterness and grief. He later learned that the bombing was carried out to avenge an attack perpetrated by the groom’s family 10 years earlier, though it had nothing to do with the couple due to be married. “At first, I was very angry—I wanted to take revenge,” he says.
Over time, he realized the cycle of violence would never stop unless people took a different approach. Blood feuds and revenge crimes are not uncommon in Iraq, where violence is often used to settle scores under tribal law. As his head cleared, Mohammed began to wish there was another way. “I realized that violence would not bring my friend back and that the best way to avenge him is to help create a society that is less welcoming to these acts,” he says.
As a content creator who works in communications and PR, he knows how to harness the power of social media. He began creating material that inspires compassion and seeks harmony in human relations. He spent a year in Istanbul working on self-discovery, deepening his understanding of behavior.
Before leaving, he joined a seven-night camping trip outside Istanbul, mingling with people from all backgrounds and cultures. He then returned to Iraq, intent on promoting peace in a country scarred by conflict. “After years of war, you see the anger in people’s faces. Violence is always at the surface here,” he says. His idea, to remind people that there are other ways to interact and settle disputes, was simple: print messages on t-shirts and share a different way of thinking.
The trial run proved a success. Three of Mohammed’s friends wore t-shirts bearing three messages promoting peace and compassion around the streets of Basrah in southern Iraq. “People stopped us to ask where the t-shirts came from and what we were trying to achieve,” Mohammed says. Encouraged by the response, he decided to launch Taatuf in 2023, a t-shirt brand with a mission to reduce conflict.
One of his T-shirts reads, “Words are windows, not walls.” This slogan reminds people to look beyond the surface and consider the driving forces behind a person’s response. “This can only be achieved if everyone is compassionate,” says Mohammed, who believes that a deeper understanding of human behavior would reduce the tendency toward violence in settling disputes in Iraq.
Another logo exhorts people to treat others as they themselves wish to be treated, and a third phrase simply suggests, “Let’s live together.” Mohammed has chosen to keep it concise and stick with these three phrases for now, in the hopes that the messages will spread through society. An Innovation Hub grant from Ideas Beyond Borders will enable him to keep up with mounting demand, particularly among a younger generation keen to break with the past.
He also plans to create short video reels that tell human stories and promote peaceful resolution. “I come across many cases where compassion between people helps them to understand and accept one anothe,r so I wanted to encourage more people to take this path and avoid resorting to violence,” he adds.
Mohammed’s progression from grief and anger to advocacy and action embodies the core mission of Ideas Beyond Borders: empowering individuals with good ideas to create meaningful change. By turning knowledge, creativity, and compassion into action, he is helping to shift perspectives and break cycles of violence in Iraq. His initiative, Taatuf, demonstrates the potential of communication and community-driven solutions in fostering peace. Through support for innovators like Mohammed, IBB continues to combat extremism not with force, but with education, dialogue, and a vision for a more hopeful future.
This article was written by Olivia Cuthbert.