“The imprisoned Islamic cleric thought to be a guiding force behind the Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah warned that all Muslim countries with close ties to the United States were targets for attack.
“‘As long as Muslim countries have close ties or support the U.S. government or U.S. policy, [they] will be threatened by a Muslim militant attack,’ said Abu Bakar Bashir, as he sat on the rough floor of the Salemba Prison, the Jakarta prison where he has been held for the past year.
“‘Indonesia, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and some Mideast countries,’ were all potential targets, the 66-year-old, white-bearded cleric told The Washington Times.”
Wait a minute. We have just been hearing about Muslims being angry with Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia because their recent attacks killed other Muslims. So how could Abu Bakar Bashir actually issue a warning to Muslim countries? Because they have joined forces with the kuffar, the unbelievers. One manual of Islamic law stipulates: “Muslims may not seek help from non-Muslim allies unless the Muslims are considerably outnumbered and the allies are of goodwill towards the Muslims” (‘Umdat al-Salik, o9.7).
In the view of Abu Bakar Bashir and others who share his perspective, neither of these conditions have been met in the war on terror. So America’s Muslim allies, whatever the genuineness of their commitment to this cause, are fair game. They have sided with non-Muslims against Muslims, and so are hellbound: “If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein forever” (Sura 4:93).