Post 7-7 Syndrome - God Save the Deen

A close friend of mine wrote this article. Lengthy. He has a point though. Hmmm... things have gone quite shaky here, and even more back home. You just need to keep your eyes wide open...

Post 7-7 Syndrome - God Save the Deen

Fahad Ansari

Just over ten years ago, British Muslims flooded into Bosnia to assist the local Muslim population fight for their survival against the Serbs who were carrying out a genocide sanctioned by the silence of a watching world. The jihad brought together Muslims from all walks of life who were simply not prepared to stand by and allow their fellow Muslims to be butchered out of existence. Those who could not travel to fight helped in other ways such as fund-raising, public awareness events and demonstrations. This collective effort by British Muslims was only part of the global Muslim effort to protect the Bosnian Muslims which was instrumental in ending the genocide. Western intervention came very late and only after it was apparent that that the Bosnian Muslims were gaining the upper hand. Former US President Bill Clinton himself writes in his autobiography that it was only the fear of the establishment of an Islamic state in the heart of Europe which prompted Western intervention.

Just over a decade on, the plight of Muslims has escalated on a monumental scale. On an international level, Muslims continue to be subjected to barbaric oppression in places like Chechnya and Kashmir. Palestine has entered her 59^th year of occupation. Afghanistan and Iraq have joined her. Tens of thousands of innocent Muslims continue to languish without charge in Guantanamo Bay, Bagram airbase, Abu Ghraib, Diego Garcia and ghost prisons throughout the world. Not much change then in terms of the nature of the threat we face.

What has changed however is the attitude of Muslims in the West.

Since the events of 9-11, there has been a relentless campaign launched to reform Islam to transform it into something more palatable to Western society. The vision is a secular and cultural Islam at peace with the world through her submission to her oppressors rather than to Allah; an Islam devoid of jihad, shari’ah and khilafah – the very things we are commanded by Allah to implement in order to establish Allah’s deen on this earth. Detailed studies such as that of the RAND Corporation in the US outline the means towards achieving this goal. A 2003 report by RAND entitled Civil Democratic Islam categorises Muslims into four categories: fundamentalists, traditionalists, modernists and secularists. Its recommendations include

- financially supporting and promoting the modernists and their viewpoints

- supporting the traditionalists against the fundamentalists

- promoting Sufism

- challenging the fundamentalists’ interpretation of Islam, revealing their links to jihad groups, demonstrating their inability to rule, portraying them as terrorists and encouraging journalists to dig up dirt on them

- encouraging division among the fundamentalists

- selectively supporting the secularists and discouraging the secularist alliance with anti-US forces on such grounds as nationalism and leftist ideology

A joint Home Office and Foreign Office document from 2004, Young Muslims and Extremism, indicated that a similar strategy was at play in Britain. Codenamed ‘Operation Contest’, the document speaks of measures through which government endorsements could be used to promote certain elements within the Muslim community such as supporting “moderate” Islamic media outlets, promoting Muslim organisations, individuals and forums that are seen as government friendly, and encouraging “moderate” Muslims to challenge the “extremists”.

One is not surprised by such intricate plots by our enemies. They have been taking place in vain for over 1400 years. The sheep should not look to the wolf for protection. What is more concerning is the change in attitude of the shephards of the Ummah, those entrusted with our guidance and protection, our own Muslim leaders and imams. It seems that the events of 9-11, and more recently 7-7, have paralysed these people and forced them to implement the RAND and Operation Contest recommendations in record time. The very groups and individuals named in the latter document are those we see today at the forefront of this attempt to reform Islam.

Individuals who for years rallied the masses to stand up for justice and support mujahideen groups around the world have suddenly not only become embarrassingly silent but have found themselves condemning armed jihad, portraying mujahideen as terrorists and extremists who follow a distorted version of Islam. Our greatest error has been our silence while the world and these individuals have equated martyrdom operations in Palestine and other occupied lands with acts of terrorism in London, operations which are completely different in nature; one is legitimate resistance against a brutal military occupation, the latter is blatant terrorism. Equating the two only betrays our brothers and sisters who have no other option but to fight or face extermination.

Post 7-7 syndrome has also infected imams who themselves took part in violent international jihad in places like Afghanistan against the Soviets and in Kashmir against Indian occupation, and who now call on Muslims to abandon this noble path and to focus instead on integration. The illness has also spread to popular speakers from Islamic Movements who today criticize Islamist parties and governance by shari’ah and instead promote a reformation within Islam. Even student and youth movements which consistently campaigned for Palestine and Iraq have suddenly lost their tongues in a bid to be seen as “moderate”.

Much of this has occurred in the context of the Radical Middle Way Project, a speakers tour funded by the Foreign Office through the Home Office with the objective of fighting extremism or in other words, pacifying Muslims. One example of how this Project is being used to turn people away from struggling for justice will suffice. A few months ago, a sister I know, who is very active in campaigning against injustices at home and abroad, was bought tickets by her friends to attend three lectures by a leading speaker of the Radical Middle Way Project. Her friend told her they believed she was becoming too “extreme”. I would describe this sister as many things – active, passionate, radical – but extreme, hardly. If it’s because of her belief in jihad, shari’ah and khilafah that she is extreme, then the vast majority of Muslims are extremists, and I will proudly add my name to that list.

Shockingly, while the government has repeatedly harped on about the need for British Imams, it is funding this roadshow of scholars flown in from places as diverse as US, Canada, Yemen and Mauritania. One should not question the intention of the scholars themselves but it does seem that they have allowed themselves to become pawns of the government, being manipulated by it to complete its agenda. The roadshow has served as a platform to bash so-called Wahhabi groups in the most cynical manner, as we begin to divide ourselves even more upon the lines our enemies have drawn for us. In doing so, these speakers ironically take on the very characteristics they so vehemently attack.

Running alongside all this has been the pop-nasheed culture, which sister Yvonne Ridley has already spoken volumes about so I will not delve too deeply. Suffice it to say that the culture is symbolic of the inferiority complex we suffer, wishing to be more Roman than the Romans themselves, entertaining ourselves for the sake of entertainment. The end result of all this has been a dilution of the deen of Allah, a weak and pacified Islam willing to accept the status quo in which Muslims are oppressed and subjugated; an Islam in which Muslims are content to sing and sway the night away to nasheeds, to concentrate on bettering their life in the West and to condemn the actions of their brothers and sisters who courageously resist occupation and oppression with whatever they have. Even making dua for them now has become a crime – how long before we are told by our imams not to even pray for the mujahideen?

One of the greatest military general the world has known, Salahudeen Ayubi, the liberator of al-Quds, was once asked why he didn’t smile. He answered back that how could he smile while he knowing that Masjid al-Aqsa, remained under Crusader occupation. How far removed are we from this attitude today. England’s performance in the World Cup and David Beckham’s resignation draw more tears from our eyes than the daily butchering of our brothers and sisters. Had this attitude been present 10 years ago, Bosnia and its people would have been completely exterminated.

In all this darkness, there is a bright light. For you see, one of the characteristics of Islam is that the more you push it down, the higher it rises. Muslims in Britain are now being stopped and searched, raided, arrested and humiliated and shot in a fraction of the manner their brothers and sisters around the world are treated. This has developed a real sense of empathy with the plight of the Ummah. A rapidly increasing number of Muslim youth are now realising that no matter how hard they compromise their deen to blend in with the wider society, when things go sour, they will be treated with suspicion. This is not scaremongering but realism. The more the government condemns concepts of shari’ah, khilafah and jihad, the more Muslims are willing to dedicate their lives to establishing these things. The more Muslims are arrested, the more Muslims align themselves with the terror suspects. A recent Times poll stated that the percentage equivalent of 400,000 Muslims in Britain supported violent jihad around the world. One can only attribute this surprisingly low percentage to a fear of being labeled “extremist”. It must be understood that this violent jihad is something noble, a just war against injustice and tyranny, of no threat whatsoever to British society and something not only justified but encouraged by international law. Violent jihad in Palestine, Iraq, Chechnya, Kashmir and elsewhere is not equivalent to the events of 7-7 which have been absolutely condemned by all.

As an antidote to post-7-7 syndrome, British Muslims themselves organized their own roadshow (Roles and Responsibilities of Muslims in Britain) earlier this year in which scholars, community leaders and activists who have grassroots support in their communities spoke. This wasn’t about foreign imams telling British Muslims how to behave in Britain; this was about British imams, born, raised and resident in this country, speaking to British Muslims. Despite the record turn-outs for the tour, no support or even sign of recognition was forthcoming from the government as in addition to condemning terrorism, Muslims were told not to forget about Palestine, to continue to be active and to stand up for justice, irrespective of the consequences. The masses heard the message and are sure to spread it.

Slowly but steadily, more and more Muslims are waking up with the realisation that it is not terrorism or extremism that is being targeted but Islam itself. Our enemies will continue to attempt to divide us and to reform Islam as they have done throughout the centuries. But we must always bear in mind our Lord’s words that “they plot, but Allah also plotteth; and Allah is the best of plotters” (Surah al-Anfal; 30)

God save the Deen.

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Akhir-akhir ini, bumi yang pernah kujejak dibantai... I reckon I have to open up that book (From Beirut to Jerusalem) to get the 'feel'.

SN Abdullah Hussain, dah pun siap karyanya yang terbaru - Dan Malam, Apabila Ia Berlalu. Imam, telah menghilang entah ke mana, biasalah karya elok sudah pasti direbut orang. Takpa, boleh beli lagi.... Jika tak dek embargo, mungkin akhir bulan ini dua-dua boleh tiba di sini. Have patience bro.

Hmmm... learnt a new sifir quite a while ago. If you love, then you must pray/du'a. Then let Allah decides. Of course it has to be rigged with utmost effort... Alhamdulillah, yup, it makes a perfect sense to me. Each and everytime it bounces in your mind, then you ought, to pray... for steadfastness, vigilance, victory, perserverance, etc etc and in the best of health and iman to our dear Rasulullah, the ulamas, ayah dan ibu and the list goes as it suits you. Errr... what I am talking about? I think I'm not getting enough sleep...