By Abd-Allah H.

As Muslims defensively chant “not all terrorists are Muslims” and “there are terrorists of every faith,” the question that the Islamophobes invariably ask is: “why is it that 99% of terrorists are Muslims?”  Alternatively, they state: “twenty thousand acts of Islamic terrorism have occurred in the last year compared to three acts from every other religion combined.”  (Admittedly, I am unsure of the exact numbers they use, but it doesn’t really matter since these sorts of figures are usually concocted anyways.) Nonetheless, the point appears valid: there seem to be a lot more Muslim terrorists nowadays; so does Islam breed terrorism?  It’s a fair question.

In order to arrive at a scientifically valid answer, we’d have to account for confounding variables. Otherwise, incorrect conclusions could be drawn.  One study showed for example that people with more ashtrays in their houses were more prone to lung cancer.  A faulty conclusion would be that ashtrays cause lung cancer.  The confounding variable in this case is of course smoking.  In other words, a linear correlation between ashtrays and lung cancer does not necessarily establish a causal relationship.  To give a slightly more complex example: a study found that those who drank more coffee were more likely to develop lung cancer; could researchers then claim that coffee consumption causes lung cancer?  No.  It turns out that smokers tend to drink more coffee than non-smokers; it was the smoking, not the coffee, that caused the cancer.

When clinical drug trials are conducted, researchers give the drug to be tested to one population (called the variable population) and the existing drug therapy to another (the control population).  The effect of the drug is then ascertained by comparing the morbidity and mortality in both populations.  However, in order for the comparison to be valid, the two populations have to be similar.  If they are not, the study becomes compromised.  For example, if the city of Berkeley, California is chosen for the variable population, and Miami, Florida is chosen as the control population, there could be heavily skewed results.  Berkeley hosts a college campus, and thus a disproportionately high number of young adults; Miami on the other hand is home to many old people who go there to retire (“It’s the law” according to Seinfeld).  It would not be surprising then if there was less morbidity and mortality in Berkeley than in Miami.  Perhaps such a tactic would be useful for pharmaceutical companies to market their drugs, but it would certainly be bad medicine.  In other words, the raw data must be stratified or normalized before final conclusions can be drawn.

Such empirical studies ought to be done with academic rigor and scholarly honesty, something which we can hardly expect of Islamophobes.  Many of us are familiar with the indefatigable work of John Esposito who has led the charge in using the scientific method to verify (or in this case, reject) the hypotheses of hate-mongers; Gallup poll obtained some much needed data in this regard.  But I’d like to draw the reader’s attention to another less familiar study–one which is closer to our null hypothesis.  In 2002, Professor Daniel Price of Kent State University published a paper in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.  He asked: does Islam repress human rights?

Islamophobes will often compare the developed “Christian world” with the developing Islamic one, and then draw faulty conclusions based on that.  But surely such a comparison is unfair–it’s comparing Berkeley to Miami. Confounding variables include gross domestic product, literacy rates, poverty level, and a host of other factors (not to speak of foreign occupation). If, however, one compares a majority Christian country in Africa, for example, with an Islamic country in the same continent, the results would be far less dramatic–and much more accurate.  Professor Price normalized the data and concluded that there was no causal relationship between Islam and repression of human rights; he wrote:

I test[ed] the relationship between Islam and human rights across a sample of 23 predominantly Muslim countries and a control group of non-Muslim developing nations, while controlling for other factors that have been shown to affect human rights practices.  I found that the influence of Islamic political culture on government has a statistically insignificant relationship with the protection of human rights.

Similarly, we can ask: does Islam cause terrorism?  Although I do not claim to have conducted a scientific study on the matter, I would like to present a case series to hopefully shed some light on this matter.

Case Series

Perhaps the most famous non-Muslim example of terrorism that Westerners are familiar with is the Irish Republican Army (IRA).  According to the Council on Foreign Relations: “For decades, beginning in the late 1960s, [the IRA] was considered one of the most dangerous terrorist organizations in the world.” Was it Islam that bred terrorism in the region?  Or was it the population’s sense of foreign occupation?

The Tamil Tigers are another example–a predominantly Hindu separatist group in Sri Lanka.  They invented the suicide belt and were–according to the New York Times–the “pioneer[s] in the tactic of suicide bombings…[carrying] out scores of attacks over the years, both targeted assassinations and mass terrorist killings.”  They also pioneered the use of women as suicide bombers, with “up to 40 percent” of the Black Tigers suicide squad being women.  Was it Islam that inspired these terrorists, or was it their sense of occupation?

An historical example analogous to the Palestinian people is that of the Native Americans–who were occupied and expelled by the white colonialists.  When we read books of history today, it is generally recognized that the colonists–not the Native Americans–were blameworthy for stealing land that was not theirs.  The struggle of the Native Americans to oust their occupiers (the Native American intifada) is seen in that light–the epic and just struggle of an indigenous population fighting off the far superior foreign occupier.  Do history books today focus on the fact that the Native Americans used terror tactics in their war against the white man?  In fact, the Native Americans would routinely kill women and children in their raids, scalping their heads as per their religious belief.

Indeed, the American pioneers justified their war against the “savages” by pointing to such brutal attacks; of course today we recognize that the occupation took place first, and the Native American reprisals took place as a result.  It’s interesting how some people cannot properly identify the cause and effect in today’s global situation.  The 9/11 attacks are seen as the cause, and the invasion of Afghanistan as a result.  Yet, the reality is that the 9/11 attacks were the result, and the occupation of Muslim lands was the cause.  Unless of course you actually believe the nonsense idea that Al-Qaeda attacked the United States because “they hate our freedoms and liberties.” It would after all be absurd to claim that the Native Americans raided and killed pioneer women and children because “they hated the white man.”  Clearly, the reason was the occupation.

In any case, the struggle of the Native Americans was brutal–there is no way to deny that.  Were such tactics adopted because of their zeal for Islam?  Or was it the occupation that fueled their rage?  The answer is too obvious.  There is an intrinsic desire of every indigenous people to viciously fight off foreign invaders.

We have the example of the resistance groups in the Ukraine following the Nazi invasion in World War II.  The Red Army formed terrorist units that fought off the Nazis.  Ukrainian nationalists formed a third group–the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)–which used terrorism as a means to fight off both Nazi and Soviet occupiers.  Following the war, the Soviets recognized the group as a “terrorist” outfit; the UPA would even target civilian families who would cooperate with the Soviets by turning in food to collective farms.  Was it UPA’s adherence to the religion of Islam that prompted such terrorism?  Or was it their sense of foreign occupation?

The examples are countless.  Wherever there is a sense of occupation–perceived or real–terrorism follows.  Occupation breeds terrorism.  Terrorism is the weapon of the weak against the occupier.  The occupier is in a position of power and therefore has no need for such petty terrorist tactics.  The occupier has the benefit of tanks, fighter jets, and bombers.

I will here give one last example as a case in point: that of the Israelis themselves.  In the 1930’s and 40’s, it was the Zionist Jews–the predecessors of the modern day state of Israel–who engaged in terrorism on a massive scale.  Jewish terrorist outfits such as the Haganah, Irgun, and Lehi (Stern Gang) were formed.  The Zionist Jews believed that God had granted them the land of Palestine, and as such, the British and the Palestinians were viewed as occupiers.

Jewish terrorist groups blew up various buildings, such as the King David hotel in July of 1946.  The existence of these Jewish terrorist groups cannot be denied.  The Encyclopedia Britannica says, for instance: “The Haganah turned to terrorist activities, bombing bridges, rail lines, and ships.”  The Irgun was condemned as a terrorist organization by the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry and various mainstream media outlets such as the New York Times; even Winston Churchill, who ordinarily was very sympathetic to the Jewish state, declared: “I will never forgive the Irgun terrorists.”  The Lehi (Stern Gang) was–in a resolution passed on September 18th of 1948–condemned by the United Nations Security Council as a “criminal group of terrorists.”

Yet after the creation of the state of Israel, all three terrorist groups moved into what is today considered the mainstream.  Haganah became the core of the Israeli Defense Forces, Irgun became the Herut party which later became the Likud, and the Lehi entered the political arena (being the only one of the three which would eventually die out).  Whether or not these groups adopted state terrorism as opposed to guerrilla terrorism is a topic for another discussion,  but the question to ask here is: what caused the Zionist groups to abandon the classical form of terrorism?  Clearly it was the fact that they were no longer a weak party in need of it.  The Israelis had tanks, fighter jets, and bombers–far more powerful instruments of death than anything in the arsenal of paramilitary terrorist groups.  So what we find quite consistently is that terrorism is a weapon of those who view themselves as occupied; in the case of the Zionist Jews, they viewed the British as occupiers and therefore resorted to terrorism.  Once the British were evicted and Israeli hegemony established, the bread-and-butter type of terrorism was abandoned.

The link between occupation and terrorism is undeniable.  To link Islam to terrorism is as erroneous as linking Judaism to terrorism.  One can easily take certain passages out of context from the Quran and claim that it is the cause of “Islamic terrorism.”  Yet, one could also take verses from the Hebrew Bible which clearly indicate that Jews should wipe out the inhabitants of the holy land because God gave it to them:

When you go to make war against a city you are to make [an offer of] peace to it. Then if it accepts peace and surrenders to you, you shall use all the people found in it as forced labour, and they shall be your slaves/serfs. But if it will not make peace with you, and makes war against you, you are to besiege it, and when Yahweh your god gives it to you, you are to kill by the sword every male in it. Only the women and the children and the animals and whatever [else] may be in the city…you are to take as plunder [i.e. slaves]…Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far off from you, which are not of the cities of these peoples [who live in the promised territory]. However, from the cities of these people [the cities] which Yahweh your god is giving you as a possession, you shall not let any human being survive. But you shall utterly destroy them.

(Deut. 20:10-17)

The Root Causes of “Islamic Terror”

Why then are there so many Muslim terrorists nowadays?  The answer is quite simple: the sole super power in the world has focused its wrath on the Islamic world.  After the fall of communism, Islam became the next boogie man.  Specifically, the United States has been not only an ardent supporter of but an active enabler of the state of Israel; quite simply, without the U.S.’s unconditional support of Israel, the continued occupation of Arab lands would have been impossible.  This occupation has radicalized people in the Muslim world; the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq–among other invasions–has fueled a surge in “Islamic terrorism.”  This is not even to speak of the CIA’s role in sustaining puppet regimes in the region, which local populations view as occupation by proxy.  As Robert Fisk put it:

I’ve been thirty-three years in the Middle-East now. By all means we should send the Muslim world our doctors, our teachers, etc. But we’re always going there and offering democracy and freedom, and we’re arriving with our tanks and our Abrams M1A1 tanks, and our Bradley fighting armored vehicles, and our horses and our swords, always promising them freedom.

And I calculated the other day that we now have twenty-two times as many military personnel in the Muslim world than the Crusaders had in the 12th century. And that land does not belong to us; it is not ours and we should leave militarily; we should take all our soldiers out; it doesn’t belong to us.

Chris Hedges, senior fellow at the Nation Institute and the Anschutz Distinguished Fellow at Princeton University, wrote:

Muslim rage is stoked because we station tens of thousands of American troops on Muslim soil, occupy two Muslim nations, make possible the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine, support repressive Arab regimes and torture thousands of Muslims in offshore penal colonies where prisoners are stripped of their rights. We now have 22 times as many military personnel in the Muslim world as were deployed during the crusades in the 12th century. The rage comes because we have constructed massive military bases, some the size of small cities, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Kuwait, and established basing rights in the Gulf states of Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The rage comes because we have expanded our military empire into neighboring Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It comes because we station troops and special forces in Egypt, Algeria and Yemen. And this vast network of bases and military outposts looks suspiciously permanent.

The Muslim world fears, correctly, that we intend to dominate Middle East oil supplies and any Caspian Sea oil infrastructure. And it is interested not in our protestations of good will but in the elemental right of justice and freedom from foreign occupation. We would react, should the situation be reversed, no differently.

The brutal reality of expanding foreign occupation and harsher and harsher forms of control are the tinder of Islamic fundamentalism, insurgences and terrorism. We can blame the violence on a clash of civilizations. We can naively tell ourselves we are envied for our freedoms. We can point to the Koran. But these are fantasies that divert us from facing the central dispute between us and the Muslim world, from facing our own responsibility for the virus of chaos and violence spreading throughout the Middle East. We can have peace when we shut down our bases, stay the hand of the Israelis to create a Palestinian state, and go home, or we can have long, costly and ultimately futile regional war. We cannot have both.

Prior to the creation of the state of Israel, the Islamic world had coexisted peacefully with the United States for some one hundred and seventy years–without conflict (with the notable exception of the brief Tripolitan war).  Is it some sort of magical coincidence that Islam becomes the big bad boogie man when the United States decides to not only send troops to the Middle East but to send its CIA operatives there?  Let us ask the Islamophobes why is it that not a single Islamic terrorist attack took place on American soil prior to U.S. soldiers being deployed in the Middle East and their bankrolling of Israeli munitions?  How is it that for over one hundred and seventy years not a single Islamic attack took place against the United States? During this time period Islam existed, but the occupation did not.  Does it then take a brain surgeon or rocket scientist to figure out that the correlation is not between terrorism and Islam but between terrorism and occupation? As Ron Paul famously said of 9/11: “They attack us because we’ve been over there [i.e. occupying them].”

The Israeli daily Ha’aretz wrote:

UN expert: Palestinian terror ‘inevitable’ result of occupation

A report commissioned by the United Nations suggests that Palestinian terrorism is the inevitable consequence of Israeli occupation…The report by John Dugard, independent investigator on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the UN Human Rights Council, will be presented next month, but it has been posted on the body’s Web site…

“While Palestinian terrorist acts are to be deplored, they must be understood as being a painful but inevitable consequence of colonialism, apartheid or occupation,” writes Dugard, whose 25-page report accuses the Israel of acts and policies consistent with all three…

“As long as there is occupation, there will be terrorism,” he argues.

“Acts of terror against military occupation must be seen in historical context,” Dugard says. “This is why every effort should be made to bring the occupation to a speedy end. Until this is done, peace cannot be expected, and violence will continue.”

Back to the question of “why are there so many Muslim terrorists,” the answer is exceedingly simple: the United States made a calculated bet in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s that they would make their bed with Israel–which quickly became an American outpost in the Middle East.  The U.S. needed access to the oil rich fields come hell or high water, even if it meant alienating twenty percent of the world’s population.  It is this fateful decision that has led to the radicalization of the occupied peoples and those who view the occupied as their brothers in faith.

Had China been the world’s primary source of oil–instead of the Middle East–the United States would have sought to dominate it, and not the Muslim world.  A puppet regime would have been established in China, or perhaps the country would have been directly occupied based on the pretext that terrorists reside there.  (The terrorists would undoubtedly come into existence after the invasion, thereby giving a retroactive justification for the war.)  In such a scenario, it would be Chinese terrorists that grace our nightly news feeds, not Muslims.  The link is occupation, not religion.

Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com summarized it best:

What’s most striking about these “warnings” is that they virtually never examine the reasons why this would be happening.  Why, after all this time, would American Muslims suddenly be more willing to engage in violence against the U.S.?  To his credit, Scott Shane devoted several paragraphs of his NYT article to addressing this question, and what he finds is both highly significant and highly unsurprising:

[T]he continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the American operations like drone strikes in Pakistan, are fueling radicalization at home, [terrorism expert Robert Leiken] said. “Just the length of U.S. involvement in these countries is provoking more Muslim Americans to react,” Mr. Leiken said . . . .

Like many other specialists, [Georgetown University terrorism expert Bruce] Hoffman pointed to the United States’ combat in Muslim lands as the only obvious spur to many of the recent cases, especially those with a Pakistani connection. “The longer we’ve been in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said, “the more some susceptible young men are coming to believe that it’s their duty to take up arms to defend their fellow Muslims.”

A few analysts, in fact, argue that Mr. Obama’s decision to send more troops to Afghanistan — intended to prevent a terrorist haven there — could backfire.

Robert A. Pape, a University of Chicago political scientist, contends that suicide attacks are almost always prompted by resentment of foreign troops, and that escalation in Afghanistan will fuel more plots. “This new deployment increases the risk of the next 9/11,” he said. “It will not make this country safer.”

The evidence proving this causation is now so overwhelming as to be undeniable.  Waging wars, occupying, and dropping bombs in Muslim countries is the single most counter-productive step that can be taken to combat Islamic extremism (indefinitely imprisoning them without charges is a close second).  It’s akin to advising a lung cancer patient to triple the quantity of cigarettes he smokes each day.  Yet we continue to do it over and over, and then point to the harms we cause as reasons we need to continue doing it.  Our “counter-terrorism” campaign basically consists of three steps repeated endlessly:

(1) Interfere in or otherwise act aggressively in the Muslim world.

(2) Provoke increased anti-American sentiment and fuel terrorism as a result of Step 1.

(3) Point to the increased anti-American sentiment and terrorism as a reason we need to escalate our interference and aggression in the Muslim world.  Return to Step 1.

If one wants to find a correlation between terrorist attacks and some other factor, then let it be the deaths of civilians due to foreign occupation.  The Iraq war has resulted in the death of over 100,000 Muslim civilians; tens of thousands of Muslim civilians were killed by the U.S. military in Afghanistan; 1,441 Palestinian children have been killed by Israel just since September of 2000, not to speak of the thousands upon thousands of Palestinian civilians killed since 1947.  Israel has created millions upon millions of Palestinian refugees.  Hundreds upon hundreds of Pakistani civilians have been killed by U.S. drone attacks.  I have not included the many other civilians who have been killed in various parts of the Islamic world due to the direct and indirect actions of the United States.

In an article entitled “Why They Hate Us”, Harvard professor Stephen M. Walt wrote:

At a recent conference on U.S. relations with the Islamic world…one of the other participants (a prominent English journalist) put it quite simply. “If the United States wants to improve its image in the Islamic world,” he said, “it should stop killing Muslims.”

Now I don’t think the issue is quite that simple, but the comment got me thinking: How many Muslims has the United States killed in the past thirty years, and how many Americans have been killed by Muslims? Coming up with a precise answer to this question is probably impossible, but it is also not necessary, because the rough numbers are so clearly lopsided.

Here’s my back-of-the-envelope analysis, based on estimates deliberately chosen to favor the United States. Specifically, I have taken the low estimates of Muslim fatalities, along with much more reliable figures for U.S. deaths.

To repeat: I have deliberately selected “low-end” estimates for Muslim fatalities, so these figures present the “best case” for the United States. Even so, the United States has killed nearly 30 Muslims for every American lost. The real ratio is probably much higher, and a reasonable upper bound for Muslim fatalities (based mostly on higher estimates of “excess deaths” in Iraq due to the sanctions regime and the post-2003 occupation) is well over one million, equivalent to over 100 Muslim fatalities for every American lost…

…If you really want to know “why they hate us,” the numbers presented above cannot be ignored…

It is also striking to observe that virtually all of the Muslim deaths were the direct or indirect consequence of official U.S. government policy. By contrast, most of the Americans killed by Muslims were the victims of non-state terrorist groups such as al Qaeda or the insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. Americans should also bear in mind that the figures reported above omit the Arabs and Muslims killed by Israel in Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank. Given our generous and unconditional support for Israel’s policy towards the Arab world in general and the Palestinians in particular, Muslims rightly hold us partly responsible for those victims too.

Contrary to what Friedman thinks, our real problem isn’t a fictitious Muslim “narrative” about America’s role in the region; it is mostly the actual things we have been doing in recent years. To say that in no way justifies anti-American terrorism or absolves other societies of responsibility for their own mistakes or misdeeds. But the self-righteousness on display in Friedman’s op-ed isn’t just simplistic; it is actively harmful. Why? Because whitewashing our own misconduct makes it harder for Americans to figure out why their country is so unpopular and makes us less likely to consider different (and more effective) approaches.

…When you kill tens of thousands of people in other countries — and sometimes for no good reason — you shouldn’t be surprised when people in those countries are enraged by this behavior and interested in revenge. After all, how did we react after September 11?

About 2,800 Americans died as a result of the atrocious 9/11 attacks.  Yet, over 288,000 Muslims have been killed by American military action.  That means that in Muslim eyes there were over one hundred 9/11’s committed by America against the Islamic world.  Imagine the rage in the eyes of Americans if there was another 9/11 type attack; now imagine if there were one hundred more.  That’s the level of anger in the Muslim world.

So if the Islamophobes ask why there are so many Muslim terrorists today, then let them compare the number of Muslim civilians killed with the number of civilians killed of other religious faiths.  The correlation will then become clear: the higher the number of civilians killed by foreign occupation, the more terrorists that arise.  If Muslims have so many terrorists, it’s because the world’s only super power kills more Muslims than people of any other faith.

Coming back to our ashtray and lung cancer analogy: Islam is the ashtray, terrorism is lung cancer, and the occupation is smoking. Despite what Islamophobes insist, Islam is not the problem; it’s just a confounding variable.  The culprit is the occupation.

A letter to my neighbors & colleagues who don’t share my Islamic faith…

The events of 9/11 are ones that have forever changed the world we live in, but not always in ways that you might have imagined. For most regular Americans, it has brought uncomfortably close to home images that were once thought to only happen “over there” in some other country.

It has led to people being more scared of their neighbors, their co-workers and even their seat-mate on an airplane. It has resulted in terror alerts, airport security measures and even strange recommendations of buying lots of duct tape for your windows (still haven’t figured that one out yet). But for another segment of the population it has resulted in other types of dread and fear.

I’m writing this to you today because I want to share with you my feelings and my experiences, not because I want your sympathy or for you to write to Congress, but mainly because I don’t want you to be afraid of me. Because I want to let you inside my head for a brief moment to see things, maybe, from a different perspective.

For most Muslims in the US, the breaking news of a possible terrorist incident brings about an enormous feeling of dread. The dread of the fall-out from the “attack” that we are sure to feel in very personal ways. Mosques around the US get death threats, threatening vandalism and even shot at or burned down after these things happen. Moreover, people who look “Middle-Eastern” get physically attacked, and women who cover their hair with the Islamic head-cover (hijab) get no end of dirty looks, rude insults and their own share of threats.

Ever since 9/11, I am treated like a criminal every-time I return to the US from an overseas trip. Whether I have gone to Egypt to visit my extended family, to Pakistan to provide medical relief to earthquake victims or to Costa Rica to surf truly awesome waves, I am escorted by Border Patrol to a separate area of the airport. There, I am subjected to questioning about the details of my trip while my baggage, pockets and wallet are meticulously searched. I have had my credit cards, business cards and hospital ID’s taken from me and photocopied in a separate room because “its policy”. There is no such thing as invasion of privacy for people like me – I simply have to give them everything they want and be happy that I don’t get rendered to another facility. I have never committed a crime, but I am a Muslim.

I, like many others, was born in this country. I chose to be a physician because I sincerely care about others. I chose to be an ER doctor because I don’t want to have to worry about someone’s ability to pay for medical care, and because it offers me the freedom to have a life away from the hospital. A life that I have chosen to use again in the service of humanity – whether it be by teaching religious morals, or by using my medical skills in a humanitarian crisis like Hurricane Katrina or the Pakistani Earthquake, or by doing my small part to raise educated, respectful and moral children for the future of America and the world.

I sincerely want you to know that my religion, Islam, does not encourage violence. In fact, it specifically speaks AGAINST the killing of innocent people. It encourages forgiveness and the peaceful resolution of conflicts, be they interpersonal or international. I hope that you have seen this trend in my character, even though I know I am far from perfect and have much to improve in myself.  I don’t have hate in my heart, even for those that have used their power to hurt others around them. I pray for justice for the people of our world, and I pray for peace as well.

I wish you could know how sorry I am that a small group of people have distorted all that is good in my religion by using it as a call for terror and bloodshed. I am sorry that these misguided people have caused harm to my fellow countrymen and women. I feel the same way that many of you might feel when you read about the atrocities committed against the Native Americans or the African Slaves by our ancestors in this country. The fact that Americans did these terrible things doesn’t take away from the good that America stands for. It just means that sometimes people can go very far astray from the principles they seek to represent. Nonetheless, I still feel sorry that these things are being done in the name of Islam and I wish that I could stop them from happening.

I know that no matter what I may say, there will still be those who will not like me because I have chosen, with my intellect and my heart, to follow Islam. This will not stop me though from extending my hand and my heart in friendship to those around me who need care. It will not stop me from trying my best to be a good citizen of America and the world. It will not stop me from working tirelessly to prevent those whom I can reach from turning to extremism. And it will not lead me to hate in return.

An excellent, factual and thoughtful overview of the so called “war on terror” in Pakistan.

Hear, hear Obama & Democratic administration… this isn’t Mullah Imran speaking, someone to be dismissed as an “Islamist”, but someone “moderately religious”, a million times more educated than Zardari or any of the other lota Pakistani politician, and more principled than the political lot combined. Time to put your Nobel prize to good use, President, and invoke change that we can believe in (starting with ceasing the support of corrupt politicians, the fountainhead of which is Zardari).

Click here to view the embedded video.

The following message is MM’s response, as approved by the Shayookh, to all those who suggested (in the Sh. Salman Oudah + MM Shayookh post)  that the so-called, self-styled “mujahideen” be given benefit of doubt, that perhaps they are “misunderstood” or wrongly portrayed by “the media.” Furthermore, suggestions have been made that these terrorist outfits, including alQaeda do not target civilians:

Update: Comments from Shaykh Tawfique Chowdhury and lecture by Shaykh Waleed appended below.

The following article was originally posted on IslamToday.com by Shaykh Salman al-Oudah (also spelled al-Awdah). The article is reproduced below, and then followed up with comments from MuslimMatters Shuyookh Yasir Qadhi and Yaser Birjas.

Standing United against Terrorism & al-Qaeda | Sheikh Salman al-Oadah|

This article contains some harsh words for those who choose to follow the path of violence. However, I find it necessary to use a harsh tone – which departs from my normal writing style – in order to confront those people who take up arms with the purpose of bringing death to numerous people and reducing societies to ruin.

When I wrote about al-Qaeda, some of my dear friends took exception to my doing so, warning me that I would be the brunt of libel and attacks upon my honor, or worse. However, I replied that the situation required that we speak clearly and frankly, and it does not matter what people will say.

I have persistently called upon our sincere scholars and preachers – and continue to call upon them – to describe things by their proper names, and to disassociate the word “jihād” (a word rich in meaning which is found in our sacred texts) form the activities of those killing organizations which murder innocent people and undermine security in societies around the world – regardless of whether those societies are Muslim or non-Muslim – since carrying out atrocities and targeting civilians is categorically forbidden in Islam.

Today, I must stress how important it is for us to condemn the abominable and criminal acts being perpetrated around the world in Islam’s name and which are being misrepresented as “jihād”. We must expose those acts and the people who carry them out by calling them what they really are, whether their perpetrators refer to themselves as al-Qaeda, or a jihad organization, or a militant organization or an “Islamic state”. It is not enough to give vague indications and make ambiguous general statements.

At the same time, I must stress that it is the right of every country in the world to defend itself against external aggression and to carry out resistance against an invader or occupying power. This is an international right acknowledged by all nations. Nevertheless, carrying out such legitimate resistance neither justifies nor excuses the targeting of civilians and innocents, regardless of where they are.

It is not enough that we speak up. Things have gone farther than that. A crisis has rent the intellectual and cultural fabric of our society. Therefore, I appeal to myself and to my fellow preachers to condemn this great evil in the clearest and most unambiguous terms, an evil which is causing bloodshed, destroying society, and blackening Islam’s good name. It is also hampering our development, bringing ruin to our countries, inciting transgression against human life, while violating both the tenets of Islam and the dictates of basic human values.

Therefore, we must take care not to confuse our message by discussing other wrongdoings at the same time we discuss this matter, tying them in with each other. Some ignorant people might claim that we are justifying those atrocities or seeking an excuse for them. Indeed, we should not bring up the question of terrorist attacks when we discussing social and political issues, or the media, and say: “This is the cause of that. Avoid these mistakes so as not to give cause for extremism…” This is not a good way to address the matter. It could make some of those people feel, when they see things they dislike, that they have an excuse to perpetrate acts of violence. We need to make a clear distinction between issues, and take care how we speak, so as not to unwittingly have a negative impact upon such people.

We should be wary of how we use the words “but” and “however”, words which can lead some young people to fall into misunderstandings, as if what we are saying has many angles to it which can be interpreted in various ways.

The problem we are addressing is one of blind civil strife, where “every time it seems to come to an end, it just goes on” as the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said in an authentic tradition describing the tribulations of the Last Days. The onus of quelling this strife and exposing how it violates Islamic teachings falls upon the sincere scholars and preachers of Islam who do not fear the censure of others and who feel no hesitation in calling a crime a crime, regardless of the consequences.

I do not care if some people who dislike what I say are going to accuse me of working for this or that interest group, or of being a “government stooge”. I call Allah to witness for what I say. My condemnation of terror stems from my religious faith and my firm convictions. No one has any sway over my beliefs. I am neither for nor against the governments. Regardless of the consequences, I am against deviance, destructive behavior, and acts of atrocity in general, and especially when those acts are perpetrated in the name of religion. I make my position plain.

I do not care if my opponents insist on making false accusations against me. I say what I mean, loudly and clearly. These are my religious beliefs, which I have not changed and which have not been any different in the past. However, there is a more pressing need today than at any previous time to reiterate those beliefs and announce them all the more forcefully. Indeed, ever since the outbreak of these violent acts, speaking out against them has become a religious, educational and moral imperative for anyone who cares about the future of Islam, our country, the generations to come, and preserving what little stability is left in the Muslim world.

That which is happening in Somalia and elsewhere is a heartbreaking tragedy. Everything is being laid to waste and people are killing each other over the ruins – all in Islam’s name. People have being killed by the droves, without pause, even in the month of Ramadan.

I declare that Allah does not make right the deeds of those who perpetrate atrocities. Nor does He bring the plots of the deceivers to right guidance. Those who, in the name of Islam, kill innocents – and very often they happen to be Muslims – or who claim that by doing so they are upholding Islamic teachings, they will not succeed and they will not set things right. Rather, they will face Allah’s punishment and become a warning to others unless they repent beforehand.

Al-Qaeda is not what it was before September 11. It has turned into a media phenomenon with many people claiming the name merely for its symbolic value, mobilizing the youth under its umbrella. In this way, the strategy has changed, the evil has shaken loose from its reins and become like shrapnel all over the place, possessing a regional character but making a global noise. Al-Qaeda has become like a trademark that anyone can get hold of and carry out their activities in its name. It is no longer a cohesive organization with strong ties between its leaders and followers.

I call upon those who still make excuses and hesitate when they speak to think about the judgment they will face when they will stand before Allah. They should not let the oppressive acts of governments or their policies – like what took place in Algeria – or the embargoes that governments impose upon them, cause them to be unjust. The heavens and the Earth are only set aright by justice.

The merciful thing to do is to tell those young people who have been deceived, and those who are set to join their ranks tomorrow, that: “This path you are taking is not going to bring you to your goal. It will not save you from Hell or earn you Paradise. Whoever wants success in this life, salvation in the next, and Allah’s pleasure should adhere to the true teachings of Islam and keep far away from bloodshed and strife. Do not attempt to reinterpret the faith so as to justify acts that are clearly and patently evil. In the boldness with which you commit such mortal sins, you engage in crimes far worse in Allah’s estimation than those whom you purport to condemn.”

This should be the message that parents give to their families, that mothers teach their children, that teachers impart to their students, and that preachers address to their congregations. The condemnation of terror should not be connected with any official campaign, media drive, or salaried work. Rather, it should come from an inner sense of religious duty, from our obligation to raise the next generation correctly and to call people to what is right. It should be carried out with the intention of fostering reconciliation in society and building bridges between ourselves and those who disagree with us, which can be achieved on the basis of our shared concern to safeguard our faith and our worldly lives. In our thinking, we need to get beyond defending our individual interests and look to the general good and to the future. Our concern should be for society: its common folk and its leaders, its rich and its poor, those who are righteous and those who are sinners. All of these people are part of our society, and we must share a sense of loyalty with them all.

When we talk about this issue, which is of the utmost seriousness, we must not mix it up with talk about other things. Those other matters might very well be equally important, or more important, or less. In any case, those issues can be addressed on other occasions.

In all earnest, I call upon our young people to discuss this matter both in person and on the Internet, to uncover the reasons why some people have sympathies for such activities and organizations and how to remedy the causes for those sympathies. I call upon them to hold fast to the clear and explicit teachings of Islam, as set forth in the Qur’an and Sunnah, which warn against sowing dissention, killing, and murder. Indeed, this was one of the last exhortations that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) made to his followers at the end of his life, on the occasion of his final pilgrimage.

Some sick-minded people have started talking about assassinations as if they were a tradition established by the Prophet. This is more than a misunderstanding – it is delusional. Did the Prophet permit the execution of the leaders of Quraysh in Mecca when they sought to stamp out the Muslims in their midst? No. Or the leaders of the traitorous hypocrites in Madinah when the sought to undermine the nascent Muslim community? No. Did he call for executing the leaders of the Jews when there was a covenant between them? No. Did he ever grant anyone the right to pass personal judgment over others and their faith and carry out punishments? No. Never did he permit such things. What chaos would have been worse than that? But this is what these people today want to reduce us to.

I assert, on the basis of certain conviction, that the people who follow that extreme path, if they ever come into power, will bring destruction and ruin to everything. Society, from its civil cohesion, to its family integrity, to its agriculture, would waste away. Those people would foster civil strife and suffer for it in turn. This is because they have deviated from the straight path. They have no understanding of Islamic teachings and the wisdom behind those teachings. They are ignorant of the natural laws that Allah has placed in His creation. Therefore, they will never be successful and never find divine support. That is for certain, as anyone who has understanding can see. Nevertheless, those people are quite successful in spreading chaos and confusion. They are good at misleading the simple-minded and causing discord, and they are given support in this whenever we are silent, mince our words, or withhold judgment.

May the peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, who brought the clear message and established the clear proof. And praise be to Allah, the Lord of All the Worlds.

Comments by Shaykh Yaser Birjas

Sheikh Salaman al-Awda has boldly spoken the truth. His words in his recent article “Standing Together Against Terrorism and al-Qa’eda” truly profess a scholarly assessment, a brotherly advice and putting things, facts and people in their rightful position.

Speaking from a personal experience during my four years stay in Bosnia, I can confidently confirm the great misconception young Muslims have had and still having about a noble religious principle in its broader meaning such as Jihad and the mix up between it and the acts of violence done in the name of Jihad and Islam.

There is no doubt, calling for justice is a form of Jihad in itself, even if it entails the use of proportional force by those who are in authoritative position and can perform in that capacity. Acts of violence, such as indiscriminate killing, on the other hand can never be attributed to Jihad or Islam simply because the perpetrators chose to give it that name.

The message delivered in the article was a strong statement from the sheikh hafidhahullah, and definitely was much needed for our time. I personally support it and believe in it.

May Allah give the sheikh and us all the strength to remain steadfast against all acts of evil and injustices and use us all in the best way in serving his message al-Islam.

Comments by Shaykh Yasir Qadhi

In the early 90’s, a new movement appeared that claimed to follow the teachings of the earliest generations yet were far removed from it in ideology, methodology and manners. They assumed that they and they alone were rightly guided. They deemed all those who opposed them to be deviants and heretics. They made it their religion to go around concentrating on the supposed faults of other people, without actually offering anything of substance to their communities. This group gave such a negative stereotype to anyone who wished to preach an Orthodox understanding of Islam that to this day we are battling the negativity they created.

I had plenty of run-ins with them, and they caused many of us much personal grief and problems. I must admit, though, that while the swiftness of their demise did come as a surprise, I knew all along that their fame would be short-lived, and their popularity temporary. I knew this not because I was privy to some unseen knowledge, but because Allah says in the Quran, “So as for the chaff, it leaves in all direction, and as for that which benefits mankind, it stays on earth” [al-Ra`ad, 17]. These people were bankrupt in knowledge, bankrupt in manners, and bankrupt in being of any benefit to society. Their only contribution appeared to be in belittling the contribution of others and mocking their efforts.

While that group is now, for all practical purposes, wiped off the face of the earth, a more sinister group has taken their place. Their tactics are the same, but their mannerisms and accusations are worse. Rather than accuse others of being ‘deviant’ or ‘off the manhaj’, this new group, following directly in the footsteps of the Khawarij, accuse other Muslims of being hypocrites and disbelievers, government sell-outs and stooges. While they themselves cannot show an iota of positive contribution to the Ummah, they revel in heaping more and more accusations upon those who are actually striving to make a difference. Arm-chair critics against those activists who live in the same lands as they do, they act as cheerleaders for those in other lands who terrorize others in the name of the religion, all the while not seeing the irony of their pathetic situation. Whenever I converse with one of them, a strong sense of deja vu overtakes me. I have spoken to their ilk before, and advised their methodological descendants.

Far from awakening true Islamic spirit, all these groups can do is unleash the worst of manners and the most condescending of attitudes and the most arrogant of tones against people who are genuinely striving to make Muslims better Muslims. My advice to them, as it was to those before them, remains the same:

• Even if you believe you are ‘more rightly guided’ than others, do not make your entire religion a negation of ‘the other’. No ideology can flourish merely by critiquing others. Do something productive for the community instead of spending all your time criticizing those who are actually doing something productive.
• Realize that those whom you oppose might be sincere people, and if you have wronged them, you will be accountable on the Day of Judgment for those wrongs.
• Err on the side of caution; accusing someone of being a hypocrite is a grave sin, if you have nothing good to say, be silent, that is better for you.
• Realize that none of the senior activists of the West are supportive of your ideologies, even if you wish to claim one as your own. There are people who are more intimately familiar with those who cannot speak for themselves, and know first-hand that such people are supportive of the mainstream activists, and wish to dissociate from extremists and from supporters of groups that cause much evil and bloodshed on Earth.

There is much more to be said, but suffice to conclude by stating that the statement of Sh. Salman al-Oudah is a statement that I support 110 %. Sh. Salman is someone whom I know personally, and consider a mentor.

While I realize, having experienced the attitudes of the groups before them, that such statements rarely have any impact on the followers of such extremist ideologies (for their zealousness blinds them to anything outside of their limited understandings), I also realize that we have a responsibility to others, Muslims and non-Muslims, to publicly repudiate such extremist ideologies. It is for this reason that we at MuslimMatters proudly endorse this statement and publicly acknowledge this to be our stance as well.

NEW! Comments by Shaykh Tawfique Chowdhury

Those who have followed the events of recent decades will have noticed the rise of two distinct groups that are fighting for our hearts and minds – vastly different in their positions to the undiscerning eye, but extremely similar in their essence to the intelligent investigator. Like the Murjiah and Khawarij – differing against each other on their positions on Emaan but being similar in the fallacy that led to their differing positions – that of believing that emaan is a whole that does not subdivide nor can it increase or decrease. Today we have the modern version of these two groups that are struggling for our hearts and minds – the modernists calling for total assimilation, reinterpretation, reinvention, rediscovery and liberation from the purity of Islam to the freedom of ignorance vs the takfeeri jihadi cult of Al-Qaeda and those upon their beliefs calling for indiscriminate death and destruction. Though both are diametrically opposed in their positions – they are in fact nothing but two sides of the same coin! That coin being – perversion of the religion from its roots, ideals and traditional scholastic methodology of understanding the Quran and Sunnah. Both of them understand Islam through the same prism of perverted pseudo-scholarship and come to two very distinct conclusions. This is not scholarship. It is perversion, ignorance and distortion of the pristine traditional methodology of the scholars of Islam. The advice of every true scholar of our time and before has always been to be wary of following the paths of the two. And Allah says: “And likewise, we made you a nation on the middle path…”

There is no doubt to anyone that our Prophet was a Prophet of mercy. He was a Prophet that forbade in mutawatir ahadeeth to kill women and children. The Prophetic path of rectification is not to channel our anger at women and children, but at the actual perpetrator. There is no place for vigilantism in our religion. To consider this Jihad is not only a perversion but a clear fallacy. Even those scholars considered to be the sheikhs of the Mujahideen of today such as Abdullah Azzam rahimahullah as considered by some – were opposed to such acts of terrorism and vigilantism. So I advise those brothers and sisters who are persuaded by these thoughts or by these people – to reconsider and avoid a path that has no benefit.

I myself have seen numerous examples of mashaikh that have spent their time building the takfeeri jihadi tarbiyyah in their students. Never has this ever led to any good by Allah. These same mashaikh have had to become informants to security agencies to preserve their freedom, their students have been imprisoned after turning on their own mashaikh with takfeer and tafseeq, some of them have lost their lives and many now languish in prisons and their families cry night and day thinking about what went wrong. Others less serious in their levels of misguidance in this matter are plagued with extreme levels of negativity and have varying levels of antisocial personality disorder from the Muslim ummah in general and the greater society as a whole. They do little good and are responsible for little good that sustains the dawah movement today. They stand ready to meet every Islamic endeavour with scepticism and to perform verbal and literary jihad upon every attempt at revival and sustaining the momentum of our dawah. This is the path of deception and destruction.

On the contrary, I urge everyone to be the likes of our esteemed mashaikh of the past and encourage everyone to hear the message of our Sheikh Salman Al-Oudah for he speaks with knowledge, wisdom and deep experience in dealing with such people and such mentalities. The path of true success is that of orthodox traditional Islam upon the pure understanding of our great ulema may Allah preserve them.

And our last call is that all praise is for Allah the Lord of Mankind.

Talk Delivered by Shaykh Waleed at IlmFest 2009

In front of an audience of an estimated thousand Muslims in Baltimore at Ilmfest, Dr. Waleed Basyouni delivered a lecture titled “Reclaiming Islam from the Jihadists”.

The speech was featured in the Baltimore Sun newspaper,

Hundreds of Muslims went to the Baltimore Convention Center on Saturday to hear Basyouni and others promote what organizers described as a moderate, modern interpretation of Islam for the United States and the West. It was the opening day of Ilm Fest, an annual education conference previously staged in New York, Chicago and Toronto.

To download this lecture, click here

Aafia, Mariam, Suleman, Ahmad - from happier times

Link to Full Coverage of Dr. Aafia’s Ordeal

The following is a personal account by Dr. Aafia’s brother, Mohammad, content originally published at www.freeaafia.org

As we come to the celebration of Eid-al-Fitr of 2009, it is the 7th Eid we will celebrate without Aafia being among her friends and family. But we will celebrate. Not because we forget Aafia or because we abandon her but because there are many reasons to celebrate and to be thankful for God’s many, many blessings.

In some ways, for a long time, I could not get myself to see beyond the pain and stress of the whole saga of my sister disappearing with her three young children, and that too under such a notorious cloud of suspicion and innuendo. Celebrations or even allowing oneself to experience the simple pleasures of life seemed wrong and filled me with remorse. After all, Aafia and her children were denied these same treasures of family and friends that only freedom allows, and yet we all take for granted. So, for a long time I put myself in a mental prison with her even though it was neither productive nor therapeutic.

During the last year events have taken our whole family on such a phenomenal roller coaster ride of emotions and stress that I am amazed that we are all still here. Much of this has been played out in public and many of you have had a window into our journey. Aafia is still in a miserable place and it seems like the most powerful forces on earth are determined that she stays there. So many people come up and express sympathy but feel that we are fighting a lost cause – hoping in the face of a hopeless situation. Yet, I find reason to celebrate and have genuine hope.

One of the less publicized benefits of Ramadan is that it gives a person time to slow down and reflect. This month helped bring much into perspective. The break from the physical and mental flurry that has engulfed our family the last few months was put aside for long enough each day to give time to reflect and wonder why? – Why on earth did God do this to Aafia and us all? What did we do to deserve this? Where are the mercy and blessings of the Beneficent and Merciful God? And while I still do not know why, I do realize that there was no shortage of blessings. In fact, just as there has been so much pain that it numbs, there have also been so many blessings that they began to look routine even when some were nothing short of miraculous.

In 2003 when this nightmare began, we were isolated and “friends” began to desert us. Fear of job loss and persecution of our children was not mere speculation. We endured threats, warnings and separation of family. Then we had to mourn what we believed was the death of Aafia and her children – but we could only do so in private and in silence. Yet, God blessed us with relative safety and comfort. We learned that promises were cheap and courage and loyalty were rare. We learned to differentiate between a friend and an acquaintance. We learned to distinguish sincerity from opportunism and the painful lesson that trust is frequently misplaced.

Now, seven Eids later, we find that for each “friend” we lost, we were blessed with a multiple. Our isolation has been transformed into the support of thousands. We witnessed the miracle of resurrection as someone we believed dead was returned to life – not once but twice for us. That same Aafia who was once a pariah is now a unifying element for a whole nation. Her son, we were “guaranteed”, would spend the rest of his life in a US mental institution. Instead, he is living with family and recovering in a loving environment. This in itself would be enough to make one eternally grateful but God’s mercy did not stop here.

Twice during the past year alone, my mother was in critical condition and we were certain she would pass from us without seeing Aafia. Yet, she has recovered significantly. Whether she is destined to see Aafia free, only God knows.

On multiple occasions, supporters were cautioned to back off, but the result somehow was increased momentum. When newspapers were advised to reduce coverage, TV stations stepped in. When banners were discouraged, songs appeared. I cannot explain any of this except as God’s blessing to have brought out people we neither knew nor had the means to employ. What is even more remarkable is that the support has grown to include a broad spectrum of political, ethnic and social cross section of people – from the religious to the secular; from the poor to the elite; from the right wing to the left.

Then, just two months ago, when Aafia’s fate seemed sealed in a US courtroom, and our family was struggling to raise sufficient funds to retain decent lawyers for Aafia, the Pakistani government did something they have never done before for an ordinary citizen. They retained a team of lawyers to pursue a serious defense for Aafia. It was the sincere efforts and prayers of people like many who will read this that resulted in this historic commitment. People set aside differences to join together for a common cause. And we got proof that indeed if we do our part with sincerity, God does His part. This historic act, whatever the motivation, was surprising to the point of shock, even to us.

But as I reflected on this month, it really should not be a shock. For one thing we have experienced in our ordeal is that we too have undervalued and underestimated our heritage and people. It has become too common and acceptable to belittle and dismiss Pakistan and its society as corrupt, callous and self destructive. While there is much to justify these attributes, we also discovered the spirit of the people of Pakistan, their generosity, their passion, their frustration and their desire for peace, respect and dignity. Most of all, we were touched by the hunger for something around which to unify and regain a sense of pride as a nation. And we were humbled when our Aafia became one such symbol.

I have focused largely on the public events only because many of you have been witness to these and can testify to them. There have been many other things for which we are grateful but these will have to remain private for the time being.

To conclude, I would say that while a month of reflection has not answered why we have had to endure this ordeal, three important lessons have become obvious:

1. Recognizing that freedom, family, sincere friends and health are the greatest treasures God has given us. Transforming that recognition into life’s priorities is a challenge we must face every day of our lives.
2. An intimate understanding of why despair is a sin.
3. God’s help does come but not unless one makes every human effort first. And when it does, God does indeed work in mysterious ways and often what we think is good for us is not and what we dread turns out to have unexpected benefits.

With these lessons, I will think of Aafia even more. Not as someone who brought difficulty into our lives but as someone who has helped us, in an odd way, put our priorities into perspective. And while this does not gain her freedom or ease her pain, all the events I have recounted and lessons learned are what give me reason to hope. To hope that one day, God willing, our journey will come to a happy destination and be a source for joy and hope rather than sadness and despair.

My God Bless You

I am angry right now. Really angry.

Today, terrorists further proved to the world why they need to be eliminated and why this threat from the scums of the earth needs to be forever removed.

I resent these animals. I resent all terrorist organizations whose cowardly modus operandi is to attack civilians and non-combatants, because they are not brave enough to stand up and take a bite out of REAL men. I was angry when the Israeli army used (and continues to use) the same tactics, and I find it no different when “our own” terrorists do exactly the same. It is time to call a spade, a SPADE. So, I resent and condemn whoever sent these terrorists to carry out this dastardly attack, whichever god-forsaken outfit it may be.

I ALSO resent those who continue to defend these thugs, those who continue to exalt jihad without giving it full justice (i.e. relating all the nuances and the forbidden forms of it), and those who do not take a second look at the animals that the perverted form of this jihad is creating. While these “super-jihadis” jump to attack injustice by the West (rightfully), they free themselves from even mentioning the crimes against humanity that these terrorists continue to commit! This includes lay keyboard jihadists who spend day and night exalting terrorism, because in their perverted brains, killing innocent civilians is somehow justifiable.

Yes, bad things are happening all over the world, but by attacking symbols of normalcy, guests from a visiting country (Sri Lanka) who were doing the tour as a make-up for the Indian team’s cancellation (in retrospect a wise decision though what a shame for for India to exploit this tragedy), these terrorists want to “bring it on”. Well, then give it to them!

I don’t want the home of my parents, the country of my birth, to be over-run by terrorists. I don’t want extremists to shut down and destroy girls’ schools, for instance. I don’t want them to overrun law and order, and government institutions to implement what they THINK is sharia; regardless of any good intentions. Because destroying girls’ schools is not shariah. This is not Afghanistan where there is a vacuum of state actors. This is Pakistan (even despite our horrible leaders).

I am angry, and I think after this incident, because of the symbolism of cricket in Pakistan (I was an avid player so I know), many, many average Pakistanis will be angry. And I hope they will funnel this energy and anger to look into themselves first, join all forces of good against terrorism, and also work towards implementing leadership that isn’t tainted.

We are getting what we are getting in Pakistan, because we deserve it, but at least spare the guests! When we allow crooks to lead the “pure” nation (fountainhead of corruption being Zardari), then the terrorists will exploit. When our society becomes devoid of justice, then Allah will send the punishment in all types and forms, and these terrorists are indeed a form of punishment. We are also getting the mess that Musharraf left (such as Zardari- the poison that keeps giving), and how he left the country in total disarray. Yes,  some of the blame goes to the Western nations who supported that dictator and who now support Zardari, because of short-term interests (that will also backfire). But let’s focus on OUR OWN. The more we keep pointing fingers elsewhere, the more we will escape the reality of the evil within. And who will get hurt ultimately: the average Mohammed on the Pakistani street.

Some will raise the possibility of an inside-job. Since the terrorists escaped, only Allah knows who they were. But we KNOW that there are Muslims who are indeed capable of such, and who glorify such; so while anything is possible, we should not let conspiracy theories divert our attention. The issues of extremism and terrorism will not go away if we continue to live in la-la land that someone else is doing this. Who else would do this in Pakistan, when only a few hundred miles away, terrorists are indeed active.

My sympathies and prayers for all the Sri Lankan players (understandably still in shock). Thank you, Sri Lankan team, for coming to Pakistan, despite the threats. You know about terrorism better than anyone else (with the Tamil Tigers). It is the scourge that has to be defeated, wherever it rears its ugly head.

And my condolences and prayers for the police heroes who died protecting their guests. May Allah forgive their sins and give them solace in their graves and the hereafter.

And I also pray that the shameless cowardly terrorist thugs, whoever they are, should be brought to justice, and every bit of justice extracted against them.

And finally some food for thought, with all the imperfections of the USA, who wants to go to Pakistan now (courtesy Hassan)? This is the state of our Ummah, let’s recognize it.

See Also:

• Gunmen remain at large with video @ Guardian
• Video: Raid targets cricket players @ Al Jazeera
  
• Lahore assault casts long shadow
• Cricket: A timeline of terror @ Dawn
• Reactions: Attack on Sri Lanka cricket team

DIGG Link

Editor’s Note: Please note that the Shaykh has requested a tight control of comments. Criticism is always acceptable on these pages, but if it turns into rude or derogatory comments, it will be immediately removed.

As the Director-General of Mercy Mission and AlKauthar Institute, which now has over 14 instructors and over 50 courses running in 10 countries in 5 continents, the safety and travel convenience of the Institute’s instructors are serious considerations for me. We can prepare proficiently for the classes, market them, fill the class with hundreds of registered students, but a simple visa or entry issue into a country for an instructor can destroy all this good, and can destroy dawah organizations in the eyes of the unforgiving Muslim communities. Recently a couple of extremely well known speakers, very popular in the dawah scene around the world, were not allowed to come to Australia because they were accused of being ‘wahhabi’!

I am sure everyone realizes the systematic attempt by a variety of lobby groups these days to discredit Muslim speakers, daees and mashaikh in an attempt to close avenues of dawah by these people of knowledge. Scholars and speakers alike are being harmed and negatively portrayed in the media, wherein the underlying argument seems to be that Islam is the problem and so those who preach Islam are the main un-indicted co-conspirators in extremism and terrorism. Based on this, some categories of Muslims speakers and preachers are supported by anti-extremism programs and shown to be the more tolerant and acceptable versions of Islam and everyone else is portrayed as an aberrant wahhabi!

This dangerous escalation needs to be challenged.

An alternative argument that is the more logical and the more in conformity with reality must be presented, which is that Muslim scholars are natural allies of the West, specifically in fighting extremism and terrorism. Islam and its knowledge and education must be allowed to flourish if extremism is to be curtailed and removed.

Along these lines, I gave a talk at a dinner organized by the Muslim Council of Wales, which was attended by some of the nation’s top anti-terrorism chiefs and prevention of extremism experts. It was delivered in early December 2008 in the city of Cardiff, UK. My goal was to present the intellectual side of the argument that Muslim scholars should not be harmed in their work. Note that the lecture was delivered after the 26/11/08 incidents in Mumbai and before the recent Gaza events – so reference is only drawn to the Mumbai events.

As the Gaza events and decades of horror in Muslim lands have shown, terrorism is not an Islamic monopoly. However, what should be of concern to Muslims – is not that ‘islamic terrorism’ is a contradiction in terms, but rather that the term is and has been coined and is being used widely. So rather than use this opportunity to correct people’s understanding as to how broad based terrorism really is, I chose to focus on an achievable outcome that was more important given the limited opportunity and time. So before you read the below, remember the audience, the desired outcome, and the gravity of the problem and the danger that lies ahead for Islamic speakers and instructors.

And before some self-righteous individual paints my actions as being done in fear, know this: I did not deliver this lecture with nifaq and hypocrisy in my heart, rather with absolute izzah and honour and passion and conviction and arguing for our right to preach our pristine and pure religion.

I acknowledge the help of my friends Amir Butler, Dr Salman Qureshi and a couple of other unnamed close friends from UK, who gave me invaluable advice in preparing for this lecture:

__________________

[Opening: for 2 minutes, speak in Bengali or another language that the audience doesn’t understand]

Ladies and Gentlemen,Did you understand that? No?

Now you can understand the ineffectiveness of our prevention strategies if we do not speak the language of extremism and use the right people and the right vehicles to address its perverted ideology.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the recent incidents in Mumbai only a few days ago, are a testament to the fact that we have not been successful in our war on terror. We cannot with any degree of certainty say that we are safer today than we were yesterday. Terrorism continues to draw fresh recruits, more determined and well trained than before and unleashing a wave of fear and uncertainty in the hearts of all humanity.

However, the greatest tragedy from this is not the loss of human life, but to the reality to which I wish to draw your attention to today. It is, that the war on terror has feathered the arrows of terrorists around the around, just like the eagle in Aesop’s Fables. Aesop, the slave and story teller of ancient Greece writes: An Eagle was soaring through the air when suddenly it heard the whiz of an Arrow, and felt itself wounded to death. Slowly it fluttered down to the earth, with its life-blood pouring out of it. Looking down upon the Arrow with which it had been pierced, it found that the shaft of the Arrow had been feathered with one of its own plumes. “Alas!” it cried, as it died, “We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is certainly true about the manner in which the west has waged its war on Terror. In the mistaken equation of terrorism with mainstream Islam and denigrating it with labels of radical or fundamental, the war on terror has sidelined and marginalized one of its greatest allies – Independent Islamic Scholarship. Worse still, the war on terror has failed to recognize that those that we have come to call fundamental Muslim scholars are precisely those that have long been fighting the war on terror – long before September 11 and long before the Gulf War. For example, the former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia was of the opinion that hijacking airplanes was “an extremely great crime” and that it was obligatory on governments and scholars alike “to exert themselves as much as possible in ending this evil.” The Grand Mufti also condemned the ‘Jamaa’atul-Jihaad’, a terrorist group, saying “they are to be cut off from, and the people are to be warned against their evil since they are a tribulation and are harmful to the Muslims, and they are the brothers of Satan.” The present Grand Mufti was quoted to have said about the September 11 incidents: “It is nothing but oppression and tyranny.” There are also numerous such quotes from the Grand Muftis of various countries. These are not sophisticated PR campaigns – rather, they are verdicts spoken in the language that the people would understand, in those media channels that the right group would tune into and understand.

I ask you the question: Why alienate the message of such people? Why not use these Muslim scholars that are credible in the eyes of the Muslim masses to achieve the common goal of prevention?

Ladies and Gentlemen, hundreds of years before the anti-terrorism policies of the West, approximately 1400 years ago, Muslims were fighting the intellectual battles that terrorism presented in the battle between the Khawarij of the past and companions of the Prophet. This continued throughout the ages – where independent Muslim scholars presented the best defense against distorted terrorist ideologies. Today, this is also seen in the manner in which Saudi Arabia has tackled their terrorism problems by putting independent credible Muslim scholars at the forefront in the intellectual battle for disproving terrorism. By equating these Muslim scholars representing orthodox Islam with religious extremism, the war on terror will lose its greatest ally in this long drawn saga.

If we make a search for the causes of extremism and terrorism, some suggestions come to light, such as social injustice or terrorist ideation or political disenfranchisement. But not all people who suffer from these disillusionments become terrorists. The stronger argument is that these conditions are merely the fertile plain, but the common pathway or the motivating context for raising terrorists is through ideological persuasion. It is this ideological distortion that is the cause of extremism and violence perpetrated in the name of Islam, and it is best tackled by those who are the most qualified to deal with it.

The best strategy for prevention is to dismantle terrorist ideologies using the same Quran and the same narrations of the prophet that are misunderstood by them. This is a task that can only be accomplished by established independent credible Muslim scholars. The war on terror therefore is as much a war on ignorance and misguidance, as much as it is a war against the terrorists themselves. Modern anti terrorism strategies need to do more to tackle the greatest draw card for extremism – that of the terrorist ideology. This is an intellectual academic war before it is a battle with bullets and bombs. Who better to fight the war than Muslim scholars who:

• Speak the language and refer to the same evidences and jurisprudential sources
• Those who understand the textual distortions that led to extremist ideology
• Those who can dismantle the misunderstanding and the deviated logic
• Who are themselves pinnacles of goodness and mercy to all men and women – whether Muslim or not.
• Those who uphold the common shared values that both the Islamic and Western civilizations agree to.
• Those who appreciate that we can all live together with understanding and tolerance.

To illustrate my point, allow me to share with you the example of 2 simple arguments frequently used by terrorists to justify their deviation:

• For example, how would you respond to a young man who says – how can I be a good citizen of a country that is one of the very nations committing acts of violence in Muslim lands? They continue: Rather, their participation in the wars on Muslim lands is a testament to the fact that we are in a situation of war with them.
  • So how could we address this?
  • What could we do to refute this mistaken argument?
  • Who better to argue this than Muslim scholars who can tackle this on the same grounds?

• Another example, how would you respond to an extremist that says – you want us to integrate, but how can I integrate with a society that has so many social ills?  Rather, the people of vices were destroyed by God, so should those of today.
  • So who better to address this argument than through Muslim scholars?
  • Who better to clarify the correct way to view this matter?

So who are these independent Muslim scholars?

They are scholars from the broad spectrum of Muslims possessing authentic religious credentials that support the prevention of terror and extremism. They are not adherents to one specific brand of Islam, belonging to this or that group – rather any scholar and every scholar that supports the prevention of terror and is working towards defusing any such tension. For America, 7 years of fighting terror around the world and conflating orthodox Islam with fundamentalism and terrorism – with little progress – truly demonstrates that alienation of key allies in the ideological battle ground is a costly mistake. It is imperative that we avoid this mistake as we look for a fresh strategy to tackling terrorism and its challenges into the future. There should be an active attempt to identify scholars from the broad spectrum of Muslim groups that support the cause.

The US Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr in his address to the Pacific Council on International Diplomacy to the American Academy of Diplomacy on Oct 4, 2007 remarks in his speech entitled: “Diplomacy in the Age of Terror” says:

We must stop inadvertently undermining the efforts of mainstream Muslims to oppose our common enemies and to expose these enemies as the deranged and immoral fanatics they are. Our ignorant and blundering equation of terrorism with Islam has overshadowed and impeded their efforts to regain control of their own moral space. To help them do so, we must restore respectful relationships with Muslim scholars and the governments they advise. Only then can we work with them to discredit Al Qaeda’s aberrant doctrines.

In our natural preoccupation with American suffering on 9/11 or on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, we often forget that Al Qaeda’s aim is the overthrow of what it calls “the near enemy” – the Saudi monarchy and the Egyptian government – and that its attacks on us – “the far enemy” – are merely a means to that end. The successful vilification of Saudi Arabia and newly disparaging attitudes toward Egypt as well as the rise of “Islamophobia” in our politics represent major victories for Al Qaeda. They are defeats for our natural allies against the novel and perverted interpretations of Islam that Al Qaeda purveys. They are therefore setbacks for us. We need to rebuild key alliances in the Arab and Muslim worlds that the diplomatic reductionism of “either with us or against us” has destroyed.

Fourth, we need to work with these allies to intercept and rehabilitate those tempted onto the road to terrorism and to help them to return to the straight path of Islam. Saudi Arabia has created a very successful program to do this; it is now helping the United Kingdom apply its program of religious rectification in British prisons. Enabling the misguided to reject the perverted and immoral religious interpretations they have mistakenly accepted is the key to preventing would-be recruits to terrorism from actually engaging in it. Islam is not the problem. In this context, it is the answer.

If this is clear, then I propose a more proactive, collaborative strategy for dealing with extremist ideology.

Firstly:

I propose that Muslim scholars that are credible in the eyes of mainstream Muslim populations – and not only those scholars who come from a particular viewpoint – be used to educate the masses. Our anti terrorism strategy should be to build – theological resilience within the Muslim youth. Such a clear focused program would develop the necessary firmness in susceptible sections of the community towards distorted ideology. There is therefore a deep need for establishing a concerted medium for education that aims to build this inner resilience in our people.

My own attempts at educating young Muslims worldwide in 5 continents, has been through an organization that I started called: AlKauthar Institute. AlKauthar provides tertiary level weekend courses in 5 countries and 10 cities with a combined base of over 6500 students. We provide professional intensive courses on a wide variety of Islamic topics. My main aim is to educate and enrich people’s lives through knowledge. Such a comprehensive application of Islamic knowledge will build resilience in these students, inoculating them and achieving natural herd immunity against extremism and terrorism.

Secondly:

I suggest the countering of media hostilities against mainstream Muslim organizations, since it plays directly into the hands of extremists and makes the moral position of these same organizations that are proactive in fighting terrorism – all the more difficult. I suggest the formation of a concerted marketing campaign to help push out the key messages of independent Muslim scholars to the vulnerable sections of society. Since the war on terror has been a very visual and digitally laid campaign, the best way to counter this is with a profile based marketing campaign that gets the right message to the right person at the right time. A mass media campaign to general Muslim public would not be very successful since 99% of the Muslim population is not interested in terrorism and not directly drawn to it. It should be targeted at the most vulnerable sections of society. With modern technology at our disposal these days, we can ensure that proactive positive messages can reach the right people.

Thirdly:

I suggest that a strategy be developed to engage the average Muslim towards becoming proactive participants in their community. This can be achieved through an emphasis on knowledge followed by a focus on engaging them in their local problems. A person that has ownership of their society and community will never act in contravention of that trust. I call for the support of grass roots Muslim organizations that are proactively working to build ownership of community issues.

My own attempts at establishing such a program is through a grass roots community development organization which I founded in Australia, UK and now in Canada and is hoping to open elsewhere. This organization is called Mercy Mission. The vision is to achieve a world whereby Muslims can live faithfully to their religion and where by their beautiful example, humanity appreciates the beauty of Islam. Our intention is to create Muslims that are pious, confident, self sufficient and self less back to their greater community. The strategy is to channel the thousands of students of AlKauthar worldwide, into a proactive program of helping develop their community. Our central projects are “MyNeighbours” project which aim to achieve social cohesion by energizing the average Muslim, Water conservation projects, Energy efficient Mosques projects, Health awareness projects, Islamic awareness programs for training police and security personnel in Muslim sensitivity training, Muslim scouts, Muslim community financial cooperatives – the aim being to engage Muslims in all walks of life into those projects that build ownership of their community – the aim being to defuse any attempts at disturbing the peace and harmony that such projects will create and turn the average Muslim into a contributing citizen of their religious fraternity as well as country.

Fourthly:

Muslims have a long history in Wales and Cardiff where Muslim migrants settled in previously. Utilizing the principles that we have put forward tonight, this is yet another opportunity to make Cardiff the centre of excellence in addressing the problems of extremism. Both London and Glasgow have experienced terrorist incidents – let us use every avenue and every opportunity to reduce any possibility of violent extremism in Cardiff.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Islam is a religion of peace and enough is history – world history over the past 1000 years a proof of this fact. Terrorism and extremism is not a result of attachment to Islam, rather it is entirely due to a long seated detachment from it! The earlier that we realize this point, the better we can all prepare to cooperate and collaborate in making this world a safer place for us and our children.

I thank God for this opportunity to share these words with you and my deepest regrets for any inconveniences for the delay in my arrival.

Tawfique Chowdhury
Director General
AlKauthar Institute and Mercy Mission
3rd December 2008

Less than two weeks ago, we condemned the deaths of hundreds of innocent lives, lives of Muslims, Hindus, Jews and Christians, who were ruthlessly murdered by terrorists in Mumbai. And today, we continue to mourn the unjustifiable bloodshed.

Those of you who follow my writings are quite aware that I am not much of a conspiracy theorist; I tend to believe in facts. I take stories and incidents for what is apparent of them, unless there is some strong and reliable evidence to show otherwise.

Ever since the Mumbai terrorist shootings, all sorts of rumors and conspiracy theories have been flying around in emails. Many centered around the killing of Hemant Karkare, widely praised for his discipline and integrity, who was the chief of the Maharashtra Anti-terrorism squad and who led the investigation into the Sept 29 blast which was later revealed to be the work of Hindutva supporters. Doubts were raised with regards to the suspicious circumstances of his death, and the possibility of him having been targeted for his expose.

Some of the conspiracy emails have been circulated by Muslims, who refuse to believe that fellow Muslims could do such a thing. While I appreciate the sentiment that Muslims “truly” acting upon their religion would not do such a thing, we have to recognize that Muslims don’t always represent or act upon their religion correctly (which is no different from other religions and their adherents); in fact, I would say that Muslims are more often than not, awful representatives of their beautiful religion, which has led some to say that Islam is the best religion with the worst followers! So, the recognition that there are those amongst us who use religion for their vile purposes is an important one. We cannot believe that every Muslim involved in terrorism is planted, or a RAW/MOSSAD/CIA agent. Otherwise, we will never move forward with correction and cure.

Back to the emails: most of the conspiracy emails have actually been circulated by people who are not Muslims, whether they be Indian leftists of Hindu background, Sikhs, or others; an indication of a healthy and vibrant discussion that centers on the crime and not on hype. And while some of the discussions were compelling in terms of the kind of “benefit” that this type of terrorism provides the Hindu extremists in India (esp. the BJP and VHP types), I refused to give them much credibility in light of the apparent and “official” version.

This started to change when this “official” and credible AP news story came through yesterday, which reportsthe arrest of 2 men in Mumbai who provided direct assistance to the terrorists. Normally these arrests would sound like a boon for Indian security agencies. But then the bomb-shell hit: one of the arrested men turns out to be an undercover Kashmiri police officer:

Senior police officers in Indian Kashmir, which has been at the heart of tensions between India and Pakistan, demanded the release of the officer, Mukhtar Ahmed, saying he was one of their own and had been involved in infiltrating Kashmiri militant groups.

Now, let’s rewind a bit to the 9/11 attacks: imagine if a NYPD officer had directly provided phone SIM cards, or some other form of direct assistance to the 9/11 hijackers. Imagine how that story would reverberate and send shock-waves through the entire American security syndicate, and the media would be all over it. But unfortunately, Indian officials and perhaps the media (esp. the Indian media), are so insistent at only one angle to the story, that they are not treating this story for the significant implications it possesses.

Back to the story then, we have to remember that the terrorists heavily relied on cell-phones, and other gadgetry to coordinate their murderous spree.

Once the coordinated attacks began, the terrorists were on their cell phones constantly. They used BlackBerries “to monitor international reaction to the atrocities, and to check on the police response via the internet,” the Courier Mail reports.  [Wired]

Thus, cell-phone capability was a source of direct and significant material support that was provided by an undercover police officer, with perhaps a large axe to grind:

Police said Ahmed [the undercover officer] was recruited to the force after his brother was killed five years ago, allegedly by Lashkar-e-Taiba militants for being a police informer.

This is being denied by another officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity (in the same AP report), who also insists:

“Sometimes we use our men engaged in counterinsurgency ops to provide SIM cards to the (militant) outfits so that we track their plans down,” said the officer.

While that sounds generally like a reasonable counter-insurgency technique, there is a bigger issue here: If indeed the SIM cards were part of counterinsurgency ops to track militant plans down, then how is that Mr. Ahmed, the undercover police officer, missed such a complex and significant operation by terrorists who had SIM cards provided through him?

I believe the AP report raises several questions and further doubts about the entire investigation and whether the ill-trained security forces (as the Indian people and Indian press have been decrying) would be able to thoroughly examine all the ins and outs of this attack and bring the “right” people to full justice for the heinous crimes committed in Mumbai :

The implications of Ahmed’s involvement — that Indian agents may have been in touch with the militants and perhaps supplied the SIM cards used in the attacks — added to the growing list of questions over India’s ill-trained security forces, which are widely blamed for not thwarting the attacks.

My only purpose with this post was to bring to light revelations that have been reported by the credible AP News. It is difficult to blame the skeptics who are no doubt emboldened by this news. While it may be reasonable for these skeptics to raise questions and the “smell” of an inside job, we must always be cautious about any conclusions, especially around complex operations and investigations such as around this attack. Also there is an array of open questions and possibilities about the undercover police officer:

1. He may have turned “rogue” himself, and may have been motivated by his own brother’s murder to create this conspiracy that undoubtedly hurts the Kashmiri outfits in terms of world image and support.
2. He may have not recognized or realized the full potential of those he was supporting. In other words, it got “out of control” really fast. Overconfidence could have been a factor.
3. His contribution may only have been limited to providing the SIM cards, as part of “routine” counterinsurgency, with the rest of the entire operation being not an inside-job.

As a Pakistani-American, I do believe that there are rogue and undisciplined actors within Pakistan’s security agencies. But after these revelations, I hope that Indians too will be open to the possibility of rogue and undisciplined actors within India’s security apparatus. If the intention is truly to get to the bottom of the attack, then the only way to do that is to leave prejudicial and biased arguments aside, and focus on the crimes and the trails that led to the crime. And I think most Indians (and the rest of the world) are also interested in a completely transparent investigations. But with so much at stake, a question on the minds of many people will be whether with the anger surrounding the attacks will allow for neutral and fair investigation. We sure hope so.

We also should remember that this police-officer’s involvement does not free the terrorists (and those directly responsible in the planning and training of the attacks) of the responsibility for the many lives they unjustly took. Inside job or not, those who carried out this plan should have had their own conscience and moral grounding to recognize the severe consequence of their actions.

We pray and hope that those responsible and still alive, will be brought back to full justice and given the severest of punishments. And as for those terrorists that died in the rampage, all I can say for them is that they leave with the most wicked of deeds on their scales, after committing one of the gravest sins a Muslim can ever commit (multiple times),as this verse states:

“Whoever kills a person [unjustly]… it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind.” (Qur’an, 5:32)

See Also:

• Ahmed Bedier addresses the Mumbai terrorism (part one and two).
• As the Fires Die: The Terror of the Aftermath
• Washington Arrogance Has Fomented a Muslim Revolution

Photo Credit: AP

Pls DIGG & Stumbleupon Story. Do YOUR part!

As we have been hearing, terrorists have created havoc in Mumbai, India, killing over 80 160 people and injuring over 250300, according to the latest reports.

Photos of the carnage, of a child, of women and men grieving, paint a gloomy picture of this tragic operation by terrorists, hell-bent upon death and destruction for some vile purpose (see video and photos below).

Fingers are pointing to radical Muslims (not unsurprisingly since that is almost always the first reaction by Indian government officials), but there has been no official confirmation. Regardless of who was involved, the people who carried these attacks out are animals, with little sense of humanity or morality.

As Muslims, we condemn such senseless carnage against innocent civilians, wherever it may occur. This goes against the fundamental spirit of Islam, which promotes a culture of life and humanity, not bloodshed and violence. And another example of why extremist ideology, whatever that ideology may be, needs to be refuted and condemned.

“Whoever kills a person [unjustly]… it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind.” (Qur’an, 5:32)

Today, we join all Indians in expressing our outrage and our condemnation of this senseless spilling of innocent blood.

May Allah grant patience to the victims of terrorism, and may He extract full justice against the perpetrators.

Any eye-witness accounts or updates are welcome. We would like to especially hear from any Indians in Mumbai to share some of the feelings of people on the ground.

Note: Any distasteful comments or comments that try to justify such heinous crimes will be moderated. There is a time to talk about injustice (like government brutality in Kashmir), but never to be conflated with other injustice. Because injustice can never be returned with injustice. Allah is Just, and Muslims are commanded to be just in all our actions and speech.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Photos credit AP, Reuters