The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
"The father is the middle of the gates of Paradise, so keep
this gate or lose it."
Source: Sunan Ibn Majah 3663
Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Al-Tirmidhi
with Thanks to Sis Kristi
In memory of my step son Kris.
Record Breaking Distribution of Jamaat al-Muslimeen's
Message. 500 Recipients. Alhamdulillah.!
On June 15, at Masjid Dar al-Hijra in a town called Falls
Church in northern Virginia, there were 3 sessions of the
Eid prayer. Large numbers of Muslims come here because it is
the crossroads between Washington, DC and and a number of
north Virginia towns just outside DC.
Unfortunately the prayer leaders did not give any message to
the large audience other than to tell them to register to
vote and that too without any supporting evidence from
Islam.
The angels must have been there to help the distribution
because it is difficult to sit through three empty khutbas
and to keep reaching out with Jamaat's message all the way
till the Juma prayer came in. May Allah bless the patience
in the distribution and the voluntary expenses on the EIGHT
page document. There were no signs of rejection from the
500.
Here is an outline of the 8-page document:
&
&
Khutba against non-political non-activist goodness
and the evil which pervades America today. Plus the key
message of ibn Taymiyyah, r.a., after the destruction of
Baghdad [Dr. Kaukab Siddique]
Pakistanis stand resolute against Trump-Israeli move on
Jerusalem. Jamaate Islami. [Qaiser Sharif.]
Blasphemy will not be tolerated in Pakistan. [Imam
Hussain Khan]
After heavy fighting IS withdraws from Damascus with arms
and forces intact. [Syrian Observatory]
The blessings of Ramadan. Point by point from Hadith.
A report on Nadrat Siddique's iftar party [June1] to
mobilize support for political prisoner Aafia Siddiqui on
Jamaat al-Muslimeen's facebook newsfeed reached 11428
people, mostly in Pakistan and Bangladesh and some in UK and
USA.
With 4 activist imams, a famous keynote leader and 2 Islamic
women leaders speaking out, Nadrat Siddique harnessed major
support for the cause of Dr. Aafia.
War News
Syria
Heavy Fighting as IS regroups in eastern Syria.
[See TRAGIC REMINDER at the conclusion of this report.]
All this information is available in wire services and
Syrian Observatory.
June 17. In a clash between Iranian forces and Islamic State
fighters in the desert between Bokamal and Mayadein, both
sides suffered casualties. A large part of this area has
been captured by Islamic State which also seized large
quantities of Iran's weapons and ammunition. However the
Iranians are bringing large shia reinforcements to the
area.
Also on June 17, IS attacked Iranian and Shia troops in the
eastern desert of Homs province near Owayrid Dam area. The
Shia forces fled owing to lack of support by the Russian air
force. However large Shia reinforcements are on the way.
In the meantime several hundred Islamic State fighters
crossed the Euphrates river from the east bank to the west
bank to join the fighting. Again the Russian air force was
missing owing to weather.
Also, June 13 to 16, in the tip of Hasakeh province, Kurdish
SDF forces captured an Islamic State area following bombing
raids by American, Italian and French jets on IS which
killed 30 Islamic State {IS} fighters.
The US air force has bombed al-Shair's population three
times because the people support IS. In the bombing on June
13, ten civilians including 6 women and 3 children were
killed. In the June 6 bombing by the US, 11 civilians were
killed and in the June 1 bombing, the US killed 12
civilians. The US says it is investigating the June 1
bombing.[Al-Shair is at the tip of southern Hasakeh province
near the Iraqi border.]
Assad's artillery is shelling Islamic groups which captured
northern Lattakia province months back.
In retaliation mujahideen groups are shelling Alawite forces
in western Aleppo. After severe Russian bombing which
massacred
civilians in Zardaria [Idlib] province, Islamic groups are
tightening their grip on the heavily armed Shia towns of
Fuah and Kufrania. [On June 17, Russian air force air
dropped supplies to the two shia towns.]
On Eid day, Assad's and Iranian long range artillery shelled
Muslim populations in the Daraa countryside [south Syria]
and al-Lataminah area northern Hama province. In both areas
people refuse to accept Assad's regime despite great
danger.
Daily Russian bombing raids on Idlib province are
continuing. A human disaster of gigantic proportions is
possible if and when the regime attacks Idlib province which
is packed with refugees.
[Tragic reminder: More than 60,000 Muslims have died in
Assad's prisons and torture chambers. Another 140,000 plus
prisoners are living in miserable conditions in Assad's
prisons. More than 60,000 Muslim women have been raped by
the regime forces. More than 10,000 children were tortured
to death. This was the Shia regime's "persuasion" to force
opponent males to surrender.]
Iraq
Islamic women on trial.
40,000 civilians were killed in Mosul by US coalition and
Shias. US spent about $43 billion to destroy ISIS
June 12 to 17. Sporadic fighting continues in Iraq as ISIS
refuses to surrender.
Jane Arraf, veteran Iraq reporter, writes from a Shia
regime court:
"The Iraqi government has detained around 560 women whose
husbands were members of ISIS. Largely coming from Turkey,
Russia and eastern Europe, the women—many of whom have
children—are being tried as terrorists and face
possible life in prison or the death penalty."
The Intercept has published a complete document on the
brutal conditions in regime prisons to convict anyone who
had any sympathy for IS. [Too lengthy for us to publish]
America spent more than $43 billion to destroy ISIS in Iraq.
Americam general justifies the destruction of Mosul by
saying: "They were there."
Angelina Jolie visited Mosul on June 16. She said she has
never seen such destruction. She says smell of bodies still
buried under the rubble is pervasive, but she did not have
the courage to say this was done by the US coalition and
Baghdad regime.
Here are snippets from the guerrilla war going on:
June 17: A regime air strike killed 6 IS fighters in the
Ishaqi district of Saladin province.
2 regime people were killed in an IS IED attack near
Khanaqin.
4 IS were killed by regime troops northeast of Baquba.
One regime trooper was killed and one injured in the same
fight.
In Mosul 8 persons were arrested by the regime because they
were signalling IS members in hiding.
Near Hawija, Kirkuk province, several police were wounded in
IS attack. Figures not given.
Northwest of Mosul, a police officer was killed by IS but 7
fighters were captured in a quick regime response.
Etc, etc.
Guidance
With thanks to Sis Yasmin
A new convert reflects on the last 10 days of Ramadan
By Lisa Suhay
As a very new Muslim at the end of my first ever Ramadan I
believe Islam should come with a warning label, but not for
the reason many non-Muslims might think. WARNING: Ramadan
may cause addiction to Islam and community.
The first week of Ramadan was overwhelming. While I had no
difficulty fasting due to previous health fasts involving
juicing, I was worried that I would forget not to drink. For
me, thirst is far more powerful than hunger.
Because my family isn't Muslim and my husband has strongly
objected to all things Islam, I found myself gravitating to
the masjid (mosque). Breaking the daily fast at Iftar at the
masjid was a bigger reward than the new cultural foods I
shared there.
No matter how unkind people were to me for my choice to
become Muslim, there was always a very large, welcoming
family waiting for me.
By week two I had figured out a food strategy for Suhoor and
how to take a cat nap and not be completely incapacitated by
lack of energy and sleep deprivation. Little did I know that
this would pale in comparison to the final 10 days of
Ramadan for sleep deprivation.
With standing during Taraweeh prayers from 10 p.m. until
midnight came foot cramps, back aches and even more bonding
and friendships. By the second hour we would begin to sway
side to side, both from the intensity of the Quran
recitation by the visiting Egyptian Sheik and to keep
muscles from locking up.
Being charged up by the spirit of Allah and the food at
Suhoor at 3:30 a.m., I have taken to reading Quran and
reciting the 99 Names of Allah aloud, like counting the
holiest of sheep.
I will always count as my heroes the women who sacrifice
their prayer times in order to do all the cooking,
preparation and cleaning during Ramadan.
Because I had no teacher other than what I can research
online, via the Step-by-Step Salah and Muslim Pro apps and
YouTube I knew absolutely nothing about what to expect the
last 10 nights of the holiday or Eid.
It was only by overhearing a sister say, "Well we're in the
last 10 nights now" that I began to ask around about what
was happening - Tahajjud.
If I thought that standing through hours of a recitation in
a language I didn't understand and not knowing what to do at
any given moment was difficult, Tahajuud was an entirely new
level. Staying overnight in the place of worship for
multiple nights was unheard-of to me. I had absolutely
nothing to prepare me for this wondrous, beautiful,
experience of community and faith.
I expected to be exhausted, sleepy and lonely.
What I became was awakened in every way, filled with a light
I have never known and bonded to sisters and brothers who, I
pray, will always be a part of my life long after Ramadan
has passed.
When a sister first explained that we would stay at the
masjid from Iftar (8:28 p.m.) until Fajr (4:16 a.m.) I
thought, "Well good luck with that! I'll be home
sleeping."
Shortly after thinking that, I felt a powerful need to try
it, "just for one night" to get the full Ramadan experience
- just to say I'd done it once.
Here is where I completely underestimated the addictive
properties of Ramadan and Islam itself. Now I was on holy
ground with Allah breathing into me a new life and strength
I've never known. Rather than being exhausted at 5 a.m., I
was like one of the children who run around like wild
puppies in the masjid - full of energy. I have been told
that "nobody expected you to do Tahajuud!" I tell them I
include myself among these people.
Because the masjid if just a few blocks from my home I was
able to walk home in between Taraweeh and Tahajuud at 2 a.m.
However, after a 17-year-old Muslim girl was abducted while
walking home from a mosque here in Virginia and murdered, I
chose to stay at the masjid straight through.
I adopted a black Abaya I was given by Khadija, from
Morocco, because it was so simple, sleek and cool in the
Virginia heat. I believe the abaya is the Muslim fashion
equivalent to the non-Muslim's "little black dress" because
it is classically beautiful to me and universally
appropriate to every occasion.
Almost every non-Muslim I know has recoiled from me in
horror, disgust and anger when they saw me in my Abaya and
hijab for the first time. They associate the Abaya and black
hijabs with every negative Muslim stereotype. My hope is
that knowing me, seeing that the only changes in me are for
the good, will help soften their hearts.
So it was in those spaces between the praying and swaying
that I found I belonged in the Islamic community as much as
in the faith. The henna sessions between the end of Taraweeh
and 2 a.m. that left women with hands wrapped like mummies
will not soon be forgotten.
When I saw women suffering with terrible back spasms, taking
pain medicine between prayers, I decided to be brave and
offer these women - to whom I hadn't yet spoken - a massage.
My grandmother taught me a very effective pressure point
technique that works wonders.
You would be amazed how many new friends you make in the
final four days of Ramadan if you can relieve someone's
suffering during the breaks in prayers!
Now I must confess that I've been afraid of Eid coming
because I have no family members willing to come with me. I
thought that I would feel lost and alone.
However, the final nights of Ramadan have opened the arms of
Allah and I have walked into that sheltering embrace.
The truth is that now, I'm home wherever I go, especially
with anyone who is a practicing Muslim. So now I look
forward to Eid. My only sad thought is that Ramadan will be
over. I will have to wait another entire year to sink as
deeply into the community because so many of these brothers
and sisters only come to the masjid during this holiday.
Insha'Allah, they will miss it as much as I and will come on
Fridays to try and recreate even a fraction of the
experience all year-round.
Lisa Suhay is a career journalist with 27 years experience
and the mother of five. She is also the author of nine
children's books benefiting children's charities. As a
long-time community activist she is the founder of both
RefugeeHelpers757 and the Norfolk Initiative for Chess
Excellence (NICE) www.NiceChess.net.
~My 'Salaams' To All~
~ Y a s m i n ~
~*Never Despair Of The Mercy Of Allah*
News Within the U.S.
The Anglicization of Islam
by Sis. Aisha [Jamaat al-Muslimeen]
New York City - I go to khutbas and I have been hearing
Imams use hadiths to tell us Muslims how forgiving Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) was with his enemies to the point of
breaking bread with them but, they never explain the whole
circumstances. They never mention that Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh) physically fought in the name of Allah against
oppression and aggression! Never. They make him appear
almost like the image the oppressor has created of Christ
(pbuh).
Jesus (pbuh) is seen as someone who never criticized
wrongdoing and never fought back (turn the other cheek) when
abused. A lot of these beliefs were dispensed to the slaves
on the New World plantations. I call it Plantation
Christianity because it was dispensed without benefit of the
Bible. The goal was to teach a form of Christianity that
taught slaves to accept European oppression, not fight it.
It was illegal to teach a slave to read and write under
penalty of death, in some instances. Illiteracy prevented
slaves from verifying the religious information being
preached to them. Today, many Black Christian descendants of
slaves regurgitate the same biblical misquotes and wear a
teary-eyed White image of Christ tattooed on their
person.
Well, weak Imams are doing the same thing! These Imams are
very critical of Muslims for engaging in physical Jihad
around the world but, seem to make more of an effort to
extend olive branches to the non-Muslims. They engage in
more interfaith activities than with helping Muslims.
According to these weak Imams, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) never
did anything but, pray and preach. Sexism and nationalism in
Islam is rooted in personal insecurities and xenophobia,
which is still terrible. But, Anglicizing Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh) is more sinister because it takes planning and it is
an effort to please the kuffar. Fearing the displeasure of
the kuffar rather than Allah is a grave sin!
The beauty of Islam is that we can read the Qur'an and
Authentic Hadith for ourselves. All Islamic scholars are
Imams but not every Imam is a scholar, unfortunately.
Ironically, many of these weak Imams encourage reading the
Qur'an and the Authentic Hadiths for ourselves during these
khutbas.
ANALYSIS
Funny but Shameful Drama of Eid Moon Sighting.
Most US Muslims have Abandoned the Sunnah of Muhammad, pbuh.
Hence they are Despised and Ignored.
By Kaukab Siddique, PhD
Let us look at how US Muslims have dealt with the commands
of the Prophet, pbuh.
The most despicable of Muslims are those who have
completely abandoned the Sunnah. The date of Eid is already
published in their calendars months before the arrival of
Ramadan. They have turned Eid into Christmas, Why worry
about sighting, they ask.
Then there are the tricksters who tell their
congregations that they will follow the Sunnah. Thus their
audiences are caught off guard. Then suddenly in the middle
of the day before Eid, they announce that tomorrow will be
Eid. They are probably instructed by authorities in their
home countries to announce. There is a joke about the imam
of the fancy new mosque in Greensboro that suddenly in the
middle of the day he announced that tomorrow is Eid. People
say he can see the crescent in midday, LOL.
Then there are the elitists who believe that in the
entire continent of America, if even one person sees the
crescent, then it is Eid.
The elites do not care if millions cannot see the crescent.
If one or two or three or five see it, then it is Eid. Islam
is not an elitist religion. The elitists do not realize that
it is not the task of a handful of experts to shape the
lives of the dentire ummah. THAT IS THE WAY TO
DICTATORSHIP.
The worshippers of science come next. Technology can help
us to predict exactly when the crescent will be sightable
even thousands of years in advance. However the Prophet,
pbuh, did not teach when it is sightable but when it is
SIGHTED.
The most dangerous for gullible are the cultists who
claim that "Quran only" is acceptable in Islam, not hadith.
Once they have established their presence, they start adding
words to the Qur'an. For one such group in Canada, the key
word is "globally." Because the Qur'an was revealed in
Makka, so according to these "Qur'an onlies" Ramadan and Eid
should come out GLOBALLY from Makka. The problem which they
try to hide is that there is no Eid or Zakat al-Fitr or even
the process of Eid prayers in the Qur'an.
I should relate my personal experience with one group of
immigrants who do not follow the Sunnah of sighting. I
decided to go and pray with them thinking that I will
consider it NAFL prayer and the khutba as just a speech, and
I might find some kindred spirits.
The prayer was being held in a ball room although they have
their own masjid. When I went in I was surprised to see
police officers in full uniform sitting around tables
chatting with other non-Muslim visitors. None of the
non-Muslim women were following the rules of entry into an
Islamic prayer area [the usual non-Muslim dress mode.] They
were all chatting, totally ignoring the Muslims who were
sitting on sheets on the floor reciting takbirat.
Then came the "icing on the cake." One of the most notorious
"imams" in America came in dressed in Azhar style. I have
known his despicable pro-regime activities for many years. I
decided to leave with the thought that Allah may punish me
for praying behind this "bootlicker" of the White House when
there is no compulsion on me to do so.
So I left. There was no food in me otherwise I would have
gagged.
What did the Prophet, pbuh, command?
The command is for all Muslims, not for experts or
individuals.
NARRATOR Abu Huraira, r.a.
SAHIH MUSLIM
HADITH_No 2380
Allah's Messenger (peace_be_upon_him) said: Observe fast on
sighting it (the new moon) and break it on sighting it. But
if (due to clouds) the actual position of the month is
concealed from you, you should then count thirty (days).
This is from the earliest book of Hadith:
NARRATOR Abdullah ibn Umar, r.a
AL-MUWATTA
HADITH_No 18.1.2
The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, said, "A month has twenty-nine days in it. Do not
start the fast or break it until you see the new moon. If
the new moon is obscured from you, then work out (when it
should be)."
Sighting is local and personal. Someone somewhere saw it
does not matter.
NARRATOR Abdullah ibn Abbas, r.a.
SAHIH MUSLIM
HADITH_No 2391
Kurayb said: Umm Fadl, daughter of Harith, sent him (Fadl,
i.e. her son) to Mu'awiyah in Syria. I (Fadl) arrived in
Syria, and did the needful for her. It was there in Syria
that the month of Ramadan commenced. I saw the new moon (of
Ramadan) on Friday. I then came back to Medina at the end of
the month. Abdullah ibn Abbas asked me (about the new moon
of Ramadan) and said: When did you see it? I said: We saw it
on Friday night. He said: (Did) you see it yourself? I said:
Yes, and the people also saw it so they observed fast and
Mu'awiyah also observed fast. Thereupon he said: But we saw
it on Saturday night. So we shall continue to observe the
fast until we complete thirty (fasts) or we see it (the new
moon of Shawwal). I said: Is the sighting of the moon by
Mu'awiyah not valid for you? He said: No; this is how the
Messenger of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) has commanded us.
Yahya ibn Yahya was in doubt (whether the word used in the
narration by Kurayb) was Naktafi or Taktafi
Africa
Nigerian Army Exposed. Horrible Crimes. War Continues.
Nigerian soldiers have raped women and girls who fled the
insurgency by militant Islamist group Boko Haram, Amnesty
International has said.
Troops separated women from their husbands and raped them,
sometimes in exchange for food, in refugee camps, the rights
group added.
Thousands of people have also starved to death in the camps
in north-eastern Nigeria since 2015, Amnesty said.
Latest: June 16. Two human bombers hit the town of Damboa in
Borno state killing 31 and injuring 20. This happened
only hours after Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai said Borno state had
been "liberated." He was speaking at an "inauguration for
gunboats."
[BBC June 17]
VIEWPOINT
A major article by a top Bangladeshi intellectual.
Power-addict Hasina & the
Ongoing Tragedy in Bangladesh
Dr Firoz Mahboob Kamal
Let us try to understand the case of Bangladesh. This
country has been under the rule of awful power-addicts
during the most part of its history since its inception in
1971. In 1970's election, Shaikh Mujib took votes in the
name of multi-party parliamentary democracy, but then
grabbed power and established one-party autocracy. Like a
drug-addict, a power-addict can't stay strict to the
established principle or morality; betrayal becomes the
norm. So, Mujib's power-addiction led to banning all the
opposition political parties and death to more than 30
thousands political activists.
His killing machine could only be stopped at his tragic
death in 1975. Another power-addict General Ershad snatched
power from an elected government of retired Chief Justice
Abdus Satter by a military coup in 1982 and continued his
autocratic brutality until ousted by a mass up-rise in 1990.
But his ouster didn't bury autocracy in Bangladesh; rather
it re-emerged with more brutality under the current
power-addict Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina. During her rule,
brutality has attained a new and more heinous dimension. Not
only the opposition political leaders and activists of
Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh Nationalist Party are
targeted for political assassination, crucial military and
religious institutions are also targeted for weakening their
grip. Hence, 53 military officers were slaughtered and
hundreds of imams and religious students of Hefajat-e-Islam
were massacred with utter ruthlessness.
Like a drug-addict, a power-addict too, can't survive
without crossing the red lines of civilised living. Hence,
extrajudicial killing and enforced disappearance of the
political figures become his or her favoured tools for
eliminating the political enemies. This is why, Shaikh
Hasina can't think of a political environment that allows
the opposition activists freely roaming in the streets and
mobilising people; therefore, they are locked up in prisons.
Because of her power-addiction, she is ready to tolerate all
evils like thievery of government treasury, banks and share
market, but not free and fair election. Although the country
is known for massive corruption -stood five times first in
corruption in the world, but the prisons are full with
political activists, not by the corrupt. To stay in power,
she thinks it a political necessity to create a
fair-election-free Bangladesh. Hence, engineering a rigged
election is the part of her savagery. She has blocked not
only the practice of basic human rights, free press and
other democratic values, rather has taken the country far
backward. Hence an impartial election that was possible more
than half a century ago in 1937, 1946 or 1954 -in British
and Pakistani period, now stands unthinkable in
Bangladesh.
Elimination of autocracy: an Islamic necessity
Islam makes people incompatible with the political cum
ideological project of all autocratic forces. Rather, makes
it an Islamic obligation on every Muslim that he must deploy
his physical, moral, spiritual and intellectual endowments
to promote the cause of Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la. It is
indeed a heinous treason against the Almighty Allah if he
invests His endowments in the service of any secular or
anti-Islamic cause. And for promoting His cause, it needs a
friendly and promotive environment. Therefore, it makes
elimination of autocracy an indispensable Islamic necessity.
This is why, the history of Islam is the history of fighting
against the autocrats. Through ages, it has always been the
moral and ideological binding on every Muslim either to
dismantle the autocratic rule and build an Islamic state or
migrate from the prison-state of the devil to a safer place
-as did Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his
companions. It is indeed the greatest political sunnah of
the prophet (peace be upon him) that shows how to play a
civilizational role for the mankind and please Allah Subhana
wa Ta'la. In fact, such a sunnah made the Muslims the
greatest civilisational power in the whole human
history.
A drug-addict can't enjoy his life without his drug.
Similarly, a power-addict can't enjoy his life without the
unfettered power. A drug-addict goes against the laws
secretively. But a power-addict autocrat publicly destroys
all civil and military institutions, laws and values that
restrict execution of his arrogance. Bangladesh is a true
example of that. Its laws, judiciary, media and state
institutions are only allowed to fully comply with its
power-addict ruler Shaikh Hasina. No one is allowed to stand
against her wish. Abdul Qader Mollah -an Islamist leader,
was given a judgement of life-long imprisonment for his role
in 1971; but Shaikh Hasina and her cronies were not happy
with the judgement. To please their whims, the judiciary had
to change the judgement to his death by hanging. So, Abdul
Qader Mollah had to die. The Supreme Court Chief Justice
Surindra Kumar Sinha was still in job; but he had to flee
the country hurriedly for his visible incompatibility with
Hasina.
Evil of autocracy & the power of true democracy
The prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) was fully aware of
the evil project of autocracy. He knew that mere elimination
of pagan religious practices is not going to help the
mankind. It needs total elimination of autocracy and its
evil institutions that promote vile beliefs and brutality
against Truth. Otherwise, their toxic beliefs will continue
to use the military and the civil institutions of the state
for pulling people to the hellfire. They raise huge barriers
on the way towards paradise in the name of security,
tradition and culture. Islam can't help people getting free
from their grip unless their power base is totally
dismantled. This is why, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him) was not only a preacher of Divine Truth, but a
destroyer of autocracy and its institutions. So, in Islam,
the highest ibada -as well as prophet's greatest sunnah, is
not 5 times prayer, month-long fasting, giving charity or
haj, but engaging in jihad to destroy the power bases of the
evil rulers. Otherwise, practice of Islam become restricted
only within the private life or mosques; and Islam loses its
place in political, cultural, educational and legal premises
of the world -as is the case now. More than 70 percent of
the companions of the prophet (peace be upon him) had to
sacrifice their lives to carry out that prophetic
mission.
The decline of the Muslims started when their rulers take
them back to the oppressive prison of autocracy. Autocracy
centralises all power in the hand of the ruler. Such
empowerment of the ruler happens at the expense of
de-empowering of the common people. So, in autocracy, the
common people stand truly powerless. The early Muslims could
build the finest and the most powerful civilisation on earth
only because of massive empowerment of the people and the
powerful state infrastructure of khilafa. The whole state
infrastructure worked as the immense mobilising instrument
to engage people doing the good and forbidding the wrong.
Never in history, the common people were involved such
massively as the soldiers of Divine Truth to fight the
forces of falsehood. But whenever the state and its
institutions get hijacked by the opportunistic autocrats,
the people get robbed of the most important entitlement of
pursuing such[FK1] a sublime Divine goal. The Divine Truth
then becomes the worst casualty; and the autocratic
barbarity returns with full force. This is indeed the most
catastrophic loss for the mankind at the hand of autocratic
ruler.
Shaikh Hasina's illegitimacy & crime
In Bangladesh, power-addict Hasina is doing similar damage
to Islam and to the Muslims. This is not the first time that
they harming the Muslim Ummah. It is indeed the inherited
legacy of her father. In 1971 after the defeat of Pakistan
Army in former East Pakistan, Shaikh Mujib and his party men
-under the umbrella Indian occupational Army, showed huge
immorality, brutality and violation of human rights. About
half a million non-Bengali Muslims were driven out from
their homes, jobs and businesses; and tens of thousands were
brutally killed. Hundreds of women were raped. Their
belongings were taken by the ruling party's hooligans. Those
who survived are made homeless, stateless and forced to live
in concentration camps supported only by the UN agencies.
Still those camps survive in Bangladesh with the legacy of
those untold atrocities. In fact, what is now happening
against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar that indeed happened
with more brutality to these non-Bengali Muslims in
Bangladesh in 1971 by the hands of the ideological Bengali
cousins of the Burmese racists. Such brutality never
happened in the Bengali Muslims in the past. But such
brutality still thrive in the ruling circle of Bangladesh.
Only the targets are different.
Shaikh Hasina grabbed power without holding a fair election
in 2014. Now, she spent most of her time to hide her
illegitimacy. In democracy, the government must draw its
legitimacy only from people; and that must come through a
proper election. The electoral body and the election process
constitute the most important institution in democracy; it
works as an effective tool to know the people's verdict. But
if it is corrupted or made dysfunctional, those who get
elected also lose their legality and credibility. But such a
transparent election didn't happen in 2014. The election was
so massively boycotted by the people that there was no need
to set up polling booth in 153 seats of the parliament. How
a government can claim democratic legitimacy with absence of
such a huge number of polling centres?
The calamity of moral deprivation
Those who are power-addicts, they find morality a big
burden. Therefore, they drop it in the bin on day one of the
political career. As a result, moral deprivation or
immorality is the part of their life. Because of such moral
deprivation, Shaikh Mujib could easily bury multi-party
democracy and impose one-party brutal dictatorship. Shaikh
Hasina showed the same immoral persuasion vis-à-vis
caretaker government. When she was out of power, she fought
for it. But when in power, he abolished it. In both the
situations, addiction to power was the guiding force; not
morality. Whereas, holding parliamentary election under a
caretaker government was the consensus formula of all
political parties in Bangladesh since 1991. It has its
historical background. Since party-based government
repeatedly failed to hold fair election in the past,
election under a caretaker government was preferred as the
only alternative by all the political parties of the country
including the Awami League. Under such caretaker government,
elections were successfully held in 1991, 1996 and 2000; and
its success lies in the fact that there was no post-election
chaos about the acceptability of those election. Such
successful experiment of caretaker government indeed
encouraged other countries like Pakistan to have the
same.
Moreover, the constitutional legality of such a caretaker
government was never challenged by any political leader, nor
by any legal expert. Even Shaikh Hasina couldn't openly
raise any objection against it. She could take only a
deceitful secretive route by using Chief Justice Abul Khair
to abolish it. It is significant to note that even three
previous Supreme Court Chief Justices didn't consider it
illegal to head the caretaker government. But Chief Justice
Abul Khair unsettled the settled issue and opened the door
of serious political instability in the country. He was so
desperate to serve his presumed beneficiary that he did the
job on his own; nobody needed to ask him to deliver a
judgment on it. In an unrelated non-constitutional
litigation, he jumped on the issue of caretaker government;
and abolished it by making a casual remark on its
constitutional legality. He didn't allow any legal experts
to make any argument on the issue. Whatever he had in his
mind was announced as a final Supreme Court verdict. Thus,
Shaikh Hasina was given a green signal to go ahead with her
agenda. Later on, it came to the press that the same Abul
Khair took one million Taka from Prime Minister's Relief
Fund.
Now, there exists little doubt about the real beneficiary of
his judgment. It gave legality to the sitting Prime Minister
Shaikh Hasina to stay in power; and the power gave her the
opportunity to engineer an election coup in 2014. It clearly
shows how the judiciary can be complicit to promote evil
agenda of a power-addict autocrat. In such a forged
election, Hasina didn't need to launch any tiresome election
campaign; nor did she need to open polling booth in more
than half of the country. She could easily manufacture a
victory for her party only by appointing a compliant
Election Commission and using the servile administrative
machinery. Now she is planning to get a similar victory in
the similar way. In such forged elections, the victory is so
guaranteed for the ruling party that the party stalwarts
could openly claim that Shaikh Hasina will stay in power as
the life-long Prime Minister.
Bangladesh is back to the square one. The old culture of
electoral rigging by the ruling party looks looming. If not
tackled, the country may take a disastrous course. Without a
functioning heart, how can a body survive? How can democracy
survive without a fair and free election? Since free and
fair election may lead to the defeat of the ruling party; it
isn't an acceptable option for them. They need the guarantee
for 100 percent success. For success in 2014, the election
was held by keeping the main challenger Bangladesh
Nationalist Party (BNP) out of the race. Such an exclusive
election still looks the most preferred model for the ruling
Awami League. Hence, to block BNP's participation in the
election, its chairperson Mrs Khalida Zia is already put in
prison. How a train can move without the engine? The same is
true for a political party in election.
Therefore, putting Mrs Zia in prison is indeed the
calculated strategy to keep BNP out of the election. Such
election -even held hundred times, never helps democracy.
Rather, promotes brutal autocracy. In such fake election,
giving constitutional legitimacy to an illegitimate ruler is
its only intention. The people of Bangladesh are politically
mature enough to understand such deceitful strategy of the
ruling party. Hence, they show their extreme determination
to boycott it -as they did in 2014. Here lies the crux of
the whole political pathology of Bangladesh. As a result,
the symptoms of the confrontational politics between the
illegitimate government and the democratic opposition forces
stays as the permanent feature. Like drug-addiction,
power-addiction too, kills the common sense. Because of
that, the ruling Awami League leader fails to understand the
simple fact that fake election -even if held ten times,
can't solve the problem. It can only aggravate the crisis.
Such election only causes a huge wastage of money. But, such
wastage of money or poor participation of the people is not
an issue for Shaikh Hasina. Her only interest in election is
to fulfil a constitutional formality for another five year
rule. From an established power-addict what else one can
expect?
Shaikh Hasina and her cronies also talks about democracy;
but she conveniently forgets that free and fair election is
its life-line. In its absence, death of democracy is
unavoidable. Then, the people are deprived of any tool to
punish the government for its wrongdoing. As a result, the
ruling party feels unaccountable; and freely engage in
corruption, atrocities, vote rigging and other barbaric
evils without any fear. The people may have huge anger, but
stand helpless to change the government. As a result, the
government can freely use judicial and extrajudicial
killing, torture, imprisonment, enforced disappearance and
politically motivated criminal cases to eliminate the
political opponents. This is why, under the rule of Shaikh
Hasina, killing and enforced disappearance of the opposition
leaders is so rampant; and public meeting, free press, free
election and fair judiciary stand as a rarity. The
government is using its weaponised media to smear the
defiant leaders. Whosever exposes the government's
wrongdoings meets with harsh punishment, and even death. The
media is left with no option other than enforced cover-up or
doing advocacy for the government policies.
Looming crisis and the only options
The next election is at the door. Shaikh Hasina looks to be
in her original form. She doesn't show any sign that she
will budge off from the route she took in 2014. She has a
strong reason for that. Only 2014-model election can give
her 100 percent chances of a sure victory. Otherwise, she
risks defeat which she can seldom stomach. Hence, a serious
political crisis in Bangladesh looks looming. She had
already hanged almost all top-ranking Jama'ati Islami
leaders. She could put the main opposition leader Khaleda
Zia behind the bar. She could also enforce forced
disappearance on hundreds of the key political players. So,
Hasina is now in a better position to engineer a similar
electoral victory -as did in 2014.
In order to hide her evil intention, Shaikh Hasina is
leading a counter-offence against the opposition. She is
smearing the main opposition parties as the enemies of
democracy and the promoter of Islamic extremism cum
terrorism. She is taking those lies to the foreign camps.
She thinks such lies will help remove her own illegitimacy
and allure the world powers to support her. This is why, her
government convened the foreign diplomats at Dhaka on 28th
May, 2018 to give them a lecture eulogising her own project
and maligning the opposition. She is manipulating
Islamophobia of the non-Muslims western countries to pull
them to her side. In order to persuade them, her harsh
policies towards the Islamic parties are projected as the
saleable top credentials.
Now the foreign governments as well as all the stakeholders
of Bangladesh have only two options: either to stand for
autocratic Shaikh Hasina or support democratisation. Support
for a dictator can only damage the fate of democracy in
Bangladesh. It can only promote dehumanising political
savagery that would make the country unfit for civilised
living. Such a savagery of an autocrat only brings civil
wars, deaths, destruction and mass migration. Syria gives a
good lesson on that. In such a critical juncture, the
foreign countries need to make visible their own choice. The
political crisis in Bangladesh and the political culture of
the ruling Awami League is not unknown to anyone. So, no one
needs lecturing on that. Those who love democratic values
and basic human rights should do everything for a fair and
free election in 2018. Ensuring such an election is indeed
the most important single political issue in Bangladesh.
