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Jihad in Iraq: the New York Times Interview

Dec 6, 2003 9:21 am By Robert Spencer

“We want the world to know that Bush, the biggest criminal of all, and Blair, that monkey of the desert, will not be able to control the Iraqis. We will not allow them to kill Iraqis. I am speaking before God, on my behalf and that of the other mujahedeen.”

This quote comes from a New York Times interview with a mujahid, a jihad warrior, in Iraq.

The Times explains: “His choice of the word ‘mujahedeen’ was perhaps one of the most telling details about what this insurgency would like to be.

“The word means ‘holy warrior,’ and for many Muslims it connotes brave struggles against occupiers over centuries, against the crusaders a millennium ago or against the Russians in Afghanistan a mere two decades ago. These resisters would like that honorable title bestowed on them. The recruiting leaflets the American military says were found here called for Iraqis to join them on a ‘jihad,’ or holy war, against the Americans “” prompting a large United States military raid on the town this week.”

It’s not just a connotation, it’s a law. As I explain in Onward Muslim Soldiers, the schools of Islamic jurisprudence all teach that it’s the duty of every Muslim to wage defensive jihad against invaders. This is how radical Muslims worldwide are framing America’s presence in Iraq.

Nevertheless, the Times continues on its oblivious way, refusing to acknowledge what it is in the process of telling us: “It was hard to pin down any single motive for the fighter here, who said he served in the Iraqi Army for six years, ending in 1998, and who gave the nickname ‘Fighter for the Sake of God.‘ In compact and articulate answers, the man seemed a fanatic neither for God nor for Mr. Hussein.

All right. He’s not a fanatic for “Mr. Hussein,” since he says: “We are not fighting for Saddam.” However, where is the evidence that his fanaticism isn’t religious? He goes on to say: “We are fighting for freedom and because the Americans are Jews. . . . The religious principle is that we cannot accept to live with infidels. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be on him, said, `Hit the infidels wherever you find them.’ We are also a tribal people. We cannot allow strangers to rule over us.”

What he represents as a saying of Muhammad is actually the Qur’an’s “Verse of the Sword”: “Slay the unbelievers wherever you find them . . .” (Sura 9:5). (Thanks to LGF.)

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