In the Name of Almighty Allah Most Beneficent, Most Merciful

Assalamualaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu

Al-Hamdu Lillaahi Rabbil 'Aalameen was-Salaatu was-Salaamu 'alaa Asrafil Anbiyaa'e wal Mursaleen.  Wa Ba'd:

Ongoing Muslim Suffering

By Abdul Hamid.

Almighty Allah Subahanahoo Wata'ala declares in verse 30 of Ash-Shura:

"Whatever misfortune happens to you, is because of the things your
hands have wrought, and for many (a sin) He grants forgiveness."

This means that all evil, all sorrow, all pain and affliction, are things
that are not normal, things twisted from the pure and holy nature as Created
by Almighty Allah Subahanahoo Wata'ala. As far as man is concerned, his
misfortunes are but the consequences of the things he has done. He must
therefore bear personal responsibility for them and not throw the blame on
others. In these tragic, critical and crucial times in the current
historical stage of our Islamic nation, in conjunction with the rapid
anti-Islamic sentiments by the enemies of Islam in todays world, it would be
wise, even obligatory, to pause for a moment and study, contemplate and
revise our daily obligatory Islamic duties, our lifestyles and our
priorities and comittments as Muslims according to the Holy Qur'an and
Sunnah of our Beloved Nabee Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam.

For many centuries now, and in particular during the twentieth century, we
have been suffering tragic defeats all over the lands of Islam. We have
forgotten who we are, what we are, why we are here and where we are heading
to. We have been humiliated under the boots of many invaders and have fallen
to the intrigues of our enemies. We have suffered deeply and the intense
hatred towards Islam by the avowed enemies of Almighty Allah Subahanahoo
Wata'ala has profoundly shaken our existence. Sadly enough, through
dependence upon our material power, we will never be able to defend
ourselves or rescue our lands or safeguard our belief. Our material power
will never ever work while deprived of its real source of life and energy
for so declares Almighty Allah in verse 25 of Surah Al-Anfal:

"And fear the trial which effecteth not in particular (only) those
of you who do wrong: And know that Allah is strict in punishment."

This warning against internal discord was very necessary in the early days
of Islam, and was never more necessary than it is now. For it effects the
innocent and guilty alike. What we suffer from at present is the fruit of
our own deeds caused by our emmulation of the Kuffar, our inflated egos,
our love for material wealth, our quest for name and fame and by our
behaviour as Muslims. Almighty Allah Subahanahoo Wata'ala is Just, Full of
Wisdom and Worthy of all praise. Undoubtedly, therefore, there have been
gross errors and mistakes, sins and deviations on our part that has led to
the descent of the Wrath of Almighty Allah upon us.

We have remained unmoved by Allah's promise as declared in verse 11 of
Surah Al-Ra'd where Almighty Allah reminds us that He will not change the
condition of a people, He will not change the environment, He will not
change the world in which we live until we change that which is in
ourselves. We live in an age of tremendous upheavel and uncertainty. People
everywhere are groping anxiously for something that can save humanity, which
has lost its way and is on the brink of unprecedented disaster.

It may be true that today we live in an era of the ultimate in material
civilization and progress, but in the realm of values and morals - mankind
appears to be very close to bankrupcy. Only Islam can provide the answers
and solutions, ones which are compatible with reason, with logic and with
the realities of the physical universe and with human nature itself.
However, Islam is so little known and understood throughout the western
world that to many people, especially in America, it is simply another
strange religious cult or sect.

Almighty Allah Subahanahoo Wata'ala is some sort of a heathen diety and our
Beloved Nabee Muhammad Sallallahoo Alaihi Wasallam is someone who is
worshipped by hordes of pagans overseas, and Muslims are either "bloody
terrorists" or blood thirsty sword wielding bedouins mounted on camels,
fanatical men of a strange religion with long robes and beards, or rich hard
drinking, heavy gambling and decadent Middle eastern playboys.

Indeed, Islam has been so gravely misunderstood and misrepresented
throughout the west that many people in America and Europe think of it as an
enemy to any sort of peace, stability and progress. They mistrust it, they
fear it and have come to regard it as a dire threat without as a rule
knowing anything about it other then what they see on CNN or what the media
convey, which always invariably reflects grave inaccuracies.

As Muslims we may ask: "Why is this so." First, it is due in part to the
legacy of history. Islam and Christianity confronted each other as enemies
during the Crusades and the propaganda against the victorious Muslims and
its beliefs, has up till this day not been laid to rest throughout the
Western world. Second, it is partly due to the confused and distorted
picture of Islam and the unscrupulous and tyrannical behaviour of people
like the despotic and un-godly rulers throughout the Muslim world who have
become subservient to their Western lords, masters and protectors. These
people have the audacity to claim that they profess this faith but they do
not live by it. They have sold their souls to Shaythaan.

It is also due in part to the fact that the Americans have such an
unquestioning conviction of the innate superiority and rightness of the
American or Western way of life that they do not consider it necessary or
important to be accurately informed about the Islamic ways of life. As
Muslims, we have failed to introduce Islam to the world, Islam which they
ignore and fight against. They fight against it out of ignorance. It is the
foremost duty of each and every Muslim to present Allah's religion to all
nations, to individuals and leaders. Theoretically and practically, and
present the true pattern of it, at least in our relations: clean, frank and
true, with dignity and independence. Almighty Allah Subahanahoo Wata'ala
wants His servants, the true believers to be unified as one nation. How have
we implemented verse 11 of Surah Ar-Ra'd into our lives where Almighty Allah
declares:

"Verily never will Allah change the condition of a people until
they change what is in themselves but when (once) Allah
willith a people's punishment, there can be no turning back,
nor will they find, besides Him, any to protect."

How sincerely have we exerted our efforts to make this a reality? The answer
is clearly demonstrated by our present state. This is the first and
immediate problem one meets when he looks into our current affairs. A second
point touches the way of life of each Muslim individually, or indeed each
man in this earthly life. If we look truly into our inner feelings, we will
most probably find immediate worldly problems have the strongest claim on
our thoughts. Family problems, business activities, employment requirements,
ambitions for a higher standard of living, a better rank in society,
material wealth and other worldly desires are the source of our sufferings,
and regulate our trends, our psychology and our plans.

It is a fact that most people today are occupied with their own worldly
projects and preoccupied by their limitless needs and increasing
requirements, and rarely think of death, or the Hereafter, or the Day of
Reckoning and Judgement, or the plight of the millions of impoverished
Muslims, or Islam and its concerns. This feature has continued in our lives
until a seperation has been established between the basic pillars of Islam,
like the performance of our daily Salaat, the giving of Zakat, and all other
spheres and aspects of everyday life.

We are poor and weak in spite of the billion three hundred and fifty million
Muslims on this planet, and in spite of having the most important location
on this Doonya, and in spite of having the only absolute right and true Law
for mankind, the Holy and Noble Qur'an and the Sunnah of Allah's Beloved
Nabee Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam. In spite of all
these magnificent sources of power available to us, the Islamic nation is
weak, dispersed between separate lands and borders, we are completely lost
in the darkness of national hostilities and the cant of ignorance.

Since the seventh century, Islam has played a major role as a resurgent
force, but when its universal Jihad spirit was abandoned in the fifteenth
century, Islam became the whipping-horse of the technologically advanced
West. The West, forging ahead with its scientific experiments, developed
superior fire power for its militant forces to hammer and subdue Islam while
colonising Muslim lands. And so for the past five hundred years, military
aggressive Western powers have impudently invaded Islamic countries and
unleashed death and destruction. The massacres, the rape and annihilation of
Muslims in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Kosovo, Kashmir,
the Caucasus and the Philippines is nothing new.

History records the following catalogue of Muslim massacres initiated since
1099, when the Crusaders first went into Jerusalem. Between 1099 and 1186,
Christian crusaders massacred more than a million Muslims in the Middle
East, and Christian Mongol mercenaries in the service of the crusaders
between 1221 and 1258 butchered more than three million Muslims before
burning Baghdad. Spanish Christians killed tens of thousands of Muslims
between 1150 and 1492. The Spaniards in collaboration with the French also
killed hundreds of thousands more in Morocco.

For more than one hundred years since 1844 tens of thousands of Muslims were
exterminated by the French in Algeria between 1830 and 1962, in fact, on May
10th 1945, the French army massacred forty five thousand Muslim men, women
and children who took part in a peaceful demonstration against French
occupation of that Muslim country. The fascist Italians invaded Libya
between 1922 and 1932 and butchered thousands of innocent Muslims along with
Sanussi Mujahedeen fighters under the leadership of Omar Mukhtar, who they
ruthlessly hung. The British have killed thousands of Muslims after
colonising India and the East, including Afghanistan which the English
imperialists invaded in 1848.

The Dutch colonialists who occupied Indonesia slaughtered thousands of
Muslims who resisted Dutch imperialism. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims
have died since 1948, when Zionist extremist backed by British politicians,
stole and took over Muslim land in Palestine. The Americans in collusion
with their allies and fifth column mercenaries have directly and indirectly
been killing thousands of Muslims in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East.
Over a million Muslims died in the Iran-Iraq war, initiated by America and
her allies and backed by the evil Russian empire in a bid to crush the
Islamic revolution in Iran.

The western viewpoint of Islam and Muslims has for centuries been reflected
through its media. When the west covers Islam it does not report - it
distorts. The western media's notion of Islam is based on biased history
books and absurd Hollywood films portraying Muslims as nothing more than
stereotyped villains or 'bloody terrorists'. Psychologists analysing western
war strategy show that when the west plans to attack a Muslim country or
nation, they first blacken and undermine the would be victim's character
with a well engineered propaganda campaign to win public support for their
evil plans.

The Christian church has played a major role from earliest times to whip up
hostilities against Islam through hate propaganda. Zealous Christians and
Jews try to denigrate Islam most disrespectfully, the west does not hesitate
to brand Islam as being primitive or backward and the Muslims as barbarians.
Following the World Wars the West expanded great efforts in spreading its
un-Islamic propaganda throughout the world of Islam. The West used
westernised orientated Muslim intellectuals to create non-Islamic
governments affiliated to the West. The West continues to exert powerful
influence to contain the resurgence of Islam.

But Islam can not be extinguished, Islam is neither aggressive nor
oppressive, Islamic ideology is alive and this is having an unberable effect
on the enemies of Islam, who are slowly but surely being driven to despair.
It is the foremost duty of each and every Muslim to march on and strive
without fear, sacrificing everything to regain our lost heritage. Let us all
honour our obligations as true Muslims and carefully differentiate between
what is TOLERANCE and what is NEGLECT and be sincere and steadfast in
striving for Almighty Allah's Cause so that Allah may be pleased with us and
grant us success as He has promised in verse 200 of Surah Al-Imran:

"O ye who believe! Persevere in patience and constancy;
vie in such perseverance; strengthen each other; and fear
Allah; that ye may prosper."

And Almighty Allah knows best. The Truth is from Almighty Allah the errors are all mine.

Baarak Allaahu Feekum wa-sal Allaahu wa-Sallam 'alaa   Nabiyyinaa Muhammad Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam.

Was Salamualaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu

PoEtEsS   "My eyes are my ears...my hands are my voice and my ability to communicate is as great as yours"