Our World in a Nutshell.
[With thanks to Sis. Kristi.]
The prophet, pbuh, said "People will suffer years of
deception in which lies will be deemed the truth and truth
lies, and in which a traitor will come and faithful people
will betray, and the foolish will speak." "And who are the
foolish?" the Prophet said: "The stupid man who discusses
public matters."
Musnad of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
vol 6, book 1, no 7571
Comment by Kaukab Siddique:
What a powerful prediction! It applies to almost every ruler
in the world today, be it Assad, Sissi, the Saudis, the
Iranians, the Pakistanis, the Indians and in particular the
Americans.
The Prophet, pbuh, had a greater understanding of political
issues than any leader in world history.
New Trend is busy on Facebook too!
New Trend's January1, 2017 issue reached 13542 people and
got more than 3200 likes.
New Trend's December 25 issue reached 9265 people with more
than 2100 likes.
This is on the Jamaat al-Muslimeen's page with the picture
of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui in great torment.
Our New Trend web site is doing much more. Please see
below.
Afghanistan:
Taliban's First Message to Trump.
AP. January 11.An American and an Australian professor who
were kidnapped in Kabul five months ago have pleaded with US
president-elect Donald Trump to help secure their release in
a video released by the Taliban.
The video, uploaded to YouTube on Wednesday and apparently
filmed on 1 January, is the first public sign of life of the
two teachers since their abduction.
Kevin King, 60, an American, and Timothy John Weeks, 48, an
Australian, were violently kidnapped on 7 August outside the
campus of the American University of Afghanistan where they
both taught.
In the 13-minute video, the pair - who are are visibly
distraught and occasionally break into sobs - beg the
American government to negotiate with their captors. The
Taliban appear to have demanded the release of several
"soldiers" in exchange for the professors.
"If we stay here for much longer, we will be killed. I don't
want to die here," Weeks says in the video.
There was no indication of where the video had been filmed
but it seemed timed to coincide with the current US
presidential transition.
"Donald Trump, sir, I ask you, please. This is in your
hands. I ask you please to negotiate with the Taliban. If
you do not negotiate with them, we will be killed," Weeks
said, adding that he feared he would not see his gravely ill
mother again.
The abduction of the two was part of a recent string of
kidnappings of foreigners in Kabul, which included two other
Australians. In August, an Australian aid worker, Kerry Jane
Wilson, was released after four months in captivity. In
November, another Australian woman was abducted. Her
whereabouts are not publicly known.
Afghanistan hostage couple make video plea for 'Kafkaesque
nightmare' to end
Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman appear with two young sons
and urge US and Canadian governments to negotiate end to
four-year ordeal
The footage released on Wednesday is reminiscent of another
proof-of-life video released in late December, which showed
a Canadian-American couple asking their government to
negotiate their release.
American Caitlan Coleman and Canadian Joshua Boyle appeared
in the video with their two children who were born during
their four-year captivity, which they described as a
"Kafkaesque nightmare".
The couple were abducted in 2012 while backpacking through
Wardak province and are believed to be held by the
Taliban-aligned Haqqani group.
Last year, the Afghan government sentenced to death Anas
Haqqani, the brother of the Taliban's deputy leader. Some
officials believe the group is trying to amass enough
foreign hostages to swap for their captured commander.
The US government has previously acquiesced to Taliban
demands of a prisoner swap. In 2014, the Haqqani group
released Bowe Bergdahl, a US soldier, in exchange for five
Taliban prisoners.
In a surprising statement last week, an American woman, Jane
Larson, revealed that her 74-year-old husband, Paul Overby,
had been abducted over two years ago while crossing into the
eastern Afghan province of Khost from Pakistan, apparently
in a bid to interview the Haqqani leader, Sirajuddin
Haqqani, for a book.
US authorities have said they have no idea where he is being
held.
BOSTON - The Bosnian War was the first war in Europe after
World War II, considered as a big test of the international
order. Muhamed Borogovac poses this interesting question:
How did Serbia got away with aggression, genocide and
recognized territorial gains in Bosnia?
Borogovac's "The War in Bosnia" (published by Xlibris)
explains how it was possible that Bosnians, who were unarmed
in the beginning, started winning the war and how that
victory was stolen from them. The book also shows a very
positive role of President George H. Bush, and somewhat
negative role of President Bill Clinton regarding
international law.
"The war in Bosnia was a big challenge for the international
law and international politics where the world learned very
important lessons about international relations," Borogovac
discusses about his book. "I would like people to learn that
every nation, no matter how big, or how rich, or of what
race and religion are its citizens, should be equal with
respect to international law."
An excerpt from this book:
The question arose: was this just a coincidence, or did the
Serbian secret police help those three men Alija Izetbegovic
in Bosnia, Franjo Tudman in Croatia, and Ibrahim Rugova in
Kosova, to become national leaders in the states that would
be targeted for Serbian expansion? Thanks to those three
men, the victims of the Serbian aggression were never
unified; hence, the Serbs were able to attack them one at a
time. Is this also a coincidence?
"The War in Bosnia: How to Succeed at Genocide"
By Muhamed Borogovac
Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 208 pages | ISBN 9781524560119
Softcover | 6 x 9in | 208 pages | ISBN 9781524560102
E-Book | 208 pages | ISBN 9781524560096
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the Author
Muhamed Borogovac was born in 1951, in Belgrade, the former
Yugoslavia, and lived in Bosnia. Borogovac joined the League
of Patriots (Patriotska liga), along with other citizens,
determined to defend Bosnia from Serbian aggression, and
became the spokesman of the group. Borogovac immigrated to
the U.S. in 1993 and became one of the founders of Bosnian
Congress USA, which is still active in 2016 because the
Dayton Peace Deal that was signed 20 years ago began the
process of destruction of the Bosnian state, which is still
ongoing. Upon settling his family in Boston, Borogovac
taught math as an instructor at Suffolk University,
Northeastern University, Emerson College and Emmanuel
College. Starting in 1998, he has made a career in the U.S.
as an actuary, working in life insurance. He is a former
member of the Bosnian Mathematical Society, and a current
member of the American Mathematical Society, the Society of
Actuaries and the American Academy of Actuaries. For more
information about the political work of the author, readers
may check:
Republic-Bosnia-Herzegovina.com
.
Israel has occupied Palestine.
It is foolish to squabble over "settlements." All of
"Israel" is a settlement.
The Two-State theory is an Israeli-American plan. No Islamic
thinker who is independent can accept the occupation of
Palestine by Israel. Militarily Israel is strong today
because of American support. It is a matter of time that
Israel will have to go and Palestine swill remain,
inshaAllah.
Jamaat al-Muslimeen
Progress on New Trend's Web Site NewTrendMag.org
In 2016 we had almost 2 million hits (43% more than last
year!)
In 2016, it averaged more than 600 Visitors per day (37%
more than last year!)
A little bit of progress!!
In December 2016 we had 112327 hits with 18655 visitors.
January 12, 2017. The United States has decided to lift
sanctions from Sudan. The Khartoum government has been
cooperative in the war against terrorism; hence it was seen
fitr to remove the sanctions.
A lot of propaganda, mostly fake, was directed at Sudan on
claims of suppression of the people of Darfur. Stories of
slavery were floated on a big scale which tirned out to be
fabricated.
Sudan was weakened by its western enemies to such an extent
that it agreed to give independence to its southern
provinces [where much of its oil was located].
Now the Christians in the South of Sudan are involved in
fratricidal warfare against each other. The scale of
casualties is massive, thousands killed and rape and arson
on a huge level
[New Trend Monitor]
Nigerian Pastor's Daughter Embraces Islam in Christian
Enclave. Stirs Row.
[Anon reader sent it.
LAGOS - The conversion of a pastor's daughter in Nigeria's
mainly Christian South-eastern region has ignited a row
between Nigeria's umbrella Christian and Muslim groups,
raising questions about freedom of religion in the volatile
tribal region.
"I joined Islam purelyn my own terms. I love the character
of Muslims that I have related with, particularly the way
they behave. You know Muslims believe in God," Charity
Uzoechina, a 25-year-old daughter of a pastor, whose
conversion has attracted nationwide debate, told
AboutIslam.net.
"I have Muslim friends and I watched what they do, that
enticed me to join Islam."
The conversion of Charity, the daughter of Pastor Raymond
Uzoechina of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG),
has stirred a controversy about Islam acceptance in
Nigeria's mainly Christian South-eastern.
When she decided to revert to Islam, she faced accusations
that she was abducted and converted by force.
Feeling that her life is under threat, Charity sought refuge
away from her family for fear of possible backlashes.
A former student at the Federal Polytechnic Bida, she asl
stopped going to school for fear of being harmed by her
relatives.
Approaching the court for protection from her parent,
Charity's custody was entrusted by the Shari'ah Court to the
Etsu of Nupe, a Muslim emir with dominion over the ancient
city of Bida in the Nigeria's North-central Niger state.
Nevertheless, her father, Pastor Raymond Uzoechina, and the
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) sought to take back
the lady, accusing the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, of
abducting and forcibly converting her to Islam.
The Etsu Nupe and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic
Affairs (NSCIA) have, however, insisted that she converted
voluntarily and sought refuge in the Etsu Nupe's Bida palace
in Niger State out of fear of her father.
Charity also rejected suggestions by her father and said her
conversion was "strictly personal, gradual and well
thought-out."
The new Muslim said with the advice of her friends and new
tutor, she has chosen the name Aisha.
"I love what I read about Aishah, the wife of the prophet,"
she added.
"I dream to be like her in terms of spreading the message of
Islam and being pious."
The Uzoechinas are from Nigeria's Southeast, a region with
extremely low population of Muslims and where conversion to
Islam is rare and deemed 'abnormal'.
A monarch who is Vice Chairman of the Council of Village
Heads in Nigeria's Southeastern Imo State, Chief Sylvester
Dimunah, converted to Islam early this year. A few others
had also done so in the past.
Moderate Islam
The repeated accusations from Pastor Raymond Uzoechina and
CAN were rejected by Muslim leaders as unfounded.
"Islam being a religion of moderation, peace and truth will
continue to spread to every corners of the world," Disu
Kamor, executive director at Muslim Public Affairs Centre,
told AboutIslam.
"Once any non-Muslim approaches the message of Islam with
open mind, with guidance of Allah, they will accept its
message. This is what has happened to Miss Uzoechina," Kamor
said.
"We welcome her into the fold of Islam. She has our support
in this trying time. We pray Allah to stand by her and
others like her."
Kamor condemned suggestions that the lady was coerced or
hypnotized into joining Islam.
"That is a wild suggestion," he said.
"The earth and the heaven belong to Allah who can open the
heart of the worst of unbeliever to come into His deen."
Sheikh Abdurrahman Ahmad, a Nigerian Muslim intellectual,
prayed "Allah to stand by Miss Uzoechina and others in her
shoes. Having guided her into the light of Islam, we beseech
Him to continue to be with her.
"And we pray for her family too. It is cheery enough that
Islam is spreading to everywhere even at a time some people
have made demonizing Islam a major campaign."
Nigeria, one of the world's most religiously committed
nations, is divided between a Muslim north and a Christian
south.
Muslims and Christians, who constitute 55 and 40 percent of
Nigeria's 140 million population respectively, have lived in
peace for the most part.
But ethnic and religious tensions have bubbled for years,
fuelled by decades of resentment between indigenous groups,
mostly Christian or animist, who are vying for control of
fertile farmlands with migrants and settlers from the
Hausa-speaking Muslim north.
Latest Khutba
Latest Khutba
We Follow Islam and do not Fight other Religions but no Need
to Pretend That all Religions are the same.
Start with Physical Separation but Interfaith Mixing Must be
Rejected too. Honor and Respect Women. Also Remember our
Essential Connection with Africa.
On January 13, Br. Kaukab Siddique gave Juma' Khutba and led
prayers at Masjid Jamaat al-Muslimeen in Central Baltimore.
Here is an outline of his khutba for distribution on
line.
Text #1:
قُلْ يَا
أَيُّهَا
الْكَافِ›ُونَ
لَا
أَعْبُدُ
مَا
تَعْبُدُ¨نَ
وَلَا
أَنتُمْ
عَابِدُو¦َ مَا
أَعْبُدُ
وَلَا
أَنَا
عَابِدٌ
مَّا
عَبَدتُّ¥ْ
وَلَا
أَنتُمْ
عَابِدُو¦َ مَا
أَعْبُدُ
لَكُمْ
دِينُكُم¨ وَلِيَ
دِينِ
"Say: O you disbelievers,"
"1 worship not what you worship,"
"Nor do you worship Whom I worship,"
"Neither shall I worship what you worship,"
"Nor will you worship Whom I worship,"
"To you be your religion, and to me my religion."
[The Qur'an sura 109.]
Text #2:
"Umm Ayyub, r.a., narrated: The messenger of Allah, pbuh,
said: The Qur'an was revealed in seven styles of recitation.
Whichever style you recite it in, you will be rewarded."
[Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, hadith # 27989]
We accept all the Prophets, peace be on them, including
Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Islam has not taught us to fight
Christians, Jews or people of other religions. We can
discuss and debate peacefully and with rational arguments.
We stand against all oppressors even if they claim to be
Muslims.
Within the law of Islam, Sharia, we automatically
separate ourselves from the dehumanizing ways of life among
which we live. We reject alcohol, pork, gambling, drugs,
sexual promiscuity, pornography and homosexuality.
Sometimes we forget that some forms of mental corruption
are more insidious than physical evils which we can spot
right away.
In America, which is dominating the world today, we face
attempts to fragment and dissect and denigrate and
trivialize our religion. It is this subtle form of takeover
of our souls which we are often seduced into accepting.
We respect other religions but that does not mean that we
will allow others to start teaching us our religion! Islam
and Christianity are separate religions. We do not go to
Allah through Jesus, pbuh, and not even through Muhammad,
pbuh. We go directly to Allah. We learn about Allah through
the Qur'an.
Interfaith contacts are very damaging to our communities.
These are ways of controlling Islamic thought in America. We
must not allow any non-Muslims to come into our mosques to
lecture us about our religion. They are welcome to visit and
to learn. I would not go to a church and teach Christianity
to the Christians.
Funding American universities and colleges to teach
Islam is a subtle way of controlling Islam. [Understand why
Zaytuna and IIIT cannot teach the truth.]
Islam is a religion of peace? Yes, it is, but it is also
a religion of resistance. If our countries are invaded,
occupied or colonized, our people have the right to resist,
fight back and drive out the invaders, occupiers and
colonizers. Israel is occupying our land.
Attempts to "normalize" homosexuality are attacks on our
faith and mentality. We won't harm anyone or take away
anyone's rights but we will not claim that such attempts to
undermine religion are okay with us.
We are polite, well behaved, trustworthy and decent
people but that does nor mean that we are pushovers.
The worst internal takeover of our communities happens
when the oppressors use people who apparently pray and fast
and then tell us not to oppose Israel or the bombing and
occupation of our countries. Most shameful are those women
who wear hijab and then go to the White House and pay homage
to the policies of the oppressors and are used to teach us
that we become good Americans by supporting the enemies of
Islam
Part 2.
No Muslim community can come anywhere near our Islamic
ideals if our sisters do not have equal rights in our
communities. The Qur'an teaches us that the standard of
goodness is TAQWA, God-conscious behavior, not gender.
Last khutba I talked about Umm Hisham, r.a.,a seemingly
ordinary woman who learned Sura Qaf while she was cooking, a
sura which ordains the five daily prayers. Fourteen hundred
years later we study the hadith she narrated and we honor
her.
Today I have brought a hadith narrated by Umm Ayyub,
r.a., who narrated a deep message of the Prophet, pbuh, that
the Qur'an has been revealed in seven ways of recitation,
and all 7 are equally authentic and full of blessing from
Allah.
Umm Ayyub, r.a., brought this hadith which was extremely
important because Islam was going to spread among people of
many backgrounds. The words of the Qur'an are protected by
Allah, but they can be pronounced with slight variations in
style which do not change the meaning.
Listen to the words of the Qur'an coming out of Africa,
many parts of Africa, Indonesia, Arabia, Pakistan,
Bangladesh. They are the same but very slightly different in
style.
So may Allah bless Umm Ayyub, r.a., and all the female
companions of the Prophet, pbuh.
When the Muslims, including Ruqayya, r.a., the daughter
of the Prophet, pbuh, took refuge in Ethiopia, the
oppressors urged the Negus, the ruler of Ethiopia, to expel
them. Being a fair minded person, he asked the Muslims to
explain their beliefs. Famously, Jafar, r.a., recited sura
Maryam, pbuh, about the mother of Jesus, pbuh, whereupon the
Negus, the King, started crying as he sensed the truth of
the Qur'an.
The Negus not only gave refuge to the Muslims but later
he accepted Islam. When he died, the Prophet, pbuh, did
funeral prayers for him in absentia and that's from where we
get the proof of the validity of the funeral prayer in
absentia.
Du'a: O Allah help us to study the Qur'an every day and to
study the hadith every day. Give us spouses and children who
will stand with us for Islam
Ameen!.
PAKISTAN
Corruption of Pakistan's Top Leadership is like the Elephant
in the Room.
Message from Jamaate Islami's leader.
by Qaiser Sharif
LAHORE, Jan. 14; Ameer, Jamaat e Islami, Pakistan Senator
Sirajul Haq has said that the position of the country's
ruling family regarding the off shore companies was crustal
clear after the BBC report and the arguments advanced by the
JI counsel before the Supreme Court.
Talking to the media at Mansoora Saturday evening, he said
that the" elephant of corruption stood before the court but
if the court wanted more proof, the same could be obtained
through the Ultrasound and CT Scan of the elephant".
Sirajul Haq said that the Prime Minister's family members
had admitted their off shore companies but had not divulged
the sources of their wealth. He said that the burden of
proof in regard to this wealth was with the Prime Minister
and if the Prime Minister's family failed to produce
documents about their wealth, it would be presumed that
their wealth had been amassed through loot and plunder.
Sirajul Haq said it was also a test of the court whether it
was able to recover the plundered wealth from the ruling
family thus coming up to the expectations of the nation.
The JI chief reaffirmed his confidence in the court and said
he was sure that the court would play a historic role in
ending corruption in the country and would not let the
corrupt escape.
To a question, he said, the court remarks about the JI
leadership's honesty had further increased the
responsibility of the JI leaders and its workers and they
should try to keep their record neat and clean. .
RESEARCH
Devastating Expose of the Special Forces Which Killed Osama
bin Laden.
[From Citizens for Legitimate Government, CLG, Bristol,
Connecticut.]
Beheadings and mutilations: How SEAL Team 6 'committed war
crimes across Iraq and Afghanistan' and 'fought over the
book rights to the bin Laden mission BEFORE they'd even
killed him' --Bombshell expose quotes SEAL Team 6 members
and military officials as saying that the celebrated unit
tolerated culture of lawlessness
--SEAL Team 6 operators were said to have mutilated the
corpses of dead insurgents and were not punished by their
superiors --SEAL officers had allegedly disregarded rules of
engagement, resulting in the deaths of civilians
-- SEAL Team 6, the US Navy's special forces team that
gained worldwide fame for [allegedly] killing Osama bin
Laden, have been accused of a litany of war crimes and
depraved battlefield behavior, according to a damning new
expose. The explosive claims made against the group,
officially named the Naval Special Warfare Development
Group, include allegations of revenge killings, the
mutilations of enemy fighters, 'criminal violence', and a
department that 'went rogue'. The allegations have been
reported in a new story by The Intercept, which it claims
are based off more than two years of research and
'interviews with 18 current and former members, including
four former senior leaders of the command'.
War News
Syria
Heavy Fighting as IS Advances Around Deir Ez Zour. Damascus
Water Supply cut. Turkey Stuck at El Bab. SDF
Counterattacked but Still Advancing. Palestinian Group Joins
IS.
January 9-15.. Sources: SOHR, Reuters, AP, the Guardiam,
ABC.
Hizbullah is trying to enter the Barada valley area west of
Damascus [hilly area] to restore water supply to Damascus.
An agreement to put water under joint control was broken
when Alawite air force and Hizbullah tried to take the area
by force. Heavy fighting is going on as opposition
volunteers, some faction of FSA, are fighting stubbornly to
stop Assad's advance into Barada.
In the Palestinian camp area just outside Damascus, a
Palestinian faction calling itself Jaysh Khalid ibn
al-Waleed has joined the Islamic State [IS].
IS is fiercely trying to cut off Deir Ez Zor [south east
Syria] from Assad's garrison and airport and Hizbullah.
Intense fighting has been going on all week as Russian air
force tried to help Assad's troops with supplies and by
bombing IS.
In North Central Syria, IS is putting up a ferocious defense
of El Bab, north east of Aleppo. Turkish troops and its
Syrian militia are still unable to break through. Turkish
air force is trying to smash El Bab with daily civilian
casualties. [Al- Baghdadi, the Caliph, sent reinforcements
to El Bab.] Erdogan has vowed to destroy ISIS.
In the northeast the Kurdish SDF was counterattacked by IS
on January 14 as it advanced towards al Raqqa. US air
strikes continue in the al Raqqa area, helping SDF to
advance.
The IS advance towards Homs has been stalled by Russian air
attacks but it is still in the offensive mode.
US air force again hit al-Nusra associates in Idlib
province. The death toll has reached 51. US air force seems
to have good intelligence to spot al-Nusra. The Russians too
have hit Idlib again.
In the fashionable center of Damascus, an IS martyrdom
operator hit the officers club killing 8 including a colonel
in Assad's army
Assad's helicopters are continuing to hit the suburbs of
Damascus, targeting civilian facilities, to motivate the
population to agree to leave, thus emptying the hostile
opposition towns around Damascus.
Iraq
Mosul: Week 13
US-Backed Armada advances, then retreats. University was
captured but IS counterattacked.
Heavy Fighting continues. IS cannot force Shia armada out of
Eastern Mosul, changes tactics.
There was good news for western media on January 13 when
heavily armed Shia military advanced into Mosul university
in the northeastern edge of Mosul. A small IS group in the
university was wiped out in a US air strike. Also, Baghdad
troops reached two of Mosul's five bridges only to find that
IS has demolished a chunk of the bridges thus stopping the
advance.
IS has developed new tactics to hit the shia armada which
outnumbers the mujahedeen of IS 100 to one. IS has been
sending out tiny drones to drop small bombs on the Baghdad
troops, striking fear and panic in the attacking forces.
Kurdish advance from the north is completely stopped after
suffering heavy losses.
Also IS snipers are proving deadly. Western media report
that the snipers pop out of buildings, kill and leave
rapidly before artillery hits the building. Car bombers are
still attacking but snipers are hitting hard.
Air strikes are terrorizing the population and there are now
tens of thousands of people in camps outside Mosul. Western
sources worry that after 13 weeks all of eastern Mosul is
still not fully conquered, what will happen in western
Mosul, across the river, which is solidly pro-IS.
News Within the U.S.
Long Island, New York
He Gave up all his Islamic Aspirations, Still got 13 Years:
No Mercy for Thought Crime.
Associated Press: January 10, 2017
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — A man who as a teenager was seen
on surveillance video proclaiming his commitment to jihad
was sentenced on Tuesday to 13 years in prison despite his
tearful pleas to a judge that he was a disillusioned and
immature high school student at the time he plotted to join
al Qaeda.
"I am not the monster that the government says I am," Justin
Kaliebe told U.S. District Court Judge Denis Hurley before
being sentenced. "I never intended to hurt anyone. That's
not who I am."
Kaliebe, now 22 years old, also faces 20 years of
post-release supervision.
The judge said Kaliebe's offense "is very serious."
"He was radicalized to the nth degree," the judge said. "He
was a very dangerous individual. People who engage in this
type of activity ... must recognize that serious
consequences will follow."
Kaliebe was a 16-year-old high school student who had
recently converted to Islam from Roman Catholicism when he
landed on the radar of undercover agents on the hunt for
would-be radicals on suburban Long Island.
FBI agents and New York City police officers watched him for
18 months before arresting him four years ago after he went
to John F. Kennedy International Airport intending to fly to
Yemen, where he would join the militant group al Qaeda.
Kaliebe pleaded guilty within a month of his arrest. His
sentencing was delayed for four years while the court held
hearings into whether he understood the gravity of his
crime. He said Tuesday that he has renounced Islam, received
his high school diploma while in prison and teaches fellow
inmates to read.
Kaliebe's attorney argued he has Asperger's syndrome, which
is on the autism spectrum, and had developmental and
psychological issues and a troubled home life.
"He may have committed himself to a violent cause, but he's
not a violent man," said the attorney, Anthony La Pinta, who
pleaded with the judge to "temper justice with mercy."
The judge, who noted that Kaliebe appeared to be "basically
a nice young man," could have sentenced him to 30 years.
Federal prosecutors asked for a 24-year sentence, conceding
that Kaliebe had psychological, physical and emotional
issues but arguing that a stiff sentence needed to serve as
a deterrent to society.
They said the undercover agents interacting with Kaliebe
made video recordings of him talking admiringly about Anwar
al-Awlaki and Osama bin Laden as leaders who "bore witness
to the truth with their blood."
Just days before Kaliebe's arrest, he pledged in one of
those secretly recorded conversations that he would rather
go to prison than abandon his plan to join Islamic
militants.
"One of my highest goals in life is to fight with the
mujahedeen," he said. "And I define victory as martyrdom ...
or victory on the ground."
Frank Eltman is an Associated Press writer
ANALYSIS
Global Muslim lack of Resistance to Occupation. Why?
Dr Firoz Mahboob Kamal
[The most distinguished scholar from Bangladesh.]
The evil of kuffar occupation
Every occupation has its terrible calamities. It is much
worse than the effect of a disease on physical health. A
disease affects only the body. It doesn't damage the
spiritual entity; neither does harm the infinite life in the
hereafter. But the kuffar occupation of a country damages
the moral, the spiritual and the intellectual wellbeing of
the common man and woman. Oppression, political subjugation
and economic exploitation are not the only evils of these
occupiers; their crimes are much nastier and much more
disastrous. Finding the Divine Truth and following the
Divine straight path are made almost impossible. In order to
escape the calamities of Kuffar occupation, the great people
like Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him), Prophet Musa
(peace be upon him) and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
and many other Truth-seeking people had to leave their own
birth places. Along with obstructing the Divine straight
path, the occupiers construct massive educational, cultural
and administrative infrastructure of derailment towards the
hellfire. Such projects of derailment are not hidden, rather
robustly and seductively displayed all over the Muslim
World. Hence, even in the Muslim majority countries, those
who oppose Islam's fundamental basics like sharia, khelafa,
hudud, shura, jihad and establishment of a fully Islamic
state are not exclusively the foreign or native kuffars; the
most formidable enemies of Islam appeared to be those who
are the ideological cum cultural converts raised by
educational institutions built by the kuffar occupiers. With
such massive ideological cum cultural conversion to
non-Islam, can any people deserve any blessing from the
Almighty Lord? It can only bring down the Divine punishment.
Losing to the invading infidels thus proved to be no less
catastrophic than losing directly to the Devil. In fact, the
Muslims now suffer the consequences of such evil occupation
all over the Muslim World. It has added new momentum to the
Muslims' downfall. Even in the Muslim countries, the Muslims
now face restriction not only in practising full Islam, but
also face the terrible danger of being drawn towards the
hellfire. The state with its manoeuvring law, politics,
education, administration, culture and other institutions,
in fact, does the heinous job of the Devil.
Hence, fighting such enemy occupation is a crucial issue in
Islam. It is crucial not only to save Muslim lands from
foreign exploitation, but to save the premise of Islamic
faith, ideology and culture from Devilish corruption. There
exists no doubt in the Islamic purity and sanctity of such
jihad. Taking part in such a war is not an option, but an
obligation on every physically fit believer. In fact, it is
the indispensable part of the Muslims' faith that asks every
believer to be ever-ready to encounter any kuffar invasion.
So, the direct command of Allah Sub'han wa Ta'la comes to
every believer: "Hence, make ready against them (the enemy
of Islam) whatever force and horses of war you are able to
muster, so that you terrify the enemy of Allah and also your
own enemy and others besides them of whom you do not know,
but Allah knows. And whatever (wealth, efforts and life) you
spend in the cause of Allah will be repaid to you in full;
and you will not be wronged."-(Sura Anfal, verse 60).
Cowardice surrender and the destruction: the new normal
In Islam, it is haram to welcome any enemy on the frontier.
It is haram to stand non-combative in front of any kuffar
invasion. Iman of a true believer shows its instant
expression through resistance in all possible means. In the
early days of Islam, embracing Islam always meant to have
full readiness for war against any enemy attack. Hence,
calling people to Islamic faith and prayers wasn't the only
duty of the last prophet (peace be upon him) of Islam;
rather, encouraging the believers to take part in a full war
against the enemies was also an important part of his
mission. The prophet (peace be upon him) was commanded to do
so by his Almighty Lord; as it is revealed, "O prophet! Urge
the believers to war." -(Sura Anfal, verse 65). Therefore,
calling people to Islam and asking them to perform prayers
are not the only issues in Islam. How to fight the enemies
also stands as a part of the Qur'anic guidance. Amidst
war-mongering enemies, acquiring military skills, collecting
weapons and engaging in war are not any luxury, rather
important parts of the survival strategies. The prophet of
Islam (peace be upon him) himself acquired such skills. He
played the role of the Commander in Chief in the war front.
Which is why, he made the distinctive difference from other
great people of the human history; unlike them, he could
implement what he preached. Today, such Qur'anic decree on
jihad and the prophetic (peace be upon him) tradition of war
engagement receive little importance in the Muslims' life.
Rather, welcoming and supporting occupation by the internal
and external enemies of Islam has been a new normal in the
Muslim World. Even the so-called ulama are not any exception
from such cowardly practice. As a result, the enemies of
Islam -both external and internal, faced little resistance
in continuing their most corruptive and coercive occupation;
moreover, got emboldened to dismantle sharia, hudud,
khilafa, Islamic judiciary and many other fundamental
teachings of Islam even in predominantly Muslim lands. So
the downfall of the Muslims continues.
The Muslims have increased only in number, but not in
honour, strength and dignity. They are now being defeated,
subjugated, raped and slaughtered in many parts of the
Muslim World. Their cities and villages are being bombed to
rubbles one after another. The sufferings have been so much
unbearable that the Syrians Muslims are dying in the
Mediterranean and the Rohinga Muslims are dying in the Bay
of Bengal in their desperate move to flee from their
ancestral homes. This is the most disgraceful shame for 1.5
billion Muslims now living in the world. Their collective
conscience shows little sign that they still possess any
moral sense to feel the most despicable shame as shame. The
number of Muslims now live only in one district of
Bangladesh, Caliph Omar didn't have such a population in his
whole state. But he could defeat the two contemporary World
Powers.
The prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) predicted about
such an awful state of the ummah about 14 hundred years ago.
He also told about the causes of such a catastrophic fate:
it is the love for this worldly life ( hubbud duniah) and
the dislike for the death ( kerahatul maut) in the way of
Allah Sub'han wa Ta'la. Addictive love for this transient
worldly life has caused them to forget the infinite life in
the hereafter. Hence, martyrdom in His way that opens the
door of paradise is hateful to them. Amidst such
overwhelming cowardice and surrender to enemies, those who
pursue the path of martyrdom to fight the kuffar occupation
don't receive even the recognition for their deep faith and
self-sacrificing sincerity. Like the kuffars, they also
label them as fanatic, extremist and even deviant from true
Islam. As if, there is no place of war against kuffar
occupation in Islam! As if, there is no martyrdom or shahada
in Islam! As if, those early Muslims who fought and became
shaheed to eradicate the kuffar occupation over the vast
land of Asia and Africa were also fanatic or extremist! Such
a conceptual perversion is the legacy of colonial as well as
secularist occupation of the Muslim World. Now it is the
common agenda of the USA and Russia-led enemies of Islam
that the Muslims must survive with such perversion; and they
shouldn't be given any chance to return to the original
Islam that was preached by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him). Most of the secularist, monarchist, nationalist and
despotic rulers of the Muslim world have already aligned
with such an enemy agenda. As a result, the Muslims are
given no choice apart from continuing with the downhill
course.
The calamity of disconnection
The Muslims get dignity, honour and victory as the blessing
from Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la. Such blessing comes only as a
gift for full integration with His agenda. In this regard,
the early Muslims made history. They are known for active
alignment with the wish and strategy of Allah Sub'hana wa
Ta'la. But today, the Muslims made another history; this is
the history of total disconnection from the early heroes and
their road map. They are connected only with their personal,
national, racial or tribal agenda. Such disconnection from
its roots has its own calamity. As a result, they are making
a history completely different from the early Muslims. It is
the history of moving far away from the Qur'anic straight
path and bringing defeat, deaths and disgrace for the Muslim
ummah. A servant receives the highest appreciation from his
master and he becomes his closest friend if he invests all
of his abilities, time and even life to fulfil his master's
dearest desire. That was indeed the exact strategy of the
early Muslims. As a result, they got Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la
as their closest wali (friend); and also received a promise
for a place in paradise. Even against the strongest enemy,
they were given the crushing victory; thousands of angels
came down in their rank to fight alongside them. The
commitment of these early Muslims was so deep that the
majority of them died in the war fields. They were
passionate not only in prayers, but also in wars. A Muslim
household in those days, used to possess not only prayer
mats, robes and rosaries, but also the best weapons and
logistics appropriate for a war. The per capita weapons was
the highest in the Muslim land. As a result, Islam could
quickly prevail over a large part of the world. Their faith,
patience and sacrifices pleased Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la and
His prophet (peace be upon him) so much that they were
described as the best people on earth.
Since the early Muslims were mentored by the greatest
prophet (peace be upon him), they worked as the perfect
model of a true believer for all ages to come. They showed,
how a Muslim needs to be fully aligned with the revealed
wish, objectives and strategies of Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la.
In fact, this is the only way to get nearer to Him. On the
contrary, by aligning with colonialists, imperialists,
secularists, nationalists, fascists, monarchists, and other
enemies of Islam, one achieves exactly the opposite. He gets
nearer to the Devil and receives wrath of the Almighty Lord.
Such political, ideological and cultural alignment with the
kuffar take people only to hellfire through the same route
of deviation that their non-Muslim comrades follow. The
whole Muslim World is rife with such Devilish alignment.
This is a clear marker of their deviation from the straight
path. Five times prayer, month-long fasting, haj and charity
may give false hope and deceitful self-satisfaction on their
religiosity; but their alignment with the kuffars and
deviation from prophet's Islam will not help them receive
the forgiveness from Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la. The Almighty
Lord never likes that a Muslim should be aligned with His
enemies who oppose practice of sharia, hudud, khilafa, jihad
and other basics of Islam in His Own land. But the Muslims'
problem is not confined within such alignment with the
enemies; , it has gone far beyond. The enemies who declared
Crusade against Islam -as announced by the US President
George W. Brush while invading Iraq in 2003, are invited
inside the Muslim lands to establish their military bases.
This is the case with Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain,
Qatar, Turkey and Afghanistan. These bases are used as
launching pads for further mission of killing and occupation
inside the Muslim World. With such capitulation to the
enemy, how the Muslims can expect any blessings from their
Almighty Lord?
For full alignment with the wish of Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la
-the most important issue in Muslim life, it is crucial to
have the Qur'anic knowledge. It is the only source to know
the Almighty Lord's expressed wish, expectation and
strategies. Hence, the desires congruence with His mission
is impossible to develop with inadequacies of Quranic
knowledge. So, learning Qur'an was made obligatory on day
one of Islam. Five times prayer, month-long fasting in
Ramadan and haj were made obligatory more than a decade
later. In those days, the countries like Egypt, Sudan, Iraq,
Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and many others
didn't have the Arabic language as their mother tongue. Only
for knowing the Supreme Lord's message and to align with His
mission, they ignored their mother tongue and took the
language of Qur'an as their beloved language. So, the
Muslims of those formerly non-Arab countries could merge
with the great civilizational march of Islam. This could
only happen because of their intense desire to be fully
congruent and merged with the mission of Allah Su'hana wa
Ta'la. But today's Muslims are known for deeper incongruence
with the fundamentals of Islam. It owes mostly to their
gross inadequacies of Qur'anic knowledge. They can take part
in 5 time prayers, fasting, haj and other rituals, but can't
align with the prophet's (peace be upon him) mission.
Even an ignorant man can keep fasting, do prayers and give
charity. But to develop the level of motivation for taking
part in a life-long jihad in the way of Allah Sub'hana wa
Ta'la and to receive the honour of a martyr in His way needs
much deeper enlightenment with the Qur'anic knowledge. It is
a massive prophetic job. Islam could generate such people in
significant numbers only after the full Islamisation of the
state and its institution. Living in an enemy-led corruptive
educational, cultural and ideological environment, it is
extremely difficult to attain such a depth of enlightenment.
The kuffar occupation thus commits the most catastrophic
crime against the mankind. Hence, what else could be the
best rewarding deed (amalus saleh) than releasing the people
from such shackles of this evil occupation? It amounts to
opening the road to haven and obstructing the way towards
hellfire. The early Muslims realised its importance fully;
therefore left their homes and crossed mountains, rivers,
seas and extremely harsh deserts and become shaheed in the
distant warfronts to end such occupation. But, today's
Muslims are failing to end the enemy occupation even in the
own homeland! This is indeed the difference between the two
distinctive brands of the Muslims.
Punishing the kuffar: the Divine strategy
Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la has His own revealed strategy
vis-à-vis giving prize cum victory to the believers and
punishing those who stand against Islam. Almighty Allah
could crush the power of Arab kuffars by sending some angels
or earthquakes; but that was not His strategy. He asked
Prophet Muhamad (peace be upon him) to raise an army of the
believers to do the job. Hence, the believers are ordered,
"Fight them; (as it is the strategy that) Allah will punish
them by your hands and will disgrace them and give you
victory over them and (this way He will) satisfy the hearts
of the believing people." -(Sura Taubah, verse 14). So,
victory doesn't come by mere supplication or prayers; the
believers must engage in war and present sacrifices to
achieve that. Hence, if there exists no fighting Army for
Islam, there is no victory of Islam either. Then, the
Muslims stand defeated and humiliated -as is the case of the
Muslims today. Only with serious engagement in war against
the enemies, the believers qualify for a genuine help from
Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la. Such a strategy has been repeatedly
revealed in the holy Qur'an. So it comes, "Allah intends to
establish the Truth by His words and to cut off the roots of
the unbelievers. That He should establish the Truth and
abolish the falsehood, even if the criminals disliked it."
-(Sura Anfal, verse 7-8). So, Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la loves
to cut off the roots of the wicked unbelievers; but it
should happen by the hand of the believers. The angels are
only to play a supportive role -if needs arise in the battle
field. And whoever does the job that Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la
likes the most, gets His love, too. And whoever gets His
love, he definitely gets a place in paradise. Such a solemn
principle of Almighty Lord still operates to punish His
enemies; but today's Muslims utterly failed to be the part
of that. Instead, many of them live in the fantasy world
that their supplication will do the job.
Intoxication and the missing tool of purification
People need an effective tool for the purification of their
souls and the community. For Muslims, it is jihad. It works
as a filter to keep the garbage out of the Muslim body
polity. If the tool of purification stops working, the
people get impregnated with the toxic waste. A man can't
survive an obstructive gut that stop eliminating the excreta
out of the body. The same is true with the Muslim ummah. The
downfall of the Muslims indeed owes largely to absence of
such a purifying tool. Even in prophet's (peace be upon him)
time, the dischargeable waste in the ummah was huge. At the
time of Ohud expedition, it was about 30 per cent of the
Muslim community. The rough estimate comes from the figure
of 300 who departed from an army of 1000 at the starting
point of the war rally. They are called munafiq -the worse
and most damaging elements than the kuffars. Thus, jihad at
Ohud helped the Muslim ummah to eliminate these harmful
waste out of their body. As a result, the ummah stayed
healthy. Now the ummah stands huge -mostly because of
accumulation of the harmful waste. The great number hasn't
increased the real strength, rather caused more
weakness.
Jihad as a tool of purification has been emphasised by the
All-knowing Almighty. It is revealed, "And that He may
purify (through jihad) those who believe and deprive the
unbelievers of the blessings," -Sura Al-Imran, verse 141).
Such a Divine tool of purification stopped working for many
centuries in the Muslim ummah, hence the most harmful waste
still stay inside. They even control the ummah's destiny. As
a consequence, the moral, the political, and the cultural
entity of the Ummah show symptoms of sever ideological cum
conceptual intoxication. Amidst such toxicity, the true
Islam of prophet's (peace be upon him) time has died long
ago. Islam with its indispensable components like sharia,
hudud, khilafa, shura, judiciary, jihad and Islamic state
can be found only in the history books, not in any part of
the Muslim World.
An intoxicated man can't behave or work normally. He can't
be a true Muslim either. They lose the common sense. Under
the spell of such intoxication, even the perfect jihad looks
terrorism; a genuine war of liberation against the
occupation looks crime. Such intoxicated men even embrace
the worst enemies as friends and kill the best mujahid as
enemy. This is the reason that those who occupied Palestine,
Afghanistan and Iraq and killed millions of men, women and
children and bombed many cities to rubbles, get friends who
celebrate their occupation in the Muslim lands -as was seen
in Baghdad in 2003. With more occupation, the intoxication
gets more intense. The intoxicated Arabs thus invest
trillions of petrodollars to enrich the enemy banks and the
enemy companies in the west. The enemies want that the
Muslims must live with the current level of intoxication;
because, they know it is easy to rob and rule the
intoxicated people. With the same objective, the British
colonialists spread opium freely among the Chinese. But the
ideological intoxication is more lasting and more
incapacitating than opium. Moreover, opium can't make people
friendly or mercenary, but the corruptive ideologies do.
Jihad is the sole and the most powerful antidote to fight
against such intoxication. This is why they are deadly
against jihad. Hence, it is their key policy that jihad must
not be allowed to work in any of Muslim countries.
Test, strength and the failure
Islam didn't reach its golden days by mere 5 times prayer,
fasting, haj and other rituals. Hundred times more people
perform such rituals now. To emerge as the number one World
Power, it indeed needed huge strength to eradicate the
deep-rooted kuffar occupation from a vast area of Asia,
Africa and Europe. What is the source of such strength? It
is true that every victory comes as a blessing from Allah
Sub'hana wa Ta'la. But such blessing doesn't come to a
people until they fulfil the precondition. The precondition
is nothing else but the believers' best investment in His
cause. Almighty Lord never helps those who do not help
themselves. Hence, it is the believers' investment in jihad
that brings down the promised blessing from Allah Sub'hana
wa Ta'la. In fact, it is an embedded test in Islam that
comes to every Muslim's life. A long-term lack of victory
and the continued downfall are the indicators that the
Muslims are continuously failing the test. Thus, they are
continuously failing to qualify for the blessing, too.
A test always initiates a value-adding process that adds
strengths and perfection to the participants. As a result,
more tests bring more perfection. This is why, no school or
institution can achieve any progress without tests.
Likewise, the Muslim ummah can't attain any moral progress
without an inbuilt process of continuous testing either. In
fact, in its absence, the ummah quickly degenerates and
turns weaker. The current state of the Muslims is a
testimony to that. In the early days of Islam, jihad -the
continuous test in Muslims' life, did the most remarkable
job to add enormous moral strength to the Muslim ummah. They
lost large number of their best men in jihad; but that
didn't make them weaker. In fact, the weakness and the
downfall started when they withdrew from jihad. Such
cowardice withdrawal could save them from dying in
warfronts; but brought destruction and genocidal massacres
in their cities and villages -as happened in Spain,
Palestine, Balkans, Chechnya, Iraq, Kashmir, Syria and now
Arakan.
The paradise doesn't give any entry to those who failk the
test that happens in the field of jihad. In jihad, the
Almighty Lord testifies the level of true belief and picks
up the true martyrs. The fake ones get filtered out from the
body of true believers. War in the way of Allah Sub'hana wa
Ta'la thus plays a crucial role to purify the community of
the believers. It can't happen in an assembly in a mosque or
in the congregation of Arafat. Jihad comes with a huge life
and death issue; it shakes people's heart like earthquakes.
The early believers were shaken, too. Those who withstand
such terrible shakes and trembles in the way of Allah
Sub'hana wa Ta'la and challenge the enemies get the pass
mark for the paradise. So, it is revealed, "A calamity has
afflicted you (at Ohud), similar calamity like it already
afflicted the unbelieving people; We bring these days to men
by turns, and (so that) Allah may know those who believe and
may select from you the martyrs; and Allah doesn't like the
wrongdoers. And (so that), Allah may purify the believers
(through such trials) and destroy the disbelievers." It is
also revealed, "Or do you think that you will enter paradise
while Allah hasn't made it evident those of you who fight in
His cause and made evident those who are steadfast." -(Sura
al-Imran, verse 142). In any exam, one needs to know the
pass mark; and needs to be focused to achieve that.
Likewise, a believer must know the pass mark for getting an
entry to the paradise. It is not a hidden issue in Islam. In
the above verse and also in many other verses of the holy
Qur'an, Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la made it clear about the
required pass mark. Performing the rituals like 5 times
prayers, fasting, haj and giving charity are very important,
but not mentioned here. The key issue goes much deeper. It
is indeed the full alignment with His revealed agenda. It is
the ever-readiness to stand as His soldier to fulfil the
agenda. But where is the Muslims' success to meet this
criteria?
