The Day my Daughter Died: Iraq, Caliphate, Jihad and Terrorism.

I was her really, the way it happens in dreams sometimes; you jump from body to body. Before I was her I was me and I was trying to get into school, at my age, and my son was there thinking he might get back into education too. If dad can do it so can I, but this was a strange land! They spoke to me in English during the interview, but the signs were in Hindi, or was it Bengali? I wanted to understand what those squiggles meant, and I looked and stared as if looking and staring might make them magically form into something that made sense, like English, but they didn't. I will understand, I thought to myself. And what were those men saying? They were running and talking and I looked and stared. Maybe the rhythm of their run and body language would translate it all for me, but it didn't. It was the beginning of the feeling of loss and confusion. How easy life is when you can understand, how hard when you are in a place where you have to live, by choice or not, where everything is different. How kind a host that provides you with the information you need when you arrive, in a language you can understand.

It was some time after then that I became my daughter. My hair is all a-tatters, my face dirty and my dress torn. My mother had gone to her apartment in town. I was missing her and wanted, needed, to see her., and so I decided I would find her. How simple the minds of little children, how naive, how dangerous for them. So I set off down the street. Not a normal street mind you, although it was once, and not a normal place, although it was once. This was a street of devastation, full of rubble from destroyed and collapsed buildings and wreaked cars. I stopped under a large piece of rubble at a cross roads. It was dark. Dark meant curfew. Curfew meant danger. I knew it. Death came with curfew. I looked back, and the refuge from where I had come was just over the roundabout down the street, but down the street had taken me time of climbing and scrambling and I realised also that I had no idea where my mum's apartment was. I had a bright blue plastic "magic wand" in my hand and looked at the round foam ball at the top and if it might signal me how to get there, but it just looked wet and ripped. I didn't even bring the mobile phone. Then I was scared and worried. I sat on the rubble and looked ahead, and there was a boy with a gun. He must have been twelve or thirteen, twice my age. I froze. Maybe if I didn't move at all he might not notice me, but he was staring right at me. I could see him squint, he was only yards away, maybe it was going to work. Then he pointed his gun right at me and moved towards me. His arm shot forward and stiffened as if he was about to shoot, but then a sort of look of relief came across his face, like "it's only a little girl" and he put down the gun. I mean actually put it down on the rubble next to me. I looked at the gun and he picked it up again, but his arm was hanging down by his side.

"Will you take me home?" I asked

And as he took my hand he was as if he was my brother, and he told me about his father, who had left for Jordon. He left in tears. He could not stay here in Iraq, there was no peace, not even to say his prayers. He could not bear to be away from his prayers, and he needed to be in place where he could go to the mosque and pray. Here you could not even do that. He would be back for them. And as we talked like magic we were soon back at the round about, and I began to feel safe. We stepped out onto the road, and then there was a man beside me in a tattered and dirty white jelabiyya.

It was then they came, a whole convey of them, in a whole collection of cars. Some green jeeps and black and white saloons. It was the police, the government, with the occupiers. We ran the three of us. The man held my hand.

I could see the eyes of police and soldiers. Eyes of evil intent. It was curfew, anyone found out after curfew were like rats, or worse. Death was their fate, or worse. We ran and cars accelerated towards us, tipping as they carved round the roundabout. Men with guns, jumping out of cars before they had even stopped.

Now I became the man in the jelabiyya. I was too slow, too tiered. I was pulling the little girl along. We ran between the cars as men jumped out. I wanted to run faster. We were past them, but only just, and then the firing began. I couldn't hear anything, there was just the fear, the desperation to get away. Then I had the girl in my arms, I had picked her up but she became limp and heavy. Before I had not even felt her weight, but now I knew she was dead. Dead in my arms. My daughter, dead in my arms. I loved her although I never knew her before this instant, but we were family still. Our mother was daily fear and our father nightly curfew. I wanted to put her down and check, see how, where she had been shot, to make sure she was dead, but I knew. It was no use. She was too heavy. I dropped her and was running faster. The soldiers were kneeling down, taking aim. I dived to the ground taking the boy with me. I was in the dirt and dust and we'd be safe here for a moment more.

Now there were others firing at the soldiers, police and Americans. They had forgotten about us now. Their attention was on the attackers. We crawled on our belies towards the shelter of the ruins and rubble. I could see a sniper from the resistance. Normally I would hate them. Not today. His face fixed to the scope. He was aiming for the Americans, for their necks. I knew he would hit his target, and I was glad, glad that the bringers of death and misery to my life would die, yes I was glad.

The phone rang and I wake up to "Sue from the surgery."

I tumble out of bed, reeling from sleep and my mind numb from the dream. I sit on the stairs, my head in my hands. I am still the man in the dusty, dirty torn jelabiya, and as I walk down the stairs, tears begin to well up in my eyes.

Right now my daughter is dead, my daughter is dying, my daughter is about to die.

As I sit taking in the banality of my life compared to suffering of the world, my head reels with self reproach as I think about my dream. I reflect on myself conceit and lack of compassion and empathy as I recall the trauma of not understanding. How easy to say about those who have come here to England for whatever reason, "You must learn English!" I've been a Muslim for twenty years and I still don't understand Arabic properly!

And I think about the suffering, my dead daughter. She is my daughter. We are connected, the people of iman, connected in a way that is beyond even the ties of blood. They claim this is a fantasy, some sort of fake kinship. Say what you like. Prattle away in your ignorance! Those who live it and taste it know the truth of it, and your words make no difference.

Then I remember Allah. He, the Mighty, Forgiving and Wise. I ask Him to help the helpless, to relieve the suffering of the sufferers, and tears flow for my daughter again. "Could you not stop all of this Allah? Is it not easy for you?" But I know that He has a noble purpose, a plan, that the life is a test, and test means nothing without all this, and that "all this" is our doing, our choice, the cruelty of humans upon humans, who have left the perfect guidance of our Creator to follow our whims and fancies.

I think about my daughter, lost in my dream, a dream, but still so real. I remember her innocence, her sweetness, and I can understand! Allah wants her back. Of course He does, why should He not! She is hers, we all belong to Him. And I smile, a smile that spreads through my body.

I look up and see a book on the table. The gold letters twinkling in the morning sunlight, as if they are smiling at me, inviting me: "Come, take my hand!" So I walk over and pick up the Quran. I look at the pages and see in the mass of them a small oval opening, like some eye to a greater truth, so carefully I put the edge of my finger to that eye, and I open.

"Allah has purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs is the garden of paradise. They fight in His cause and slay and are slain: A promise binding on Him in truth, through the Tawrah and the Gospel and the Quran, and who is more faithful to his promise than Allah? Then rejoice in the bargain which you have made. That is the supreme achievement.

Those that turn in repentance, that worship Him and praise Him and travel in His path, that bow down and prostrate themselves in prayer; that enjoin good and forbid evil; and observe the limits set by Allah. So proclaim the glad tidings to the believers."

At Tawbah 111-112

How can one who sees and feels this suffering be quiet and still? Yet where is the avenue for action? If we have abandoned jihad, if the kings and presidents and armies and nations who are equipped with the material means to fight a legitimate war do not do so, some of those who feel and care and are tormented by this suffering, who live the reality of my dream every day, will use any means, even the illegitimate ones. This is because the nature of the human being cannot tolerate injustice and oppression for long. Often the response to injustice is itself unjust.

The Prophet and his companions suffered oppression, injustice, torture and deprivation in Mecca, and Allah ordered them with patience. They were prohibited from a violent response. Perhaps part of the reason for that is the response in these circumstances cannot by its nature be a measured one. They could have conceivably taken swords, arrows or daggers and randomly started attacking people in the markets or setting themselves alight and running into people's houses, but this never was the way of Islam. Suicide bombing is just that, suicide, and when it is combined with the murder of civilians it is just that, murder. There is simply no precedent and justification for it, but that does not mean that we can or should ever close our eyes to the why. There are reasons why people do such things, and unless we remove the causes we will never cure the disease. One of the differences between the Muslims in Mecca and our situation today is that in Mecca there was no means for a measured, legitimate response. Today there is. The Muslim nations have armies, weapons, and material recourses. We have the means to respond to those occupying Muslim lands, but then they are not really Muslim lands anymore, they are "sovereign nation states". Thus we are divided, and ruled.

The call for the Muslims to be united under one Caliph, and to be governed by the Shariah is not the invention of Islamists. It is and always has been the position of orthodoxy. It is also common sense, and God's guidance is always the sensible way, even if we don't always seem to see it. When we abandon jihad, we are open to destruction, and legitimate, effective jihad, depends on some degree of unity and cohesion in the Muslim nation. Most of us want to live in peace and get on with lives and let others do the same, but the fact is that there are always those who's hatred, greed or perceived need drives them to deprive others of what they have. Every nation has armies, not necessarily out of desire for war, although for some that might well be the case, but rather because the consistent lessons of human history have taught us that even if we do not desire war there are others who do. If you are militarily too weak, you are always open to the potential of attack from those who are stronger. Jihad is thus the strength of the Muslim ummah, when it is abandoned the ummah is open and exposed.

This is exactly what the Prophet stated when he prophesied that: "Soon the nations will gather together to take from you in the same way you invite others to share in a feast."

"Is this because we are few in numbers?"

"No, you will many like the foam on the sea, but you will be like the rubbish that is carried by the flood. And Allah will take the fear of you from the hearts of your enemies and into your hearts he cast wahn."

"What is wahan oh Messenger of Allah?"

"Love of life and fear of death."

The noble religion of Islam has prevented the killing of women, children, the old, and from desecrating the churches and synagogues. In Islam you fight the fighters, soldier against soldier, armies against armies. But what happens when the soldiers do not fight? When they stand by and watch tyranny, or even worse they are themselves the vehicle of it? Then who will fight jihad? If those who can fight legitimately refuse, those who can only fight illegitimately will rise.

Jihad is not terrorism, but terrorism is a result of abandoning jihad.

Comments

[Fawaz Ahmed]

As-salaamu Alayk brother green

You have said:
Jihad is not terrorism, but terrorism is a result of abandoning jihad.

I think we should all remember this like one of those "quotable quotes."

Today the media highlights two groups of Muslims
1.the ones who kill innocents,terrorize and massacre civilians hence project Islam as voilent and bloodthirsty.
2.the ones who reject Islamic teachings on Khilafah,jihad and shariah.

[Ahmad]

please ,do not call jihad suicide.Many muslim dua't ,with great knowledge ,had approvd this type of jihad

ARGcomment: And great scholars have called blowing yourself up suicide and that is what I believe is correct.

[shah]

Assalamo alaikom brother,

Thank you so much for this account you have given.

I was wondering though, that you said that great scholars have called the so called 'martydom operations' as suicide and that that is what you believe is correct.

But I think really the question should be whether you acknowledge that doing so - while targetting islamic legitimate target such as an army that you're fighting (whose invading your [Muslim] country) under the Islamically appointed ruler, is considered a *valid* scolarly opinion. As in, do you agree that they may be rewarded because ultimately if they were following a mujtahid imam sincerely, then just from a point of Islamic law, and even common sense - shouldn't that be the conclusion?

thank you for your time Brother, may Allah reward you.

salamo alaikom

ARGcomment: yes of course, I am not one to deviate from the path of ahl sunnah, may Allah protect us from that, and of course the one who is not a scholar is duty bound to follow one whom he / she believes is, and for that they get rewarded. However, someone's itjihad can be mistaken and can lead to a bida. The matter of bida is something that is not always initially clear, but can become soafter some time as its evil results are made apparent. I think this is one of those. There also comes a time when following such an opion becomes less excusable even for the ignorant, as the truth of the matter becomes more clear. Allah knows best.

[slaveof allah]

salamo alaikom my brother abduraheem what you have writen made my eyes tear but what is a tear without action all who stray from jihad have lost the beauty of this deen i ask allah to give me the aportunity and if he does i ask him to make me sincer and if he does i ask him to make me stand firm and if he does i ask him to accept out of pity for me by allah non of us have done anything to deserve janna salamo alaikom

[HASSAN BILAL KA`BANGE]

ASALAAM ALEYKUM.I AM TANZANIAN. I AM SO HAPPY TO HEAR THAT YOU ARE BORN IN TANZANIA. YOU DIDIN`T COME TO VISIT TANZANIA SINCE YOU LEFT. I AM MUSLIM STUDING DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MEDICINE IN KILIMANJARO CHRISTIAN MEDICAL COLLEGE I WILL BE VERY HAPPY IF INSHAALAAH ONE DAY YOU WILL BE IN TANZANIA EVEN FOR ONE LECTURE, I USED TO SEE YOU IN PEACE TV. I HAVE TO AGREE YOU IMPRES ME A LOT INSHAALAH MAY ALLAH GIVE YOU STRENGTH AND HEALTHY FOR YOUR DUTIES OF DAA`WA. THANKS BROTHER

ARGcomment: I hope that will be soon, God willing!

[Mohammad Qasim]

asalamu alikum brother Abdul Raheem Green!
I just saw one of your video on youtube regarding why you didn't become shia at the time you converted to Islam. You said its absolutely logic that whoever sat and looked Prophet Mohammad(S.A.W) can't commit apostasy, yet there are incidents after Prophet Mohammad's(S.A.W)death(which i am sure you know of) that indicates strong opposition from all three sahabis to Prophets's House. The death of Imam Mohsin in the womb of Syeda Fatima(daughter of Prophet) is one of them. Allah in the Quran says "O Allah, confer blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad and grant him the station of proximity with You". I am assuming you know what i am trying to say here. Yes the "The Family".
There is another verse in the Quran where Allah says, "Surely Allah desires to remove all imperfection from you, of family of the house, and purify you completely’’. From surah Al Ahzab 33, verse 33.
These are the people who are pure, and have defended in Islam from Badr to karblah, and yet we see they have been victimized and persecuted throughout the history. Can you tell me how many mushriks and kafirs did the first 3 khulafah killed during the battles fought when Prophet Mohammad was alived?
You criticize Imam Khomeinie, but then who do you support? "King abdullah" or his fellows. What are you talking about here?

I have listened to many sunni scholars, and none of them has ever criticized shiism as you did. I felt like you yourself is one of them victim of the on-going propaganda of Wahabis. Instead of promoting harmony between muslims over the world, here you are spreading differences and hatred.

ARGcomment: What I said is a fact, sorry you don't like the truth, but I guess you'll find out soon enough when you're in the grave!
As for spreading hate, I'm not the one cursing the companions and wives of the Prophets!

[Nasiruddin]

Warfare in Islam

Warfare was made humane and was undertaken only in vindication of the justice of Islam. It was never rapacious, revengeful and cruel. The Muhammad – the Messenger of Allah – himself instructed, trained and disciplined the army of Allah. It was a humane army but it was invincible, fired with new enthusiasm, imbued with the will to conquer and emboldened by the utter contempt of death inculcated by the Eternal Qur-aan. ‘Do not use frauds and deceptions’, said the Messenger of Allah (sm) to his soldiers. ‘Do not kill children; do not oppress the peaceful inhabitants of the country conquered. Spare weak women. Have pity on suckling infants and the sick. Do not destroy the houses, do not overrun the fields. Do not cut down date palms. If you conclude a treaty, keep it. In Christian countries, do not destroy their churches and monasteries.’

(Excerpts from ‘The Clarion Call of the Eternal Qur’aan’ by Muhammad Khalilur Rahman).

[Anonymous]

Preamble:

Allama Iqbal envisions the operation of the Qura’nic command – Qulil
‘Afw [Say to the people: ‘spend the surplus’ above the median level
for the benefit of the common man, Al Qur’an 2:219] in the modern age
in the following verses:

Jo harf-e- Qulil ‘Afw mein poshidah hai abtak
Is daur mein shayad wuh haqiqat ho namoodar.

The truth hidden in the Qur’anic verse Qulil ‘Afw
And hitherto unexplored, may be revealed unto mankind,
In the present age.

THEORY OF SURPLUS VALUE IN ISLAM

The Theory of Surplus Value is a Qur’anic Conception, crisply defined
in the Qur’an fourteen hundred years ago before Karl Marx, Thus:

“They ask you as to how much they should spend (for the cause of
humanity for Allah’s sake). Say: The entire Surplus. (Al-Qur’an,
2:219).

Take the Surplus, promote good, and ignore the uninformed (for the
truth and justice of Islam to prevail). (Al-Qur’an, 7:199)

This edict provides the wherewithal to the State of Islam, to ensure
primary human rights to all and to abolish poverty, ignorance,
inequalities and all the ills of the Society, - as decreed and
ordained in the Magna Charta of Human Rights – the great Qur’an. It
enunciates of the policy of public finance as well in the Kingdom of
Islam.

Land and Natural resources are a part of the universe and they belong
to Allah. Man, as His Khalifa and His manager, is entrusted with the
efficient management of these natural resources to ensure proper
exploitation, maximum production and equitable distribution of the
joint product of man and nature, the free gift of Allah, to all
mankind.

“To Allah belongs land (and the natural resources), the heirdom
whereof He bestows upon whomsoever among His servants He may will” (Al
-Qur’an, 7:128).

Land and natural resources have been created by Allah for the benefit
and nourishment of all mankind and of all creatures. The function of
the Government of Allah is to see that these are not misappropriated
for selfish individual aggrandizement of wicked people and followers
of the devil at the cost of all others.

MAN AND NATURE ARE THE AGENTS OF PRODUCTION

Man and Nature co-operate with each other in the production of wealth
for the benefit of all mankind in the Kingdom of Allah. They,
therefore, have each a share in the joint product. Nature’s share is
collected in the Baitul Maal (State Treasury) by the Khalifa for
equitable distribution among the disabled, the sick, the poor and the
destitute, in order to help them to stand on their own legs, to remove
inequalities, and to bring the stragglers into line to march forward
and join the race with the soldiers of Allah to encircle the globe.

“And it is Allah Who confers on some of you superiority over some
others in wealth and means. Why not then those who have been favoured
with abundance give it away to their dependants in such a manner that
they all become equal. Do they deny that this abundancy is a favour of
Allah to them? (Al-Qur’an, 16: 71).

The capitalist idea of land, labour, capital and entrepreneurs as
factors of production is an anathema in Islam. Land is part of Nature.
Labour and entrepreneurs are the capitalist divisions of man into
classes and masses.

Nature and Man are two agents of Allah for the production of wealth in
this world. After man is paid his dues in return for his industry,
there remains an undistributed surplus which, in the capitalist state,
is unjustly appropriated by the capitalist classes in one form or
other in return for undertaking no risk of uncertainty of a productive
enterprise.

The Surplus is the Natures share of the national products- on the
wealth produced in the Kingdom of Allah.

In the Kingdom of Allah, there is no division of man into classes.
There is only one ‘Ummat’ of mankind. The surplus of the joint product
of Man and Nature is the share of Nature or the share of Allah placed
at the disposal of the Viceroy to feed the stragglers and to help them
to join the company of workers rightfully and honourably.

Karl Marx was not originator of the Theory of Surplus Value. His
definition of the Theory was also wrong. This was natural, for he came
to a confused conclusion after analyzing the nature of capitalist
production. According to him, the measure of the value of an article
is the amount of labour necessary to produce it. The labourers,
however, produce more than they consume but under the capitalistic
regime, they lose the surplus value of what they produce over and
above their wages. He thus sowed the seeds of class-struggle, strikes,
lockouts and the division of men into militantly hostile groups.

But labour cannot produce anything in vacuum. It can produce only in
co-operation with Nature and with help of natural resources which are
free gifts of Allah to all mankind. Capital is the by-product of Man’s
industry and Nature’s co-operation, and it consists of the
undistributed surplus value left after payment to man of his dues
fully, for his industry, organization and leadership. Capital also,
therefore, is a free gift of Allah to all mankind.

HOW TO DETERMINE THE SURPLUS?

Plain living and high thinking has been the actively living motto of
Islam. The criterion should be the lives of Muhammad (Sm.) and rightly
guided Caliphs. Building up of a balanced character through complete
self-realization by each individual is the first and fundamental
principle of the state of Islam. State capitalism or state socialism
or state communism, negating or dwarfing the personality of the common
man has no place in Islam.

The main function of the head of the state of Islam is to serve as a
friend, philosopher and guide – freely accessible to every individual
citizen or corporate body of individuals for the fullest development
of self of the individual or the corporate body, in harmony with the
Divine order which is subject to eternal laws to be discovered by
discerning minds and acted upon by the entire humanity.

One of the Divine attributes is that Allah is Rabbul ‘Alamin – that He
is the Sustainer and Nourisher of the universes. Allah gives
everything but takes nothing in return except submission to His Sole
Sovereign Divinity and accord with His order and the laws of Harmony
in the universe. The man who is to serve as His Khalifah - His
Viceroy – is invested with this Divine attribute which is fully
developed in him so that he can feel the oneness of the life eternal
and forgo the transient for what is an eternal continuity. He will
then have his outlook on the permanent aspect of life beyond this
decaying world and be able to hold a firm grip on it and its resources
to minister to the comforts, prosperity and happiness of others and
acquire satisfaction for himself by seeing others under his care
happy, prosperous and peaceful. For his material comforts or gains, he
comes last of all, he being the residuary legatee in the Kingdom of
Allah.

Theory of Surplus Value cannot work in a secular system:

The guiding principle to regulate work and distribution of wealth in
the state of Islam is ‘from each according to ability, to each
according to needs for a respectable living.’ This principle worked
successfully in the state of Islam alone. Because it promises a future
life in which every individual is accountable to his Sovereign Master
for his performances in his earthly term. And he will receive rewards
for his loyalty to the Revealed Constitution [The Qur’aan] or
punishments for his disloyalty.

But this guiding principle cannot work in any other system. It has
failed in Communism. Capitalism and other [secular or man-made]
systems do not believe in, and do not accept, this principle. In the
state of Islam, Nature is an agent of production. The surplus
(Al-‘Afw) above the cost of production is the share of Nature, which
must go to the state treasury (Baitul Maal) to promote and finance
welfare services and meet the essential demands of its citizens in
distress and in dire needs, to eradicate poverty, misery, ignorance
and unskilled labour and not to multiply the number of beggars.
Appropriation of un-invested surplus by the state prevents hoarding,
dissolute living and extravagance.

Excerpts collated from:
1. The Intelligent Man’s Guide to Islam (1969), by Muhammad Khalilur Rahman
2. The Clarion Call of the Eternal Qur’aan (1991), by Muhammad Khalilur Rahman

[Khurram Khan]

Jazak-Allah Khairan ! Allah bless you & aaccept all yr efforts. May Allah keep you steadfast & all those who are striclty holding fast to quran & sunnah !

wassalam alykum !