The most notorious hijacking of all, of course, may not be the ones Muhammad Atta and Co. pulled off on 9/11, but the hijacking of Islam itself, the Religion of Peace, that the mainstream media, Left and Right, takes for granted as having happened.
And here, in his recent message to the people of Pakistan, Osama bin Laden is at it again, offering copious Qur'an quotes -- as if challenging peaceful Muslims to demonstrate that he is misusing the Islamic book. Why don't they take up the challenge? This is the way Osama and his counterparts make recruits among Muslims. This is what peaceful Muslims need to counter. But instead, they call people who point out that the jihadists do this "Islamophobes," and that is that.
"Come To Jihad, To The People Of Pakistan," by Osama bin Laden, translated from Urdu by Ahmed Al-Marid in Jihad Unspun (thanks to Morgaan Sinclair):
All praise is due to Allah, we praise him and seek his aid and forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evil in ourselves and from our bad deeds. He whom Allah guides cannot lead astray, and he who is led astray cannot be guided. I bear witness that there is no God other than Allah alone, without partners and I bear witness that Muhammad is his slave and messenger.To proceed:
To My Muslim Brothers In Pakistan:
Allah the Most High says:
“O prophet! Strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be harsh against them. Their abode is hell, and an evil destination it is.” Quran 9:73
And the messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, says, “There is no one who abandons a Muslim in a place where his honor is violated and his sanctity is infringed upon except that Allah, the most high abandons him in a place in which he would like his aid. And there is no one who aids a Muslim in a place where his honor is violated and his sanctity is infringed upon except that Allah aids him in a place in which he would like his aid.”(Narrated by Ahmed)
Pervez’s invasion of Lal Masjid in city of Islam, Islamabad, is a bad event similar to the crime of the Hindus in their invasion and destruction of the Babri Masjid. And this event has crucial and significant connotations, most important of which are:
First, this event demonstrated Musharraf’s insistence on continuing his loyalty, submissiveness and aid to America against the Muslims, and this is one of ten nullifiers of Islam as the people of knowledge have determined and makes armed rebellion against him and removing him obligatory.
Allah the Most High says:
“O you who believe! Take not the Jews and Christians for your friends and protectors: they are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily Allah guides not a people unjust.” Quran 5:51
And his statement “And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them” means that he is one of them in kufr (unbelief), as the people of tafseer (explanation) have said. This ruling was the one given and confirmed by Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, may Allah have mercy on him, in his famous fatwa following the raids on New York, and among the things he said: “If any ruler of an Islamic state provides aid to an infidel state in its aggression against the Islamic states, it is the legal obligation of the Muslims to remove him from power and consider him to be legally a traitor to Islam and Muslims.”
Bin Laden goes on to quote Quran 9:65-66; 33:19; 51:56; 8:39; 54:43; 33:36; 4:84; and 9:87-88. In the course of doing so he makes these assertions:
Pervez threw away the cause of Kashmir and restrained those fighting to liberate it, in accordance with the wishes of the Hindus and the Nazarenes....So I tell the soldiers who perform the Salaat (prayer) in the military organs; you must resign from your jobs and enter into Islam and disassociate yourself from Pervez and his shirk (polytheism). Some of the munafiqeen [hypocrites] among the Ulema of vice and others may say that Islam orders to stay together and people to unite with the army and government to stand in the face of enemies and avoid fitnah (strife). I say; the one who says this is creating lies about Allah. The government and army have become enemies of the Ummah [Islamic community], after becoming a weapon in the hands of the kuffaar [unbelievers] against the Muslims. And they refuse to rule by the religion of Islam in all of life’s affairs, like politics, economy, social life and other matters. Allah has ordered these and their like to be fought, not to be united with and hung onto, as those hypocrites claim.
Allah the Most High says:
“And fight them until there’s no fitnah (polytheism) and religion is wholly for Allah.” Quran 8:39
So if someone of the religion is for Allah and some of it is for other than Allah, fighting is obligatory to make the religion entirely for Allah, the most high....
Fighting in Allah’s path is an act of worship, and it is based on sacrifice of selves. Muslim blood is spilled and poured to protect the religion which only reached us after his (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) cusped tooth was broken, his head cut open and his noble face bloodied and after the blood of best of people like Mus’ab, Zaid and Ja’far (with who Allah was pleased) was poured out. This is the path so follow it. The people have forgotten the path of victory, they think it comes easily or without blood running. Where is the Jihad of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him?
Invocations of Muhammad's example, explanations of traditional Islamic theology, quotes from the Qur'an. When I point all this out, people like to say, "See? He endorses bin Laden!" But that is just a cheap rhetorical dodge. It assumes that peaceful Muslims have a ready, Qur'anically based, Islamically sound reply to this argument -- a reply which I am ignoring. Well, I don't want to ignore it. I'd love to see it. Ibrahim Hooper? Akbar Ahmed? Anyone? Anyone?
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Finally, the muslim says something I agree with:
"we seek refuge in Allah from the evil in ourselves and from our bad deeds."