4 EDITORIAL 5 REFERENCE 6 NEWS 8 OCCUPATION OR LIBERATION 12 BRITISH CITIZENSHIP… THE NEW CATCH? 14 AFTER IRAQ - THE DEBATE REGARDING FURTHER US ATTACKS IS NOT ' IF' BUT ' WHEN' 17 THE TRUE MEANING OF JIHAD 19 THE BATTLE OVER THE MASJID 22 BRITISH PETROLEUM' S SECRET SOLDIERS 24 HUMANITARIAN AID 26 SPEAKING THE TRUTH 29 DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN TRADITION AND I SLAM Contents Rabi al-Awwal - Rabi al-Thani 1424 - May 2003 Khilafah 3 magazine Cover Issue 5 Volume 16 May 2003 Khilafah Magazine
Transcript
4EDITORIAL
5REFERENCE
6NEWS
8OCCUPATION OR LIBERATION
12BRITISH CITIZENSHIP…
THE NEW CATCH?
14AFTER IRAQ -
THE DEBATE REGARDING FURTHER USATTACKS IS NOT 'IF' BUT 'WHEN'
The scenes captured on the front cover of this month's KhilafahMagazine have brought joy, pride and confidence to the wholeMuslim World. These same scenes have brought dismay and
despair to the colonialist powers who told the world that the Iraqiswould greet them as liberators.
The bravery of the Iraqi Muslims should demonstrate to the wholeMuslim World that the Islamic revival is complete and growingstronger everyday.
What an irony that it is that the West that finds itself in 'shock and awe'after their pre-emptive form of Militant Capitalism encountered theunmovable force of Islam. Their attempts of intimidation by the mostinhumane means have failed as the unarmed Muslims looked theiroccupiers in the eye and told them to leave and that they wanted Islam.
So what now for the Muslims of Iraq and indeed for all the Muslimsof the World? Is it going to be the pain of witnessing and experiencingcontinuing occupation, humiliation of the reconstruction of Iraqi oilfacilities, western powers squabbling over lucrative contracts and thecontinuing plight of the ordinary Iraqi?
It could be that we may have to bear this for a short time. However wemust remember and be certain that all of this is accelerating theMuslim Ummah on her course, and moving her further over the brinkshe already stands on, to her destiny, the Khilafah State.
Every Muslim is now sure that America is continuing to embark on aruthless, bloodthirsty campaign against the Muslim Ummah and Islam.Every Muslim is in no doubt that other Muslim countries are next inline, it is not a question of if, but when and who.
Ideals that the West propagates such as human rights, international law,democracy and freedom are rejected en masse by the whole MuslimWorld. However principles, such as Muslim unity, need for Shariahlaw, Jihad and Khilafah state have penetrated deeply within the wholeMuslim Ummah. More than this we feel that the whole Muslim Worldsees only one future for herself, which will remove the misery that shelives under, and this is to live beneath the rule of Islam.
So today more than ever we are confident that the decisive day whenthe Muslims once again resume looking after their own affairs isgrowing closer and closer. With the promise of this great future on thehorizon, we, Muslims in the West must remember that our place is bythe side of our brothers in the Muslim countries, and our desires andhopes are with them in the imminent Khilafah State. Certainly it is nota question of if, but when and where.
This is a time when we must intensify our du'aa to Allah (swt) and prayfor his promised victory to come very soon. This is also a time whenthe colonialists and the hypocrites will not want us to speak the truthabout the contradictions and hypocrisy of Western powers, but wemust be vocal in condemning the murderers and colonialists. We mustalso be confident in propagating the superiority of the Islamic way oflife far above that of the corrupt and decadent western civilisation.
And at this time, when victory is close, maybe just on the horizon, wemust join and intensify our work for the Khilafah state as this is theonly work which will truly support our brothers and sisters livingunder occupation and complete our obligation to Allah (swt).z
Since Islam rejects copyrights and patents you arefree to reproduce articles contained within thispublication. It is our kind request that when doingso you cite the author and source of the article.
Translation of the Qur’an
It should be perfectly clear that the Qur’an is onlyauthentic in its original language, Arabic. Sinceperfect translation of the Qur’an is impossible, theterm ‘Translation of the Meaning of the Qur’an(TMQ) has been used, as the result is only a crudemeaning of the Arabic text.
Subscription details
Subscription charges:
£20 per annum including postage UK€40 per annum including postage Europe
To subscribe to Khilafah magazine please refer to:Internet Site: www.1924.orgemail: [email protected]
or write to: Khilafah Magazine, Suite 298,56 Gloucester Road, London,SW7 4UB
Published by Khilafah PublicationsSuite 298, 56 Gloucester Road, London, SW7 4UBwww.1924.org · [email protected]
Khilafah Magazine is a monthly magazinepublished in London with a wide distributionacross the Muslim and non-Muslim world. Themagazine is dedicated to articulating the case forIslam as an ideology that deals with all humanproblems, whether individual or societal. Islammust be understood ideologically and has adefined political and ruling system – the KhilafahSystem.We maintain that the 'Clash of Civilisations'is not only inevitable but imperative. As theCapitalist ideology dominates the world today, theonly challenge to it must come from Islam.
We write to inform, inspire and create a movementfor true intellectual revival.
After twelve and a half years of brutalsanctions followed by weeks of aninexorable and vicious 'shock and awe'bombing crusade which has deprivedthe Muslims of Iraq of water,electricity, basic food and medicalsupplies, the US has opened anotherchapter of their so-called 'ethical andhumanitarian' foreign policy wherebyshe has called on the United Nations tolift economic sanctions on Iraq nowthat Saddam Hussein's regime has"passed into history." Bush also calledon the United Nations to end the oil-for-food program, which since 1996has enabled Iraq to export limitedamounts of oil and use the revenues tobuy basic humanitarian supplies.
This was met with an immediaterebuttal from both France and Russia.Moscow said it would oppose theproposal until UN inspectors confirmthe country has no weapons of massdestruction. French President JacquesChirac has insisted that the UnitedNations should be the one to decidehow and when the sanctions should belifted.
As Muslims we should be aware of themotives behind such calls fromMoscow and Paris as one could easilybe deceived as it was Russia and Francewho apparently stood 'bold' in the faceof the US to prevent the war. Theirposition was not because of concern forthe Muslims in Iraq, nor for protectingthem from the evil of the Americanenemy. It was rather to restore theirinternational presence and impose it onworld politics. This war was an idealopportunity that arose - after thedisintegration of the Soviet Union - soas not to allow America to actunilaterally in the international arena.So they endeavoured to firmly establishinternational relations and a multi-polarinternational position, and standagainst the American unilateralism.Also France and Russia have financialconsiderations to be settled, stemmingfrom Iraq's pre-war debt to them whichrun into billions of dollars.
This should serve as aide memoire thatthese nations are like savage vultures,
relentlessly determined to plunder theresources of the Muslims and weshould take heed from this.
Kysar Sharif
BByy HHooookk oorr bbyy CCrrooookk
Last month, the leader of the oppositionIraq National Congress Ahmed Chalabishot to prominence as the US StateDepartment approved successor toSaddam. Having flown to Nassiriya ona US military plane after 44 years ofexile, Chalabi was clearly grateful tothe Americans and jubilant in hisreturn. "The US has a record ofsupporting the liberation of Iraq.President Bush very courageously tookup the cause on September 12, 2002."
The Iraqi people are understandablyless jubilant as a cursory glance atChalabi's curriculum vitae reveals ahistory of corruption and greed. In1989, Chalabi was accused of fraud andembezzlement over his Petra Bank inJordan. At the time, Jordan was facinga foreign exchange shortage and thehead of the Central bank Said Nabulsiasked the country's banks to deposit35% of their holdings into the centralbank. All complied except Chalabi'sPetra. Upon investigation by auditorsArthur Andersen, it emerged that someof the supposed foreign exchangeassets were actually non-existent.
Chalabi fled in the boot of a car toDamascus and was convicted, inabsentia, of embezzling $60 million.Also another Chalabi bank in Genevahad its banking licence withdrawn bythe Swiss federal banking commissionand subsequently collapsed.
The US state department has been keento stress that Iraqi oil will not bepillaged. Colin Powell, the USsecretary of state, told NBC's 'Meet thePress': "The oilfields are the property ofthe Iraqi people. And if the coalition offorces goes into those oil fields, wewould want to protect those fields andmake sure they are used to benefit thepeople of Iraq and are not destroyed ordamaged by the failing regime on theway out the door." He also added any
wealth generated would be used "inaccordance with international law andto benefit the people of Iraq".However with a convicted criminal likeChalabi being pushed to the helm thesewords sound as hollow as ever.
This is the stuff of America'snightmares. Muslims in post-SaddamIraq have already started to call for theIslamic State! After the first Jummaprayers since the fall of the Saddamregime, tens of thousands protested inBaghdad against the occupation of theirlands by the Crusaders - in starkcontrast to the Hollywood screenedpro-US demos.
Demonstrators gathered in Aadhamiyain central Baghdad chanting anti-American slogans and calling for anIslamic State to replace Saddam'stoppled government. In his khutbah atAbu Hanifa Al-Numan mosque,Ahmed Al Kubaisi said that the US hadinvaded Iraq to defend Israel anddenied that Iraq possessed weapons ofmass destruction. Banners at theensuing rally read "No to America. Noto Secular State. Yes to Islamic State","No Bush. No Saddam. Yes, Yes toIslam." And "No Shi'ites. No Sunnis.Yes, Yes for United Islam". Organisedunder the Iraqi National UnitedMovement, representatives frominfluential sections of society shouted,"We are Sunni and Shi'ite brothers, wewill not sell this nation". Publicexpressions of anti-crusader sentimentsare increasingly being expressedthroughout Iraq - including Karbala,Basra and more recently Nassiriya.Suddenly there is not much mention of"winning the hearts and minds of theIraqi people".
That fact that calls for the Khilafa arebeing made despite decades of BaathParty tyranny shows the strength of theIslamic revival all around the world.Although there is unanimity amongKafir nations on the major threat thatpolitical Islam poses for Capitalism, theUS believes that there is now no
alternative but for direct colonisation,despite the French and Russianwarnings of serious unforeseenconsequences. These public calls forthe return of the Islamic State vindicateto the US Administration their use of ahigh-risk strategy. The US is resignedto the fact that an Islamic State willarise. Establishing bases in Iraq is apre-emptive measure aimed at thecoming political and militaryconfrontation with the Khilafah.
Abid Javaid
TThhee HHuummiilliiaattiioonn ccoonnttiinnuueess
The rulers of eight Muslim countriesmet in the aftermath of the occupationof Iraq to discuss the post war situation.The meeting was hosted by SaudiArabia in Riyadh to discuss theimplications of the US invasion on theregion. Conference attendees includedrepresentatives from Turkey, Syria,Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Iran andJordan.All the aforementioned nations areopen US allies that offered some formof support for Iraq's invasion and all ofthem want a say in filling the vacuumleft behind by Saddam.
Following a luxurious lunch of goatand lamb hosted by the Crown PrinceAbdullah of Saudi Arabia at his desertranch, Mr. Maher, the Egyptian foreignminister stated: "We cannot accept amilitary government. There is anoccupying authority, which hasresponsibility according to the GenevaConvention." The outcome of themeeting was a simple repetition ofpreviously heard rhetoric. Theministers said they wanted the UN toplay a central role in post-war Iraq,echoing similar demands made byEuropean Union leaders at theirsummit in Athens.
Concerns were also raised about anywar mongering towards Syria. SaudiForeign Minister Saud al-Faisal said."We reject utterly any accusations andthreats against Syria because this willlead to a vicious circle of wars andturmoil."
New
s
Khilafah Magazine May 20036
Not content with their toothless anticsat the last Arab summit, the leaders ofthe Middle East countries have onceagain outdone themselves with theirpolitical naivety and stupidity. They arecalling for the intervention of theUnited Nations, a body devoid of anyauthority after America's venture intoIraq. The reality dictates that Americais keen to spread its values and itsideology deep into the heart of theMiddle East and pays no credence toold alliances. Indeed the onlylegitimate alliance is the one based onthe Islamic Aqeedah, which offers lightat the end of the darkness created bythese cowards.
Atif Chaudhary
DDeessppeerraattee hhuunntt ttoo ffiinndd WWMMDD
In an increasingly urgent bid to locateIraq's weapons of mass destruction, theUS is sending a 1000 strong force totrack down the weapons of massdestruction (WMD) allegedlypossessed by Saddam Hussein. TheUnited States has enlisted about 10former UN weapons inspectors as wellas hundreds of scientists and weaponsanalysts to help search for chemical,biological and nuclear arms in Iraq aspolitical pressure builds to find theweapons cited as a key justification forthe war.
The taskforce also plans to employ the'expertise' of civilians who they hopewill provide some insight to thelocation of the elusive arms, asexplained by the defence secretaryDonald Rumsfeld, "I don't think we'lldiscover anything myself … What willhappen is we'll discover people whowill tell us where to go. It is not like atreasure hunt, where you just runaround looking everywhere hoping youfind something." The USadministration has also suggested thatin the absence of a successful find,neighbouring Syria may be serving as adepot for the much sought afterweapons.
Amidst growing criticism, the US hasintensified its search to bring somecredibility to the pretext for war, thatthe regime was truly harbouringweapons which pose a threat tointernational (US) security. In additionto this, the US is keen to seek out anyhidden arms in order to achieve anotherobjective; to strip the Muslim Ummahof the means to physically strengthenand defend herself. Any strong statewishing to sustain itself must beequipped with military arsenal in orderto strengthen itself in the face of threat;
hence the Americans develop their ownWMD, and withdraw from the ABMtreaty. At the same time the westernpowers seek to remove the arsenal ofother states in order to further their aimof suppressing the return of Islam as away of life.
Islam has made it obligatory upon theIslamic State to be strong and secure,which means that the state should armitself with all type of weapons.
Shazia Akhtar
HHaattrreedd ooff IIssllaamm eexxpprreesssseedd oonn tthheeddeeaadd bbooddyy ooff aa MMuusslliimmggrraannddmmootthheerr
Shock gripped the family of a deceasedMuslim grandmother, aged 65, as herdead body was found desecrated in ahospital mortuary in London. She wasthe victim of yet another racist and anti-Islamic attack as rashers of bacon hadbeen placed on her body. This wasdiscovered as the family of thedeceased was about to view her. TheMuslim woman's daughter describedher feelings- "I thought someone whodid this hated Muslims especially. Idon't know why they chose my mum.In life you expect a lot of things, butsomething so shocking, you couldn'teven think it up in the worst horrormovie. Evil, evil, people."
The message expressed by the criminalis clear for the Muslims to see. Notsurprisingly, it is not a unique case, asMuslims residing in the West have feltthe hatred that the Kuffar have towardsthem for decades. Post 9/11, the feelingof insecurity, fear and apprehension isever apparent. Though the Kuffarattempt to seduce the Muslims with theidea of integration, Muslims in theWest must not forget that the Muslimsare united by their 'Aqeedah, and thisbond must never be allowed to besevered at the expense of integratinginto western society. This form ofintegration will result in the Muslimbeing stripped of their Muslim identityand reference point, at the expense ofbeing treated as second class citizensand causing disobedience to Allah(swt).
As the Kuffar undertake their crusaderwar in the Muslim lands, the Muslimsin the West have a duty to vehementlyreject the call for integration intowestern society and decisively shunwestern inspired solutions and standfirm to the truth.
Beijing is a city under siege. After thegovernment's cover up over the extentof the SARS epidemic was exposed,hysteria and panic gripped the ninemillion inhabitants of the city.
Most people have stopped going towork, entire hospitals are being putunder quarantine, the normallycrowded shopping districts are lyingdeserted and everyone is wearingsurgical masks.
According to medical workers 541 ofthe 2305 nationwide that are infectedare Beijing medical officials; althoughit is still widely believed that the truenumber is much higher. Hundreds ofpeople have already died, and the worldhealth organisation is warning of apossible catastrophe in the country,Dick Thompson stated "certainly in acountry like China, with a very largepopulation, there is a possibility thatdisease can become established andremain in human populations".
Now that the crisis has escalated andthreatens to explode with Beijing as theepicentre, the Chinese government hasmoved from denial of the problem tosubmission. An emergency task forceto tackle the problem has been set-upwith £151 million provided to deal withthe virus.
Given all this, the mind boggles at theposition taken by the CanadianGovernment, in response to a WHOtravel warning to Toronto where therehave already been 330 cases and 16deaths. They angrily declared that therewas no crisis and urged tourists andholiday makers to continue to visit thecity. Could this be a repeat of the sameerror witnessed in China?
In Britain Sir Liam Donaldson, thechief Medical officer, has resistedintense pressure to even classify SARSalongside cholera and smallpox whenseveral cases have already reached theUK. So which is it, a Global epidemic,or nothing to worry about?
Nigeria's Presidential election on 19thApril was billed as a "crucial test fordemocracy in Africa." The electionresults showed President OlusegunObasanjo, a former military dictator,sweeping to victory to a 2nd term inoffice. But before the results had evenbeen confirmed, opposition groups criedfoul, citing voting irregularities,intimidation and rigging.
Nigeria's latest experiment withdemocracy is four years old. Thecountry has been flipping fromdictatorship to civilian rule todictatorship over the years. It is Africa'slargest, and the world's 8th largest oilproducer. Despite this, unemployment isdesperately high, the agricultural sectordecimated, and two thirds of thepopulation live on less than $1 per day.The failure of the regional superpowerto progress has been blamed on militaryrule, political corruption, lack ofdemocracy and ethnic violence. Butafter four years of democracy, the percapita gross national product is an alltime low, $260, lower than atindependence from Britain 43 years ago.Also since the last democratic elections,10,000 people have died in riots,hundreds have died in two governmentorchestrated massacres, petrol-dollarshave failed to lift the economy, andNigeria ranked 2nd out of 102 countriesfor corruption. In fact the only progressmade in the last four years has been thatduring the latest elections the numberdead totals to dozens, as opposed tohundreds previously.
The application of democracy orsecularism will not make Nigeriaprogress. As can be seen in otherMuslim states, it is secularism, be it inthe form of dictatorship or democracy,which has resulted in their failure and isthe source of their corruption. As theNigerian This Day newspaperannounced: "It is bad for people to rigelections. But life in Nigeria is rigged.The electoral process, the politicalparties, the governance structure, theentire system, everything is decidedlyrigged against the ordinary person."Only a society based on secularism andDemocracy, bothinnately corrupt, iscapable of producingleadership of corruptmentality who haveno interest in theaffairs of the peoplethey apparently rule,rather only infulfilling their owndesires.
Suhel Ahmed New
s
May 2003 Khilafah Magazine 7
FAHIM QURESHI
Khilafah Magazine May 20038
As the minarets of Baghdadand the markets of Basra fellto the coalition forces, there
was apparent joy and relief on thestreets of Baghdad. The Western
media portrayed a jubilant Iraqination, welcoming the USforces into the heart ofIraq. Cries of "we loveBush" were heard andemblems of the Saddamregime were destroyed.Flowers were handed outto the US Marines andthey were heralded as
liberators. The world wasshown these images and
was told that the Iraqipeople were now free,liberated by the greatleader of the world, theUnited States ofAmerica.
After the fall ofBaghdad, in a joint
statement in NorthernIreland on 8th April 2003,
Tony Blair and GeorgeBush reiterated their
vision for thefuture of Iraq:"The future ofIraq belongs tothe Iraqi people.After years of
dictatorship, Iraq will soon be liberated. For thefirst time in decades, Iraqis will soon choose theirown representative government." This is themessage that is being broadcast to the world, thatIraq is finally free, and a truly liberated,democratic Iraq will arise from amongst the ashesof coalition destruction. However, one needs tolook closer, has Iraq truly been liberated? Havethe Americans come to bestow freedom,democracy and liberty upon the people of Iraq?Or is the presence of the American force in Iraq areturn to old style direct-colonialism andimperialistic occupation? This article willexamine the true meaning of the terms occupationand liberation, and show from the reality the truemotives behind the brutal war on Iraq.
THE US RHETORIC
The US government has made many assurancesand statements about a great future for the peopleof Iraq. President Bush on 17th March 2003
promised the Iraqi people that: "Theday of your liberation is coming
soon." On the 10th April2003, after the fall ofBaghdad, he once again
addressed the people ofIraq. He said: "Thegovernment of Iraq, and thefuture of your country, will
soon belong to you. Wewill help you build a
peaceful andr e p r e s e n t a t i v e
government thatprotects the rights
of all citizens. Andthen our military
forces will leave. Iraqwill go forward as a
unified, independent and
sovereign nation that has regained a respectedplace in the world. You deserve to live as freepeople. And I assure every citizen of Iraq: yournation will soon be free." Later, on 12th April2003, he said: "The people of Iraq are seeing thecompassion as our military provides food, waterand medical treatment to all in need, includingcaptured Iraqi soldiers". As Army MasterSergeant Howard Kutcher, of Delaware, said ofhis service in the Middle East, "I am not here toconquer. I am here to help."
Given the above rhetoric, we need to measure thevalidity of such statements against their previoustrack record in similar confrontations. We alsoneed to accurately understand the true meaning ofoccupation and liberation so that we can applythese terms to the future of Iraq, and thus measurethe success of the above US aims.
WHAT IS LIBERATION?
Liberation is simply setting people free fromenslavement, imprisonment or despotic control. Anatural consequence of this would be that if aninvading force takes over a nation in the name ofliberating the people, then it would treat theconquered people in the same way as their owncitizens. This would also extend to the conqueredpeople enjoying the same rights, sharing the samewealth of the invading country and the peoplemelting together into one society.
WHAT IS OCCUPATION ANDIMPERIALISM?
Occupation can be understood as the opposite ofliberation. This means that an invading forcetakes over a country to occupy it, for intentionsother than liberating the people. This is the takingand holding possession by force of a defeatedcountry. Hence the treatment of the conquered
OCCUPATION ORLIBERATION?
May 2003 Khilafah Magazine 9
occupation or liberation
people will not be of concern to the invaders, andhuman loss and suffering will be treated as aminor issue against the true objectives of theoperation.
Imperialism is derived from the Latin wordimperium. It refers to the relationship of ahegemonic state to subordinate states, nations orpeoples under its control. An imperial policytherefore usually means deliberate projection of astate's power beyond the area of its originaljurisdiction to bring such areas under its control.In contemporary usage the word has becomepoliticised and now denotes any form of sustaineddominance by one group over another. As early as1902 works such as JA Hobson's Imperialismlinked the phenomenon with demands of amaturing capitalism for markets, investmentopportunities, raw materials and cheap labour.
WAS AFGHANISTAN LIBERATED OROCCUPIED?
Before examining the case of Iraq, let us turn ourattention to the US track record in similar pastconfrontations. 19 months ago the worldwitnessed the illegal war of terror on the Muslimsof Afghanistan, a war that was fought to punishthe "harbourers of terrorists". The same rhetoricgiven to the Iraqi people was also given to thepeople of Afghanistan. Statements aboutliberating Afghanistan from the terrorists and thesupporters of terrorists were made. On 7thOctober 2001, President Bush said: "The UnitedStates of America is a friend to the Afghan people,and we are the friends of almost a billion world-wide who practice the Islamic faith. The UnitedStates of America is an enemy of those who aidterrorists and of the barbaric criminals whoprofane a great religion by committing murder inits name."
Today most Afghans say their National Armyseems a distant dream while the U.S.-led coalitioncontinues to feed and finance warlords for theirhelp in hunting for Taliban and Al-Qaida fighters.
Yet 19 months on, exactly what liberty andfreedom do the people of Afghanistan now enjoy?US troops are now permanently stationed inAfghanistan and guard the American chosen rulerof Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai. This so-calledliberation has killed tens of thousands of innocentpeople. The people of Afghanistan do notwelcome the American presence and considerthemselves captives and prisoners of war. Thepost war situation in Afghanistan confirms theirevil intentions as being those as occupiers, andnot those of liberators.
"It's like I am seeing the same movie twice and noone is trying to fix the problem," said Ahmed WaliKarzai, the brother of Afghanistan's president and
his representative in southern Kandahar. "Whatwas promised to Afghans with the collapse of theTaliban was a new life of hope and change. Butwhat was delivered? Nothing. Everyone is back inbusiness."
IS IRAQ GOING TO BE OCCUPIED ORLIBERATED?
The American view on Iraq was not somethingdrafted after the events of September 11th 2001.Indeed, the current inhabitants of the USWhitehouse devised their policy even beforecoming to office. The Project for the NewAmerican Century, or PNAC, is a Washington-based think tank created in 1997. Whatdistinguishes PNAC from other think tanks in theUS is the nature of its members. These includeAmerica's Vice President Dick Cheney, alongwith Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld,Defence Policy Board Chairman Richard Perle,Zalmay Khalilzad Bush's special envoy toAfghanistan and Deputy Defence Secretary PaulWolfowitz is the ideological father of the group.Additionally, Bruce Jackson, a PNAC director,served as a Pentagon official for Ronald Reaganbefore leaving government service to take aleading position with the weapons manufacturerLockheed Martin.
The credentials of these people can not gounnoticed. These people now have the power toimplement their policies. The fundamentalessence of PNAC's view can be found in a WhitePaper produced in September of 2000 entitled"Rebuilding America's Defences: Strategy, Forcesand Resources for a New Century." In it, PNACoutlines what is required of America to create theglobal empire they envision.
According to PNAC, America must repositionpermanently based forces to Southern Europe,Southeast Asia and the Middle East. DonaldKagan, a central member of PNAC, sees Americaestablishing permanent military bases in Iraq afterthe war. This is purportedly a measure to defendthe peace in the Middle East, and to make sure theoil flows. The nations in that region, however,will see this for what it is: a jump-off point forAmerican forces to invade any nation in thatregion they choose to. The American people,anxiously awaiting some sort of exit plan afterAmerica defeats Iraq, will see too late that no exitis planned. This view is further re-iterated byGeneral Kelly, assistant commander of the about20,000-strong 1st Marine Division: "Once wetake ground we tend not to give it up." This isfurther strengthened by the US announcementstating that the Retired General Jay Garner is tohead an interim Iraqi administration.
The people of Iraq although jubilant at the demiseof Saddam Hussain, realise that Iraq may well be
liberated from the tyranny of Saddam, but she willonly go on to be enslaved by the shackles of thecolonialists. Liberation can never be thereplacement of one secular state with another.And how does the imposition of sanctions thathave killed tens of thousands of people and theirdaily bombardment in two wars amount to theirliberation?
The closest analogy to describe this phenomenonwould be the prisoner kept under lock and key bya jailer without reason, his gratitude towards theone who frees him will be immense. Yet thiswould undoubtedly fade as the true intentions ofhis would-be liberator are revealed, instead offreeing him he seeks to enslave him for his ownpurposes. How quickly would the jubilation turnto despair? The US has occupied Iraq, driven byself-interest rather than a wish to help its people.In this case it has replaced Saddam as the jailer ofIraq. It will turn Iraq into a US colony, physicallyat first through its Viceroy, Jay Garner and thenthrough the puppets that she puts forward to act asconduits for her own imperial interests. She willseek to engineer Iraq's economy, educationsystem, social system and political structure. Shewill claim to allow the Muslims of Iraq to choosefor themselves the system of government whilstimposing democracy. Any desire towards Islam inthe societal/political realm will be fought.
THE WAR ON IRAQ IS A COLONIAL ANDIMPERIALIST WAR
The war that Bush started is a colonial war aimedat achieving hegemony and control, imposinginfluence and reshaping the region anewaccording to the American standards. It is a returnto the old form of military colonialism thatprevailed in the eighteenth and nineteenthcenturies and which continued until the middle ofthe twentieth century. This war also reminds us ofthe Crusader campaigns, which the Kuffar in theWest waged against the Muslims in the tenth andeleventh centuries. It reminds us as well of themilitary campaigns of Napoleon, which he ledagainst Egypt and the land of ash-Sham, and alsothe campaigns of Allenby and Gouraud during theFirst World War. America aims at consolidatingher control over potential oil resources in theGulf, which contains the largest reserves in theworld - this oil whose benefit turned into a sourceof adversity for the Muslims due to the actions ofthe agent rulers. Moreover, America endeavoursto divide Iraq into federal entities, so as tofacilitate her continued control over it, occupyingit and preventing it from liberating itself from hercolonialism. She aims to reshape it, just as sheplans to reshape anew the whole region, inaccordance with her long-term interests and sothat it becomes an American base for her alone.
The people of Iraq have nothing to look forward
Khilafah Magazine May 200310
occupation or liberation
to under US control. They will be exploited, theirresources plundered and foreign values imposedupon them. They will continue struggling forsurvival, as the crumbs of foreign aid will be thebasis of their sustenance whilst foreigncorporations reap the profits of the oil industry.Already we have seen many contracts awarded tolarge US corporations, who seek to benefit fromthe petro-dollars of Iraq.
Having destroyed the civilian infrastructure ofIraq, the Muslims of Iraq are without electricity,water, hospitals, water supplies, sewage systems,law and order, policing, civic buildings, schools,road works, public transportation and any form ofrepresentative government. Colin Powell'sstatements about the US forces deferring frompolicing Iraq, thus leaving the people of Iraqsubject to the whims of gangs and other criminals,serves as another reminder of the true nature oftheir occupation.
Clearly, the conquered people do not enjoy thesame rights, as all the above rights are basic rightsenjoyed by the citizens in the United States.Neither do they share the same wealth of theinvading country (US). Also the Islamic peoplewill not willingly capitulate to the secularcolonialist American agenda, chanting, "No toSaddam, no to Bush, Yes to Islam!". Clearly, Iraqis occupied.
WOULD THE KHILAFAH OCCUPY ORLIBERATE OTHER NATIONS?
Unlike the US, the Islamic conquests were notdesigned to exploit, colonise and occupy peopleand nations, nor were they made to takeadvantage of the resources of their land. The onlyaim was to carry the Message of Islam to them inorder to liberate the people of the world from themiserable lives that they were leading and thecorrupt regimes that they were ruled by.
Therefore, in Islam there is no reality to the termoccupation. Whenever the Muslims conqueredanother land they were in fact liberating them andmaking them part of their State as an indivisiblewhole.
This can be seen in the fact that the IslamicKhilafah State was never selective in thecountries it conquered, it never made anydifference to the Muslims how difficult or easywas their task. For example, Egypt was relativelyeasy to conquer and its resources wereconsiderable compared with the harsh Saharanclimate of North Africa with its poverty, but theMuslims never took those factors intoconsideration because their main aim and ultimategoal was to spread Islam. This necessitated theconquering of every country regardless of itspoverty or wealth and regardless of the resistance
put up by its people. The spreading of Islam andthe carrying of its Message ignores the wealth orthe poverty factor.
THE RIGHTS OF NON-MUSLIMS UNDERTHE ISLAMIC KHILAFAH STATE
The non-Muslims citizens living under theKhilafah are referred to, in Shari'ah, as dhimmi.The term "dhimmi" is derived from the word"dhimm", which means "obligation to fulfil acovenant." Islam considers all people living underthe Khilafah as citizens of the Islamic State andtreats them with equal status. Discriminationbetween Muslims and dhimmi is not allowed. Thestate must secure and protect their beliefs, honour,mind, property and life.
Imam Qarafi summed summed up theresponsibility of the Khilafah State to the dhimmiwhen he said: "It is the responsibility of theMuslims to the People of the Dhimma to care fortheir weak, fulfil the needs of the poor, feed thehungry, provide clothes, address them politely,and even tolerate their harm even if it was from aneighbour, even though the Muslim would havean upper hand. The Muslims must also advisethem sincerely on their affairs and protect themagainst anyone who tries to hurt them or theirfamily, steal their wealth, or violates their rights."
The following is the text of the treaty with thepeople of Aelia (Al-Quds, now referred to asJerusalem). In it, the Khalifah Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra) made a pledge to the Christians ofAl-Quds after its opening:
In the name of Allah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem This is what the servant of Allah(SWT), Umar,the Amir of the believers has granted to thepeople of Aelia (Al-Quds) for safety: He hasgranted them security for themselves, theirbelongings, their churches and crosses, theirsick and healthy and all their co-religionists.Their churches shall not be taken for residenceand shall not be demolished, nothing shall bedamaged from them or from their surroundings,nor shall their crosses be removed or anythingtaken from their property. They shall not beharassed because of their religion, and none ofthem shall be harmed. No Jew will be allowed tolive with them in Aelia.
The people of Aelia will have to pay Jizyah (tax)as the dwellers of cities pay. They have to ejectfrom Aelia the Romans and thieves. Those ofthem who leave shall have safety for themselvesand their belongings until they reach a safedestination, anyone from them who wants to stayin Aelia shall be safe provided they pay theJizyah like the people of Aelia.
If any of the people of Aelia want to leave with
the Romans and take their belongings with themthey and their churches and crosses shall be safeuntil they reach a place of safety. Any of thepeople of the land who were in Aelia before theslaying of its last leader shall have the option ofeither staying provided they pay the tax like thepeople of Aelia or if they so wish, they shall beallowed to leave with the Romans or go back totheir original homes. No tax shall be collectedfrom them until they are able to pay it.
The promise of Allah(SWT), His Messenger(saw), the Khalifah, and the believers istherefore given to abide by the contents of thistreaty as long as the people pay their due tax.
Witnessed by: Khalid ibn al-Walid, Amr ibn al-'As, Abdur Rahman ibn 'Auf, Mu'awiah ibn AbiSufyan. Written in the year 15 AH. ( Tarikh al-Tabari, v3 609)
The motivation for the conquering of othernations and people therefore is driven purely byseeking the pleasure of Allah (SWT). It is notmotivated by any material acquisitions. This iswhy when the Islamic State conquered othernations it did not oppress the people it had justconquered by stealing all their wealth. Rather theState implemented the Shari'ah upon the peopleand treated them with justice. Under the IslamicKhilafah, the dhimmi has the following rights:
1. Non-Muslims are left to follow theirown beliefs.
Islam makes it clear that the Islamic State is notallowed to force any non-Muslim to abandon theirbelief. Rather the non-Muslims should acceptIslam after being intellectually convinced of theIslamic Aqeedah. This is proven by the fact that,to this day, there are still communities of Jews andChristians living throughout the Middle East eventhough the Islamic State ruled that area for over1300 years.
2. In matters of food and clothing, theNon-Muslims are allowed to follow theirreligions within the framework of public order.
3. Marital affairs and divorce amongNon-Muslims are settled according to theirreligions. The non-Muslims are allowed to marryeach other according to their own religions. Theycan get married to each other in a Church or aSynagogue by a Priest or Rabbi. They can also getdivorced according to their own religions.
4. The protection of the dhimmi is theresponsibility of the Muslims. The dhimmi are notobliged to join the army and fight to defend theIslamic State. Ibn Hazm said, "That one of therights of the People of Covenant is that if Dar ulIslam is attacked and the People of the Covenant
May 2003 Khilafah Magazine 11
occupation or liberation
reside in that part of the land then Muslims haveto die to defend them. Any leniency in this regardwould be leniency in the rights of the People ofDhimma."
5. The Hukm Shari' states: "Non-Muslims from the People of the Book deservewhatever the Muslims deserve from the Bait ulMal." Consequently, the poor dhimmi would gethelp from the Bait ul Mal (State Treasury).
6. Any persons who holds citizenship inthe State, if he is mature and sane, has the right tobe a member of the Council of the Ummah. There,he possesses the right to elect the members of theCouncil, whether the person was a man or awoman, a Muslim or non-Muslim. It is permittedfor non-Muslim citizens to be members of theCouncil, in order to file complaints against anyinjustice perpetrated against them by the rulers oragainst any error in the implementation of Islamupon them.
7. Anyone who holds citizenship and iscompetent, man or woman, Muslim or non-Muslim is eligible to be appointed as a director oremployee of any administrative departmentwithin the State. This is taken from the rules ofhiring (Ijara), where it is permitted to hire anyperson despite religion. This is because theevidences for hiring do not omit any specificgroups. The Messenger of Allah (saw) himselfonce hired a man from Banu Ad-Deel who was anon-Muslim. This indicates that it is permitted tohire a non-Muslim just as it is to hire a Muslim.
In his book, "Kitab Al-Kharaj", Abu Yusuf givesthe following reports: "After getting on peacefulterms with the people of Syria and collecting thedues of the Jizya and the Kharaj, news reachedAbu 'Ubeida that the Byzantines had amassed
their troops to attack him. The effect of this wasgreat on Abu 'Ubeida and the Muslims. He sentmessages to the rulers of cities with whosecitizens he had made peace, asking them to returnto their subjects the paid dues of the Jizya andKharaj, with an instruction to tell them: "Wehereby return to you the money you have paid us,because of the news of the enemy troops amassedto attack us, but, if God grants us victory againstthe enemy, we will keep up to the promise andcovenant between us." When this was delivered tothe dhimmis and their money returned to them,they told the Muslims: "May God bring you back
to us and grant you victory over them!"
After this discussion it is apparent that the non-Muslims integrated successfully in to the Islamicsociety. The religions of the Jews, Christians andother religions only have rulings covering therelationship between man and his Creator, andman with himself. The Shari'ah, in these tworelationships, allows the non-Muslims to followtheir own rulings on these matters; therefore,there is no conflict with the non-Muslims.
Regarding the relationship of man with others i.e.the societal relationships, non-Muslims have norulings on these matters. Because of this, theymust adopt a system to live by in society. TheIslamic system, when implemented, was by farthe most successful system in integrating the non-Muslims in to the Islamic society. The rebellionand disunity caused by the non-Muslims livingunder the Islamic State in the past, like the Greeksand the Christians in Lebanon, only came aboutdue to Britain and France encouraging andsupporting rebellion in an effort to destroy theKhilafah.
CONCLUSION
In Islam, Muslims are neither allowed to occupyor to be occupied. This is due to the saying ofAllah(SWT):
"And Allah will never give the unbelievers anyway (sabeel) (of authority) against the believers"[TMQ An-Nisa: 141].
Given the general nature of this ayah, and the factthat sabeel is considered to be nakira (undefined),then this ayah expresses the categorical
prohibition of the non-Muslims (Kafir) fromholding any degree of authority over the Muslims.If the US succeeds in her plan, her objective willbe one of occupation and as Muslims we mustreject this outright due to the command ofAllah(SWT) in the previous ayah.
We have clearly shown how the US plan for Iraq,and indeed the wider Middle East, is to occupyand colonise the region. She pays no regard to thewell-being of the Iraqi Muslims, and there is aclear difference between conqueror andconquered. Hence Iraq is occupied, and not
liberated.
When Islam conquered lands its aim in contrast,was to liberate the lands from the tyrannical ruleof man, and free man to worship Allah(SWT).The Islamic State achieved this by implementingthe justice of Islam over the people. It achieved astatus never achieved by any other power. Itmanaged to integrate the conquered nation intoone people. We saw that when Islam enteredPersia, Iraq, the domain of Sham, Egypt andNorth Africa people entered Islam willingly,without compulsion. This was because once thesepeople had become engulfed by the banner ofIslam, and once they had been ruled by theIslamic State and embraced the Muslim belief,they became a single nation, the Muslim Ummah.This remarkable feat was singularly due to theIslamic rule and the Islamic belief. Many factorsled to the successful integration of these disparatepeoples into one Ummah, including the teachingsof Islam and the mixing of the Muslim conquerorsin their daily lives and work with the conqueredpeople. There was no diseased notion orinclination towards imperialist tendencies,because the Islamic State integrated peopletogether either on its justice, or its belief. z
When Islam conquered lands its aim in contrast, was to liberate thelands from the tyrannical rule of man, and free man to worshipAllah(SWT). The Islamic State achieved this by implementing thejustice of Islam over the people.
BRITISH CITIZENSHIP…
THE NEW CATCH?SHAJAHAN MALIK
Khilafah Magazine May 200312
In their latest drive to mussel the Muslimcommunity and force them to accept thegovernment line, the British government has
recently pushed for legislation to strip anyone whohas dual nationality from their British citizenship ifthey were to oppose the crown. This move is clearlydirected towards the Muslim community, thousandsof who hold dual-nationality with countries such asPakistan and Bangladesh.
The decision of the British government to removethe citizenship of Finsbury Park Mosque cleric AbuHamza is the latest in a long line of actions aimed atthe Muslim community. These have includedcensorship of Friday sermons, pressuring of Mosquecommittees, attendance of police officers at FridayJummah prayers imposition of CCTV in someMosques and the enactment of a 19th Century act oflegislation to sentence Sheikh Faisal. These actionsare designed to create an oppressive climate of fearso Muslims do not show their solidarity with theirbrethren in Iraq who are being occupied by theBritish and American Crusader forces. At presentcitizenship can only be deprived if it was obtainedby fraud or if the person is sentenced toimprisonment for a year or more within five years ofobtaining citizenship. However the revolutionarynew Nationality, Immigration, Asylum Act 2002 thatcame into force on 1st April 2003 will haveconsequences for second, third and fourthgeneration Muslims that were born in the U.K,regarding thoughts and opinions they adopt andpropagate that may be interpreted as "anti-British".
Liam Clifford, Director of Global Immigration andthe Global Visas Groups said: "In my opinion thechanges to the law will benefit the country throughhelping to homogenise society, as well asencouraging people with dual nationalities to learnthe British language and culture. It will also ensurethat we look more closely at the people that we areinviting to join us as citizens of the UK, as well aspunishing existing dual nationality citizens who actagainst the nation. The Government's objective is toensure that those who wish to become Britishcitizens by way of naturalisation must demonstratesome commitment to the United Kingdom"
For some time a concerted attempt to integrate theMuslim community with the host community hasbeen thrust upon Muslims in the West. This is inorder that they accept the western values at theexpense of Islamic values. Part of this agenda aimsto misdirect the sincere Islamic sentiments of theMuslims through the Democratic political process inorder that the Muslims engage in the fruitless pursuitof Western solutions and neglect the work for therevival of political Islam.
"The intolerance of Muslim extremists is theproblem and the remedy is clear. They must acceptour political culture, not our religion. That is the bestway for them to succeed in Britain and the best wayto live happily alongside us."Editorial of the Sunday Times May 12th 2002.
"Too many within the younger generation appear toshow an unwillingness to integrate into mainstreamBritish society. Together with Muslim leaders, wemust do more to counter the influence offundamentalists over disenchanted Muslim youth.Democrats can never accept that religiousinjunctions take precedence over temporal laws."Jack Straw Islam in Europe-Prospect magazine.October2002.
New styles have been introduced to integrate theMuslims into the wider British society. There hasbeen an increase in the volume of advertising for theArmy though Muslim media, includingadvertisements in the Muslim news and attempts atrecruiting Muslims into the police force using Hijabfriendly uniforms. These initiatives have predictably
failed. However, they have been coupled with thescare mongering regarding the fate of people whospeak their true Islamic views regarding the BritishGovernment and British colonialism. The BritishHome Secretary David Blunkett stated, "I willprepare a case against anyone who has acted in away which is totally incompatible with holdingBritish citizenship."
These attempts to frighten the Muslims and quashall dissenting views shows the weakness of the Westwho know they can no longer convince the Muslimsin general to embrace their Capitalist way of life,and therefore have had to resort to bully boy tactics.Since the events of September the 11th we have seena multitude of aggressive policies aimed at theMuslims in Western countries in order that they giveup all that falls outside the Capitalist secularframework. These have included the internment ofthousands of Muslims in America without anycriminal accusation made, the banning of the"Liberation party" in Germany due to their assertionthat the state of Israel is "illegitimate" and now thenew citizenship laws in the U.K. Such policies canonly be described as "thought policing" and showthe intellectual bankruptcy of the West who nowroutinely contradict their core ideals of Freedom andpluralism.
"Never will the Jews nor the Christians be pleasedwith you (O Muhammad Peace be upon him) till youfollow their way" [Al-Baqarah: 120]
Clearly the West including the British government isbrandishing these sticks at the Muslims and aimingat their political, not lifestyle, views. They are tryingto coerce the Muslims to adopt the secular politicalframework, and to feel that no alternative isavailable other than this.
For Muslims at the receiving end of this campaign,it is critical to understand what being a BritishCitizen means. Should the Muslims adopt Britishthoughts along with their Passport, or should they
May 2003 Khilafah Magazine 13
british citizenship....the new catch?
support the English cricket team, or should theyspeak English to their Grandparents who have livedall their lives in a remote Pakistani village, or shouldthey support Britain when it wages war againstMuslims.
These issues have all been raised by the BritishGovernment in recent times, in order to understandthe position Muslims must take they need to refer tothe Islamic thoughts.
COVENANT OF A MUSLIM LIVING IN ANON-MUSLIM COUNTRY
The Muslims arrived in the West for differingreasons. Many came to seek economic opportunitiesthat did not exist in their countries, or to seek refugefrom instability and war.
Accordingly the position of Muslim living in theWest can be likened to that of Muhammad ( saw )when he lived in Makkah where man made, non-Islamic systems were implemented.
In Makkah Muhammad (saw) lived under theprotection of his uncle Abu Talib who did not accept
Islam. However, despite the fact that Muhammad(saw) was under the protection of a non Muslim thisdid not deter him from proclaiming the truth,challenging the relationships in the society oraccounting and exposing the tyrants of Makkah byproclaiming the Quran openly while it was beingrevealed to him (saw).
This activity of the Messenger (saw) resulted in hisuncle coming to him to ask for him to compromisethe message of Islam. He said "Nephew yoursheikhs and the nobles of your tribe have asked forjustice, they have asked that you desist from revilingour gods and they will leave you to worship yourGod." [Tabari]
The Prophet (saw) rejected this offer to compromiseand therefore clearly the covenant of Muhammad(saw) was only one of protection and it did not tainthis viewpoint about life at all, nor did it prevent himfrom speaking his viewpoint openly.
Also due to the persecution of the Muslims inMakkah some Muslims migrated to Abyssiniaseeking safety as the Muslims in the West migrated. The Muslims were summoned to the court of theKing Najashi. Jafar bin abu Talib represented theMuslims, he saluted them, but did not bow down.They asked, "what's wrong with you, why don't bowdown to the king?'
Jafar confidently and frankly replied "we only bowdown to Allah, the almighty and Glorious."
Amr ibn Al-As intervened and said, "They differwith you about son of Mary - they say that he iscreation and a slave of Allah."
An-Najjashi asked, "what do you say about son ofMary"
Jafar replied by saying "we say that which isrevealed to our Prophet: he is Allah's slave,Messenger, His word which He bestowed, and Spiritcreated by Him"
Jafar and the Muslims did not follow the customs ofAbyssinia in bowing to the King. They stated clearlyand confidently that they only bow to Allah theAlmighty and Glorious. That is because they wereMuslims living in Abyssinia and not "AbyssinianMuslim". Likewise, today Muslims view themselvesas "Muslims living in the Britain" and not as "BritishMuslims".
As to the covenant that Muslims have living as aminority in a non-Muslim country is simply one of
protection that does not affect our bond with theglobal Ummah or allow us to compromise our deenin any way. Unfortunately there are some that feelthat Muslims should integrate and partake in allwestern institutions including the British ArmedForces. Mouthpieces of the British government suchas Muslim Council of Britain have shamlesslyreferred to the British Crusader Forces as "our boys"while the British stooge Nazir Ahmed was makingdua in the House of Lords for the desert rats. It isabsolutely forbidden for Muslims to support theenemies of Allah (swt) let alone contemplate joiningthem.
"It is only as regards those who fought against youon account of religion, and have driven you out ofyour homes, and helped to drive you out, that Allâhforbids you to befriend them. And whosoever willbefriend them, then such are the Zâlimûn (wrong-doers those who disobey Allâh)." [TMQMumtahina: 9]
"O you who believe! Take not as Bitânah (advisors,consultants, protectors, helpers, friends, etc.) thoseoutside your religion (pagans, Jews, Christians, andhypocrites) since they will not fail to do their best tocorrupt you. They desire to harm you severely.Hatred has already appeared from their mouths, butwhat their breasts conceal is far worse. Indeed Wehave made plain to you the Ayât if you understand."[TMQAl-Imran: 118]
Muslims must never succumb to the intimidationtactics of the British government. To do so would beto sign a blank cheque of approval that would entrapthe Muslims to continuously compromise theirIslamic thoughts.
When the war started many citizens changed theiropinion of the war and as the patriotic bond set inthey rallied around their armed servicemen andwomen. Clearly there is more to being British thanspeaking the Queens English and eating cucumbersandwiches.
At these times and indeed at all times the Muslimsin Britain must speak the truth. When Muslim landis invaded, they should not be shy in declaring thatthis calls for the armies of the Muslim countries tofight Jihad and repel the aggressors. When a waragainst Islam and political Islam is launched weshould say this is not anything other than a Crusaderegardless of the intimidation and pressure tacticsfrom the British Government.
So the concept of being a "British Muslim" wouldnaturally mean compromising Islam and acceptingthe colonial worldview that is an inseparable part ofthe Capitalist Ideology. Alternatively Islam providespeople with a unique bond that is based upon therational conviction of a Creator and the intellectualchallenge posed by the Quran. This is different fromthe animalistic nature of being British, which isbased on the primitive nationalistic and patrioticbonds. What would be the difference between aMuslim who adopted the detestable "British"identity and the previous nations that exceeded thelimits Allah (SWT) set them?
"Those among the Children of Israel whodisbelieved were cursed by the tongue of Dawûd(David) and 'Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary).That was because they disobeyed (Allâh and theMessengers) and were ever transgressing beyondbounds." [Al-Maidah: 78-80] z
When a war against Islam and political Islam is launched weshould say this is not anything other than a Crusade regardless ofthe intimidation and pressure tactics from the British Government.
Khilafah Magazine May 200314
Following the tumultuous and emotionalevents in Iraq over recent weeks, a debate isnow underway as to what the future holds
for the Islamic world and its 1.5 billion people. Itis certainly important for Muslims to learn theimportant lessons of the past weeks. The failure ofsecularism, dictatorship and political integrationin the West being the key ones, but not to theextent of over elaborating, such that depressionand defeatism sets in to their hearts and minds.The Muslim Ummah has shown in her glorioushistory that she has overcome greater setbacksthan the occupation of Baghdad in 2003. Thecurrent zealots from Washington only follow along line of crusading armies who even afterinitial occupations of Muslim land have alwayseventually met their ends in the hot deserts of theMiddle East. Thus the important challenge forMuslims who have been tasked by the Creator ofthis universe with the guardianship of mankind isto look forward so as to take advantage of thenumerous new opportunities that have arisenwithin the international landscape.
To be able to adequately answer the key questionof whether Iraq is a pre-cursor for future attacks,we need to seek to understand how all theindividual constituents of this conflict fit together.We need to understand the dynamics of what thecurrent US administration is up to, how doweapons of mass destruction fit into the overallequation and the impact if any of the oil question.
The real agenda in Iraq is certainly to colonise it,as America and Britain do not go and fight warsor spend billions of dollars on an altruistic whimfor the betterment of ordinary people, but this is asmall part of a wider agenda, which is notrestricted to Iraq. Issues such as 'liberation' are aconvenient pretext to hide more sinister motives
and while matters such as Saddam, oil,reconstruction contracts and WMD's areimportant contributory factors they are merelytactical in nature, the real strategic agenda is todefeat the remaining rival to Western hegemonyand economic control, i.e. political Islam which ismanifested in the call for the Islamic State(Khilafah).
Influential neo-conservative journals such as theWeekly Standard have been making it very clearas to what the agenda should be. Jeffrey Ball ajournalist reported in March that theadministration has in mind a "world war betweenthe United States and a political wing of Islamicfundamentalism, a war of such reach andmagnitude [that] the invasion of Iraq, or thecapture of top Al Qaeda members should be seenas tactical events in a series of moves andcountermoves stretching well into the future."Charles Hill an ex-chief of staff of the StateDepartment in the Reagan administration alsostated recently "The states of the region [theMiddle East] are jeopardised by bad governanceand an Islamist ideology that would abolish statesand re-create the caliphate." Michael Leedonwriting for the Neo-Conservative American
Enterprise Institute stated, "The battle for Iraq isdrawing to a close, but the war against terrorismhas only just begun. As President Bush has saidthis will be a long war involving many terroristorganisations and many countries that supportthem. Saddam Hussein's Iraq was never the mostthreatening." But what exactly is the new neo-conservative doctrine, which is now exerting suchinfluence on the US administration?
THE NEW NEO-CONSERVATIVEFOREIGN POLICY
The Neo-conservatives who now dominate thecurrent US administration have departed frommany of the post 1945 US foreign policydoctrines of containment, multilateralism andamoralism. The philosophical underpinnings ofthe neo-conservatives are the writings ofMachiavelli, Hobbes and Edmund Burke. Theytend to read reality in terms of the failure of the1930's (Munich) versus the success of the 1980's(the fall of the Berlin Wall). In their view, theinvasion of Iraq was not merely or even primarilyabout getting rid of Saddam Hussein, nor was itreally about WMD's though their elimination isseen to be important. Rather the neo-conservatives saw the invasion as only the firstmove in a wider effort to reorder the powerstructure of the entire Middle East. Prior to thewar, hawks within the administration made itclear as to what the real agenda was. In February,Undersecretary of State John Bolton told Israeliofficials that after defeating Iraq, the US would"deal with" Iran, Syria and North Korea. After thewar ended, Rumsfeld, Powell and President Bushhimself all attacked Syria on the pretext of thelatter's alleged support of the Saddam regime, itsWMD programme and its hosting of anti-Israeligroups.
AFTER IRAQ - THE DEBATE REGARDING FURTHER US
ATTACKS IS NOT 'IF' BUT 'WHEN'SAJJAD KHAN
May 2003 Khilafah Magazine 15
after iraq -
Joshua Micah Marshall writing in April's issue ofThe Washington monthly in a revealing articletitled 'Practice to deceive' makes several pointsabout the new Neo-conservative philosophy. Hestates that the Neo-Cons believe that the MiddleEast today is like the Soviet Union was 30 yearsago. They believe Political Islam is thecontemporary equivalent of communism andfascism and that radicals with potential access toWMD's are the equivalent of the Soviet arsenalpointed at the US during the cold war.Furthermore, they believe that the primary causebehind the Islamic radicals is the Muslim worldand especially the Arab world's endemicdespotism, corruption, poverty and economicstagnation and that there is a nexus linkingburgeoning terrorism and mounting anti-semitismwith repressive but nominally 'Pro-American'regimes like Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Theybelieve repressive regimes channel dissent intothe mosques, where the 'hopeless' and the'disenfranchised' are taught a brand of Islam thatallegedly combines anti-modernism, anti-Americanism and a worship of violence. Unableto overthrow their own autocratic rulers, themasses turn their fury against the foreign powerthat finances the corrupt regimes that attempt tomaintain stability and access to oil, namely theUS and her allies. Therefore they believe trying tomanage the dysfunctional Islamic world asClinton attempted is therefore foolish,unproductive and dangerous as détente was withthe Soviets, nor is it necessary, given theunparalleled power of the United States hascurrently. The Neo-Cons believe therefore that afull-scale confrontation between the United Statesand political Islam is inevitable and alsodesirable, so they think why not have it now ontheir terms rather than later on their adversary'sterms. He also argues that the hawks have beenwatching with fury while Kissingerians such asBrent Scowcroft and Colin Powell left Saddam'sregime alone in 1991, they sat and watched whileattacks took place on US embassies, militaryinstallations and finally on September 11th theTwin Towers and the Pentagon. Though the neo-cons do not dictate all US policy, they enjoy aformidable influence through holding many of thekey positions of power, such as the VicePresidency and the Pentagon, as well as stronginfluence within the State Department.
Marshall argues that the hawk's grand plan is thatimposing a democratic government in Iraq willlead to a change in the political dynamic withinthe region. Palestinians seeing their Iraqi brethrenenjoying freedom will seek to then reform thePalestinian authority, a democratic Iraq willweaken the mullahs in Iran thus leading to moredemocratisation. Having democracies in Iran, Iraqand Turkey the heartlands of Islam will thendestabilise the Gulf sheikhs and will weaken theautocratic regimes in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Countries that resist like Syria will, if need be,given the Iraq treatment and invaded without anyquestions asked, regardless of what the BritishPrime Minister may think. The imposition ofWestern formulated concepts such as freedom,democracy and the rule of law will then lead to areconstruction of values within society leading tomore 'western values' and a shift and disincentiveaway from political Islam and anti-Americanism.If however democracy brings unpalatable results(ala Algeria i.e. the wrong people come in), thehawks believe military means is always an optionthat can easily be put into action. These views arecorroborated even by democratic leaning thinktanks, such as the Brookings Institute, where arecent report titled 'The Dilemmas facing USPolicy towards the Islamic world' by Dr Peter
Singer makes the following point; '"The generalalienation, lack of accountability and lack ofpolitical or economic success helped create thecontext for the attacks of 9-11 and the often-shocking responses to them in the Islamic world.More importantly, even if the US is able to run-down the leaders of al Qaida, the underlyingconditions that facilitated the group's emergenceand popularity - political oppressions andeconomic marginilisation will still be present. Forthese reasons reform [of the autocratic nations]may have to be an American strategic priority."
The analysis is not restricted to sceptics such asMarshall or Singer; influential neo-conservativesare not shy to propagate their own views on thisnew plan. William Kristol editor of the right wingWeekly Standard and who is considered toexercise considerable influence on PresidentBush, Cheney and Rumsfeld stated in a recentinterview with Haaretz, "The neo-conservativedoctrine maintains that the problem with theMiddle East is the absence of democracy andfreedom. It follows that the only way to blockpeople like Saddam Hussein and Osama binLaden is to disseminate democracy and freedom.To change radically the cultural and politicaldynamics that creates such people. So that reallyis what the war is about (i.e. Iraq). It is beingfought to consolidate a new world order to createa new Middle East." Kristol also states that, "Thechoice before us is between extremist Islam,secular dictatorship and democracy. And becauseof September 11th if the US does not shape theworld in its image, the world will shape the US in
its own image." Charles Krauthammer syndicatedcolumnist and Fox TV panellist (WashingtonPost, Time, Weekly Standard) also comments inthe same Haaretz article echoing recent remarksmade by President Bush that "the Iraq war isreally the beginning to of a gigantic historicalexperiment whose purpose is to do in the Arabworld what was done in Germany and Japan afterWorld War 2." Welcome therefore to the newAmerica Empire in the Middle East, the realideological plan for the region and which is farfrom the announced policy of liberation.
So in the light of this, what has been and shouldbe the reaction of Muslims in the West? The meekresponse of government-friendly Muslim groupsin Britain and America, as well as major mosques
in the light of this new doctrine is indeed galling.For years these groups naively argued thatchanging the system from within by voting forkufr parties was the correct strategy for Muslims.They bickered passionately in 1997, that Blairwas better than Major because he was more Pro-Kashmir, that Bush was more Pro-Muslim thanGore in 2000 (because the latter's VicePresidential nominee was Jewish). They havenow seen their strategy crumble before their veryeyes. The same groups who for years enjoyed andstill enjoy supreme patronage from the Westerngovernments have seen their influence evaporatequicker than you can say 'Vote Labour', and whostill today have the audacity to call allied soldierswho fought in Iraq as 'our boys', and even askedus to remember British soldiers in 'our prayers'while the latter were killing Iraqis in Umm Qasrand Basra. These groups are still calling for acentral UN role in Iraq despite everyone but themrealising long ago that the UN is simply like them,a mere tool of Western foreign policy. Their roleis simply to act as mouthpieces of WesternGovernments to sanitise the pure call of Islam andto divert Muslims into fruitless actions, such asfurther integration, while their political masterspursue the real political agenda as outlined abovein the Islamic world with minimum fuss fromMuslims at home.
The correct response which the WesternGovernments and their mouthpieces within theWest hate to hear is that Muslims in Britain andthe West are part of a wider global Ummah, this istheir true and only bond, and not some kind of
The correct response which the Western Governments and theirmouthpieces within the West hate to hear is that Muslims in Britainand the West are part of a wider global Ummah, this is their trueand only bond, and not some kind of assimilated second classstatus within the host community.
Khilafah Magazine May 200316
after iraq -
assimilated second class status within the hostcommunity. The Muslim world has tried everyother kind of political system that the humanmind has formulated, whether it be monarchical,(Jordan and Saudi Arabia) Democracy (as seen inTurkey, Indonesia and Pakistan) or seculardictatorships (Iraq and Syria), all have failedmiserably as all have permitted Westerncolonialism to continue. It is imperative for theMuslims in the West to help their brothers andsisters in the Islamic world reclaim their politicaldestiny by establishing the Islamic Khilafah. It isonly the Khilafah that can stand up to US andBritish hegemony as the neo-conservatives inWashington realise only too well. It is only theKhilafah that will protect the blood, honour andproperty of the Muslims and it is only this statethat can demonstrate a new ideological vision formankind, which compares like a shining beaconto the bankrupt, colonising and insipid civilisationthat western Capitalism offers. With respect toWMD, a radical approach is required not thesanitised weak and cowardly response advocatedby the Government sponsored Muslim groups.
WMD
Stripping Iraq of WMD is indeed a key factorwithin the West's strategy of fracturing the link ofPolitical Islam and WMD's. America has noproblem in non-Islamic countries like France,Israel or India having WMD's, but countries likeIraq, Iran and increasingly Pakistan shouldcertainly not be in the WMD club. The key pointto make, which has been overlooked by mostcommentators is that the West (including Franceand Germany), is that it intends to strip Iraq ofWMD's and not just Saddam's regime. This is animportant point as any post war US imposed Iraqiconstitution will be a WMD free zone, similar toJapan and Germany after World War 2. This givesthe complete lie to the propaganda that argues thatSaddam is the target and not the people of Iraq.Also there is a clear double standard here withhow the main Western alliance, that America led,operated in the past. NATO during the cold warpossessed thousands of nuclear missiles to offseta conventional superiority of their then rival, theSoviet Union. This reinforces the argument thatevery nation who seeks leadership and hassecurity needs, is entitled to, and should acquirenuclear weapons, especially the Muslim worldthat currently faces an imbalance in qualitativeconventional weaponry. The precedence of Iraq,if not stopped, could easily be used on countriessuch as Pakistan, Iran and Syria in due course asmany of the neo-conservatives in theadministration have already advocated. Thereforethe clear lesson for the Muslim world is that itshould develop and proliferate its own WMD asfast as possible if it is to deter any future US andBritish attacks. This not only requires politicalunity in the Islamic World as the shariah obliges
but a clear strategy to share, develop and buildadditional conventional and non-conventionalmilitary technologies. A powerful Islamic stateunified with an overwhelming military and anarsenal of WMD's is the only vehicle that cantherefore defend Muslims from further westernaggression. However economic strength is also anecessity for Muslims, such as the control of oil,which could be equally as devastating whencoupled with a sincere leadership and politicalastuteness.
OIL
Many have said that attacking Iraq was all aboutthe American pursuit of oil, whereas the USadministration and her British ally claim it hadnothing to do with oil. The truth lies somewherein between. The control of oil and its impact onenergy security and trade are important andsignificant components of the US and its allies'national security policies. The protection of theIraqi Ministry of Oil and other oil facilities, whileall other buildings were being looted and burned,by US forces in Baghdad, was not just a merecoincidence. Therefore to say the attack on Iraqhas nothing to do with oil is simplistic to say theleast. Observing some facts can evidence this:
Fact 1: America currently imports over half its oilconsumption of 20 million barrels of oil per day.
Fact 2: The current imported level of 10m barrelsper day is set to rise to 16m barrels by 2020according to a report authored by Dick Cheney in2001.
Fact 3: OPEC members who currently accountfor 40% of the current oil production possess 75%of the provable oil reserves.
Fact 4: The highest provable oil reserves arepresent within Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE,Kuwait and Iran, all countries present in theMiddle East, not ignoring significant reserves inQatar and Libya.
Fact 5: As reserves become exhausted in Russia,America and the North Sea, OPEC countries willaccount for more of the global oil productionrising to over 55% by 2020.
Fact 6: Unlike the oil beneath Alaska's frozenparks, or the oil locked in landlocked CentralAsia, Gulf crude is readily accessible and at lessthan $1.50 a barrel some of the cheapest in theworld to produce.
Fact 7: Control of Gulf Oil ensures control of keyresources of main trade competitors, who aremore reliant on the Middle East for oil thanAmerica is currently, due to her diversified oilsupply from countries like Venezuela, Mexico and
Nigeria. "Controlling the Persian Gulf translatesinto control over Europe Japan and China, its likehaving our hand on the spigot", says MichaelKlare Professor of Peace and World Security atHampshire college.
Fact 8: US security policy states that if anyoutside force gains control of the Persian Gulfthen this will be met by any means necessary(Carter Doctrine 1980). Robert Ebel of the thinktank the Centre for Strategic and InternationalStudies puts it more bluntly when he says, "if theruling family is ousted [in Saudi], if they decide toshut off the oil supply, we have to go in," Randex-strategist Laurent Murawiec goes furtheradvocating an immediate "US occupation ofSaudi oil fields" calling the Saudi regime "akernel of evil".
Fact 9: Even before September 11th and after thefirst Gulf war, America insisted it have militarybases and 'pre -positioned' equipment in most ofthe countries of the region.
Fact 10: Leading American think tanks arealready calling for the privatisation of the Iraqi oilindustry. "One of the major problems with thePersian Gulf is that the means of production are inthe hands of the state". Rob Sobhani an oil-industry consultant told an American EnterpriseInstitute conference last autumn in Washington,"The beginning of liberal democracy can beachieved if you take the means of production outof the hands of the state." Ahmed Chalabi thePentagon's new 'Iraqi Hamid Karzai' puts it morebluntly when he says "American oil companieswill have a big shot at Iraqi oil." This is reiteratedby a leading neo-conservative strategist, RobertKagan, who recently told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "We will probably need a majorconcentration of forces in the Middle East over along period of time. When we have had economicproblems it's been caused by disruption in our oilsupply. If we have a force in Iraq, there will be nodisruption in oil supplies."
After all of this does anyone really believe thatafter Iraq the US and her allies have no furtherplans for hegemony? We have already seencompanies like Halliburton and Bechtel, who areclose to the US administration already receivelucrative post war spoils. In terms of futureactions against other Muslim states, it is indeed aquestion of 'when' and 'whether it can succeed'and not 'if'. The Muslim Ummah may not be ableto stop the 'when' but she has more than thecapability with Allah's (swt) help to decide on thesuccess of any future attack. z
May 2003 Khilafah Magazine 17
Jihad has been on the agenda of the Westernnations for decades. The West fears the meaningof Jihad for no reason other than the fact that
this word is an explanation of what makes Islam aforce in the world. So, it should not surprise anyonethat the West will try its utmost to distort themeaning of Jihad from the minds of the Muslims.
There is no doubt that the effort to distort the truemeaning of Jihad intensifies during a crusadeagainst a Muslim nation. The styles vary, whether itis from Tony Blair who says, "Islam is a religion ofPeace", or whether it comes from his followers inthe Muslim Council of Britain who argue that "Jihadis only about struggling against our desires."
The West has also used the style of scare tactics.Mosque committees up and down the country arefearful of their Mosques being closed down on thebasis of discussing Jihad, similar to that of FinsburyPark Mosque, in London. Muslims have questionedtheir Imams and committees as to why they are nottalking about Jihad and the response of Muslims inthis war, the reply being, "we don't want our Mosqueto be closed down." Whichever style it takes, it isclear that there is a concerted effort made by theKuffar to destroy the true meaning of Jihad. All inall this line of discussion is a red herring, placedthere by the Western governments in order to divertthe Islamic agenda of discussion.
Let's face it, war is an inevitability in life. TheWestern nations are very experienced in using forcein order to achieve their goals, the crusade in Iraqbeing a clear example of this. So it is hypocritical ofthe Western Governments to force Muslims to saythat Islam does not use force; this is a tactic used inorder to weaken the mindset of the Muslims socrusades and invasion become all that easier.
SO WHY IS WAR INEVITABLE?
It should be understood that what makes a nation arethe ideas it upholds as sovereign. In the West the'maximising of the pleasure' is the predominant idea,whereas in Islam the 'worship of Allah (swt)' is themost prominent and fundamental idea.
In order for these nations to defend and propagatethis idea, force is necessary, internally using thePolice force and the secret service apparatus,externally using the Army. It comes as no surprisethat the biggest allocation in the budget of anynation is allocated to defence from an externalthreat. So for the humanists who argue that force isnot necessary, they are really miscalculating realityas without force, chaos will prevail. Consequently,the correct debate should be upon what the reasonfor war is and if this reason is correct.
The Muslims should be careful in how they debatethis subject as the Socialist/Humanists and the likeby using their same argument of "no war (full stop)"upon Islam, thus distorting Islam by inferring thatIslam does not have concepts dealing with thesubject of war. Allah (SWT) tells us
"O you who believe, fight those who encircle you(close to you geographically) of the disbelievers andlet them find harshness in you" [TMQ At-Tauba:123]
The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said:
"I was commanded to fight the people until theysay 'There is no god but Allah'."
It is a consensus from the scholars of Islam thatJihad is, "fighting the kuffar to remove the obstacles
in the way of making Allah's (swt) word thehighest", note here that there are two distinct points,the action is "Fighting the kuffar to remove theobstacles", the reason "making Allah's (SWT) wordthe highest".
Indeed all ideologies will have fighting and killingas part of its method of defending and propagatingits way of life. In the West the objective of war isdefined by material interests. Thus it could bedefined as "fighting to remove the obstacles in theway of the acquisition of material interests." Noteonce again, there are two distinct points, the action:"Fighting to remove the obstacles" and the reason:"in the way of acquisition of material interests".
So by drawing a comparison between the actions ofWestern Capitalist states and the actions of theIslamic State, there is no difference as both use forcein their actions. However there is a clear distinctionin the reason, as Islam makes the propagation of itsideas the reason, whereas Capitalism makes theacquisition of material benefit its reason. Soconsequently, Muslims must be aware of thisdistinction and not fall in to the trap laid out by thekuffar.
Definitely when the western nations seek to changethe whole concept of Jihad, to mean nothing butstruggling against one's own inner desires, this willinvariably give them a distinct advantage as it willrender the Muslims defenceless.
IS JIHAD JUST FIGHTING OUR INNERDESIRES?
This questions needs to be answered from theShari'ah of Islam, as this argument is usually throwninto a discussion with very little evidence from theShari'ah. It should be understood that there is adifference between the linguistic meaning andShari'ah meaning of Jihad.
The linguistic meaning of Jihad is "to strive orstruggle",
THE TRUE MEANINGOF JIHAD
SIDIK AUCBUR
Khilafah Magazine May 200318
the true meaning of jihad
"But if they strive to make thee join in worship withme things of which thou hast no knowledge obeythem not" [TMQ Luqman: 15]
"And if any strive (with might and main), they do sofor their own souls. For Allah is free of all needsfrom creation" [TMQ Al-Ankabut: 6]
"We have enjoined man kindness to parents: but ifthey (either of them) strive (to force) thee to joinwith Me (in worship) anything of which thou hast noknowledge, obey them not." [TMQ Al-Ankabut: 8]
"And those who strive in Our cause we will certainlyguide them to our paths for verily Allah is with thosewho do right." [TMQ Al-Ankabut: 9]
It must be noted that the Linguistic meaning of Jihadwas only used in the above four ayat which were allayat Makki; i.e. revealed in Makkah.
The context of these verses is clearly nothing to dowith fighting and killing, so to attribute the opinionthat these verses mean to fight is incorrect.
However, there are over 120 verses of the Qur'anthat use the Shari' meaning of Jihad to mean fightingand killing.
"Not equal are those Believers who sit (at home) andreceive no hurt, and those who strive and fight in thecause of Allah with their goods and their persons,Allah has granted a grade higher to those who striveand fight" [TMQ An-Nisa: 95]
"Go ye forth (whether equipped) lightly or heavilyand strive and struggle with your goods and yourpersons in the cause of Allah, this is best for you ifye but knew." [TMQ At-Tauba: 41]
"That ye believe in Allah and his messenger, andthat you strive (your utmost) in the cause of Allahwith your property and your persons; that will bebest for you if ye but knew" [TMQ As-Saff: 11]
It is clear from the above verses that the meaning isto fight and to attribute the linguistic meaning in thiscontext is incorrect.
It has been agreed upon by the classical scholars thatthe Shari'ah meaning of Jihad is to fight and kill thekuffar:
· Hanafi school in the book "Badiia as Saniia"· Maliki school in the book "Manhal Jaleel" · Shaffi school in the book "al Iqnaa" · Hanbali school in the book "al Mughni"
Some will go further and place the Shari'ahmeaning, i.e. fighting and killing lower than that ofthe linguistic meaning i.e. struggling against onesdesires. They quote the following hadith:
"I have returned from the small Jihad (Jihad Asghar)to the big Jihad (Jihad Akbar)" the Sahaba enquired"what is the big Jihad?" the Prophet (saw) said "theJihad al nafs (inner desires)"
We cannot accept this hadith as it is a fabricated one.Ibn Hajr the great Hadith master, stated that this wasactually a saying of Ibrahim b. Abi 'Ablah. Also forthe following reasons we can see an error in themeaning:
1. The saying goes against definite (qata'i)text which place Jihad as the highest action,
"Not equal are those Believers who sit (at home) andreceive no hurt, and those who strive and fight in thecause of Allah with their goods and their persons,Allah has granted a grade higher to those who striveand fight" [TMQ An-Nisaa: 95]
2. The Linguistic meaning is general (amm)and includes fighting the nafs and fighting kuffar,while Shari'ah meaning is just fighting kuffar.
3. The context of this saying was nothing todo with a decision of fighting or not, it is a mereinformative hadith and carries no indication of anabrogation of fighting.
Moreover some will say that Jihad was onlydefensive; this is incorrect. A quick study of the Lifeof the Prophet (saw) shows us something different:
· The Battle of Mut'ah was instigated by the Muslimsagainst the Romans the Muslims were 3,000 facedagainst a Roman army of 200,000.
· The Battle of Hunayn was inevitable shortly of theMuslims had conquered Makka.
· The Battle of Tabuk was also instigated to finallydestroy the Romans.
We see from the ijmaa (Consensus) of Sahaba, thatthey too instigated Jihad, through As-Sham, Iraq,Iran, Egypt and North Africa. Moreover, the statusof Martyr in Islam is of the highest, so how can it bethat Jihad is reduced to anything lower that that.
After the careful invitation to Islam, the Muslims areforbidden from forcing the non-Muslim to embraceIslam as Allah (SWT) said "there is no compulsionin the deen". However, Islam came to ensure peoplelive under the system of Islam as the dominance ofIslam is the purpose of Jihad, without it, Islamwould perish, as Allah (SWT) states,
"It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidanceAnd the religion of Truth, so that it may dominateover all Religions even though the Pagans detest it."[TMQ As-Saff: 9]
The Muslims should be strong in defending Islamagainst the Kuffar and their agents amongst us whotry to change Islam. As Allah (SWT) says
"Who is better in speech than one who calls (otherpeople) to Allah, works righteous, and declares thathe is from the Muslims." [TMQ Fussilat: 33] z
May 2003 Khilafah Magazine 19
“And there are those who put up a mosque byway of mischief and disbelief - to disunite theBelievers...” [TMQ At-Taubah: 107]
Ever since the "War on Terrorism (Islam)"was launched by George W Bush, the livesof Muslims in the West have been much
more arduous. Much of the focus has been putinto the political assimilation of the Muslims inthe West. The consequence of this assimilation,or integration, will be the loosing of the Islamicidentity of the Muslims in the West. Furthermore,part of this campaign is to focus on creating aspecific form of Islam, which is palatable to theill tastes of the Secular West. To achieve this, oneof the styles employed has been to redefine therole of the Mosques in order to achieve thesinister plots of the Kufar. Allah (SWT) mentionstoo and warns of such plans, which are not new,and happened to Muhammad (saw), as the aboveayah describes. This Masjid referred to in thenoble ayah was known as the Masjid ad Diraarand the Prophet (saw) ordered the destruction ofthis mosque.
The mosque has been the centre of the Muslim
community for the past 40 years or so in the UK,initiated when the Muslims first arrived to theshores of the UK in significant numbers. It wasthe centre point and congregational point forthem, where they could meet people of the samebelief. The Kufar look at amazement andsometimes envy, at the turnout for Jummahprayer, where most mosques are full to the extentthat many of us spill onto the footpaths outside toprayer.
Some of the styles that have been used, forexample in France, are the establishment ofgovernment sponsored colleges with the aim toplay a key role in the development of a EuropeanIslamic identity. One student of the EuropeanInstitute for Human Sciences (IESH) states:"That this plays a vital role by creating ageneration of Muslims capable of interpretingIslam to the West."
In the UK, Mosque committees were visited bymembers of the security services, telling them tohelp to keep eyes on suspected"fundamentalists", advising them to installsecurity cameras inside and outside the Masjids,so that the believers can be watched, when theyengage in their worship to Allah (SWT).
So many of the mosques, have been somewhatcompelled to register with the "CharitiesCommission", which was the instrument that wasused to remove Abu Hamzah from Finsbury ParkMosque. If we read some excerpts from thedocument, giving guidelines for politicalactivities, which is full of contradictory points,such as: "Charities are restricted in the extent towhich they can engage in political activities bythe legal rules applying to them by virtue of theircharitable status". . . "A charity must not seek topersuade members of the public to vote for oragainst a candidate or for or against a politicalparty" . . . "A charity should not seek to organisepublic opinion to support or oppose a politicalparty which advocates a particular policyfavoured or opposed by the charity."
A Mosque of an Imam who wishes to tell theIslamic community that voting for Kufr politicalparties is haram, would be barred by the "CharityCommission", and loosing its charitable statuswould be very likely. It is imperative that Masjidsmake a decision to leave such organisations asthe Charity Commission. It may mean somefinancial losses in paying extra taxes, but we arereminded that the Message of Islam must neverbe compromised for such a small price. Allah(SWT) says;
THE BATTLE OVER THE MASJID
ASIF KHAN
Khilafah Magazine May 200320
the battle of the masjid
“As for those who sell the faith they owe to Allahand their own plighted word for a small price,they shall have no portion in the Hereafter: Norwill Allah speak to them or look at them on theDay of Judgment, nor will He cleans them (ofsin): They shall have a grievous penalty. [TMQAl-Imran: 77]
Also, the Masjids need to be financed by theMuslim community, as some of them have been.Mashallah we have been endowed with muchwealth here in the UK, and many of us, are inwell paying jobs, and have healthy businesses.The Muslim community needs to be reminded ofthe immense reward for the financing a Masjid,as an investment for the future, here in this life,and also in the Ahkirah.
Uthman bin 'Affan(ra) said I have heard theMessenger of Allah (saw) say:
"He who built a mosque for Allah, theExalted, Allah would build for him a house inParadise. Bukair said: I think he (the Holy,Prophet) said: While he seeks the pleasure ofAllah (by building the mosque)." [Bukhari andMuslim]
THE ROLE SET BY ISLAM FOR THEMASJID
The West fundamentally believes in theseparation of the church and the State. It believesthe rules of Allah must have no value whatsoeverin life's affairs. So the mosque should never beused as a place to address political issues, butshould only be used for someone to go to pray in,make duaa, and leave everything related to theahkhira there. When the Muslim leaves theMasjid, they would rather he leave Islam behindin the masjid.
In fact, the Masjid has always been the centralfocal point for the Islamic community as a whole,be it in the Khilafah state, or not. The Masjid hasbeen used for many issues, such as electing the
Khaleefah, place of political decision making, aplace where judgements were made, a placewhere political poetry against the Kufar wasmade, a place for study, a place where Jihad waslaunched, a place to discuss the affairs of theMuslims, a place where even prisoners of warwere kept, a place where the poor, and thoseneeding help sought refuge etc. The books of thelives of the Messenger (saw) and hiscompanions, are full of the usage of the Masjid.When Abu Bakr(ra) was appointed Khaleefah bythe Muslims, he addressed the believers in theMasjid al-Nabwi (saw);"O people, I have been appointed upon you as
your leader and I am not the best amongst you, soif I do right help me, and if do wrong correct me.Truth is a trust and lying is treason, the weakamongst you is strong before me till I return tohim his right, Allah willing, and the strongamongst you is weak before me till I take theright from him Allah willing. Any people whoabandon Jihad in the way of Allah, Allah willstrike them with humiliation. If indecency spreadamongst any people, Allah would subject them togreat tribulations. Do obey me as long as I obeyAllah and His Messenger. If I ever disobeyedAllah and His Messenger, I am not entitled foryour obedience to me. Get up for prayer, mayAllah send His mercy upon you". [Tareeqh atRasul wal Mulk by Imam ibn Jarir At-TabariVol.9 para. 1829]
The Masjid is not a flexible institution unlikeother secular places of worship. It does notchange its role according to the wishes of thesecular state and neither does it propagate secularideas. Rather the Masjid maintains its roleaccording to the Deen of Islam and it should be avibrant place from where the truth is conveyed.The pure political ideas of Islam should beconveyed from the heart of the Masjid and theMuslims must use it for this purpose.
So the conflict for the correct usage of theMasjids in the West has been set. They want touse the Masjid as a means to secularise theMuslim and loose his Islamic identity, thusassimilating the Muslims and their masjids intotheir corrupted system.
THE CORRECT MANNER FOR THEMOSQUE TO FUNCTION.
It is imperative for the Masjid to functioncorrectly and to be built on Taqwa
(Righteousness) and working for the protectionof the Muslim community. In this regard, certainmatters need to be understood.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE IMAM OFTHE MOSQUE
The Imam of the mosque has a pivotal role in theMuslim community as a whole. The Imam hasbeen seen as a respected reference point for theMuslim community for many years. TheMuslims in the West are being challenged, by theforces of Kufr (disbelief) from every direction,from every style and means. Allah (SWT)explained the nature of Kufr:
"They wish you disbelieve as they disbelieve sothat you become equal" [TMQ An-Nisa:89].
The Imam must be able to deal with these issues,as well as address issues such as taharah (ritualpurity) and salah. The Imam must be able torelate to the community, and acknowledge whatthe community is feeling and thinking, and directthem to the correct understanding. Allah (SWT) says;
“Invite to the Way of your Lord with wisdom andfair preaching, and argue with them in a way thatis better. Truly, your Lord knows best who hasgone astray from His Path, and He is the BestAware of those who are guided.” [TMQ An-Nahl:125]
The Imam will only be able to do this if he liveswith them, engages with the community, anddoes not stay aloof from the community. He mustbe aware of the issues, which are taking theMuslims away from the Islamic identity. Sorecently and most worrying has been the alliancewith the hard left and some injudicious Muslims,who sort to ally themselves with the hard left,composed of Communists, atheists, and deviatedliberals in an attempt to stop the War against Iraq.It was a time when, as dawah carriers, we couldsee that the community had a strong feelingagainst the war. It was also clear to see that thesecular establishment was using the war as ameans to assimilate the Muslims politically intothe system, by offering them solutions from thesecular establishment, such as lobbying andcalling for UN resolutions. This was anopportunity for the Imams across Britain toaddress the feelings of the community and toshow clearly what the problem at hand was (andis), which is the collusion of the Muslim rulers
The Masjid is not a flexible institution unlike other secular placesof worship. It does not change its role according to the wishes ofthe secular state and neither does it propagate secular ideas.
May 2003 Khilafah Magazine 21
the battle of the masjid
with the colonialist West. Ceasing thisopportunity would also have illustrated thatlobbying the UK government, or joining theLabour Party would not result in a change inpolicy. Indeed, the true solution, by way of theHukm Sahar'i, would be to put pressure on theregimes back in the Islamic world to stop thecollusion with the crusading armies, then callingfor their change to the Khilafah ruling system.
The ayah, "Invite to the Way of your Lord withwisdom and fair preaching, and argue with themin a way that is better", is clear that being able torelate to problems affecting the community ispart of fulfilling the commandment of Allah(SWT).
It is imperative that the Imam be aware ofproblems, such as drugs, sexual promiscuityamongst some of the youth and the problems ofschooling our children in Western society. Hemust also guide the Muslim community in theda'wah with the non-Muslims. It is also importantfor the community not to get into a 'ghettomentality', but rather 'interact' with the Kufar in away to win them to Islam. Again, the Imam needsto play a role in guiding the Muslim communityto achieve this. The Imam must also be aware ofwhat is going on across the Islamic world anddiscuss the issues, ensuring that the Muslimcommunity is not detached from global IslamicUmmah. The important events such as the realityof the war on terrorism as in fact being a war onpolitical Islam, should be highlighted with a greatemphasis. Also the continuous atrocitiesoccurring in Kashmir, Palestine, Chechnya,India, and now Iraq must be stressed, as well asthe discussion on the Khilafah and the obligationfor the armies of the Islamic lands to carry outJihad.
QUALITIES THE IMAM MUST POSSESS.
For the Imam to be in touch with the Muslimcommunity, he must possess certain qualities,which will endeavour to achieve the noble taskhe is undertaking. It will aid him to become therole model for the Muslim community. He musthave the quality of speaking the truth and beinghonest. He must be sincere, courageous and fearAllah (SWT) alone.
Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah binMas`ud (ra) said that the Messenger of Allah(saw) said,
"Hold on to the truth, for being truthful leadsto righteousness, and righteousness leads toParadise. Verily, a man will keep saying thetruth and striving for truth, until he is writtenbefore Allah as very truthful (Siddiq). Bewareof lying, for lying leads to sin, and sin leads tothe Fire. Verily, the man will keep lying andstriving for falsehood until he is written beforeAllah as a great liar."(Musnad Ahmed)
He needs to remind himself of the previousUlema and Imams who exhibited these qualities,such as Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allahhave mercy on him) who preferred prison overgiving in to the desire of the ruler and to mixtruth with falsehood. When his uncle, for the fearof punishment for him, asked him to say with histongue what he did not accept in his heart, heresponded, "If the Alim (scholar) stays silent inthe face of falsehood when will the truth becomemanifest?"
Being courageous, and telling the truth is furtherindicated by Muhammad (saw) when he (saw)said:
"Whoever is questioned about knowledgewhich he acquired and then he conceals it, willwear a girdle of fire around his neck" (IbnMajah and Musnad Imam Ahmad)
This is a critical point! If the Imam of the mosquelacks these vital characteristics, then by defaultthe qualities of cowardice, insincerity,deceitfulness, and the fear of man are his to bear!The Muslim community who view him as areference point will truly be at a loss.
THE ROLE OF THE MOSQUECOMMITTEE
Many of the Masjids are run by committees,where all too common petty struggles are carriedout for self interest. It is worth stating here theayah of the Quran;
“But what plea have they that Allah should notpunish them, when they keep out (men) from thesacred Mosque - and they are not its guardians?No men can be its guardians except therighteous; but most of them do not understand.”(TMQ Al-Anfal:34)
The one who looks after the Masjid, be he anImam or a committee member needs to be fromthe righteous, and Mutaqoon. The Committee
needs to play a sincere advisory role to the Imam,helping the Imam in carrying out his tasks, not agroup that pressurises and unjustly dictates to theImam. The Mosque should be open to allMuslims who want to use it for achieving thenoble goals of Islam. The committee must alsorelate to the muslims they are serving, and againmust never be aloof from them. It is too oftenseen that committees are detached from theMuslim community, causing more damage thangood.
Furthermore, it is of utmost importance for themosque to fulfil the role for which it wasintended for. It should be a means for thecommunity to maintain its Islamic identity, alsofor it to maintain its link with the Islamic world.It must serve as a bastion for the communityagainst the onslaught they are facing from theCapitalist ideology.
“Never stand thou forth therein. There is amosque whose foundation was laid from the firstday on piety; it is more worthy of the standingforth (for prayer) therein. In it are men who loveto be purified; and Allah loveth those who makethemselves pure. Which then is best? - he thatlays his foundation on piety to Allah and Hisgood pleasure? - or he that lays his foundation onan undermined sand-cliff ready to crumble topieces? and it doth crumble to pieces with him,into the fire of Hell. And Allah guideth not peoplethat do wrong” [TMQ At-Tauba:108-109] z
Khilafah Magazine May 200322
The secret part of this title was apt in this namechosen by the producers of a 'World in Action'documentary which exposed things about
British Petroleum which the company would prefer toomit from its promotional materials.
The program showed how BP hired mercenaries whooperated a "shoot to kill" policy to protect its oil fieldsin Colombia and brutally suppress any objections toits operations there. One needs to look no further thanthe fate of Carlos Vargas, director of the Colombianenvironmental regulator, responsible for awardingenvironmental licenses in the area were BP operated ,who was murdered in 1998 by a paramilitary guerillascontracted via BP's security firm DSL. The hit wasfelt necessary to protect BP's oil interests according tointelligence gathered by Colombian governmentinvestigators. Apparently Vargas was about to blowthe whistle on oil company corruption when he wasmurdered. Questions still exists as to why BPdeclined to comment in the enquiry that ensued orwhy an angry shareholder was rudely asked to sitdown at an AGM meeting by one of the companiessenior executives. Such a stance on the matter hardlyseems surprising for a company that ignored requestsfor an inquiry from the Colombian attorney-general'shuman rights unit.
Defenders would argue that a few isolated incidentseven if true should not stain the name of Britainslargest company BP or Blair Petroleum as its knownin certain circles due to its historical ties to the BritishGovernment. Such a view no doubt would rest on theclaim that BP has provided jobs and energy to theworld growing energy markets since its founderWilliam Know D'Arcy discovered oil in Iran in 1908after he had been granted a concession by the persiangovernment. It is the aim of this brief insight into BPto elevate the debate to a higher dimension.
BP BACKGROUND
BP or the Anglo-persian Oil Company as it wasknown at its inception in 1909, attracted the interestof the British government shortly before the first
world war via Winston Churchill, the then First Lordof the Admiralty to secure supplies of oil invaluableat the time for British naval operations. Thegovernment pumped 2 million pounds to become thede-facto power behind the oil company, until 1987,when it sold its remaining equity. It currently standsas Britains largest company and the 3rd largest oilcompany in the world. If we scrutinize the realitybehind the glossy brochures we observe a sinisterstory.
OVERTHROWING REGIMES
In 1951, the government of Mohammed Mosaddeq inIran decided to nationalize the assets of the British-owned Anglo-Persian Oil Company (called BritishPetroleum since 1954 which at the time were the UK'slargest single investment overseas) due to what itconsidered exploitative practices. The British incollusion with the CIA who had made a deal to sharethe oil industry hence breaking the British monopoly,sought his removal through a propaganda war whichsucceeded in August 1953 and the newly namedBritish Petroleum return to Iran in 1954 with 40% ina consortium of companies with a similar share goingto the US corporations. Iran was placed under theleadership of the ruthless Shah Reza Pahlavi whoensured many years of cheap oil for Western market. Carrying on the corporate tradition in the more recentpast can be seen in BP's involvement, according to aTurkish secret service intelligence report, in backingthe coup efforts for the ouster via bribes and a supplyof military arms, which had the effect ofsystematically undermining Abdulfaz Elchibey'sgovernment which bought about his ouster andinstalling Hayder Aliyev a former KGB operative in
1993. An extract of the report which was leaked to theSunday Times reads:
"As a result of our intelligence efforts, it has beenunderstood that two petrol giants, BP and Amoco,British and American respectively, which togetherform the AIOC [Azerbaijan International OilConsortium], are behind the coup d'etat carried outagainst Elchibey in 1993,"
Soon after the coup, BP's middlemen arranged tosupply the new government with military equipmentin what was described as an "arms-for-oil" deal. Themove was designed to "consolidate BP's position"with the new regime, according to one secret serviceagent. Only a few months later, BP secured theleadership of the consortium of western companiesthat dominate the oil scene in the country. The £5billion contract described as "the contract of thecentury" was signed by Hayder Aliyev. BP andAmoco merged in 1998 and now have a virtualmonopoly of rights to exploit Azerbaijan's oil wealth.Aliyev had been warmly congratulated by Tony Blair,when he visited London in 1998 to sign a friendshiptreaty and contracts worth $13 billion with BP andother British firms. Blair (whose government claimsto pursue an ethical foreign policy, and to supportdemocratic regimes in the 'developing world')apparently had no inhibitions about endorsing aformer KGB operative brought to power by a militarycoup.
KILLING OR INTIMIDATING PEOPLE WHOPROTEST AGAINST ITS POLICIES
The case of the Colombian environmental regulatorsadly is not an isolated one. BP has is no stranger tousing intimidation.
Daniel Bland, who worked for the human rightsorganization in Latin America, Peace and Justice, anon-profit organization looking at economic injusticestated:
BRITISH PETROLEUM'S SECRET SOLDIERS
SAFRAZ AHMED
May 2003 Khilafah Magazine 23
british petroleum's secret soldiers
"In all the testimony we've received, any kind oforganised protest against BP in any way, the leadersof those protests are singled out for persecution forharassment and for death threats."
BRIBING OFFICIALS TO WIN CONTRACTS
BP Amoco (American Oil Company), which formedwhen BP merged with Amoco in 1998, wasimplicated by the US Justice department under atreaty between the US and Switzerland after acomplaint was filed by a Swiss government officialagainst oil companies including BP Amoco fordiverting funds into the Swiss accounts ofKazakhstan officials as bribes to win contracts in thelucrative Caspian Sea region.
MISCELLANEOUS
The list of categories to explore is beyond the scopeof this limited insight. Whether we includepressurizing their governments to resist the Kyotoclimate change protocol, polluting the Earth by beingcomplacent about oil spills in delicate ecosystems,going against international law in dealing withApartied South Africa the list is endless. The list ofexamples showing how the pursuit of profit is aboveall else is endless and clear to any aware observer,who should be in no doubt that in the face of profitsall considerations to capitalist based multinationalsare subservient.
The question that naturally occurs is that withWestern governments boasting their humanity and theguardians of a free and democratic civilizations, howis this possible? To explore this question, we need togo deeper to explore the basis of this relationshipfrom that which drives it.
CORPORATE AND GOVERNMENTAL ROLES- A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN?
Aside from the clearer clash of interests in the uniquecase of BP which had the government as a majorityshareholder, we see that any multinationalorganization or commercial entity in fact, wouldargue that it has as its fundamental aim themaximization of shareholder wealth. Such an aim weare told would be sought within the boundaries of thetrade rules and framework set by governments. Thegovernments would in turn argue that their primaryrole with respect to corporations is to ensure that therules of fair trade and competitive practises areadhered to both those operating within theirjurisdiction and setting the rule for international tradevia their establishing organizations such as the WTO.
Western Governments would also have us believetheir rhetoric that promoting democratric and 'free'values across the world goes hand in hand withpromoting the commercial interests of itscorporations which we are lead to believe are made tooperate within the frameworks of legal boundaries. Tocap it off, we are told that their success leads to theprocess of wealth creation and trickle down for amore inclusive world on the back of their battle cryfor globalization .
This 'trade encourages democracy' logic was used bythe then US President Bill Clinton when normalizedtrade relations with China which was according totheir ideals a rogue state arguing that the best way tobring China to democracy was via foreign investmentby multinational firms. (W.Meyer, `Human Rights andMNCs' Human Rights Quarterly vol 18, no.2 (1996))
The critical investigation of companies such as BPhowever shows that Western governments are moreinterested in promoting the economic liberal elementof western liberal values for the under-developed andcolonised world under the banner of globalization.The brief study of the practises of companies like BPand capitalist states such as the US and Britishgovernment that foster them, shows that in realitythey insist on the free market aspect of liberaldemocracy and strangely ignore other aspects of theirliberal package which don't present obstacles to theircorporations from going in and getting what theywant of our resources. It is no surprise that an officialworking for Gulf Oil now part of Chevron said thatthe state depeartment in the US was telling U.Scompanies, about the oil in the Gulf, to "go out andget it!".
So as long as the brutal dictators we see everywherein the Muslim world commit to protecting the privateproperty of investments made by the commercialinterests of the very same western states they werebought into power to serve, abandon capital controls,don't nationalize the oil industry as Musadiq did in1951, and generally allow multinational's a free hand,then they are on the right side of the globalizationprocess. One needs to look no further than RobinCook's failed rhetoric on an ethical foreign policy thatat the time was slammed by the then IndustrySecretary Peter Mandelson for obscuring sales ofmilitary hardware to Indonesia during its East Timorviolation of international law and suppression.
HOW DO THESE COMPANIES GET AWAYWITH IT?
Such a view that puts commercial interests above allelse comes from the understanding upon whichCapitalism as a way of life is built from its view onlife. With such a materialistic world view, colonialismis a fixed paradigm that goes hand in hand with thecapitalist states that adopt the capitalist viewpoint.This view places the pursuit of material benefit,which can only be secured through wealth, above allelse. So the relationship is one of 'partners in crime',with governments allowing corporations to get awaywith as much as they can limited only by publicoutcry which of course affects profits. This is donesolely to help bring the wealth back to its shores tofacilitate this ultimate goal for those it represents, therich owners of capital being the principalbeneficiaries.
This world view is shared by those in positions ofruling as it is by those who run such commercialentities, assuming a difference in body exists betweenthe two, which in light of the current USadministration for example is prooving increasinglydifficult to establish. Vice President Dick Cheney'slinks with Haliburton, heading the organization from
1995 to 2000, being a principal beneficiary in the postsaddam carve up, Condelezza Rice, Bush's NationalSecurity Advisor a Director of Chevron through the1990's and Bush himself having a long affiliation withthe Oil industry.
Can these corporations and their 'fig leaf' politiciansbe trusted in their quest as articulated by Colin Powellto help "use the oil revenues to benefit the Iraqipeople" given the relationship between corporationsand governments in general and the ruthless nature ofthe oil industry in particular? The commercialdimension to the current conflict in Iraq was summedvery neatly before the war started by Lord Browne,chief executive of BP and one of New Labour'sfavourite industrialists when he warned Washingtonnot to carve up Iraq for its own oil companies in theaftermath of, at the time, any future war. He said:
"We have let it be known that the thing we would liketo make sure, if Iraq changes regime, is that thereshould be a level playing field for the selection of oilcompanies to go in there if they're needed to do thework there."
Needless to say, as evident by such sentiments, othercorporations like Shell, best known for itsexploitative policies in Nigeria have a similar recordas they are based on the same capitalist goals.
OUR RESPONSE
It is time for the Ummah to see the blatant nature ofthis corruption to be seen not from the viewpoint ofthose who have no clear solution like the anti-capitalist protesters who fall back onto the false idealsof democracy and man made systems of Law.
It is Allah (SWT) alone through the implementationof his deen via the Khilafah System that willguarantee for us the protection of our resources andthe return of the might and izzah that for so long hasavailed us. Let us see the extent of the problem, let usexpose the fallacy of the false slogans used by thewest and their aides our rulers in the Muslim lands.
Failure will unfortunately mean that in the short termin the post Saddam era, the US and British 'liberators'with their corporations which are lining up to 'help thepeople of Iraq' being further entrenched in the heart ofthe Muslim lands. We should be left in no doubt thatthese governments and the corporations that theyrepresent be they Shell, Exxon, Halliburton, BPAmoco or the other contractors are in realityliberating their share prices, and the US and Britainare trying to seal the political fate of the Muslimworld through their military bases and compliant rulersuch as the proposed US stooge Ahmed Chalabi toprevent the emergence of sincere political expressionby the Muslims of the region.
With such sinister designs on this noble ummah andon Iraq in particular we should have no doubt thatonly the sincere leadership under the Khilafahleadership can we be protected from their exploitationin which our rulers are an integral part. z
Khilafah Magazine May 200324
In a joint press conference on 8th April 2003 withthe US President, Prime Minister Tony Blairpaid tribute to coalition forces and said:
"The power of Saddam is ending and our enemy inthis conflict has always been Saddam and hisregime, not the Iraqi people. We are the friends ofthe Iraqi people."
With these words the Western Crusaders continuedtheir invasion of the Islamic lands, unleashing alethal onslaught upon the innocent Muslims of Iraq.And when the initial round of killing was done, thecloak of 'liberator' was exchanged for that of'humanitarian'. For the very same people whowrought annihilation and destruction upon theirvictims then proceeded to put forward offers of helpand assistance. In doing so, the hope of the Crusaderwas that all would be forgotten by the desperatepeople of Iraq, who would turn to their occupiersand receive with thanks and humility what wasafforded to them of humanitarian support. Is this aproof that indeed it was a war of liberation and notof occupation? Is it a proof of the friendship Bushand Blair purport to have for the Muslims of Iraq?
BLOOD ON THE HANDS OF THECRUSADERS
Indeed it comes as no surprise that the MuslimUmmah cannot envisage this colonial army asliberators or 'gentlemen of war'. History bearswitness that the very hands which deposit food andwater today are hands that are covered with theblood, not just of the thousands of Iraqi Muslimsthat have been killed in the current occupation, butof the millions who have been slaughtered sinceSaddam Hussein and his regime were helped intopower by the same Western powers in 1979.
From the moment Saddam took power, he hasterrorised his people and used every means oftorture and cruelty available to bring them intosubmission to his leadership and regime withoutquestion. But despite this, the West considered himan ally, providing him all types of economic andmilitary assistance. Their support was full when on22 September 1980, Saddam ordered the Muslims ofIraq to fight against their brethren in Iran. This wasa war which saw an estimated 400,000 dead and
750,000 injured. Of those that died in this conflict,5000 were Kurds in the North of Iraq who perishedin an Iraqi Air Force attack which used chemical andnerve agents sold to them by the Western powers.
The ongoing legacy of direct Western destruction inIraq which started in the previous Gulf warproceeds. The use of depleted Uranium shells at thattime continues to cause hundreds of slow andpainful deaths through cancer. The brutal regimen ofsanctions imposed by the western nations after thatwar has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousandsof innocent civilians, at least 500,000 of whom werechildren. How ironic is the sight of westerncolonialists coming forward today with food andwater. Can we really be expected to believe that theirintentions are sincere?
CONTEMPT FOR MUSLIMS
From the moment the colonialists took occupationof Iraq to date, they have shown no respect for itstortured and much weakened civilians. On April 3,2003 after the Saddam International Airport wasseized President Bush announced, "American forcesand our allies are treating innocent civilians withkindness and showing proper respect to the soldierswho surrender".
The truth of this kindness and respect wasdemonstrated by Al-Jazeera television when itshowed an Iraqi man in his forties being grabbed byhis collar and thrown to the ground by an Americansoldier. Despite the anguished pleas of this civilian,"Why are you doing this to me, I am not a soldier ora Baath party fighter", he was silenced by the soldiersaying in Arabic "shut up", and then made to lie facedown on the ground. After a humiliating bodysearch, his hands were tied and bound by a plasticcord.
In the recent broadcast on Iraq's new "Towards
Freedom" television station Bush said in his addressto the Iraqi people that, "We will respect your greatreligious traditions, whose principles of equality andcompassion are essential to Iraq's future. We willhelp you to build a peaceful and representativegovernment that protects the rights of all citizens.And then our military forces will leave."
Such high regard and respect could be seen when anangry Iraqi old man told an Al-Jazeera reporter inthe southern city of Al-Nasiriya that, "We don't needwater; we don't need food. We need the US soldiersto respect our dignity. They are forcing our womento take off their clothes at the checkpoints."Embarrassed, the man tried to hide his tears.
THE TRUTH BEHIND THE HUMANITARIANCAMPAIGN
As to helping to build a new Iraq, here is the truthbehind the humanitarian campaign. History hasproved time and again that the Western colonialistsare beyond compassion, for by nature they arenothing but invaders and aggressors. The catalogueof human suffering listed above, and indeed thewhole of modern history bears testimony to this. Thecurrent aid campaign is not a genuine effort toalleviate human suffering and prevent ahumanitarian disaster. It is nothing short of apropaganda tool which has been orchestrated tofacilitate specific Western policy objectives in theCrusader war against the Islamic Ummah.
These policy objectives include the containment ofcivil unrest that will be directed towards theinvaders, generation of an image in the minds of theMuslims of Iraq and the wider world that theoccupying force is a friendly one which wants toassist the Iraqi people, and justification for thecontinuing presence of occupying forces.
DOUBLE STANDARDS
An evidence of these ulterior motives is thestatement of James Morris, head of the UnitedNations Food Agency, reported on the 8th of April2003 to have accused Western countries of ignoringAfrica because of the war in Iraq. He stated that the40 million people in Africa faced starvation andwere in greater need then the Iraqi population of 26
HUMANITARIAN AID NAZIA JALALI
May 2003 Khilafah Magazine 25
humanitarian aid
million, saying "As much as I don't like it, I cannotescape the thought that we have a double standard".
This is a glaring indication of the fact that whatgoverns humanitarian aid is not the plight ofsuffering human beings, but political agendas of theleading powers.
PAYING FOR THE IRAQ WAR
Further proof of the token nature of humanitarianaid for Iraq can be found in the US war spending billshown below, which was approved by the Congress(source : OMB ,Congress)
Military operations $44bnCall up of reserves $10bnMunitions $6.6bnReconstruction $1.7bnHumanitarian aid $500mFBI $500mCoast Guard $1.5bnAfghanistan aid $400mAid to Turkey, Jordan,and Egypt $1bn eachAid to airline industry $3bn
The bill allowed $500m to be allocated inhumanitarian aid for Iraq, which is to last throughuntil October 2003. This is a minute fraction of the$44bn set aside for military operations - theInternational Health Advocacy Group in Londonsaid that the United States was spending 120 timesmore on its military campaign than it had committedto humanitarian aid for Iraq.
In fact the bill saw countries such as Turkey, Jordanand Egypt who have not been attacked during thewar, receiving more than Iraq itself - $1bn each inaid. Even the airline industry faired better that thebeleaguered people of Iraq, being allocated some 6times more in funding.
POLITICAL BRIBERY - NO STRINGSATTACHED?
Humanitarian aid, indeed aid in general, whenconsidered from a political perspective, sometimesamounts to nothing more that bribery. This fact issometimes concealed as in the case of Iraq, andsometimes overt. It was not too long ago that theworld witnessed the Colin Powell 'opening up theUS cheque book' to gain co-operation from theMuslim world in an effort to ensure the US invasionand occupation of Iraq would not be hindered. Thetrue purpose of aid was seen when Turkey wasoffered $6bn in aid, plus loans in exchange for theuse of the Turkish airspace and land for thedeployment of tens of thousands of US troops, whocould be used to open a northern front in the war.When Turkey initially refused to comply with theAmerican conditions, the offer of US aid waspromptly withdrawn.
JAY GARNER AND THE ORHA
The current humanitarian campaign in Iraq has been
erected under the auspices of the Office ofReconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance(ORHA) for Iraq. On close scrutiny the ORHA is ateam composed of former US military and othergovernment agency personnel, humanitarianworkers and Iraqi experts. In charge of this team isJay Garner, a retired American General and veteranof the last Gulf War, where he supervised thedeployment of Patriot missile batteries. Afterretirement from military service he becamepresident of the weapons contractor SY Colemanwhich specialises in missile systems, including thePatriot missiles deployed in the current conflict, andthe Arrow defence system which has been sold toIsrael.
Garner is known to have close ties with conservativeIsraeli groups. In 2000 he backed a statement by theJewish Institute for National Security Affairs wherehe praised the Israeli army for showing what itcalled "remarkable restraint" in the face of thePalestinian uprising. He has also been critical ofPalestinians, accusing them of 'filling their childrenwith hate.'
Can a man with such a colourful resume of fightingagainst Muslims, and supporting the enemies ofMuslims be a good choice to supervise the deliveryof 'humanitarian aid' to the people of Iraq? The farceof humanitarian aid for Iraq is clear when weconsider that it is to be administered through anorganisation whose leaders have direct vestedinterests in the war against Iraq, and whoseallegiance is to their government and its policyobjectives, not to the people of Iraq. In reality, theORHA is an organisation that will be utilised toensure the US occupation of Iraq, under the pretenseof aid and development of the country, for as long asis needed to secure control of the region's populaceand wealth.
FRANKLIN GRAHAM AND HIS ARABICBIBLES
The above examples illustrate that little effort hasbeen made on the part the US to disguise their trueobjectives and bitter animosity for Islam andMuslims. However the choice of Franklin Grahamin this year's Easter Sermon at the Pentagon nearWashington DC, proves decisively the contemptheld by the US administration for Islam andMuslims.
Franklin Graham, and his father Billy are personalfavourites of George Bush, who was helped torecover from alcohol abuse through the influence ofthe elder of the two preachers. Both of theseprominent figures in popular US evangelical culturehave expressed open animosity to Islam, and amongtheir quotes are that Islam is 'an evil and wickedreligion.'
Graham junior has not been prevented by the USadministration from continuing his plans to takehumanitarian aid to the people of Iraq, despiteannouncing that with the aid, he will be delivering asubstantial number of Arabic language bibles to the
sufferers, who may well be in need of spiritual, aswell as material support. His being chosen toaddress the Pentagon staff is proof of the USregime's acquiescence of his fervent anti-Islamicviews. Indeed, this has been a Crusader war, if moreproof is needed, and humanitarian aid comes at aprice.
CONCLUSION
The humanitarian aid offered to the Muslims of Iraqby the US government through its army is nothingbut part of its colonialist strategy of occupying theIslamic Lands and usurping her wealth. Adeclaration by the directors of Oxfam, Save theChildren, Christian Aid, ActionAid, and Cafod said:'It is impossible for armed forces fighting a war toprovide impartial humanitarian assistance on thebasis of need. By definition, the priorities ofcombatant forces are military and adversarial, nothumanitarian.'
It is essential for Muslims throughout the world tosee through the propaganda and deceitful rhetoric ofthe Crusaders, who are prepared to use any means tosubjugate Islam and Muslims. The facade ofhumanitarian aid is nothing more than a front, usedby the Crusaders to plant their feet firmly in the soilof Iraq and her surroundings, and facilitate thecontinued exploitation of her wealth and the controlof her political affairs.
Like the noble Muslims of Afghanistan in the lastonslaught against Islam, who refused to eat the fooddropped on them by the Americans, the Muslims ofthe whole world will not swallow the lies of theCrusaders and their promises of aid. Rather, theywill stand firm and steadfast, assured by Allah (swt)of sustenance and provision from Himself, and ofthe promise of their impending victory, Inshallah.
"...To him who believes in Allah and the Last Day.And for those who fear Allah, He (ever) prepares away out. And He provides for him (sources) he nevercould expect. And if any one puts his trust in Allah,sufficient is (Allah) for him. For Allah will surelyaccomplish his purpose: Verily for all things Allahhas appointed a due proportion" [TMQ al-Talaq: 2-3]. z
Khilafah Magazine May 200326
The Prophet (saw) used to invoke Allah(swt) at night saying,
"O Allah: All the praises are for You: You arethe Lord of the Heavens and the Earth. All thePraises are for You; You are the maintainer ofthe Heaven and the Earth and whatever is inthem.
All the Praises are for You; You are the light ofthe Heavens and the Earth. Your word is thetruth, and Your promise is the truth, and themeeting with You is the truth, and Paradise isthe truth, and the (Hell) fire is the truth, andthe hour is the Truth.
O Allah! I surrender myself to You, and Ibelieve in You and I depend upon You, and Irepent to You and with You (Your evidences) Istand against my opponents, and to You Ileave the judgment (for those who refuseIslam).
O Allah! Forgive me my sins that I did in the
past or will do in the future, and also the sinsI did in secret or in public. You are my onlyGod (Whom I worship) and there is no otherGod for me (i.e. I worship none but You)."[Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 9.482, Narrated by IbnAbbas]
As the terror and chaos continues to engulf thecities of Baghdad, as the blood of Muslimscontinues to spill, and the tears of widows andorphans continue to fall, whilst the invaderscontinue to cheer and gloat, please note myMuslim brother and sister and note well thatindeed the actions you conduct, the slogans youchant and the positions you take here in the Westthousands of miles away are also instrumental inthis war. For whilst the battlefront is in Iraq,many Muslims today are waking up to therealisation that indeed this is a crusade againstthe Ummah of Muhammad (saw) to usurp herwealth, colonise her lands, weaken her throughdisarmament, terrorise her and destroy politicalIslam which has been the major factor in theideological revival taking shape in the Muslimworld today.
Islam teaches us that the Muslims are a singlebrotherhood to the exclusion of all others that noland no matter the vastness of its size can comebetween this unique brotherhood that transcends
borders and seas. And it is this concept ofbrotherhood today instilled in you throughAllah's Deen that is the cause of this heavy painin your hearts and the soreness of your eyes thathave shed much tears for the Muslims in Iraq inrecent times.
And today it is this same concept of brotherhoodand your undying testimony in Islam that musturge you to arm yourself with anuncompromising determination to speak theword of Haq (truth) regardless of consequence orretribution and be of those Whom Allah (swt)says:
"Of those We have created are people who direct(others) with truth and dispense justicetherewith" [TMQ Al-Araf: 181]
Today the enmity in the west against the ideologyof Islam is as clear as day. The manifestations ofwhich we have seen in the continuous attacksagainst political Islam, the negative mediaportrayal and the extensive calls by Westernpoliticians and defeatist and apologist Muslimleaders and groups for Muslims to integrate byaccepting the western politics and rejectingIslamic Politics.
Today the treachery of the rulers in the Muslimworld has reached unparalleled heights and astorm is brewing beneath their crumbling thronesthat no terror of a tyrant can control.
Today the tide of Islam is rising and Capitalism istaking its final breath in the Muslim world as the
SPEAKING THE TRUTH
WALEED GUBARA
May 2003 Khilafah Magazine 27
speaking the truth
Ummah tightens her grip around its wretchedneck.
And today more than ever oh Muslims is a timeto bury apathy, drown compromise and smash theshackles of defeatism and despair with thehammer of the word of Haq.
It is now evident for most Muslims that Khilafahis the only solution for their plight and that theJihad against the invading forces is the commandof Allah (swt) to which the Muslims must rallytheir armies behind to repel the Kaffir aggressors.
Allah (swt) says in His Book:
"Fight against them so that Allâh will punishthem by your hands and disgrace them and giveyou victory over them and heal the breasts of abelieving people," [TMQ At-Taubah: 14]
And He also says:
"And what is wrong with you that you fight not inthe Cause of Allâh, and for those weak, ill-treatedand oppressed among men, women, and children,whose cry is: Our Lord! Rescue us from this townwhose people are oppressors; and raise for usfrom You one who will protect, and raise for usfrom You one who will help." [TMQ An-Nisa: 75]
And yet when Allah's evidences could not beclearer and as our brothers and sisters were beingslaughtered in Iraq, it was disgraceful to seesome Muslims in Britain who were givenplatforms to speak, without shame compromiseAllah's Deen and fashion it to suit western tastes.We heard representatives from Muslimorganisations refer to British soldiers as 'ourboys' and so called scholars refusing to use theterm 'jihad' and some changing its meaning. Wehave heard Muslim parliamentarians andmembers of the House of Lords pray for the safereturn of British troops that have murderedinnocents in Iraq. Muslims have been urged toattend interfaith prayers of peace, to lobby a kafircolonialist government that has no regard forAllah (swt) or Muslim life. What was even morenotable was that as the Labour backbenchersrebelled against Tony Blair in the build up to thiswar not a single voice of dissent came fromMuslims within his party.
In Mosques all over the country where thediscussions on political Islam have always beenshunned and banned by Mosque committees, nodoubt to preserve council support and fundingand please the Charity commission, all of suddenthey were now making announcements andallowing political discussions but only for thecorrupt western politics. Indeed it was even moresaddening to note that with the first casualties ofthe war were being broadcast on Thursday nightthat on Friday the khutbas in most masjids wereon issues such as purification and bringing yourchildren to the mosque with hardly any mentionof the war.
How can a Muslim in one breath say AllahuAkbar and yet abandon the word of Haq soblatantly as though there were no accountability.How could a Muslim who believes that Jannah isa fact and the Jahannam is a fact and that death isinevitable twist the Ahkam of Allah to win thepleasure of the local authorities whilst risking thewrath of the Creator of the Heavens and theEarth. Indeed false testimony on the ruling ofAllah (swt) is to forge a lie against Him. TheProphet (saw) after offering the morning prayerstood up and said three times: False witness hasbeen made equivalent to attributing a partner toAllah. He then recited:
"So avoid the abomination of idols and avoidspeaking falsehood as people pure of faith toAllah, not associating anything with Him."[Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 3592. Narratedby Khuraym Ibn Fatik]
This is undoubtedly a clear warning to thechampions of integration and western Islam.They should know that no matter how hard theyattempt to appease the West by deconstructingIslam, futile will be their efforts to suppress thespirit of this deen. For nothing can we acceptfrom the West in any matter between us and Allah(swt) when their enmity and corruption has beenmade clear to us by Him who is the knower of allthings. Allah (swt) says:
"And if the truth had been in accordance withtheir desires, verily, the heavens and the earth,and whosoever is therein would have beencorrupted! Nay, We have brought them theirreminder, but they turn away from theirreminder" [TMQ Al Muminun: 71]
O Muslims today those of us living in the westare in a unique position due to our ability to beable to speak out against this crusade and theagent Muslim rulers prosecuting it, without fearof persecution and without fear of torture andoppression. And whilst we do face anenvironment of intimidation and the pressures ofconformity through the call of integration wemust not cower and we must not succumb tothese pressures. Some Muslims wishing for youto abandon the haq have made statementswarning you against a backlash in this country ifyou do not compromise your position and silenceyour voices but Allah (swt) says:
"Is not Allâh Sufficient for His slave? Yet they tryto frighten you with those besides Him! Andwhom Allâh sends astray, for him there will be noguide" [TMQ Az-Zumar: 36]
We must not seek guidance through those whoare misguided, for what guidance and whatdirection can one get from those blind to theexistence of Allah (swt) and those that seek statusfrom them. He (swt) says:
Say: "Is there of your (Allah's so-called) partnersone that guides to the truth?" Say: "It is AllahWho guides to the truth. Is then He, Who givesguidance to the truth, more worthy to befollowed, or he who finds not guidance (himself)unless he is guided? Then, what is the matter withyou? How judge you?" [TMQ Yunus: 35]
The imams of the masjids, the learned amongstthe Muslim communities and their scholarsshould be the ones spearheading the dawah ofHaq, we must account them for their silence, wemust remind them of their duties andresponsibilities and that their knowledge will bethe first to testify against them if they abandonthe speaking of the truth from calling the Muslimarmies to the jihad, highlighting to the Ummahthe importance of her unity and Khilafah and theremoval of the treacherous Muslim rulers.
What good is this sacred knowledge if they donot use it for the haq?. What purpose do theyhave if all they know of divine law they useagainst the Deen of Allah the Supreme. It is theirduty to ensure that not a Jummah goes by thatthey do not unleash from the minbar a thunderousattack in their sermons against this crusade andits agents in the Muslim World. It is our duty to
Khilafah Magazine May 200328
speaking the truth
remind them that amongst us there is no place forfatwa merchants. He (swt) says:
"And mix not truth with falsehood, nor concealthe truth while you know the truth" [TMQ Al-Baqarah: 42].
And when He (swt) also says:
"Those who conceal the clear (Signs) We havesent down and the guidance after We have madeit clear for the people in the book on them shallbe Allah's curse and the curse of those entitled tocurse" [TMQ Al Baqarah: 159]
As for the Muslim groups within this Ummah thetime has now come for all to put aside theirdifferences agree on the only course of actionthat is acceptable to Allah (swt) and HisMessenger (saw) against this crusade and that isthe work for the re-establishment of the Khilafahand the calling to the Jihad. Indeed the Muslimgroups must politicise their agenda and engage incalling to the whole of Islam, commanding thegood and forbidding the evil where ever they findit and where ever they are. And whilst the actionssuch as charity work and tarbiyah are importantthey must add to their work and adopt the causeof the Muslim Ummah.
O Muslims we have reached a critical juncture,the times for half measures are over as the clashof civilizations between the West and Islam todayis stronger than ever. Our first line of defense isthe word of truth it is our mightiest of weapons,it is with it we live and with it we die and with itwe meet Allah (swt). Sacrifice of self, time andwealth is now the resolve that we can notabandon.
"And he who brings the Truth and he whoconfirms (and supports) it such are the men whodo right. They shall have all that they wish for inthe presence of their Lord: such is the reward ofthose who do good.." [TMQ Az-Zumar: 33-34]
What excuse can we give to Allah (swt) when theMuslims in the Muslim world face the torturechambers and the random executions forspeaking the haq. When they face the might oftyrants armed with nothing but their faith and thebelief that Allah (swt) will deliver His promise ofvictory as long as they persevere with patience
and taqwah while we remain silent.
Indeed in the child that stands with his bare chestagainst the might of a tank for us there is anexample. Indeed in the dawah carriers that fill theprison cells of Uzbekistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabiaand Jordan there are role models. The Advice ofAllah (swt) through his Prophet (saw) is do notbelittle yourselves O Muslims.
It is through the Haq that Allah (swt) destroys thefalsehood, and it is through the Haq alone,inviting to it, standing firm with it and upholdingit that Allah's victory will come to pass. Narratedby Jabir ibn Abdullah: "I heard the Messenger ofAllah (saw) say:
A group of people from my Ummah willcontinue to fight in defence of truth andremain triumphant until the Day ofJudgment. [Sahih Muslim. Hadith No. 4718]
O Muslims this Ummah has tried and testedevery alternative possible, from secularism tonationalism, from dictatorships to democracy andit has failed to restore an atoms weight of thedignity or glory that the world envied us for inour days under the Khilafah.
The Khilafah is our vital issue, it is our onlychance, it is what will relieve the pain and thesuffering, it is what will chase away the odour ofoppression so rise, sweat and work, and let Allahsee your work.
The Prophet (saw) said,
"Truthfulness leads to righteousness, andrighteousness leads to Paradise. And a mankeeps on telling the truth until he becomes atruthful person. Falsehood leads to Al-Fajur(i.e. wickedness, evil-doing), and Al-Fajur(wickedness) leads to the (Hell) Fire, and aman may keep on telling lies till he is writtenbefore Allah, a liar." [Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithNo. 8.116 Narrated by Abdullah]. And by Allahthe Ummah of Islam that carries the haq revealedby Allah (swt) to his Messenger (saw), that hasbeen entrusted with delivering the mercy of Islamto mankind can never be an Ummah of liars.
"And say: Truth has come and falsehood hasperished. Surely falsehood is ever bound toperish" [TMQ Al-Isra': 81] z
May 2003 Khilafah Magazine 29
Muslim youth growing up in the West facemany problems which some associate withIslam, but have nothing to do with it and
everything to do with backward traditions thattotally contradict the Quran and Sunnah.
Many have grown up being smacked unnecessarilyby their parents at home and by the 'Maulana' or'Maulvi Saab' at the mosque. Some have been forcedto marry from amongst their relatives or tribe. Notknowing whether this comes from Islam or fromtradition. Technology and anything modern is seenas anti-Islamic and the image of a good Muslim isportrayed as someone who denies the world and sitsin the mosque all day.
Incorrectly associating things to Islam leads todistorting it completely, to the extent that peopleturn away from Islam thinking it is something that itisn't. Therefore it is vital for us to separate betweentradition and Islam clearly.
'BEATS' AT THE MOSQUE
A common reality that many face whilst growing upis going to the 'Madrassah' routinely every day fortwo hours in the evening. Often instead of being aproductive two hours where minds are filled withclear understanding and powerful culture of Islam,for many it is something that they dread - two hoursof memorisation and being beaten for a variety ofreasons, ranging from making a mistake to talking tofriends.
In later years friends often even laugh about theirpainful days at the 'Madrassah' and compare thevarious methods of punishment the 'Maulana' wouldinflict, the most famous being the 'Murgee' or'chicken' position.
Its common practice for the people who teachchildren in the Madrassahs not to be acquainted withthe reality of children growing up in the West andthe issues they face and not to be fluent in theEnglish language. Many are employed merely as aconvenience rather than due to their ability to buildIslamic personalities.
This reality completely contradicts Islam andoriginates from backward traditions and ignorance.Islam does not allow the excessive beating ofchildren like some receive in the mosques today.The Prophet (saw) never beat his children or hisgrandchildren. He was known to be the one whowould love his children and grandchildren, in fact hewas so soft to his two grandchildren Hasan (ra) and
Hussain (ra) that they would play on his back whilsthe was doing Sajda (prostration) for Salah (prayer)and he would not tell them off.
The Prophet (saw) said
"honour your children and bring them up well.Verily, your children are a gift for you." [IbnMajah]
Islam is about loving each other, not breedinghatred. The Prophet (saw) said,
"A Muslim is the one from whose tongue andhand the Muslims are safe." [Bukhari]
The purpose of education is to form the Islamicpersonality in thought and behaviour. This cannot beachieved by merely forcing people to memorize.Rather it requires building an understanding of thebasics of Islam and how to live life according to it.People cannot be changed by the stick but only bytruly being convinced of the Islamic concepts.
The Prophet (saw) did not make the mosques a placewhere you did not want to go. In his time theMosques were the centre of learning, not beating.The doors of the mosque were open to youth to sitand discuss rather than being closed propertiescontrolled by mafia like committees as we findtoday.
FORCED MARRIAGES
"When are you going to get married?" "Are yougoing to get married from back home?" These arequestions that many have been asked at some timeor another. Some parents and families still forcetheir children to marry from their relatives or tribe. Many times the person has been reserved sincebefore they can remember. Unfortunately somemarriages are based on this philosophy, "You'resingle, their single, you have a British passport andthey don't". When it is argued to one's parents thatthey don't want to marry someone they don't knowat all, they automatically assume that you want a'Love marriage' and the barrage of argumentsbegins."Love marriage? You want a love marriage? Haveyou heard of so and so who did a love marriage andnow they are divorced!?" and the examples neverend. You are offered two options, either you marry
who they say, or you have a love marriage whichwill be doomed to failure.
Neither of these two options is necessarily Islamic.We do not marry somebody because they arerelatives and they need residency in the West. At thesame time we do not "date" then get married like theKuffar.
Islam is different. Marriage is about finding apartner your compatible with and can findtranquillity with. This person might be from "backhome" or they might not be. The correct way to findout is to inquire about their personality in a Halalway.
You can ask friends and family to find out aboutthem, send your relatives to visit their family, andspeak to them face to face in the presence of aMahram (direct relative of the women who they cannot legally marry, e.g. brother, nephew, uncle, etc).These are some ways you find out about peoplebefore marriage. Islam does not at all allowboyfriend-girlfriend relationships even if thepurpose is marriage. Unfortunately, sometimespeople resort to this because a Halal option has notbeen presented to them.
Islam describes marriage as a source of love andcomfort,
"And among His Signs is this, that He created foryou wives from among yourselves, that you may findrepose in them, and He has put between youaffection and mercy. Verily, in that are indeed signsfor a people who reflect." [TMQ Ar-Rum: 21]
Marriage is not only about making you happy, oryour parents happy. Marriage is a responsibility anda chance to gain tranquillity with a partner.
Ibn Masud narrates that the Prophet (saw) said,
"O you youngsters. Whoever amongst you whocan afford to marry should marry, because it willhelp him more to lower his gaze, and guard hismodesty [i.e. private parts from unlawful sex]. Andwhoever is not able to marry he should fast,because it will be protection for him."
Marriage is a contract in Islam and no contract isvalid, if it is forced. Abdullah bin Burayda (ra)narrates on the authority of his father, that a younggirl came to the Prophet (saw) and said, "my fathermarried me off to his nephew in order to raise hislowly status." So the Prophet (saw) gave her theright to nullify the marriage. She replied, "I acceptwhat my father has done, but I wanted to inform the(other) women that fathers do not have any authorityto give their daughters in marriage against theirwishes."
Marriage is based on consent from both the women
DIFFERENTIATINGBETWEEN TRADITION
AND ISLAMABDUL-HAMID JASSAT & DILPAZIER ASLAM
Khilafah Magazine May 200330
utilized the various technologies of his time, he evenused the style of digging a trench which was takenfrom the Persians, in the Battle of the Ditch,otherwise known as Ahzab. Technology can be usedfor Halal or Haram, it is not the thing which isHaram, it is what you do with it. As an example, theInternet and DVD's can be used for Haram such aspromoting indecency or can be used in a Halal wayto promote Islam.
Islam demands that we are leaders in science as wewill have to run an Islamic state which must lead theworld, economically, militarily and politically. Thisis why we find that in Islamic history the Muslimswere the most advanced in the fields of scienceincluding optometry, biology and mathematics.
During the time of Khaleefah Haroon Al-Rashid( 169-194 AH ), the Islamic State developed mobileclinics and hospitals and many schools of pharmacyand chemistry were established. In 318 AH (931CE)Baghdad alone had 860 registered physicians.
Zakariya Razi is a great name in mediaeval chemicalscience. Born in 850 A.D, he is known as one of thegreatest physicians of all times. He wrote Kitab alAsrar a chemistry book dealing with the preparationof chemical substances and their application.
Abu Yusuf Ibn Ishaq, known as al-Kindi was born inKufa in the middle of the 9th Century. He is one ofthe greatest scholars of physics. Over and abovethis, he was an astrologer, alchemist and optician.He wrote more than 265 books, of these fifteen areon meteorology, several on specific weight, on tides,on optics and on reflection of light. He wrote severalbooks on iron and steel.
Abdullah Ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Baytar, was the greatestbotanist and pharmacist of Spain. He travelled theworld in search of plants and herbs, from Spain toSyria. He wrote books described more than 1,400medical drugs and compared them with the recordsof more than 150 ancient and Arabian authors.
Abu'l 'Ali al-Husayn b. 'Abd Allah b. Sina, calledAvicenna in the West, was one of the greatestscientists in history. At the age of 21 he wrote atwenty volume book on science called Kitab al-hasilwa'l-mahsul dealing with all sciences, he wroteKitab al-majmu on mathematics.
TRUE ISLAM
We should never confuse tradition and Islam. It isIslam that we must follow, not traditions thatcontradict it and often emanate from Hinduism andother religions. We should never assume thatsomething is Islamic because it is commonlypracticed. We should always question and find out -where practices come from, are they based onevidence from the Quran and Sunnah?
Islam is an ideology which demands creativethinkers. People who are sharp, intelligent and quickon their feet. Most of the Prophet (saw) companionswere young, they were all intelligent, brave andcommitted. They rejected the corrupt traditions oftheir forefathers and carried Islam with frankness,courage, strength and thought. Let us take them asour role models. z
and the man. The Prophet (saw) explained to us thatwe are allowed to seek certain things in marriageand informed us that the best quality to look for isthe Islamic personality.
Abu Hurraria reported that the Prophet (saw) said,
"A woman is married for four things, her wealth,lineage, beauty and Islamic character (Deen). Sogain success with the one who possesses a goodcharacter (deen)."
NATIONALISM & TRIBALISM
Nationalism and tribalism is another part ofbackward tradition which some people associate toIslam. In some communities we have severalmosques often separated on tribal or ethnic groundssuch as Pathan, Gujarati, Pakistani, Jat, Gajar,Bengali and so on.
Amongst some each community is stereotyped andjoked about. They don't allow anyone from theirfamily to even consider another Muslim from otherthan their own nationality or tribe.
This is not from Islam. The clearest and simplestexample to give is the example of the Prophet (saw).He was from the tribe of Quraish, who were thoughtof as an upper class tribe. However he himself gavehis cousin Zaynab bin Jahsha (ra) who was alsofrom the exalted people of the Quraish, to Zayd binHaritha (ra) who used to be a slave.
Abu Hatim al-Muzani report that the Messenger ofAllah said,
"when someone whose character and morals areagreeable to you approaches you for marriagegive your daughter to him in marriage. If you donot then there will be tribulation and immensecorruption in the earth." They said "O Messengerof Allah, even if he has some deficiency?". He said,"when someone comes whose character andmorals are agreeable to you approaches you formarriage give your daughter to him inmarriage." He said this three times.
So the Prophet (saw) told us what matters ischaracter not colour, morals or tribe. What tribe theyare from does not matter at all. It is narrated that theMessenger of Allah (saw) said,
"He is not one of us who calls for Asabiyyah,(tribalism, nationalism) or who fights for'Asabiyyah or who dies for 'Asabiyyah." [AbuDawud]
And in another Hadith, the Messenger of Allah(saw) referring to tribalism said:
"Leave it, it is rotten." [Muslim and Bukhari]
The Prophet (saw) said:
"The Believers in their mutual love, are like onebody, if his eye becomes sore then the whole(body) feels pain, and if his head is in pain thenhis whole (body) feels the pain", meaning that theMuslims, whether we are Pakistani, Bengali orWhite, are one Ummah and we cannot be separatedfrom each other. No tribal ties should ever break ourunity.
ISLAM AND TECHNOLOGY
Modern technology and Islam are sometimes seen astwo opposites. Being Islamic is wrongly thought tomean that we can't drive good cars, live in nicehouses and use computers. What does Islam have todo with In-vitro fertilisation, the dynamics ofnuclear technology, cloning and Star Trek stylemilitary technology?.
Islam is not a religion like that of the Christians,Jews, Hindu and the like, who don't have anysolutions for the various problems of life. Allah(swt) has given us rules for all the problems that weface whether in the 21st century or in the future, asHe (swt) is the all knowing and the Quran is for alltime until the day of Judgement. Allah (swt) says,
"And we have sent down the book as an explanationfor everything, a guidance, a mercy and glad tidingsfor those who submitted themselves to Islam." [TMQAn-Nahl: 89]
Allah (swt) allowed for us to use various types oftechnology as long as it is in a Halal way.
"He it is Who created for you all that is on earth."[TMQ Al-Baqarah: 29]
This includes cars, mobile phones, the internet,satellites, missiles and DVD's. The Prophet (saw)
Please address your letters and questions to theEditorial Team, either by email or post at thefollowing addresses:
