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Posted (anwar) in October-6-2008 |
| Source: www.anwar-alawlaki.com |
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For those readers outside of the US who have no clue what the title of this post is talking about: Benjamin Franklin is the US statesman who is featured on the face of the $100 bill and George Washington is on the $1 bill. |
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Filed under: Articles, Blogs and forwards tagged , financial melt down, Hijra, Mortgage, Riba, Usury
It’s almost seven years since the notorious images depicting kneeling Muslim men attired in the signature orange clothing of Camp X-Ray, Guantanamo Bay, were unleashed through the world’s media. Their eyes covered with blackened-out goggles, their mouths masked and their ears covered with earmuffs. They saw no evil, spoke no evil and heard no evil: they only experienced it. Ironically, they were – and are still – regarded by the world’s most powerful military machine as the epitome of evil, the ‘worst of the worst.’ My time with them was comparatively short but, I had the honour of being in these men’s company for three years.
The president of the USA called them ‘bad men’, ‘terrorists’ and ‘murderers’ who were so dangerous they would ‘gnaw through the cables of an aircraft in order to bring it down’ (hence the justification for face masks.) Despite not one person being convicted of any crime related to September 11 (the whole reason why Guantánamo was allegedly instituted as a prison facility) the men are still treated worse than convicted criminals. In fact, they are still regarded as ‘the worst of the worst’ at worst or, with deep suspicion at best – even by Muslims. So how is one meant to judge these people, especially when we learn what these men were doing before they had the fortune to be tested in the manner of the Prophets of old?
It is now clear from released prisoners and mountains of US military documentation that the overwhelming majority of those detained in Guantánamo had nothing to do with the targeting and killing of innocent civilians in America – or anywhere else. Although this fact has not been conceded by the US in word it has been in deed with the release of 500 of us to date. But 250 still remain in Guantanamo and, more disturbingly, thousands have been simply ‘disappeared’ or held in ‘ghost’ detention sites around the world.
Some of the men were abducted from places as diverse as like Gambia, Zambia, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, the Persian Gulf – no where near the ‘theatre of combat operations.’ But most of the men, me included, were in Pakistan and Afghanistan working on benign projects to build schools, wells, orphanages and aid centres. Others had come to this region to live under what they believed was a land of hijrah (migration) for the sake of Allah, or to study the tenets and jurisprudence of their faith, or to live as exiles from their various homelands – like the Chinese Uyghurs – escaping terrible persecution. It is also undeniable that some came to repel the occupiers of a Muslim land by non-Muslim forces, in the way that thousands had come before them during the last superpower’s occupation of Afghanistan. But that’s very different from what they stand accused of being: terrorists.
Hitler’s propaganda minster, Joseph Goebbels once said: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” This formula has been adopted by many of today’s leaders and those who follow them. We know how these men – and Muslims in general – have been described by certain western leaders and their Middle Eastern sycophants. But how does the one who created them and gave them purpose of life describe them?
‘Those who believed, and emigrated, and struggled for the Faith in the Cause of Allah, as well as those who give (them) asylum and aid― these are indeed the true believers: for them is the forgiveness of sins and a provision most generous.’
Are these men not Muslims – believers in fact? Did they not emigrate for the various reasons cited? Did not the Prophet (saws) say that hijrah in the way of Allah wipes out all prior sins, even more so than Hajj? Did they not struggle in the cause of Allah with their wealth and in person against all the hardships one must endure to live in one of the world’s poorest and destitute countries? Did not Allah promise them the greatest of rewards in the Hereafter for their struggle and sacrifice? Did they not come to give support and aid to the beleaguered people of impoverished lands?
And when Allah continued to test them in the way He tested his beloved Yusuf (as) did we find they faltered or changed? When tortures and humiliations like those meted out to Bilal, Ammar and Summaya were inflicted upon them did they not hold fast to their faith and cry out: Hasbuna Allaha wa ni’mal wakeel (Allah is the sufficient protector for us)? When they heard about the births of their children – or their deaths – during their time in prison did they despair and lose hope in Allah’s mercy and deliverance? Did not the very earth shake under their feet after such tumultuous trials until they said: ‘When will the help of Allah come?’ Were they not contented with His words: ‘Surely, the help of Allah is near’?
There is a verse I came to learn, to know, to recite, to contemplate and to believe in – even during the bleakest of times:
‘And whoever fears Allah He will make for him a way out and provide for him from whence he never imagined.’
The word at the end of this verse is ‘makhraja’ which in Arabic literally means exit and although it refers to a set of circumstances relating to marital affairs, the rule therein was, for us, devastatingly simple: fear Allah, turn to him, keep to your duty and He will find you a way out. And so we were released – at least some of us were. But what of those who remain? Does it mean they did not fear Allah, did not keep to their duty and promise to Allah? Of course not. The Prophet (saws) said: When Allah loves a person He puts them to trial. And if He did this with his beloved Prophets, then what of us? Was not Yusuf thrown into a dungeon for years, despite his innocence? Could the Torah, the New Testament and even the Quran have been complete without this story of wrongful imprisonment?
I am honoured to have been in the company of these few men who held on to the rope of Allah when many others would have wavered and fallen. They have not all been released, but they have been mentioned specifically by the one in whose hands their souls lie:
‘Amongst the believers are men who remained true to their covenant with Allah; of them some have fulfilled their obligations, (i.e. have left this world) and some still are waiting, but they have never changed in the least.’
In these last nights of Ramadhan some of us will be praying all night at home, in the mosques and even in the Masaajid al-Haraam (in Makkah and Madinah – where rewards for prayers are multiplied in their thousands). Some of us will be doing ‘itikaaf, qiyaam al-lail and reciting the whole Qur’aan several times and attending Friday prayers with record numbers of worshippers in continually expanding mosques.
My imprisoned brothers have not prayed a single prayer in congregation in seven years. They have not prayed Jum’ah once in seven years. They have had no Eid with their families in seven years. They are waiting with the patience of Yunus (as) for deliverance. But they have made ‘itikaaf in their tiny cages for seven years. Some of them fasted every Monday and Thursday – even when they were given no food to break the fast; some of them fast on every alternate day outside of Ramadhan (the fast of Dawood (as)). And their recitation and memorisation of the Quran far surpasses that of freemen; their supplications during the night prayer have brought tears to the eyes of men who have encountered every hardship imaginable, men whose tears you’d have thought would have dried up by now. But their tears are not of grief and sadness for this world: they cry fearing what might become of them in the Hereafter. Yes, they fear Allah still. It is the only way they will find an exit.
Source: http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=26239
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Filed under: Articles, Blogs and forwards tagged Cage prisoners, humiliation, Moazzam Beg, terrorist, torture
“I want you to come to know of the concern and dedication that this woman had for Islam as described by those who knew her – a dedication that was manifested by way of actions that were very simple and easy, yet seldom carried out by those who are able.”
“She is a high security risk.” [Christopher LaVigne, assistant US attorney, on August 11th when trying to convince a judge to prevent Aafia from seeing a doctor for her gunshot wound]
During the time of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم), those who entered Islam were of two types: those who remained in their lands with the general populace practicing the basic tenets of the religion, and those who took it upon themselves to migrate and join the Prophet in his expeditions. There are ahadith that show that the Prophet treated these two groups differently from each other due to their difference in status. For example, Muslim and at-Tirmidhi report that when appointing a leader to a battalion, he would instruct him on how to deal with those of the enemy who became Muslims, saying: “…invite them to migrate from their lands to the land of the Muhajirin, and inform them that if they do so, they will have all the privileges and obligations of the Muhajirin. If they refuse to migrate, tell them that they will have the status of the Bedouins, and will be subjected to the commands of Allah like the rest of the believers…” This distinction was simply of one group deciding to take upon its shoulders certain responsibilities in contrast to the other whose inactivity limited them to a very individualistic, localized, benign practice of Islam. One can in essence say that the Prophet divided the practice of the Muslims at the time into two types: the religion of the Migrants (Din al-Muhajirin, whose adherents took upon their shoulders the responsibilities of aiding and giving victory to Islam), and the religion of the Bedouins (Din al-A’rab, whose adherents did not go beyond the basics).
Although the depiction is of a situation that existed over a thousand years ago, it is an eternal pattern that Muslims will be distributed amongst these levels in every era and in every place. So, one can notice this distinction even amongst the practicing Muslims of the East and West. The Din al-A’rab of the past can be compared to the Islam that is limited to the five pillars, eating zabihah, and keeping the local mosque clean. Considering how difficult it is in the West to come across even these Muslims, imagine what joy comes to the eye and heart to see those who go a step further and reach the level of adhering to Din al-Muhajirin – those whose concern spans the entire Ummah, driving them to get up and become active workers for Islam, to dedicate their every minute to the service of Allah however they can no matter what other responsibilities clutter their busy lives, to have their hearts beat with the rest of the Muslims – all this with their heads raised high and paying no regard to those around them who eat and live like cattle, as it was said:
هكذا الاحرار في دنيا العبيد
Such are the free in a world of the enslaved…
Recently, the entire world has been speaking about one such person – a short, thin college student, wife, and mother of three small children. Her name is Aafia Siddiqui.
I want you to be drawn to the story of this woman and also understand why I was drawn to it. I want you to come to know of the concern and dedication that this woman had for Islam as described by those who knew her – a dedication that was manifested by way of actions that were very simple and easy, yet seldom carried out by those who are able.
Those who knew Aafia recall that she was a very small, quiet, polite, and shy woman who was barely noticeable in a gathering. However, they add that when necessary, she would say what needed to be said. She was once giving a speech at a fundraiser for Bosnian orphans at a local mosque in which she began lambasting the men in the audience for not stepping up to do what she was doing. She would plead: “Where are the men? Why do I have to be the one standing up here and doing this work?” And she was right, as she was a mother, a wife, and a student in a community full of brothers with nothing to show when it came to Islamic work.
When she was a student at MIT, she began organizing drives to deliver copies of the Qur’an and other Islamic literature to the Muslims in the local prisons. She would have them delivered in boxes to a local mosque, and she would then show up at the mosque and carry the heavy boxes by herself all the way down the three flights of very steep stairs. Subhan Allah, look at the Qadar of Allah: this woman who would spend so much time and effort to help Muslim prisoners is now herself a prisoner (I ask Allah to free her)!
Her dedication to Islam was also very evident on campus. A 2004 article from Boston Magazine mentions that “…she wrote three guides for members who wanted to teach others about Islam. On the group’s website, Siddiqui explained how to run a daw’ah table, an informational booth used at school events to educate people about, and persuade them to convert to, Islam.” The article continues to mention that in the guides, she wrote: “Imagine our humble, but sincere daw’ah effort turning into a major daw’ah movement in this country! Just imagine it! And us, reaping the reward of everyone who accepts Islam through this movement, through years to come. Think and plan big. May Allah give this strength and sincerity to us so that our humble effort continue, and expands until America becomes a Muslim land.”
Allahu Akbar…look at this himmah (concern)…look at these lofty aspirations and goals! As men, we should be ashamed to have to learn such lessons from a sister.
She would drive out of her way every week to teach the local Muslim children on Sundays. I was told by a sister that she would also drive out of her way every week to visit a small group of reverts to teach them the basics of Islam. One of the sisters who attended her circles described Aafia as “not going out of her way to be noticed by anybody, or to be anyone’s friend. She just came out here to teach us about Allah, and English wasn’t even her first language!”
Another sister who would attend her circles describes: “She shared with us that we should never make excuses for who we are. She said: “Americans have no respect for people who are weak. Americans will respect us if we stand up and we are strong.””
Allahu Akbar…O Allah, free this woman!
But Aafia’s biggest passion was helping the oppressed Muslims around the globe. When war in Bosnia broke out, she did not sit back and watch with one knee over the other. Rather, she immediately sought out whatever means were within her grasp to make a difference. She didn’t sit in a dreamy bubble thinking all day about how she wished that she could go over to Bosnia and help with relief efforts. She got up and did what she could: she would speak to people to raise awareness, she would ask for donations, she would send e-mails, she would give slideshow presentations – the point I’m trying to make here is that Aafia showed that there is always something we can do to help our brothers and sisters, the least of which is a spoken word to raise awareness to those who are unaware. Sitting back and doing nothing is never an option. She once gave a speech at a local mosque to raise funds for Bosnian orphans, and when the audience was just sitting there watching her, she asked: “How many people in this room own more than one pair of boots?” When half the room raised their hands, she said: “So, donate them to these Bosnians who are about to face a brutal winter!” She was so effective in her plea that even the imam took off his boots and donated them!
There is much more to say about how passionate this sister was for Islam. However, the above gives you an idea of what she was like, and should hopefully serve as an inspiration for brothers before sisters to become active in serving Islam through whatever means are available. Remember that she was doing all of this while being a mother and a PhD student, and most of us do much less despite having much more free time.
So, having this image of Aafia in my mind, I was taken aback at what I saw when she was brought into court for what should have been her bail hearing. The door on the front left side of the courtroom was slowly opened to reveal a frail, limp, exhausted woman who could barely hold her own head up straight in a pale blue wheelchair. She was dressed in a Guantanamo-style orange prison uniform, and her frail head was wrapped in a white hijab that was pulled down to cover her bone-thin arms (the prison uniform is shortsleeved). Her lawyers quickly sat around her, and the hearing began.
The head prosecutor, assistant US attorney Christopher LaVigne, walked in with a group of three or four FBI agents, one of whom was a female who looked Pakistani (لعنة الله عليهم). The defense began by announcing that the bail hearing was to be postponed because of Aafia’s medical condition. Essentially, Aafia’s lawyers reasoned that there was no point of her being out on bail if she was near death. So, they demanded that she be allowed a doctor’s visit before anything else. LaVigne got up and objected, saying that Aafia was a risk to the security of the United States. The judge didn’t seem to buy that, and the prosecutor continued arguing that “this is a woman who attempted to blast her way out of captivity.” As soon as this was said, I looked over and noticed Aafia shaking her head in desperation and sadness, as if she felt that the whole world was against her. By the way, Aafia was so small and weak that I could barely see her from behind the wheelchair. All I could see was her head slumped over to the left and wrapped in the hijab, and her right arm sticking out.
I got a better understanding of why she was so sad and desperate when her lawyer began listing details of her condition:
* She now has brain damage from her time in US custody
* One of her kidneys was removed while in US custody
* She is unable to digest her food since part of her intestines was removed during surgery while in US custody
* She has layers and layers of sewed up skin from the surgery for the gunshot wound
* She has a large surgical scar from her chest area all the way down to her torso
With all of this, she had not been visited by a single doctor the entire time of her incarceration in the US despite being in constant incredible abdominal pain following her sloppy surgery in Afghanistan – pain for which she was being given nothing more than Ibuprofen! Ibuprofen is purchased over the counter to treat headaches!
With all of this, the prosecutor had the audacity and shamelessness to try to prevent her from being seen by a doctor due to her being a “security risk.” When he was pressed by the judge as to why Aafia was sitting all this time in a NYC prison without basic medical care, the government attorney stuttered, said that it was “a complicated situation,” and capped it with the expected cheap shot that “it was her decision as she refused to by seen by a male doctor.” As soon as the prosecutor said that last bit, I saw Aafia’s thin arm shoot up and shake back and forth to the judge (as if to say ‘No! He’s lying!’). I felt so sorry for her, as she was obviously quite frustrated at the lies being spilled out before her very eyes. Her lawyer then put her hand on her arm and began stroking it to comfort her and calm her down.
When the hearing was over, one scholarly statement stuck in my mind, and it is where Ibn al-Qayyim said that a person rises in his closeness to Allah until: “…there remains only one obstacle from which the enemy calls him from, and this is an obstacle that he must face. If anyone were to be saved from this obstacle, it would have been the Messengers and Prophets of Allah, and the noblest of His Creation. This is the obstacle of Satan unleashing his troops upon the believer with various types of harm: by way of the hand, the tongue, and the heart. This occurs in accordance with the degree of goodness that exists within the believer. So, the higher he is in degree, the more the enemy unleashes his troops and helps them against him, and overwhelms him with his followers and allies in various ways. There is no way around this obstacle, because the firmer he is in calling to Allah and fulfilling His commands, the more the enemy becomes intent upon deceiving him with foolish people. So, he has essentially put on his body armor in this obstacle, and has taken it upon himself to confront the enemy for Allah’s Sake and in His Name, and his worship in doing so is the worship of the best of worshippers.”
And this was absolutely clear that day when looking at the scene in the court. Despite Aafia’s apparent physical weakness and frailty, there was a certain ‘izzah (honor) and strength that I felt emanating from her the entire time. Everything from the way she forcefully shook her hand at the judge when the prosecutor would lie, to how she was keen to wear her hijab on top of her prison garments despite horrible circumstances that would make hijab the last thing on most people’s minds, to the number of FBI agents, US Marshals, reporters, officials, etc. who were all stuffed in this small room to observe this frail, weak, short, quiet, female “security risk” – everything pointed to the conclusion that the only thing all of these people were afraid of was the strength of this sister’s iman.
This is the situation of our dear sister, a Muslim woman in captivity…
What can I say…?
I will not close by mentioning the obligation of helping to free Muslim prisoners. I will not mention how al-Mu’tasim razed an entire city to the ground to rescue a single Muslim woman. I will not go back to the days of Salah ad-Din or ‘Umar bin ‘Abd al-’Aziz, who rescued Muslim prisoners in the tens of thousands. I cannot be greedy enough to mention these things at this point because what is even sadder than what is happening to Aafia Siddiqui is how few the Muslims were who even bothered to show up to her hearing in a city of around half a million Muslims (not counting the surrounding areas), and that not a single Muslim organization in the United States has taken up the sister’s cause or even spoken a word in her defense, and as Ibn al-Qayyim said: “If ghayrah (protective jealousy) leaves a person’s heart, his faith will follow it.”
Unfortunately, in a time where most of us are following Din al-A’rab, it seems that the best person to teach us a lesson in how to help Aafia Siddiqui would have been Aafia herself.
و الله المستعان
SOURCE: Iskandrani.wordpress.com
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Filed under: Dr. Aafia Siddique (Prisioner 650)
It’s almost been a month since I found out about Dr. Aafia’s Siddique, a Pakistani woman imprisoned at the Bagram Base. Only her chilling screams heard by other prisoners would verify that there was a woman within the prision walls. Now shes been moved to the U.S. and is finally facing the jury.
My inital reaction was how did I not know?! Have I become so ignorant that I no longer want to know what is happening to my Muslim brothers and sisters. Truly, its a shame. It makes my problems petty. It makes my survival seem like i’m taking it for granted. Subhan Allah. I don’t know what I would do were I in her situation. I cannot begin to imagine what she and her 11 year old son are being put through. I don’t know how long I would survive. When I look at my children I wonder if she is allowed to see children. What sort of food is offered or is she sometimes deprived of that too? When I do wudu, I wonder how often she is allowed and capable of doing that? How does she offer her salah? I wonder of the torture been done to her. Has she been totally deprived of her strength? She is not even allowed to see a doctor for her gunshot wound because she is considered “High Security Risk”. What would I do if I could’nt see a Dr.? If I was without one kidney and with stitches going from ribs to my chest and so weak that I couldn’t even talk in my own defense. And my life, I take for granted. That I am a free woman, able to practice my rights, able to have three sqare meals a day, able to see my children smile, able to have a peaceful life, and not for a second do I think it can be taken away. Subhan Allah.
I pray to Allah to make ease for Dr. Aafia Siddique, to give her strength and patience. I pray to Allah to release her. Ameen.
Related articles:
http://www.kalamullah.com/current-affairs14.html
http://www.anwar-alawlaki.com/2008/07/23/prisoner-650/
http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=25993
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Filed under: Dr. Aafia Siddique (Prisioner 650) tagged Aafia Siddique, Grey lady of Bagram, Prisioner 650
Danish and Dutch futile attacks on Islam
The North Wind was trying to demonstrate its stronger power over that of the sun by blowing so hard to make a man wearing a coat to take it off. Instead of removing his coat the man held tightly onto it. When the sun had its turn it just had to send warmth to make that man willingly take off his coat. From Aesop’s fables.
With the republishing of the so called “Mohammed cartoons” most Muslim websites and newspapers now exhibit signs displaying “except Mohamed” urging visitors and readers to boycott all Danish products. This public campaign has worked to the extent of making people detest any Danish product.Privately many Muslim leaders or Imams are gleaming with joy for the reaction that such provocative moves have caused and many of them can not remember any thing like it. They wonder whether is it a rekindled love or dormant emotions or feelings that have been awakened.These Imams have never seen such a show of love by the masses for prophet Mohamed, and now the stage is set for the anti-Koran film which perhaps would also reignite the interest in reciting the Quran.
At the end of the day if these provocations turn out to be counter productive, should Muslims be thankful ? Certainly but not to Jyllands Posten or Geert Wilders. Instead they should be thankful to Allah who put at their disposal such an arrogant and ignorant enemy whose actions only served to strengthen their beliefs.
Denmark has chosen to embrace the role of the whipping boy to whom all angry emotions are vented and Denmark is probably taking over the USA in one area, the country which has its flag suffer most frequent flag desecration or burning. So the previously respected Danish flag is now being widely used as a floor mat.
Denmark followed by the Netherlands have chosen to be the football players who score the auto goal, or the soldiers who carry the guns that backfire.
While Muslims are not happy with such provocations and do not appreciate these actions they are certainly grateful for the result. So why shall they pray for the replacement of conveniently placed players or soldiers?
Obviously the source of these irresponsible provocations is not the cunning British or the sly French but rather they originated from the land from where the north wind blows or the land of the blond which proves that blond stupidity does have certain merits. Shakespeare was thoughtful in saying: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”
But why did the Danes or the Dutch choose this time? Probably it is just miscalculation on their part. They may have thought that this is the best time to defeat Islam morally as it has so far resisted all attacks militarily.
A similar situation where attacks have backfired was mentioned in the Quran in the chapter of light or “Sura Noor”. There is a verse that refers to an incident when Aisha the wife of prophet Mohamed was accused of adultery. The verse says:
This systematic attack on Islam has so far been directed towards the most sacred person in Islam; the prophet Mohamed and to the most sacred book the Quran.We should expect the next attack to be directed towards Makkah (Mecca ) the most sacred place for Muslims, where the Saudis would not welcome that attack publicly but privately would love to see millions of Muslims flock to Makkah exactly as the man wearing the coat was holding it tightly as the north wind blows stronger.One can not help but ask the question: What have the Danes or the Dutch gained from all of this? And have they ran out of other ideas to demonstrate the right for free press?
Mohamed Alkilani
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