Thousands of casualties, thousands of wounded, hundreds of thousands of displaced and refugees, children with marks of terror being transferred to hospitals while bleeding. The resistance accuses the government of being agents, and the government confirms the resistance's ties with Al-Qaeda. The news report concludes with the correspondent saying in a wise tone: "The only loser in this battle is the Somali people, who do not care who rules, but care to find a safe shelter and a piece of bread."
This is the news we see when we sit in front of our television screens; news from Pakistan, Iraq, Palestine, and Somalia. The media instills in our minds that this bloodbath is caused by the conflict between those demanding an Islamic state and the implementation of Sharia on one hand, and the systems that came through elections and chose peaceful solutions on the other.
The observer reaches a state of nausea and general disgust, and blames the "rebels" who have destabilized the security of their communities and plunged them into a vortex of violence to impose their ideas, or at best blames both sides and sees that the factions must reconcile and stop this farce for the sake of their countries and peoples. Is this really the problem?
The Real Roots of the Conflict
Muslims generally rarely succeed in connecting events together and recalling the past to understand the present in the light of Allah's unchanging laws. And who says that phrase—that it is not important who rules but important is a piece of bread and shelter—except one whose principles have been leveled with the dust and wants to live merely to live?
If we dissect the elements of the problem in the mentioned Muslim regions and search for the root of the problem, we will find the following:
- In Afghanistan and Pakistan: The root of the problem is America, which attacked Afghanistan under the pretext of retaliating against Al-Qaeda, killing tens of thousands of Afghans mercilessly, sparing neither wedding processions nor funeral processions, and then implementing a policy of collective punishment against the tribal regions because they had those who rose to defend their brothers.
- In Iraq: The root of the problem lies in the American occupation, which was built on a false claim of resisting weapons of mass destruction, followed by provocative practices such as torture and humiliation in "Abu Ghraib," and a war that knew neither religious nor humanitarian ethics.
- In Palestine: The root of the problem lies in the Zionist occupation, which began with massacres against people who welcomed and befriended them, as in "Deir Yassin," and sought to ignite the flames of hatred against them, even by killing families who went out for a picnic on the Gaza beach.
- In Somalia: The root of the problem lies in the American-Ethiopian intervention to overthrow the Islamic courts, which enjoyed the support and backing of the Somali people.
So, let us conclude from this point with the conviction that those demanding the application of Sharia are not the root of the problem, even if some of them made mistakes later, for no human is infallible. Rather, the root of the problem is the polytheists; the root of the problem is evident in His saying, may He be glorified: {And they will not cease to fight you until they turn you away from your religion if they are able.} (Quran 2:217)
The Role of the Mujahideen and the Role of the Hypocrites
Did Afghanistan not enjoy security under the Taliban? As did Somalia under the Islamic courts? Where both of these Islamic systems put an end to the factions that were vying for positions and gains. Did not the sons of Iraq and Palestine rally around jihad and around the jihadi factions, supporting them with money and lives until they became a great hope for ridding themselves of the oppressive occupation that was crushing the two peoples? Therefore, the mujahideen are originally the solution to the problem, not the cause of it.
And here, when the forces of disbelief failed to achieve victory alone and began to face a real threat, and when the jihadi project in the various Muslim regions approached the harvest, the forces of disbelief, as usual, resorted to those whom Allah, may He be glorified, said about them: {They are the enemy, so beware of them.} (Quran 3:118)
They resorted to the hypocrites, to the "cheap gloves" that always carry out the ignoble task; such as "Karzai" of Afghanistan, "Musharraf" and then "Zardari" of Pakistan, "Maliki" of Iraq, "Abbas" of Palestine, and "Sharif" of Somalia. They held mock elections for them, and suddenly they became presidents with legitimacy, and those who oppose them are rebels opposing their official governments!
And America gathered around them some mercenaries, forming police and regular armies from them, and these police and armies became cheap tools in pursuing the mujahideen, protecting the occupier, and imposing his policies and wasting the fruits of the long jihad. Is this not what happened?
Did not the latest main "RAND" study point to this? Did it not point out that it is cheaper for America to use the local police and armies in Muslim countries to eliminate those it calls "terrorists"? Therefore, the hypocrites are part of the problem.
Options for Mujahideen in the Face of the Alliance
Therefore, before the observer of events begins to speak about what is happening as if it were a dispute between children in the street over a ball, and before he uses phrases like "reconciliation of the factions," "understanding of the brothers," and "unity of the ranks," he should think: What are the options available to the Mujahideen in the face of this hypocritical, infidel alliance?
The First Option: That they submit to reality, lay down their arms to stop the bloodshed, and resort to political struggle under the dome of parliament, seeking America and its hypocritical agents to allow them to implement Sharia and establish an Islamic state. Would such a solution work?
Historically, has it ever happened that Muslims established the state and Sharia in this manner, even once? Have the infidels and hypocrites ever left the state and Sharia without fighting it, let alone hand it over to those demanding it on a silver platter?
The "Zardari" government pretended to have reached an agreement with the Mujahideen in "Swat" to implement Sharia, a peaceful agreement, but it was not long before the great Satan America held a conference with the hypocrites of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and broke the covenant as usual, and pounced on the people of "Swat" in revenge for their desire to implement Sharia.
Would the Somali Mujahideen be expected to lay down their arms and demand the implementation of Sharia when they see the outcome of the Sharia implementation agreement in "Swat"? And what Sharia would America and its allies agree to implement, when they rushed to attack Somalia when the Sharia courts reached a ruling with the support of the people two years ago?
Did "Hamas" not reach administration in Palestine in a peaceful manner, only to be provoked by Abbas and Dahlan's gangs, leading them to confrontation, then siege and bombardment? This was merely because it has Islamic inclinations, even though some of its figures unfortunately repeatedly affirm that they do not want to impose Sharia and that the will of the Palestinian people is the reference, which are dangerous statements and signs of deviation in the methodology, no matter how difficult the impossible may be for them. Nevertheless, the Zionist-Crusader forces and their hypocritical tails have joined forces to overthrow Hamas merely because of its Islamic inclinations.
If infidel countries like France cannot tolerate the hijab in schools, would they be expected to reward peaceful struggle by granting the mujahideen the caliphate and the implementation of Sharia? If the infidels cannot bear virtue to the extent that their accusation against the people of Lut is: "Expel them from your city. Indeed, they are a people who keep themselves pure," would the sons of the red nights and the heroes of "Abu Ghraib" from the soldiers and politicians of America, and would "Sarkozy," who cannot bear the purity of the niqab, be expected to bear the purity of Sharia? Can darkness bear light? Can infidelity bear faith?
Has not Allah, the Most High, shown us that the infidels ultimately have only one of three attitudes towards the believers:
- Killing: "They said, 'Kill the sons of those who have believed with him and keep their women.'"
- Imprisonment: "He said, 'If you take other than me as [my] deity, I will surely seize you and [make you] among the deprived.'"
- Expulsion: "And those who disbelieved said to their messengers, 'We will surely expel you from our land, or you must return to our religion.'"
And Allah, the Most High, gathered them in His saying: "And when those who disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you or kill you or expel you," and the meaning of "restrain you" is to imprison you. Is it reasonable that we recite these verses that Allah has revealed as guidance, methodology, and established sunnah, reciting them day and night, and then when we need to apply them, we invent changing methodologies, stumble in them, and guess their outcomes?
Therefore, do not ask the wise Mujahideen, who understands the sunnah of Allah, the Most High, to lay down his arms and conduct an experiment that history has ruled as a failure, and Allah has ruled as a failure before that, saying: "Those who disbelieved wish that you would neglect your weapons and your baggage that they might come upon you in one assault." Do not ask him to contradict His saying: "And take care of yourselves and your weapons."
Options for Confrontation and the Sunnah of Struggle
The Second Option: That the Mujahideen abandon the implementation of Sharia and the Islamic state, consider the caliphate a delusion that does not suit the age, and doubt the validity of the principle of implementing Sharia in the first place. And let the "domesticated" Mujahideen then be comforted by His saying: "They wish that you would disbelieve as they have disbelieved and thus be alike," and His saying: "And do not incline to the wrongdoers, lest the Fire touch you," and His saying: "And He will cause the wicked to be cast upon the wicked, and He will pile them all together and will cast them into Hell. Those are the losers."
The Third Option: "O Prophet, strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh upon them. And their refuge is Hell - and wretched is the destination." And the word of Allah is not an option: "It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should [thereafter] have any choice in their affair."
There must be labor pains, there must be struggle, for it is the sunnah of Allah, the Most High, in His creation: "And if Allah had not repelled some of the people by means of others, there would have been demolished monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques in which the name of Allah is much mentioned." And despite the pain and destruction that accompanies this struggle, it is more merciful to humanity than leaving it in the claws of these criminals.
Whether you feel nauseated and disgusted as you follow the events or not, whether you like it or not, it is the sunnah of struggle. And the resulting destruction is not the responsibility of the Mujahideen, nor is it their fault that their cowardly enemy always seeks to inflict the largest number of civilian casualties to turn the people against their Mujahideen, as they did in Chechnya, Afghanistan, Waziristan, Swat, Iraq, Jenin, Gaza, Somalia, and elsewhere.
But the Mujahideen are the hope of the nation, the guardians of its dignity and honor, and the breath of its awaited dawn. And the language of "reconciliation of the factions" and "understanding of the brothers" was perfectly suitable when speaking about Afghanistan after the withdrawal of Russia when the Mujahideen of yesterday competed for positions and lands. But today, it is a struggle between right and wrong, and they are two tents: a tent of faith and a tent of hypocrisy, and they will not reconcile, and the flame of jihad will not be extinguished until Allah opens between them with the truth, and He is the best of those who judge.
And we conclude with the words of the noble man who was very aware of this sunnah, Sayyid Qutb, may Allah have mercy on him, when he said: "This nation must be born, and there must be labor pains for birth, and there must be pains for labor."
And Allah, the Most High, knows best, and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
And the light of dawn flows... So rise to the heights and leap
For the free man has leapt... For the free man has leapt
My brother, towards the peaks, come on... And be a brave, steadfast one
And do not look at the world... For it is nothing in the future