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Documents on Terrorist Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi, 2004
Newsweek
WEB EXCLUSIVE By Rod Nordland
March 06, 2004
March 6 - The stark fact is that we don’t even know for sure how many
legs Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi has, let alone whether the Jordanian terrorist,
purportedly tied to al Qaeda, is really behind the latest outrages in Iraq.
What is clear is that the Iraq conflict has elevated suicide bombing as a
weapon of war to a scale never before seen, not only in numbers of victims,
but in numbers of attackers, and their ability to field large number of
suiciders at the same time.
Aside from the evidence suggested in a letter attributed to Zarqawi
intercepted by officials earlier this year, we don't really know much more
now than we did when Secretary of State Colin Powell made the case before
the U.N. Security Council for war in Iraq in February, 2003. In that
presentation, Powell cited Zarqawi’s presence in Baghdad--where he may or
may not have gotten an artificial limb fitted after a wound suffered in
Afghanistan--as, if not a smoking gun, at least a smidgen of a powder burn
linking Saddam Hussein to al Qaeda. The letter so neatly and
comprehensively lays out a blueprint for fomenting strife with the Shia,
and later the Kurds, that it's a little hard to believe in it unreservedly.
It came originally from Kurdish sources who have a long history of
disinformation and dissimulation. It was an electronic document on a
CD-ROM, so there's no way to authenticate signature or handwriting, aside
from the testimony of those captured with it, about which the authorities
have not released much information.
The other problem with Zarqawi is his history of working for the Iraqi
regime, and also apparently with the Iranians. That's a pretty hard
trick. Iran was a bitter enemy of
the Saddam Hussein government. Then again, Ansar al-Islam, the Iraqi jihad
group, has allegedly had some Iranian support, even though its main role
was to do Saddam's bidding in its war against the more mainstream Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Is Zarqawi Ansar al-Islam, or al Qaeda, or both?
And even if he is, what really connects him to this week's bombings, except
an impulse to find a bete noire, to put a face on the faceless terror. The
commanding general of the 1st Armored Division, which patrols Baghdad, said
in a briefing March 4 that “it's far more than a supposition and far less
than empirical evidence to say that Zarqawi was involved in the blasts
Tuesday. It's a very educated guess.” Perhaps the strongest argument in
favor of Zarqawi as culprit was a leaflet signed by an unprecedented 12
underground opposition groups, insisting that he had been killed already by
American bombs; the leaflets were distributed after the Karbala and Baghdad
blasts in the Sunni triangle towns of Falluja and Ramadi. And they may even
be right. “There is no direct evidence of whether he's alive or dead at
this point,” said Brigadier General David Rodriquez, deputy director of
operations for the Joint Chiefs, at a press conference Thursday . . .
. . . sources estimate that 50 suicide bombers have died so far; but
these sources, of course, subscribe to the Zarqawi-as-culprit school,
without offering much in the way of detail. Still, from what we know of
suicide bombers' indoctrination in other places, like Sri Lanka and
Palestine, it often takes months to brainwash someone to the point where
they're willing to kill themselves. That may well mean there are a lot more
willing bombers in training, wherever they come from.
Only a week before the Karbala outrage, American troops leafleting a
Baghdad neighborhood were fired upon from inside a house, and returned
fire, killing Abu Muhammed Hamza, one of Zarqawi’s lieutenants who was
carrying a Jordanian passport and boasting a closet full of fake ID's, C4
explosives, detonators and suicide vest. This is the closest they've yet
come to establishing a solid link between Zarqawi, foreign fighters and
suicide bombing, if not explicitly with al Qaeda. At a press conference in
Baghdad, the coalition's deputy chief of operations, Brig. Gen. Mark
Kimmitt, showed off photos taken at the arrest scene: “this is a suicide
vest that was found inside the house at which Hamza was killed, contains a
plastic explosive, ball bearings, blasting caps, a trigger device and a
hand grenade. This satchel is made to loop over the neck and be detonated
by hand. Inside of the house, you can see an extensive amount of
explosives. There was a pre-made improvised explosive device, a container
full of plastic explosives over here. These were a number of suitcases that
were found with wires, batteries, items that would be necessary for
triggering explosive devices. Outside the house were found some barrels of
sodium nitrate, some crates with some Soviet Cyrillic writing on the side,
some more bags of sodium nitrate, and other items unknown.” There was one
other thing: photographs of the elusive Zarqawi, although we couldn't tell
how many legs he had.
Al-Manar TV: Iraqi Police Arrest Al-Zarqawi's
Operative in Al-Najaf
Beirut Al-Manar Television in Arabic 2130 GMT 03 Mar 04
Wednesday, March 3, 2004
Journal Code: 9079 Language: ENGLISH Record Type: FULLTEXT
Document Type: Daily Report; News
Word Count: 177
Announcer-read report
(FBIS Translated Text)
A short while ago, Iraqi police sources in holy Al-Najaf have disclosed
to Al-Manar TV that a loyalist to Abu-Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi was arrested in the
city tonight after storming a house in Al-Shurtah quarter.
The arrested gave information about a booby-trapped car in the city.
The security forces were thus deployed to search for the car. Our
correspondent said the security services continue to look for the car.
The story started when the police arrested a person claiming to be an
officer with the rank of a major. He was carrying many false identification
cards. After interrogating him, he admitted that there was a network of his
followers inside Al-Najaf. The police immediately stormed many houses. The
sources did not reveal whether the detainees have anything to do with
yesterday's bombings or whether they were preparing to carry out similar
attacks. Similar bombing attempts had been foiled in holy Al-Najaf.
(Description of Source: Beirut Al-Manar Television -- Affiliated with
the pro-Iranian Hizballah)
Compiled and distributed by NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce. All rights
reserved.
Suspects detained by Polish troops in Iraq linked to
Al-Qa'idah - reporter
Warsaw Polish Radio 1 in Polish 0700 GMT 26 Feb 04
POLISH RADIO 1
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Journal Code: 3083 Language: ENGLISH Record Type: FULLTEXT
Document Type: Daily Report; News
Word Count: 264
(FBIS Translated Text)
Suspects detained by Polish troops in Iraq linked to Al-Qa'idah -
reporter
Text of report by Polish radio on 26 February
(Presenter) Among the nine men who were detained in the Polish
stabilization sector in Iraq and who are suspected of terrorism there are
six members of Al-Qa'idah, our correspondent has learnt unofficially. We
are now going over to Tomasz Sajewicz in Iraq. What kind of links did the
detained have exactly?
(Sajewicz) As it was expected, apart from six Iraqis, there are citizens
of other countries among the detained. However, their nationality is still
uncertain. It is known, however, that one of the detained was a close
associate of Abu-Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, one of the young representatives of the
Al-Qa'idah wing, who is probably hiding in Iran. Al-Zarqawi is the author
of a letter seized by the Americans according to which by means of
terrorist attacks Al-Qa'idah wants to cause a conflict between Shi'i and
Sunni (groups) in Iraq.
The detainees were found to have various explosives, artillery shells,
materials needed for making remotely-controlled bombs, rifles, satellite
equipment as well drugs which price on the black market is estimated at
more than 1m dollars. The detained terrorists have also probably cooperated
with one of the Al-Qa'idah cells in Europe.
(Description of Source: Warsaw Polish Radio 1 in Polish -- nationwide 24
hour public radio network) THIS REPORT MAY CONTAIN COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL.
COPYING AND DISSEMINATION IS PROHIBITED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT
OWNERS. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
Commerce.
Compiled and distributed by NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce. All rights
reserved.
AFS Document Number: EUP20040226000094
City/Source: Warsaw Polish Radio 1
FBIS Document Number: FBIS-EEU-2004-0226
Geographic Names: East Europe; Near East & South Asia; The
Americas; Near East; North America; Poland; Iraq; United States
Original Source Language: Polish
Region: East Europe; Near East & South Asia; The Americas
Iraq: Paper Reports Al-Zarqawi's Aide Killed in North
Baghdad Raid -- PHOTO
Baghdad Baghdad in Arabic 24 Feb 04 p 1
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Journal Code: 9092 Language: ENGLISH Record Type: FULLTEXT
Document Type: Daily Report; News
Word Count: 289
Baghdad report: "Al-Zarqawi's Aide, Terrorist Nidal Arabiyat,
Killed in North Baghdad Operation;"
(FBIS Translated Text)
Baghdad -- Baghdad has learned that the coalition forces on Thursday (19
February) killed a close aide to Al-Qa'ida master terrorist Abu-Mus'ab
al-Zarqawi in a raid against a terrorist den north of Baghdad.
Reliable Iraqi sources said that Al-Zarqawi's aide, a Jordanian
terrorist named Nidal Arabiyat Agha Hamzah, was, as part of Al-Zarqawi's
scheme, responsible for a number of operations that left around 270 Iraqis
dead in the past two months. These included the double bombing in the
headquarters of the two Kurdish parties in Arbil, the suicide bombings in
Al-Iskandariyah, the operation against the center of Iraqi Army volunteers
in Baghdad, and other operations. With these operations, Al-Qa'ida
terrorists confirmed their plans to strike at the national institutions in
Iraq and inflict great harm on its people.
The same sources stressed that the den, in which Arabiyat was hiding,
housed several non-Iraqi Al-Qa'ida terrorists. The terrorists confirmed
that Arabiyat, who fought in Afghanistan under Usama Bin Ladin, was killed
in the north Baghdad operation.
The sources said that the Iraqi Police seized explosives, remote control
devices, and explosive used in boobytrapped cars.
(Description of Source: Baghdad Baghdad in Arabic -- Daily of the
Iraqi National Accord Movement, led by Iyad Allawi).
Compiled and distributed by NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce. All rights
reserved.
City/Source: Baghdad Baghdad
FBIS Document Number: FBIS-NES-2004-0224
Geographic Names: Near East & South Asia; The Americas; Near
East; North America; Iraq; Jordan; United States
Original Source Language: Arabic
German Court Told Alleged Islamic Extremist Met
Suspected Al-Qa'ida Contact
Paris AFP (North European Service) in English 1738 GMT 17 Feb 04
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Journal Code: 2131 Language: ENGLISH Record Type: FULLTEXT
Document Type: Daily Report; News
Word Count: 372
" Islamist Suspect Met Al-Qa'ida Contact, German Court Told"
-- AFP headline
(FBIS Transcribed Text)
DUESSELDORF, Germany, Feb 17 (AFP) -- An alleged Islamic extremist on
trial in Germany met up with a suspected senior al-Qa'ida contact at the
time of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, a German court
heard Tuesday (17 February).
The 39-year-old Jordanian, Mohammed Abu Dhees, behaved in a
"conspiratorial manner" but knew he was being shadowed, according
to a senior investigator in Germany's BKA federal crime office who led the
case.
Dhees flew to Tehran a few days before the 2001 suicide plane attacks
and met Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian suspected by Washington of ties
to Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida and to have been a link between the group
and the Iraqi regime under Saddam Husayn, the official said.
The suspect stayed in Tehran until September 12, 2001.
Dhees and two other Jordanians, Ismail Shalabi, 30, and Ashraf Al Dagma,
34, are accused of membership of a terrorist organisation and falsifying
documents.
They are said to have belonged to al-Tawhid, a radical Islamic group
whose operational leader is thought to be Zarqawi. The BKA official said
Zarqawi also led a wing of al-Qa'ida.
The three are accused of plotting attacks against Jewish targets in
Berlin and Duesseldorf, western Germany.
A fourth man, Algerian Djamel Moustfa, 30, who is accused of supporting
a terrorist organisation, has admitted in the past week that he procured
weapons and falsified documents but insisted he knew nothing of any terror
plans.
Another man, 27-year-old Jordanian Shadi Mohd Mustafa Abdellah, was
jailed for four years by the same court in Duesseldorf on similar charges.
His relatively mild sentence reflected the insight that he gave
authorities probing Islamic extremism and operations in Germany and
elsewhere.
The group was arrested in April 2002, according to prosecutors just as
they were preparing to carry out their plot.
(Description of Source: Paris AFP in English -- North European Service
of independent French press agency Agence France-Presse).
Compiled and distributed by NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce. All rights
reserved.
City/Source: Paris AFP (North European Service)
FBIS Document Number: FBIS-WEU-2004-0217
Moscow Paper: Prospect of Al-Qa'ida Recruiting
Chechens for Iraq 'Realistic'
Moscow Rossiyskaya Gazeta in Russian 17 Feb 04 p 10
ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Journal Code: 1855 Language: ENGLISH Record Type: FULLTEXT
Document Type: Daily Report; News
Word Count: 879
Article by Oleg Kiryanov and Timofey Borisov: "'Wild Geese' Long
for the South. According to Western Experts' Information, Al-Qa'ida Is To
Replenish the Ranks of Gunmen in Iraq From Chechnya"
(FBIS Translated Text) According to Western special services'
information the international network Al-Qa'ida intends to step up its
terrorist activities in Iraq and is planning to send some 2,000 gunmen
there from Chechnya. This was reported by America's Time magazine on
Monday, citing information received from the well-known French expert in
international terrorism, Roland Jacquard.
In September 2001 Mr. Jacquard published in the West the sensational
book "In the Name of Osama Bin Laden," in which he revealed the
extensive terrorist network that has developed in West European countries.
Even then, on the basis of an analysis of the text and the totally
confidential information that was presented, it was clear that the book's
author had reliable sources in the Western special services. Back then,
incidentally, the sensational revelations were never refuted by a single
Western politician. And now there is a new sensation whose authenticity can
hardly be doubted. All the same, a number of questions remain unclear in
the article.
There can be no doubt that the main coordinator of this kind of
large-scale movement of gunmen from Chechnya to Iraq might be the Jordanian
Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, who is regarded by the US special services as
Al-Qa'ida's top man in Iraq. May we remind you that back in January
Al-Zarqawi distributed an audiotape in Islamic extremist circles calling on
Muslims worldwide to join the struggle against the United States in Iraq
under his leadership. This has now been followed by a more specific call to
2,000 gunmen fighting on the side of the separatists in Chechnya.
According to experts, the Jordanian Al-Zarqawi has had links to Islamic
radicals since the 1980s when he helped the Afghan mojahedin in their
struggle against the Soviet troops. Now, as far as is known, he is in
charge of Al-Qa'ida operations in Iraq and is responsible for the rotation
of gunmen between Afghanistan and Chechnya. Mountain regions in northern
Iraq play the part of transshipment center in this process.
The United States is conducting an intensive search for Al-Zarqawi,
believing the terrorist to be hiding somewhere in the "Sunni
triangle" in Iraq. Last week the American special services intercepted
a letter written, they believe, by Al-Zarqawi to the Al-Qa'ida leaders. In
this message, in particular, he expounds the tactics for using suicide
terrorists in the struggle against American servicemen and Iraqis who
collaborate with them. It is not ruled out that it was from this same
letter that American counterintelligence learned of the Arab sponsors'
secret plans with regard to Chechnya.
After the US authorities learned of the contents of this message they
doubled the reward on Al-Zarqawi's head. The United States is now prepared
to pay up to $10 million for information helping to catch the terrorist.
All this is evidence of how seriously the Americans take this man and
his plans. Only one thing remains unclear: who Al-Zarqawi is counting on when
he talks about Chechen gunmen. If you take the international mercenaries
from various countries of the world who are operating in Chechen territory,
one can say that he will not find the required 2,000 there. In recent years
the federal troop grouping in Chechnya has severely reduced this
contingent. According to information reported to us a few months ago by a
source in the Chechen law-enforcement agencies, not more than 300 Arab
mercenaries are left in Chechnya. And these are mainly not fighters but instructors,
explosives experts, and administrators responsible for distributing money
among the gunmen.
The required number of mercenaries for the war against the Americans in
Iraq could be assembled if all the Chechen gunmen headed by Basayev and
Maskhadov were to set off for Baghdad. It is interesting that Al-Zarqawi,
if he really did mention that number (2,000), is confirming the figures
given several times by the (Russian) Joint Troop Grouping leadership in
Khankala for the number of gunmen in Chechnya.
But it would be naive to think that Basayev and Maskhadov will actually
go to Iraq. They may be terrorists, but they are "home-grown"
terrorists who dream of creating a "Caucasus caliphate" and
establishing Wahhabite Muslim power in a quite specific territory. And that
is not Iraq, but Chechnya.
It is another matter that unemployment is quite high in Chechnya itself
and Al-Zarqawi's promises could attract young unemployed Chechens to the
war in Iraq as ordinary mercenaries. That turn of events is perfectly
realistic. In addition, numerous Chechen refugees could fly into Iraq from
Turkey, Georgia, the United Arab Emirates...
Maybe Al-Zarqawi is giving a total number based on the number of gunmen
whom he personally is paying in Chechnya. After all, it would never occur
to him that the Arab envoys, first and foremost Abu al-Walid, are
presenting greatly exaggerated accounts.
(Description of Source: Moscow Rossiyskaya Gazeta in Russian --
Government daily newspaper.) THIS REPORT MAY CONTAIN COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL.
COPYING AND DISSEMINATION IS PROHIBITED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT
OWNERS. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
Commerce.
Compiled and distributed by NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce. All rights
reserved.
City/Source: Moscow Rossiyskaya Gazeta
FBIS Document Number: FBIS-NES-2004-0217
Iran Paper: Call for Extremist Groups in Iraq To Be
Confronted
Tehran Tehran Times (Internet Version-WWW) in English 0001 GMT 14 Feb 04
TEHRAN TIMES
Saturday, February 14, 2004
Journal Code: 2747 Language: ENGLISH Record Type: FULLTEXT
Document Type: Daily Report; News
Word Count: 879
(FBIS Transcribed Text) From the "Opinion" section:
"Extremist Groups in Iraq Should Be Confronted" by Hassan
Hanizadeh
US forces in Iraq claim to have recently obtained a letter written by
notorious terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi to Ayman Al-Zawahiri, in which he
proposed creating and magnifying differences between the Shias and Sunnis
in Iraq in order to start a civil war.
Referring to the diverse ethnic groups in Iraq such as Kurds, Turkmens,
Christians, and Arabs, Al-Zawahiri, who is incidentally the closest aide to
the fugitive leader of the Al-Qa'ida terrorist network, Usama Bin Ladin,
had once said that creating conflicts and causing bloodshed between the
different sects and ethnic groups in Iraq, particularly through massacring
Shias, is the only option for the terrorist network.
The letter, if authentic, indicates that Al-Qa'ida is trying to create a
civil war in Iraq in order to strike back at US forces in the sensitive
region and prevent the establishment of a national government in Iraq.
In fact, the recent bombings in Iraq that killed about 100 people and
the assassination attempt against the leader of the Iraqi Shias, Grand
Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Sistani, indicate that Al-Qa'ida and/or other
extremist groups are not only targeting US forces in Iraq but are also
fighting all of humanity.
Al-Qa'ida, which has experience in creating sectarian and ethnic
divisions in Afghanistan and Pakistan, is now trying to turn Iraq into the
next battlefield through which to realize its evil intentions. In choosing
Iraq, it is pursuing various objectives.
Making assassination attempts on Kurdish and Shia members of the Iraqi
Governing Council with the aim of preventing the establishment of a
democratic government is the first objective of the extremist groups.
In addition, through the attacks on Iraqi Kurds, Shias, Turkmens, and
Christians, they intend to spread the unrest to neighbouring countries in
order to engulf the whole region in war.
The extremist groups are trying to take revenge on US forces by
initiating a long-term war.
The third objective of Al-Qa'ida is making use of the resulting unrest
to pave the way for Usama Bin Ladin and Ayman Al-Zawahiri to leave their
current hiding places and enter Iraq to direct the guerrilla war from Iraqi
territory.
However, establishing a permanent base in Iraq with the aim of
organizing and directing terrorist attacks against the interests of the
United States and the West all over the world and recruiting new members is
the most important long-term objective of the terrorist group.
It is clear that if a rational, logical, and nonpoliticized approach is
not adopted to deal with this dangerous strategy, the world will soon
witness a new wave of terrorism.
As a matter of fact, the Al-Qa'ida members, who do not heed the
life-giving teachings of Islam, are capable of committing any crime in
order to achieve their goals. For them, it does not make much difference
whether they kill a US soldier, a British military officer, a Kurdish
child, or a Shia clergyman. Their existence depends only on creating
dissension, violence, and murder and causing conflicts and wars between
other nations.
For this reason, if the US is serious about its campaign against
terrorism, it should quickly revise its policy.
Influenced by misinformation from sources such as the Salafis, US
officials have constructed an unrealistic image of Shia Muslims in their
minds. They view the oppressed religious sect of Islam as an extremist
entity. In fact, the Shias, in their clashes with the US, have never killed
an innocent woman or child.
Therefore, the real threat lies with the extremist factions affiliated
to Al-Qa'ida and other groups, not the Shias, 1.5m of whom were martyred
and five million made homeless during the rule of former Iraqi dictator
Saddam Husayn.
However, now that the threats from the Salafis and extremist Al-Qa'ida
members who have significantly infiltrated the Sunni Triangle have become
clear, the US should seriously revise its strategy to confront the threat.
The US should try to understand the Iraqi Shias and Kurds, who have been
denied their rights for decades. The ground should be paved for the
establishment of a government in Iraq in which these two groups play a
significant role, in line with the country's demographic makeup.
As a matter of fact, the Iraqi Kurds and Shias together comprise some 85
percent of the population of the country. They are capable of playing a
major role in the campaign against terrorism, which threatens to engulf the
region in a conflagration.
Abu Musab Zarqawi's remarks should be taken seriously, because he and
people like him would destroy all of humanity if they acquired nuclear or
biological weapons. The international community, with the assistance of
regional countries, should attempt to defuse the evil plots of the
dangerous alliance of extremists through adopting a prudent and rational
policy and avoiding politicization of the situation.
(Description of Source: Tehran Tehran Times (Internet Version-WWW) in
English -- conservative English-language Tehran daily published by the
Islamic Propagation Organization. Occasionally critical of some
conservative excesses)
Compiled and distributed by NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce. All rights
reserved.
AFS Document Number: IAP20040214000007
City/Source: Tehran Tehran Times (Internet Version-WWW)
FBIS Document Number: FBIS-NES-2004-0214
Iranian Paper Reports on Iran's Decision to Try
Al-Qa'ida Suspects
Tehran Iran News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 0001 GMT 25 Jan 04
IRAN NEWS
Sunday, January 25, 2004
Journal Code: 2732 Language: ENGLISH Record Type: FULLTEXT
Document Type: Daily Report; News
Word Count: 468
(FBIS Transcribed Text)
(Political: "Iran to Put on Trial 12 al-Qaeda Suspects")
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) - Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said
Friday that his government planned to put 12 al-Qaeda suspects being held
in the country on trial.
"It's in the process," he told The Associated Press in Davos,
where he was attending the World Economic Forum. Asked when the trials
would begin, he replied: "That's not in my hands." He said the
identities of those to be tried "has not been announced." The
United States said the Iranian plan was not acceptable to Washington.
"We've heard these reports before. It's not new. Our position hasn't
changed. We have long made it clear that we believe that Iran should turn
over all suspected Al Qaeda operatives to the United States or to countries
of origin or third countries for further interrogation and trial,"
said State Department deputy spokesman J. Adam Ereli. Kharrazi disagreed.
It's "our right to put on trial anyone who has committed crimes in our
territory," he told reporters. "So this is our legitimate right
to try them inside Iran." Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi confirmed
for the first time in July that Iran was holding "a large number of
small and big-time elements of al-Qaeda" who had illegally crossed the
border.
In September, Iran gave the UN Security Council the names of 225
suspected al-Qaeda operatives it detained and returned to their home
countries. U.S. officials have said intelligence suggests that al-Qaeda
figures in Iran include Saif al-Adl, a top al-Qaeda agent possibly
connected to May bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Abu Mohammed al-Masri,
wanted in connection with the bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa
in 1998; Abu Musab Zarqawi, whom some U.S. officials describe as the key
link between al-Qaeda and toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein; and al-Qaeda
head and mastermind Osama bin Laden's eldest son, Saad. The al-Qaeda
operatives are believed to have fled to Iran from neighbouring Afghanistan
during the Taliban's fall in late 2001 or early 2002. Kharrazi also
welcomed what he called the positive role the European Union has played in
the nuclear controversy, adding that the bloc might be able to help in
improving Iranian relations with the United States. "Of course the
European Union can play a role. They may have a better understanding of
Iran being closer to Iran. At the same time, they have only good relations
with the United States."
(Description of Source: Tehran Iran News (Internet Version-WWW) in
English -- pro-Khatami English-language Tehran daily. Strongly defends freedom
of the press) THIS REPORT MAY CONTAIN COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. COPYING AND
DISSEMINATION IS PROHIBITED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNERS.
Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce.
Compiled and distributed by NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce. All rights
reserved.
City/Source: Tehran Iran News (Internet Version-WWW)
FBIS Document Number: FBIS-NES-2004-0125
Zarqawi Letter Captured by the US in February, 2004 and Dated Early
January
From:
http://www.cpa-iraq.org/transcripts/20040212_zarqawi_full.html
In the name of God, the Merciful,
the Compassionate,
From ……………to the proudest of persons and leaders in the age of the
servants,
……To the men on the mountain tops, to the hawks of glory, to the lions
of [the] Shara [Mountains], to the two honorable brothers……………..,
Peace and the mercy and blessings of God be upon you.
Even if our bodies are far apart, the distance between our hearts is close.
Our solace is in the saying of the Imam Malik. I hope that both of us are
well. I ask God the Most High, the Generous, [to have] this letter reach
you clothed in the garments of health and savoring the winds of victory and
triumph …. Amen.
I send you an account that is appropriate to [your] position and that
removes the veil and lifts the curtain from the good and bad [that are]
hidden in the arena of Iraq.
As you know, God favored the [Islamic] nation with jihad on His behalf in
the land of Mesopotamia. It is known to you that the arena here is not like
the rest. It has positive elements not found in others, and it also has
negative elements not found in others. Among the greatest positive elements
of this arena is that it is jihad in the Arab heartland. It is a stone’s
throw from the lands of the two Holy Precincts and the al-Aqsa [Mosque]. We
know from God’s religion that the true, decisive battle between infidelity
and Islam is in this land, i.e., in [Greater] Syria and its surroundings.
Therefore, we must spare no effort and strive urgently to establish a
foothold in this land. Perhaps God may cause something to happen
thereafter. The current situation, o courageous shaykhs, makes it necessary
for us to examine this matter deeply, starting from our true Law and the
reality in which we live….
Here is the current situation as I, with my limited vision, see it. I ask
God to forgive my prattle and lapses. I say, having sought help from God,
that the Americans, as you know well, entered Iraq on a contractual basis
and to create the State of Greater Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates
and that this Zionized American Administration believes that accelerating
the creation of the State of [Greater] Israel will accelerate the emergence
of the Messiah. It came to Iraq with all its people, pride, and haughtiness
toward God and his Prophet. It thought that the matter would be somewhat
easy. Even if there were to be difficulties, it would be easy. But it
collided with a completely different reality. The operations of the brother
mujahidin began from the first moment, which mixed things up somewhat.
Then, the pace of operations quickened. This was in the Sunni Triangle, if
this is the right name for it. This forced the Americans to conclude a deal
with the Shi`a, the most evil of mankind. The deal was concluded on [the
basis that] the Shi`a would get two-thirds of the booty for having stood in
the ranks of the Crusaders against the mujahidin.
First: The Makeup [of Iraq]
In general, Iraq is a political mosaic, an ethnic mixture, and scattered
confessional and sectarian disparities that only a strong central authority
and a overpowering ruler have been able to lead, beginning with Ziyad Ibn
Abihi (tr. note: 7th century A.D.) and ending with Saddam. The future faces
difficult choices. It is a land of great hardships and difficulties for
everyone, whether he is serious or not…..
As for the details:
1. The Kurds
In their two Barazani and Talabani halves, these have given the bargain of
their hands and the fruit of their hearts to the Americans. They have
opened their land to the Jews and become their rear base and a Trojan horse
for their plans. They (the Jews) infiltrate through their lands, drape
themselves in their banners, and take them as a bridge over which to cross for
financial control and economic hegemony, as well as for the espionage base
for which they have built a large structure the length and breadth of that
land. In general, Islam’s voice has died out among them -- the Kurds -- and
the glimmer of religion has weakened in their homes. The Iraqi Da`wa has
intoxicated them, and the good people among them, few as they are, are
oppressed and fear that birds will carry them away.
3 [sic]. The Shi`a
[They are] the insurmountable obstacle, the lurking snake, the crafty and
malicious scorpion, the spying enemy, and the penetrating venom. We here
are entering a battle on two levels. One, evident and open, is with an
attacking enemy and patent infidelity. [Another is] a difficult, fierce
battle with a crafty enemy who wears the garb of a friend, manifests
agreement, and calls for comradeship, but harbors ill will and twists up
peaks and crests (?). Theirs is the legacy of the Batini bands that
traversed the history of Islam and left scars on its face that time cannot erase.
The unhurried observer and inquiring onlooker will realize that Shi`ism is
the looming danger and the true challenge. “They are the enemy. Beware of
them. Fight them. By God, they lie.” History’s message is validated by the
testimony of the current situation, which informs most clearly that Shi`ism
is a religion that has nothing in common with Islam except in the way that
Jews have something in common with Christians under the banner of the
People of the Book. From patent polytheism, worshipping at graves, and
circumambulating shrines, to calling the Companions [of the Prophet]
infidels and insulting the mothers of the believers and the elite of this
[Islamic] nation, [they] arrive at distorting the Qur’an as a product of
logic to defame those who know it well, in addition to speaking of the
infallibility of the [Islamic] nation, the centrality of believing in them,
affirming that revelation came down to them, and other forms of infidelity
and manifestations of atheism with which their authorized books and
original sources -- which they continue to print, distribute, and publish
-- overflow. The dreamers who think that a Shi`i can forget [his]
historical legacy and [his] old black hatred of the Nawasib [those who hate
the Prophet’s lineage], as they fancifully call them, are like someone who
calls on the Christians to renounce the idea of the crucifixion of the
Messiah. Would a sensible person do this? These are a people who added to
their infidelity and augmented their atheism with political cunning and a
feverish effort to seize upon the crisis of governance and the balance of
power in the state, whose features they are trying to draw and whose new
lines they are trying to establish through their political banners and
organizations in cooperation with their hidden allies the Americans.
These [have been] a sect of treachery and betrayal throughout history and
throughout the ages. It is a creed that aims to combat the Sunnis. When the
repulsive Ba`thi regime fell, the slogan of the Shi`a was “Revenge, revenge,
from Tikrit to al-Anbar.” This shows the extent of their hidden rancor
toward the Sunnis. However, their religious and political `ulama’ have been
able to control the affairs of their sect, so as not to have the battle
between them and the Sunnis become an open sectarian war, because they know
that they will not succeed in this way. They know that, if a sectarian war
was to take place, many in the [Islamic] nation would rise to defend the
Sunnis in Iraq. Since their religion is one of dissimulation, they
maliciously and cunningly proceeded another way. They began by taking
control of the institutions of the state and their security, military, and
economic branches. As you, may God preserve you, know, the basic components
of any country are security and the economy. They are deeply embedded
inside these institutions and branches. I give an example that brings the
matter home: the Badr Brigade, which is the military wing of the Supreme
Council of the Islamic Revolution, has shed its Shi`a garb and put on the
garb of the police and army in its place. They have placed cadres in these
institutions, and, in the name of preserving the homeland and the citizen,
have begun to settle their scores with the Sunnis. The American army has
begun to disappear from some cities, and its presence is rare. An Iraqi
army has begun to take its place, and this is the real problem that we
face, since our combat against the Americans is something easy. The enemy
is apparent, his back is exposed, and he does not know the land or the
current situation of the mujahidin because his intelligence information is
weak. We know for certain that these Crusader forces will disappear
tomorrow or the day after. He who looks at the current situation [will] see
the enemy’s haste to constitute the army and the police, which have begun
to carry out the missions assigned to them. This enemy, made up of the
Shi`a filled out with Sunni agents, is the real danger that we face, for it
is [made up of] our fellow countrymen, who know us inside and out. They are
more cunning than their Crusader masters, and they have begun, as I have
said, to try to take control of the security situation in Iraq. They have
liquidated many Sunnis and many of their Ba`th Party enemies and others
beholden to the Sunnis in an organized, studied way. They began by killing
many mujahid brothers, passing to the liquidation of scientists, thinkers,
doctors, engineers, and others. I believe, and God knows best, that the
worst will not come to pass until most of the American army is in the rear
lines and the secret Shi`i army and its military brigades are fighting as
its proxy. They are infiltrating like snakes to reign over the army and
police apparatus, which is the strike force and iron fist in our Third
World, and to take complete control over the economy like their tutors the
Jews. As the days pass, their hopes are growing that they will establish a
Shi`i state stretching from Iran through Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon and
ending in the Cardboard Kingdom of the Gulf. The Badr Brigade entered
carrying the slogan of revenge against Tikrit and al-Anbar, but it shed its
garb and then put on the emblem[s] of the army and police to oppress the
Sunnis and kill the people of Islam in the name of law and order, all under
cover of smooth talk. The noxiousness of falsehood rides the horse of
dissimulation. Their Ghunusi religion (one based on special personal
enlightenment) veils itself with lies and covers itself with hypocrisy,
exploiting the naivete and good-heartedness of many Sunnis. We do not know
when our [Islamic] nation will begin to learn from historical experience
and build on the testimony of the empty eras. The Shi`i Safavid state was
an insurmountable obstacle in the path of Islam. Indeed it was a dagger
that stabbed Islam and its people in the back. One of the Orientalists
spoke truth when he said that had the Safavid state not existed we in
Europe would today be reading the Qur’an just as the Algerian Berber does.
Yes, the hosts of the Ottoman state stopped at the gates of Vienna, and those
fortifications almost collapsed before them [to permit] Islam to spread
under the auspices of the sword of glory and jihad all across Europe. But
these armies were forced to return and withdraw to the rear because the
army of the Safavid state had occupied Baghdad, demolished its mosques,
killed its people, and captured its women and wealth. The armies returned
to defend the sanctuaries and people of Islam. Fierce fighting raged for
about two centuries and did not end until the strength and reach of the
Islamic state had waned and the [Islamic] nation had been put to sleep,
then to wake up to the drums of the invading Westerner.
The Qur’an has told us that the machinations of the hypocrites, the deceit
of the fifth column, and the cunning of those of our fellow countrymen
whose tongues speak honeyed words but whose hearts are those of devils in
the bodies of men – these are where the disease lies, these are the secret
of our distress, these are the rat of the dike. “They are the enemy. Beware
of them.” Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya spoke with truth and honesty when he
said – after he mentioned their (Shi`a) thinking toward the people of Islam
– “For this reason, with their malice and cunning, they help the infidels
against the Muslim mass[es], and they are one of the greatest reasons for
the eruption of Genghis Khan, the king of the infidels, into the lands of
Islam, for the arrival of Hulagu in the country of Iraq, for the taking of
Aleppo and the pillage of al-Salihiyya, and for other things. For this reason,
they pillaged the troops of the Muslims when they passed among them going
to Egypt the first time. And for this reason, they commit highway robbery
against the Muslims. And for this reason, help for the Tartars and Franks
appeared from among them against the Muslims. Deep sadness over the victory
of Islam appeared, since they were friends with the Jews, Franks, and
polytheists against the Muslims. These are among the customs of the
hypocrites…. Their hearts are full of vinegar and ire like no others with
regard to Muslims old and young, godly and ungodly.
Their greatest [act of] worship is to curse the Muslim friends of God from
first to last. These are the people most anxious to divide the Muslims.
Among their greatest principles are leveling charges of infidelity and
damning and cursing the elite of those who have ruled matters, like the
orthodox caliphs and the `ulama’ of the Muslims, because of their belief
that anyone who does not believe in the infallible imam, who is not
present, does not believe in God and his Prophet, may God bless him and
grant him salvation….
The Shi`a love the Tartars and their state because through it they achieved
a glory that they did not achieve through the Muslims’ state.…. They were
among the greatest helpers [of the Tartars] as they seized the countries of
Islam, killing Muslims and capturing their women. The story of Ibn
al-`Alqami and his like with the Caliph and their case in Aleppo is famous.
All the people know it. If the Muslims defeat the Christians and polytheists,
this causes distress among the Shi`a. And if the polytheists and Christians
beat the Muslims, this occasions a holiday and joy among the Shi`a.” –
al-Fatawa, part 28, pages 478 to 527
Praise be to God, it is as if veils had been lifted from the hidden for him
(Ibn Taymiyya) and he looked at what was before him and then spoke clearly
on the basis of observation and information. Our imams have traced a clear
path and lifted the veil from these people. Imam al-Bukhari says, not in
the house have I prayed behind a Shi`i or behind Jews or Christians. They
are not to be greeted. They are not to be congratulated on holidays. They
are not to be taken in marriage. They cannot bear witness. The animals they
slaughter are not to be eaten. – Khalq Af`al al-‘Ibad, page 125
Imam Ahmad says – he was asked about who had cursed Abu Bakr, `Umar, and
`A’isha, may God be pleased with them – “I do not see him within Islam.”
Imam Malik says, “He who curses the Companions of the Prophet, may God
bless him and grant him salvation, has no share or part in Islam.” – Kitab
al-Sunna of al-Khallal, number 779
Al-Faryabi says, “I do not see the Shi`a except as atheists.” --
al-Lalika’i, part 8, page 1545
And when Ibn Hazm brought evidence and proofs against the Jews and Christians
for distorting the Torah and the Gospel, they found no retort except to say
that the Shi`a among them spoke of distortions to the Qur’an. He said,
God’s mercy! When they speak of the claim of the Shi`a that substitution
has occurred, the Shi`a are not Muslims. They are a sect that follows the
path of the Jews and Christians in lying and infidelity.” – al-Fasl, part
2, page 78
Ibn Taymiyya said, “With this, it becomes clear that they are more evil
than the sectarians and more deserving of being fought than the Kharijis.
This is the reason for the general opinion that circulates that the Shi`a
are people of heresy. The populace spreads around that Shi`i is the
opposite of Sunni because they show resistance to the sunna of the Prophet
of God, may God bless him and grant him salvation, and to the Laws of
Islam.” – from Sa’ir Ahl al-Ahwa’, part 28, page 482
And he said, “If the sunna and ijma` are in agreement that -- if [the
spirit of] the Muslim attacker could [only] come out by killing, then he
should be killed, even if the property that he took was [but] a fraction of
a dinar --how could it be with regard to fighting those who deviate from
the Laws of Islam and fight God and His Prophet, may God bless him and
grant him salvation? – part 4, page 251
And with all this, let the people of Islam know that we are not the first
to have begun going down this road. We are not the first to have brandished
the sword. These people (the Shi`a) are continuing to kill those who call
for Islam and the mujahidin of the community, stabbing them in the back
under cover of the silence and complicity of the whole world, and,
regretfully, even of the symbolic figures beholden to the Sunnis.
Moreover, they are a bone in the throats of the mujahidin and a dagger in
[the backs of] their leading personalities. People without exception know
that most of the mujahidin who have fallen in war have done so at the hands
of these people. The wounds are still spreading, and they are working the
daggers of hatred and cunning in them assiduously, Night or day, they do
not let up.
2 [sic]. As regards the Sunnis
They are more wretched than orphans at the tables of the depraved. They
have lost the[ir] leader and wandered in the desert of artlessness and
negligence divided and fragmented, having lost the unifying head who
gathered the scattered [pieces] and prevented the egg from shattering. They
also are [various] kinds.
1. The Masses
These masses are the silent majority, absent even though present. “The
hooligans following everyone and his brother hungered. They did not seek
enlightenment from the light of science and did not take refuge in a safe
corner.” These, even if in general they hate the Americans, wish them to
vanish and to have their black cloud dissolve. But, despite that, they look
forward to a sunny tomorrow, a prosperous future, a carefree life, comfort,
and favor. They look ahead to that day and are thus easy prey for cunning
information [media] and political enticement whose hiss rings out…. In any
event, they are people of Iraq.
2. The Shaykhs and `Ulama’
These are mostly Sufis doomed to perdition. Their part of religion is an
anniversary in which they sing and dance to the chanting of a camel driver,
with a fatty banquet at the end. In truth, these are narcotic opiate[s] and
deceitful guides for an [Islamic] nation that is feeling its way on a
pitch-black night. As for the spirit of jihad and the jurisprudence of
martyrdom and disavowal of the infidel, they are innocent of all of that,
just as the wolf was innocent of the blood of Joseph, may peace be upon
him. With all the horrors and bad circumstances, not one of them ever
speaks about jihad or calls for sacrifice or self-sacrifice. For these,
three is too much, not to say four. They are not suited to this.
3. The [Muslim] Brothers
As you have observed, they make a profession of trading in the blood of
martyrs and build their counterfeit glory on the skulls of the faithful.
They have debased the horse, put aside arms, said “no jihad” … and lied.
Their whole effort is to extend political control and seize the posts of
Sunni representation in the government cake whose creation has been
decided, while taking care in secret to get control of the mujahidin groups
through financial support for two purposes. The first is for propaganda and
media work abroad to attract money and sympathy, exactly as they did during
the events in Syria, and the second is to control the situation and
dissolve these groups when the party ends and the gifts are distributed.
They are now intent on creating a Sunni shura body to speak in the name of
the Sunnis. It is their habit to grab the stick in the middle and change as
the political climate changes. Their religion is mercurial. They have no
firm principles, and they do not start from enduring legal bases. God is
the one from whom we have sought help.
D (sic). The Mujahidin
These are the quintessence of the Sunnis and the good sap of this country.
In general, they belong to the Sunni doctrine and naturally to the Salafi
creed. The Salafis splintered only as the bend curved, and the people of
the [distant] regions fell behind the caravan. In general, these mujahidin
distinguish themselves by the following:
1. Most of them have little expertise or experience, especially in
organized collective work. Doubtlessly, they are the result of a repressive
regime that militarized the country, spread dismay, propagated fear and
dread, and destroyed confidence among the people. For this reason, most of
the groups are working in isolation, with no political horizon,
farsightedness, or preparation to inherit the land. Yes, the idea has begun
to ripen, and a light whisper has arisen to become noisy talk about the
need to band together and unite under one banner. But matters are still in
their initial stages. With God’s praise, we are trying to ripen them
quickly.
2. Jihad here unfortunately [takes the form of] mines planted, rockets
launched, and mortars shelling from afar. The Iraqi brothers still prefer
safety and returning to the arms of their wives, where nothing frightens
them. Sometimes the groups have boasted among themselves that not one of
them has been killed or captured. We have told them in our many sessions
with them that safety and victory are incompatible, that the tree of
triumph and empowerment cannot grow tall and lofty without blood and
defiance of death, that the [Islamic] nation cannot live without the aroma
of martyrdom and the perfume of fragrant blood spilled on behalf of God,
and that people cannot awaken from their stupor unless talk of martyrdom
and martyrs fills their days and nights. The matter needs more patience and
conviction. [Our] hope in God is great.
E. (sic) The Immigrant Mujahidin
Their numbers continue to be negligible as compared to the enormity of the
expected battle. We know that the convoys of good are many, that the march
of jihad continues, and that only confusion over the banner and a muffled
reality keep many of them from [answering] the call to battle. What
prevents us from [calling] a general alert is that the country has no
mountains in which we can take refuge and no forests in whose thickets we
can hide. Our backs are exposed and our movements compromised. Eyes are
everywhere. The enemy is before us and the sea is behind us. Many an Iraqi
will honor you as a guest and give you shelter as a peaceable brother. As
for making his house into a base for launching [operations] and a place of
movement and battle, this is rarer than red sulphur. For this reason, we
have worn ourselves out on many occasions sheltering and protecting the
brothers. This makes training the green newcomers like wearing bonds and
shackles, even though, praise be to God and with relentless effort and
insistent searching, we have taken possession of growing numbers of
locations, praise be to God, to be base sites for brothers who are kindling
[the fire of] war and drawing the people of the country into the furnace of
battle so that a real war will break out, God willing.
Second: The Current Situation and the Future
There is no doubt that the Americans’ losses are very heavy because they
are deployed across a wide area and among the people and because it is easy
to procure weapons, all of which makes them easy and mouth-watering targets
for the believers. But America did not come to leave, and it will not leave
no matter how numerous its wounds become and how much of its blood is
spilled. It is looking to the near future, when it hopes to disappear into
its bases secure and at ease and put the battlefields of Iraq into the
hands of the foundling government with an army and police that will bring
the behavior of Saddam and his myrmidons back to the people. There is no
doubt that the space in which we can move has begun to shrink and that the
grip around the throats of the mujahidin has begun to tighten. With the
deployment of soldiers and police, the future has become frightening.
Third: So Where are We?
Despite the paucity of supporters, the desertion of friends, and the
toughness of the times,. God the Exalted has honored us with good harm to
the enemy. Praise be to God, in terms of surveillance, preparation, and
planning, we have been the keys to all of the martyrdom operations that
have taken place except those in the north. Praise be to God, I have
completed 25 [operations] up to now, including among the Shi`a and their
symbolic figures, the Americans and their soldiers, the police and
soldiers, and the coalition forces. God willing, more are to come. What has
prevented us from going public is that we have been waiting until we have
weight on the ground and finish preparing integrated structures capable of
bearing the consequences of going public so that we appear in strength and
do not suffer a reversal. We seek refuge in God. Praise be to God, we have
made good strides and completed important stages. As the decisive moment
approaches, we feel that [our] body has begun to spread in the security
vacuum, gaining locations on the ground that will be the nucleus from which
to launch and move out in a serious way, God willing.
Fourth: The Work Plan
After study and examination, we can narrow our enemy down to four groups.
1. The Americans
These, as you know, are the most cowardly of God’s creatures. They are an
easy quarry, praise be to God. We ask God to enable us to kill and capture
them to sow panic among those behind them and to trade them for our
detained shaykhs and brothers.
2. The Kurds
These are a lump [in the throat] and a thorn whose time to be clipped has
yet to come. They are last on the list, even though we are making efforts
to harm some of their symbolic figures, God willing.
3. Soldiers, Police, and Agents
These are the eyes, ears, and hands of the occupier, through which he sees,
hears, and delivers violent blows. God willing, we are determined to target
them strongly in the coming period before the situation is consolidated and
they control arrest[s].
4. The Shi`a
These in our opinion are the key to change. I mean that targeting and
hitting them in [their] religious, political, and military depth will
provoke them to show the Sunnis their rabies … and bare the teeth of the
hidden rancor working in their breasts. If we succeed in dragging them into
the arena of sectarian war, it will become possible to awaken the
inattentive Sunnis as they feel imminent danger and annihilating death at the
hands of these Sabeans. Despite their weakness and fragmentation, the
Sunnis are the sharpest blades, the most determined, and the most loyal
when they meet those Batinis (Shi`a), who are a people of treachery and
cowardice. They are arrogant only with the weak and can attack only the
broken-winged. Most of the Sunnis are aware of the danger of these people,
watch their sides, and fear the consequences of empowering them. Were it
not for the enfeebled Sufi shaykhs and [Muslim] Brothers, people would have
told a different tale.
This matter, with the anticipated awaking of the slumberer and rousing of
the sleeper, also includes neutralizing these [Shi`a] people and pulling
out their teeth before the inevitable battle, along with the anticipated
incitement of the wrath of the people against the Americans, who brought
destruction and were the reason for this miasma. The people must beware of
licking the honeycomb and enjoying some of the pleasures from which they
were previously deprived, lest they surrender to meekness, stay on the[ir]
land, prefer safety,, and turn away from the rattle of swords and the
neighing of horses.
5. The Work Mechanism
Our current situation, as I have previously told you, obliges us to deal
with the matter with courage and clarity and to move quickly to do so
because we consider that [unless we do so] there will be no result in which
religion will appear. The solution that we see, and God the Exalted knows
better, is for us to drag the Shi`a into the battle because this is the only
way to prolong the fighting between us and the infidels. We say that we
must drag them into battle for several reasons, which are:
1 – They, i.e., the Shi`a, have declared a secret war against the people of
Islam. They are the proximate, dangerous enemy of the Sunnis, even if the
Americans are also an archenemy. The danger from the Shi`a, however, is
greater and their damage is worse and more destructive to the [Islamic]
nation than the Americans, on whom you find a quasi-consensus about killing
them as an assailing enemy.
2 – They have befriended and supported the Americans and stood in their
ranks against the mujahidin. They have spared and are still sparing no
effort to put an end to the jihad and the mujahidin.
3 – Our fighting against the Shi`a is the way to drag the [Islamic] nation
into the battle. We speak here in some detail. We have said before that the
Shi`a have put on the uniforms of the Iraqi army, police, and security
[forces] and have raised the banner of preserving the homeland and the citizen.
Under this banner, they have begun to liquidate the Sunnis under the
pretext that they are saboteurs, remnants of the Ba`th, and terrorists
spreading evil in the land. With strong media guidance from the Governing
Council and the Americans, they have been able to come between the Sunni
masses and the mujahidin. I give an example that brings the matter close to
home in the area called the Sunni Triangle -- if this is the right name for
it. The army and police have begun to deploy in those areas and are growing
stronger day by day. They have put chiefs [drawn] from among Sunni agents
and the people of the land in charge. In other words, this army and police
may be linked to the inhabitants of this area by kinship, blood, and honor.
In truth, this area is the base from which we set out and to which we
return. When the Americans disappear from these areas – and they have begun
to do so – and these agents, who are linked by destiny to the people of the
land, take their place, what will our situation be?
If we fight them {and we must fight them}, we will confront one of two
things. Either:
1 – We fight them, and this is difficult because of the gap that will
emerge between us and the people of the land. How can we fight their
cousins and their sons and under what pretext after the Americans, who hold
the reins of power from their rear bases, pull back? The real sons of this
land will decide the matter through experience. Democracy is coming, and
there will be no excuse thereafter.
2 – We pack our bags and search for another land, as is the sad, recurrent
story in the arenas of jihad, because our enemy is growing stronger and his
intelligence data are increasing day by day. By the Lord of the Ka`ba,
[this] is suffocation and then wearing down the roads. People follow the
religion of their kings. Their hearts are with you and their swords are
with Bani Umayya (the Umayyads), i.e., with power, victory, and security.
God have mercy.
I come back and again say that the only solution is for us to strike the
religious, military, and other cadres among the Shi`a with blow after blow
until they bend to the Sunnis. Someone may say that, in this matter, we are
being hasty and rash and leading the [Islamic] nation into a battle for
which it is not ready, [a battle] that will be revolting and in which blood
will be spilled. This is exactly what we want, since right and wrong no
longer have any place in our current situation. The Shi`a have destroyed
all those balances. God’s religion is more precious that lives and souls. When
the overwhelming majority stands in the ranks of truth, there has to be
sacrifice for this religion. Let blood be spilled, and we will soothe and
speed those who are good to their paradise. [As for} those who, unlike
them, are evil, we will be delivered from them, since, by God, God’s
religion is more precious than anything and has priority over lives,
wealth, and children. The best proof [of this] is the story of the
Companions of the Ditch, whom God praised. [Imam] al-Nawawi said that this
story contained proof that, if the city and the desert fought each other
until all without exception perished unless they professed belief in the
oneness of God, this would be good. Persons live, blood is saved, and honor
is preserved only by sacrifice on behalf of this religion. By God, o
brothers, with the Shi`a, we have rounds, attacks, and dark nights that we
cannot postpone under any circumstances. Their danger is imminent, and what
we and you feared is most certainly a reality. Know that those [Shi`a] are
the most cowardly of God’s creatures and that killing their leaders will
only increase their weakness and cowardice, since with the death of one of
their leaders the sect dies with him. It is not like when a Sunni leader
dies. If one dies or is killed, a sayyid arises. In their fighting, they
bring out courage and hearten the weak among the Sunnis. If you knew the
fear [that exists] among the Sunnis and their masses, your eyes would cry
over them in sadness. How many mosques have been converted into Husayniyyas
(Shi`i mosques), how many houses have they demolished on the heads of their
occupants, how many brothers have they killed and mutilated, and how many
sisters have had their honor defiled at the hands of these depraved
infidels? If we are able to strike them with one painful blow after another
until they enter the battle, we will be able to [re]shuffle the cards.
Then, no value or influence will remain to the Governing Council or even to
the Americans, who will enter a second battle with the Shi`a. This is what
we want, and, whether they like it or not, many Sunni areas will stand with
the mujahidin. Then, the mujahidin will have assured themselves land from
which to set forth in striking the Shi`a in their heartland, along with a
clear media orientation and the creation of strategic depth and reach among
the brothers outside [Iraq] and the mujahidin within.
1 -- We are striving urgently and racing against time to create companies
of mujahidin that will repair to secure places and strive to reconnoiter
the country, hunting the enemy – Americans, police, and soldiers -- on the
roads and lanes. We are continuing to train and multiply them. As for the
Shi`a, we will hurt them, God willing, through martyrdom operations and car
bombs.
2. – We have been striving for some time to observe the arena and sift the
those who work in it in search of those who are sincere and on the right
path, so that we can cooperate with them for the good and coordinate some
actions with them, so as to achieve solidarity and unity after testing and
trying them. We hope that we have made good progress. Perhaps we will
decide to go public soon, even if in a gradual way, so that we can come out
into the open. We have been hiding for a long time. We are seriously
preparing media material that will reveal the facts, call forth firm
intentions, arouse determination, and be[come] an arena of jihad in which
the pen and the sword complement each other.
3 – This will be accompanied by an effort that we hope will intensify to
expose crippling doubts and explain the rules of shari`a through tapes,
printed materials, study, and courses of learning [meant] to expand
awareness, anchor the doctrine of the unity of God, prepare the
infrastructure, and meet [our] obligation.
5 (sic) – TheTiming for Implementation
It is our hope to accelerate the pace of work and that companies and
battalions with expertise, experience, and endurance will be formed to
await the zero hour when we will begin to appear in the open, gain control
the land at night, and extend it into daylight, the One and Conquering God
willing. We hope that this matter, I mean the zero hour, will [come] four
months or so before the promised government is formed. As you can see, we
are racing against time. If we are able, as we hope, to turn the tables on
them and thwart their plan, this will be good. If the other [scenario]
[happens] – and we seek refuge in God – and the government extends its
control over the country, we will have to pack our bags and break camp for
another land in which we can resume carrying the banner or in which God
will choose us as martyrs for his sake.
6. What About You?
You, gracious brothers, are the leaders, guides, and symbolic figures of
jihad and battle. We do not see ourselves as fit to challenge you, and we
have never striven to achieve glory for ourselves. All that we hope is that
we will be the spearhead, the enabling vanguard, and the bridge on which
the [Islamic] nation crosses over to the victory that is promised and the
tomorrow to which we aspire. This is our vision, and we have explained it.
This is our path, and we have made it clear. If you agree with us on it, if
you adopt it as a program and road, and if you are convinced of the idea of
fighting the sects of apostasy, we will be your readied soldiers, working
under your banner, complying with your orders, and indeed swearing fealty
to you publicly and in the news media, vexing the infidels and gladdening
those who preach the oneness of God. On that day, the believers will
rejoice in God’s victory. If things appear otherwise to you, we are
brothers, and the disagreement will not spoil [our] friendship. [This is} a
cause [in which] we are cooperating for the good and supporting jihad.
Awaiting your response, may God preserve you as keys to good and reserves for
Islam and its people. Amen, amen.
Peace and the mercy and blessings of God be upon you.
Al-Qa'ida's Abu-Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi Deplores Muslims'
'Renunciation' of Jihad
Middle East-- FBIS Report in Arabic 05 Jan 04
FBIS REPORT
Monday, January 5, 2004
Journal Code: 9023 Language: ENGLISH Record Type: FULLTEXT
Document Type: Daily Report; News
Word Count: 8,283
(FBIS Report)
The "Islamic Terrorism," an online Jihadist chatroom and news
network, located at www.alerhap.com, was observed on 6 January 2004 to post
links featuring a 60-minute "audio message by Abu-Mus'ab al-Zarqawi,
commander of the mujahidin in Iraq and the person who tops the US wanted
list, addressed to the Muslim nation." Al-Zarqawi's real name is Ahmad
Fadil Nazzal al-Khalayilah.
The following is the translated text of the audio message:
Praise be to God. We praise Him, seek His help and His forgiveness.
We seek the protection of God from the evils of our own souls and from
our bad deeds. Nobody will be able to misguide those who are guided by God,
and those who are destined to be misguided will have nobody to guide them.
I testify that there is no God but Allah, having no partner with Him; that
Muhammad is His servant and messenger; and that he communicated the message
and fulfilled the trust and was honest in the counsel he offered the Ummah
(Muslim nation or community). He left the Ummah on an uncultivated straight
path: Its night is just like its daylight. Whoever budges from this path is
doomed.
"O ye who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not
except in a state of Islam." (Koranic verse) "O mankind!
reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person,
created, of like nature, His mate, and from them twain scattered (like
seeds) countless men and women;- reverence Allah, through whom ye demand
your mutual (rights), and (reverence) the wombs (That bore you): for Allah
ever watches over you." (Koranic verse) "O ye who believe! Fear
Allah, and (always) say a word directed to the Right: That He may make your
conduct whole and sound and forgive you your sins: He that obeys Allah and
His Messenger, has already attained the highest achievement." (Koranic
verses) God may bring together two displaced men who might have thought
that they would never meet. (a line of poetry) O brothers in approach and
comrades, O beloved ones of my soul: I address you while the longing to you
spurs me on, and while there is still hope that God will bring about a
reunion and that the group will gather once again along the path of obeying
God and jihad in His cause. I address you while waiting the day when you
will renew the old amity and rehabilitate the old fraternity.
O brothers: My love for you is no longer a secret. How can this be a
secret while my two eyes speak of this love? With the love of the Almighty
God, I love you. I harbor for you a love that is shinning on the sides of
my heart. Each individual has a place in my heart. Even though the heart is
small, it has space for everybody. (lines of poetry) I address you after the
approvers and backers have become in short supply, after the wounds have
multiplied and the misfortune has worsened, and after many pioneering
knights and legendary heroes have passed away. God has spared us for a
reason that He knows. We pledge to the Almighty God and to you to remain a
thorn in the throats of the oppressors, a sword that is drawn against the
necks of the unjust, and soldiers for Islam to defend Muslim lands. We will
surmount difficulties to fight in its cause. Similarly, we are ready to
sacrifice ourselves until either God grants victory for our religion or
until we die.
I address you as a compassionate man, as an admonisher, and as a sad
person who is puzzled as to why people such as you failed to join the
caravan and lagged behind to stay alive. You failed to mobilize even though
the Crusaders came to you fully equipped and in huge numbers and fought you
in unison. Where is the talk of old times, the nightly chats, the wounds of
the days, and the sighs of those who yearn to jihad, paradise, and
black-eyed maidens? Do you accept to be a bad example? The Almighty God
says: "Hast thou not turned Thy vision to those who were told to hold
back their hands (from fight) but establish regular prayers and spend in
regular charity? When (at length) the order for fighting was issued to
them, behold! A section of them feared men as -- or even more than -- they
should have feared Allah." They said: "Our Lord! Why hast Thou
ordered us to fight? Wouldst Thou not Grant us respite to our (natural)
term, near (enough)?" Say: "Short is the enjoyment of this world:
the Hereafter is the best for those who do right: Never will ye be dealt
with unjustly in the very least! Wherever ye are, death will find you out,
even if ye are in towers built up strong and high!" (Koranic verses)
Here is the United States coming fully equipped and in large numbers.
It has come with its pride and haughtiness to fight God and His
messenger. Where are the lions that are capable of experiencing
inconvenience, the knights of the field, the heroes of monotheism, and the
men of the creed? "Is it not possible, if ye were commanded to fight,
that ye will not fight?" They said: "How could we refuse to fight
in the cause of Allah, seeing that we were turned out of our homes and our
families?" "But when they were commanded to fight, they turned
back, except a small band among them. But Allah Has full knowledge of those
who do wrong." (Koranic verses)
In the past, our imams said: If you want to know your standing, examine
the actions that you are carrying out thanks to God's predestination.
Blessed be the person who is inspired by God to engage in jihad, in
fighting His enemies, and in inciting against them. The Almighty God says:
"Then fight in Allah's cause - Thou art held responsible only for
thyself - and rouse the believers. It may be that Allah will restrain the
fury of the Unbelievers; for Allah is the strongest in might and in
punishment." (Koranic verse) The Almighty God says: "O Messenger.
rouse the Believers to the fight." (part of a Koranic verse) The
Almighty God also says: "O ye who believe! Shall I lead you to a
bargain that will save you from a grievous Penalty? That ye believe in
Allah and His Messenger, and that ye strive (your utmost) in the Cause of
Allah, with your property and your persons: That will be best for you, if
ye but knew! He will forgive you your sins, and admit you to Gardens
beneath which Rivers flow, and to beautiful mansions in Gardens of
Eternity: that is indeed the Supreme Achievement. And another (favour will
He bestow,) which ye do love,- help from Allah and a speedy victory. So
give the Glad Tidings to the Believers." (Koranic verses)
Bin-Majah, citing Kurayb, relates that he heard Usama Bin-Zayd saying:
The messenger of God, may God's peace and blessings be upon him, said: Has
anybody rolled up his sleeves and dress to be qualified to enter paradise?
There are no perils in paradise. I swear by the God of the Kaaba that it is
a shining light, a moving sweet basil, a palace that is built up and high, a
flowing river, a ripe fruit, a good-looking and beautiful wife, many
garments, eternal abode in an unblemished place, fruits, vegetables, silk
shawls, and a life of ease in a lofty and magnificent place. They (the
companions of the prophet in attendance) said: "Yes, O messenger of
God. We are rolling up our sleeves and dresses for it." He said: Say
God willing, and so did the men. He then spoke of jihad and incited jihad.
In a mawquf (restricted) hadith, Ali (Bin-Abi-Talib) cited Prophet
Muhammad as saying: Whoever incites his brother to engage in jihad will
have the same reward as his brother. Whenever this brother takes a step
along the path of jihad, the inciter will be given the same rewards given
to a Muslim who worships God over one whole year.
O my folks, the clouds of victory will not cause rainfall unless there
is an extremely generous and audacious generation. Take up arms and respond
to the call, for there is no comfort in a life of misery. The trunk is
Meccan and the branch is Ansari (one of the holy Medina residents who
backed Prophet Muhammad when the Quraysh tribe persecuted him in the early
years of Islam). The banner of monotheism still flutters, and the extremely
sharp edge of the sword is honed. (Lines of poetry) We were pained, and our
livers were ulcerated when we saw that the traces of jihad have
disappeared, that its lights are not being seen by mankind, and that its
nights have become dark after they were moonlit. Its days have become dark
even though they were illuminated. Its branches, which were leafy, have
dried up. Its beauty, which was shining, has shriveled. Its doors have been
closed. They are not being knocked. The rationale for jihad has been
overlooked and left unheeded. Its horses have been standing with one foot
slightly raised:
They are not running. Its lions are lying down with the chest to the
ground: They are not rising up. The servile infidels have extended their
hands to hurt Muslims, but these hands were not gripped. The swords were
put in their scabbards instead of being used to fight the enemies of the
religion. This was prompted by a desire to lead a life of meekness and
security. The general call to arms addressed to them was muted even though
it was a cry addressed to the believers. The bride of the martyrs has almost
become a widow because nobody asked for her hand in marriage. People
overlooked jihad as if they are not called upon to engage in jihad.
Everybody has either overlooked jihad, been burdened by the ephemeral bliss
of the worldly life demonstrating a dislike for jihad, or renounced jihad
because he is afraid and scared of death. He might have shunned jihad
because he does not want to spend money on jihad or because he is greedy.
He might have been ignorant of the generous rewards for jihad; he might have
preferred the worldly life to the afterlife. "But little is the
comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter." (Part of a
Koranic verse) O brothers in creed: How are you rationalizing things? You
are supposed to be the advocates of right. O, people of honesty: What is
the cause of this renunciation (of jihad)? Is it the kinfolk, children, and
dwelling places? The Almighty God says: "Say: If it be that your
fathers, your sons, your brothers, your mates, or your kindred; the wealth
that ye have gained; the commerce in which ye fear a decline: or the
dwellings in which ye delight - are dearer to you than Allah, or His
Messenger, or the striving in His cause;- then wait until Allah brings
about His decision: and Allah guides not the rebellious." (Koranic
verses)
The Author of Al-Mashari book elaborated on this noble Koranic verse,
which contains warnings and threats to those who give up jihad and remain
content with their families and wealth. So, the wise should derive a lesson
from this verse.
God says: "Ye who believe! What is the matter with you, that, when
ye are asked to go forth in the cause of Allah, ye cling heavily to the
earth? Do ye prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But little is
the comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter. (Koranic verse)
Al-Qurtubi, may God bestow mercy upon him, said that this verse rebukes
(the believers) for leaving jihad and becoming immersed in the pleasures of
life.
God says: "Those who were left behind (in the Tabuk expedition)
rejoiced in their inaction behind the back of the Messenger of Allah. They
hated to strive and fight, with their goods and their persons, in the cause
of Allah. They said, 'Go not forth in the heat.' Say, 'The fire of Hell is
fiercer in heat.' If only they could understand!
Let them laugh a little: much will they weep: a recompense for the
(evil) that they do. If, then, Allah bring thee back to any of them, and
they ask thy permission to come out (with thee), say: 'Never shall ye come
out with me, nor fight an enemy with me: for ye preferred to sit inactive
on the first occasion: Then sit ye (now) with those who lag behind.' Nor do
thou ever pray for any of them that dies, nor stand at his grave; for they
rejected Allah and His Messenger, and died in a state of perverse
rebellion." (Koranic verses)
Consider this strong warning. Look at the severe disgrace and bad fate
of those who fail to engage in jihad and hate to spend money for the sake
of jihad. Although these verses referred to certain people, they contained
a warning and threat to those who do the same and shirk jihad as those
people did. This is such an ugly deed. The warning is very strong. Is there
worse failure than this failure? So, you have to fear God and those who
disobey God's orders must beware of his punishment.
The author of Al-Mashari book said: You, who do not engage in jihad,
which is a duty, and fail to pursue the path of success, must know that you
will be distanced (from God) and will not achieve your aspirations. You
have refrained from fighting, joining the battles of heroes, and spending
money for the sake of God, because you had great hopes in life, feared
death, and did not want to leave a beloved one, wealth, children, brother,
relative, intimate friend, a pretty wife, a high position, a palace, nice
clothes, or good food. Nothing else would prevent you from launching jihad
and keep you away from God. By God, this is a not a good deed from you,
brother.
God says: "O ye who believe! What is the matter with you, that,
when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of Allah, ye cling heavily to
the earth? Do ye prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But little
is the comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter." (Koranic
verse)
Listen to the clear evidence that I cite. You must know that what
prevents you from joining jihad is nothing but your soul and Satan. If you
hope to live a long life and fear death, then you must know that death is
inevitable. You should not fear the path that you must tread.
Jihad does not shorten the lives of mujahidin and failure to join jihad
will not prolong your life.
God says: "When their term is reached, not an hour can they cause
delay, nor (an hour) can they advance (it in anticipation)." (Koranic
verse)
"But to no soul will Allah grant respite when the time appointed
(for it) has come; and Allah is well acquainted with (all) that ye
do." (Koranic verse)
"Every soul shall have a taste of death." (part of Koranic
verse)
Death has stupors. Death is fearful, but you are not aware of that.
There is torture in the grave. Only the good ones will be spared from
this torture. In the grave, you will be questioned by two angels.
God says: "Allah will establish in strength those who believe, with
the word that stands firm, in this world and in the Hereafter; but Allah
will leave, to stray, those who do wrong: Allah doeth what He
willeth." (Koranic verse)
Afterward, you will face the great danger. You will either be blessed
and enjoy an everlasting paradise or be wretched and be punished in hell.
The martyr will not face anything of this sort.
The prophet, may God's peace, mercy, and blessings be upon him, says
that when the martyr dies he only feels little pain. So, brother what
prevents you from seizing this chance, avoiding the torture of the grave, pleasing
God, and avoiding the questioning of the angels and other calamities.
The martyrs "live, finding their sustenance in the presence of
their Lord." (part of Koranic verse)
"The (Martyrs) glory in the fact that on them is no fear, nor have
they (cause to) grieve." (part of Koranic verse)
The martyrs rejoice in the bounty provided by God. Their souls are
inside the bodies of green birds that fly in the heaven. There is a big
difference between this noble death and the painful death. If your wealth is
predestined by God, then it is better not to worry about what you earn. If
your wealth will be left (after you die), then why do you hesitate to
donate money? If life is precious, then God's reward is far better. If all
will die, then getting killed by the sword in the cause of God is much
better.
God says: "O ye who believe! if any from among you turn back from
his Faith, soon will Allah produce a people whom He will love as they will
love Him, lowly with the believers, mighty against the rejecters, fighting
in the way of Allah, and never afraid of the reproaches of such as find
fault. That is the grace of Allah, which He will bestow on whom He
pleaseth. And Allah encompasseth all, and He knoweth all things."
(Koranic verse)
The verse shows that this is because of supporting the infidels. What
will God do? He will bring a people whom he loves and who love him. Who are
these elite people whom God preserves to support his religion and raise his
banner when people fail to fight and the believers get disunited? They love
God and he loves them. They deal gently with the believers and harshly with
the infidels. What else? They engage in jihad for the sake of God and fear
no blame. God decides that not all people will win this status.
"That is the grace of Allah, which He will bestow on whom He
pleaseth. And Allah encompasseth all, and He knoweth all things."
(Koranic verse)
I warn you against not joining this march. My brother in faith, you must
be careful to be among those whom God loves and who love God. If the convoy
moves, the bad ones will not join it and the right will be distinguished
from wrong.
God says: "Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and
their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight
in His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth,
through the Law, the Gospel, and the Qur'an: and who is more faithful to
his covenant than Allah. then rejoice in the bargain which ye have
concluded: that is the achievement supreme." (Koranic verse)
When the number of those claiming that they love God increased, they
were asked to give evidence of their claims. If people get all that which
they claim, then they will get everything. No claim will be accepted unless
evidence is produced.
Say: "If ye do love Allah, Follow me: Allah will love you."
(Koranic verse)
All the people lagged behind and the followers of the beloved prophet
remained steadfast by adhering to his deeds, sayings, and morals. They were
asked to give evidence. They engage in jihad and fear no blame.
Most of the prophet's followers lagged behind. The mujahidin, who rose
to their feet, took the floor, saying "the souls and property of the
prophet's followers are not their own. So, come to make your pledge to
him." "Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and
their goods; for theirs in return is the garden of Paradise" (Koranic
verse)
When the prophet's followers realized how high the price they would pay
and what a great reward they would receive and the loftiness of the person
who would oversee their pledge-taking, they came to know how important
their pledge was. So, they did realize that they would do a grave injustice
to themselves if they made this pledge to others. So they made their pledge
to him (Prophet Muhammad) at Al-Ridwan upon their own free will.
At the conclusion of the pledge-taking event, they said: "By God,
we will never oust you or do without you." When they made their pledge
to him, they were told that "your souls and property will be returned
to you, and even more."
"Think not of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they
live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord" (Koranic
verse)
Ibn Kathir (a narrator of Prophet Muhammad's sayings), may God have
mercy on him, says: "God will compensate his believers if they
sacrifice their property and souls in His cause by granting them his
paradise. God's acceptance of compensation for what he bestowed upon his
believers is one of His blessings." This is what prompted Al-Hasan al-Basri
and Qatadah (Hadith narrators and scholars) to say: "God has accepted
their pledge and compensated for that very dearly."
"He may take to Himself from your ranks Martyr-witnesses to
Truth." (Koranic verse)
Prophet Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon him, said:
"Among those who will be allowed into paradise, none would love to
return to the world, except the martyrs. Those would wish to return to the
world to get killed 10 times for the great and high reward martyrs would
receive from God."
When Abdallah Bin-Amr Bin-Haram was killed in the battle of Uhud,
Prophet Muhammad, may God's peace and prayers be upon him, said: "O
Jabir, shall I tell you what God said to your father? God has never talked
to anyone except from behind a barrier, but he did talk to your father. He
said: 'Ask for anything to give you.' He said: Allow me back into life so
that I will get killed again for your sake.'"
God, therefore, revealed this Koranic verse to His messenger:
"Think not of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they
live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord" (Koranic
verse)
Ibn Abbas qouted God's prophet, may God's peace and blessings be upon
him, as saying: "When God's calamity befell your brothers in the
Battle of Uhud, God ordered that their souls be placed in green birds that
fly to the rivers of paradise, eat from its fruits, and sleep in lanterns
dangling from God's majestic place. When those came to realize how sweet
and comfortable their stay was, they said: who can tell our brothers that
we are alive in paradise so that they will not spare any effort in jihad or
show leniency in war. God said: I will tell them instead of you."
God, therefore, revealed his verse "think not of those who are
slain in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in
the presence of their Lord" to Prophet Muhammad, may God's peace and
blessings be upon him.
Abdallah Bin-Umar, may God be pleased with him, said: "I heard
Prophet Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon him, saying that
the first group of people who would be allowed into paradise is the poor.
Those listen attentively when asked to do something. Although their needs
were not met in the world by their rulers, Almighty God will place them in
paradise on the Day of Judgment. Paradise will be fancily decorated with
ornaments to welcome those poor people. God will then call on the believers
who fought and got killed in his cause. Then, He will ask them to enter
paradise. The angels will be summoned to bow in front of them. The angels
will tell God: We always worship you, day and night. Who are those who were
accorded precedence over us? Who are those? God Almighty will say that
those are the believers who fought and got harmed in my cause."
Ibn Mas'ud (a hadith narrator), may God be pleased with him, was asked
about God's saying "think not of those who are slain in Allah's way as
dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their
Lord." He said: "We were told that their souls would be placed in
green birds in paradise. They go wherever they want and sleep in lanterns
dangling from God's majestic place. God asked them: Do you want anything
more? They said: O Lord, what more shall we ask for? We go everywhere in
paradise. He then asked them again. When they realized that God would keep
asking them, they said: Bring our souls back to us so that we can return to
the world to get killed in your cause once more."
God's messenger, may God's prayers and peace be upon him says: "By
God, I wish I could fight in God's cause and get killed several
times."
What more blessings can one get? What more honors can he receive?
Here is America among us. So, come take revenge on it and extinguish
your thirst from its blood. Come defend the honor of the Muslim women and
receive this generous award.
Citing Prophet Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon him,
Abu-Hurayrah (a Hadith narrator) says: "No infidel and his killer will
meet in hell."
Ibn Abi-Shaybah, citing Salman Bin-Abi Rabi'ah, said: "I killed
with my own sword 100 infidels, all of whom did not worship God."
Ibn-Sirin (a hadith narrator) once said: "Al-Bara Ibn-Malik lay
down and began singing. Anas told him: Remember God, O brother. So he sat
upright and said: O Anas, the son of my father, I wouldn't die in my bed, I
would not die in my bed, for I have killed 100 polytheists in duels, not to
mention those I helped in killing. O brother of monotheism, beware of the
pitfalls and mazes of Satan. Be careful not to make him stand between you
and jihad for the sake of God and place obstacles and reasons that justify
for you the failure to observe (the duty of) jihad, even if these were in
obedience to God and His messenger. For this ousted, rebellious Satan does
not cease to prevent man from doing what pleases his God."
Ibn-al-Qayyim (early Muslim scholar), may God have mercy on his soul,
drew attention to this dangerous matter. He said that the devil is
importunate and does not despair fast. He lies in wait for the believer and
sets traps for him along his path toward God. (In setting traps), Satan
does not stoop to using light methods unless his serious methods fail. He
begins with the trap of polytheism and disbelief in God. If he (the
believer) survives this trap, Satan would set for him the trap of heresy.
If he survives this one, Satan would set for him the trap of grave sins;
and if he survives this one, he would set for him the trap of minor sins.
If he survives these, Satan would make him preoccupied with what is
permissible. If he fails in this, he would place before him the obstacle of
acceptable rituals (Ibadat Maqbulah) and make him preoccupied with them. He
made them (rituals) look beautiful to him and showed him what advantage and
profit he could get from them so that he would be distracted from what is
better and more profitable.
When Satan failed to make him lose the essence of (God's) reward, he
wanted to make him lose his integrity, merit, and high qualities. He made
him preoccupied with what is acceptable and thus diverted his attention
from what is better for him. He makes him preoccupied with knowledge about
collective duties, thus distracting his attention from the individual duty
of Jihad.
While the door for jihad by sword is wide open, Satan would make the
jihad of call (for Islam) look better.
"Do ye make the giving of drink to pilgrims, or the maintenance of
the Sacred Mosque, equal to (the pious service of) those who believe in God
and the Last Day, and strive with might and main in the cause of God? They
are not comparable in the sight of God: and God guides not those who do
wrong." (Koranic verse)
Our imams had said that an (Islamic) jurisprudent is not the one who can
recognize good, but rather the one who can recognize what is the best of
two good things.
Ibn-al-Muabark quotes Safwan as citing Abu-Huryarah as saying: "Can
anyone of you remain awake (for worshipping God at night) without getting
tired and fast without breaking his fast as long as he is alive.
Abu-Hurayrah was told: Who would bear that? He said: By God, the sleep of a
mujahid for the sake of God is better than that." If this is the
status of a sleeping mujahid, what would then be the status of a conscious
mujahid? If this is the rank of an inactive mujahid, then what would be the
rank of an active one?
By God, this is an undisputed virtue. Let active people work for the
sake of it and let the negligent and weak cry for having missed it. And let
the careless grieve for having wasted their lives. How many of our beloved
ones have You, God, chosen from among us, thus depriving us of that (fate
of them) because of our sins? God, do not deprive us of their reward, do
not put us to tests, and make us join them. (A religious song is heard in
the background)
If I forget, I would here not forget our brother martyrs, may God's
mercy be upon them. They were with us in good and bad times. They were
patient with us despite the adversities of the path. Chief among those is
the beloved brother, martyr Abd-al-Hadi Daghlas, (nicknamed) Abu-Ubaydah.
After God showed me the right path, I have had no misfortune such as the
loss of this brother. I used to see myself small in front of him because of
his excessive courage, boldness, patience, and good morals. Let eyes cry
for people like Abd-al-Hadi. Whenever I remember him, I remember the hadith
of the prophet, may God's blessings be upon him, which was narrated by
Ahmad and Ibn-Hubbal. They cited Ibn-Mas'ud as quoting the prophet as
saying: God was surprised by two men. He talked about one of them, who
engaged in a raid for the sake of God and whose companions were defeated.
He knew what he would lose if defeated and what he would get if he
retreats. He retreated until his feet got worn. God tells his angels: Look
at my servant; he retreated hoping to win what I have until his feet got
worn.
When the mujahidin were forced to evacuate their positions as a result
of the continuing heavy bombing, he (Daghlas) refused to retreat.
He and a group of his brothers vowed to die. They engaged the enemy. I
ask God to accept them (as martyrs).
They died and their bodies were buried in earth; bones decay, but
victory is sweet-smelling. (poetry)
He was a mountain, a lion, a worshipper, and an ascetic. Frankness could
be recognized in his face. He ignites a war even if accompanied by (a
handful of) men. He does not fear blame when he does what he does for the
sake of God. He is tough on the enemies of God and lenient toward his
brothers. May God have mercy upon you, Abd-al-Hadi.
You were a beloved brother and compassionate friend. You were ears and
eyes (to me). Your position is still vacant and no one can fill it. With
your loss, I lost a part of me. If I forget, I will not forget that day
when you told me: "I pray to God for your sake more than I do for my
parents." What loss is more severe than this? What catastrophe is more
terrible? I lost you when I needed you badly. I ask Almighty God to make
Paradise your abode and make us join you as righteous martyrs along with
prophets and faithful ones. They are the best of companions.
You and your brothers, whom I did not mention in this short message,
have been like sweet basils for our souls. I should not forget here to
give a piece of advice to the scholars of the nation and those who call
(for Islam).
"And remember God took a covenant from the People of the Book, to
make it known and clear to mankind, and not to hide it; but they threw it
away behind their backs, and purchased with it some miserable gain! And
vile was the bargain they made!" (Koranic verse)
God took the pledge from you to do what He ordered you to do in
propagating good and renouncing evil; engaging in jihad for God's sake;
preserving His religion; and sacrificing lives for the sake of His
religion. Extremely regrettably, instead of observing the duty ordained by
God, you preferred safety, rest, family, money, and children. You left the
mujahidin face the strongest power in the world, which came to them with
weapons and men.
(a religious song is heard in the background)
Where are you, o scientists of the nation? For how long will you bow and
be unwilling to do right. Are interests and corruption still a religion and
methodology for you? Is it not time for you to return to your religion?
Ibn-Umar, may God be pleased with him, said: Prophet Muhammad, may God's
peace and blessings be upon him, said: When you enter into usury, hold the
tails of cows, are pleased with agriculture, and give up conducting jihad,
then God will make disgrace prevail upon you and will not withdraw it until
you return to your religion. The prophet's saying until you return to your
religion implies that leaving jihad and seeking worldly existence is
deviating and abandoning religion, and that by itself is a manifest sin.
Is it not time for you to awaken from your carelessness. Is it not time
for this long night to end? Which sedition are you talking about and what
interests are you speaking about? Is there sedition, o scientists of the
nation, greater than what we are in? Sedition is polytheism. Sedition is
the rise of wrong over right. Sedition is the loss of God's rule on earth.
Sedition is when lions are trapped behind cages in Cuba and elsewhere. Some
of you are 30, 40, or 50 years old, or even more, but you do not burden
himself with one day for tBy God, it is one of two things; either that you
are dearer to God than his prophet, who suffered different pains for the
sake of God, or that you follow a path different from the prophet's. God
forbid, that it be the first one. God forbid, that it be the first one.
(preceding sentence repeated twice as heard). By God, no one has brought up
what you have and was not contracted the enmity of others.
For whom have you left the nation? Have you left it for the tyrants of
the east and the west to violate it and impose the worst punishment on it,
massacre the best of its mujahidin sons, and seize its wealth? Is this what
our virtuous ancestors, who were watchful over their nation, like? Where
are the sacrifices, o scientists of the nation? Where do you stand from the
saying of the prophet, God's blessings and peace be upon him, about the
master of all martyrs Hamzah and a man who went to an unjust imam and
enjoined for what is right and forbade what is wrong, so the imam killed
him.
Where do you stand from Sufyan al-Thawri, the divine scientist who said:
By God, I may see something against which I ought to speak out but I
cannot, then I urinate blood.
Sufyan urinated blood when his soul became devoted to God without a need
for worldly existence. He urinated blood when his blood and breath became
mixed with his love for this religion.
Have you not heard, o scientists, that Yunis Ibn-Ubayd, may God have
mercy upon him, looked at his feet when he was dying and cried. He was
asked: What makes you cry Abu-Abdullah? He said: My feet did not become
covered with dust for the sake of God Almighty.
His feet did not become covered with dust when jihad was a collective
duty; if a group performed it then others were exempt from this duty. What
if jihad was an individual duty? If Ibn-Ubayd lived in our time, what do
you think he would have said? By God, he would have said the same thing. O
mountains, hurl stones, and o sky rain molten brass and corruption from the
washing of wounds, and o planets, it is time for pelting stones, so begin,
for it would not be you if you did not pelt the devils.
The catastrophes and setbacks that have befallen the nation and the
disorder in the laws of God of heaven and earth took place once the
scientists of the nation failed to sacrifice for the sake of this religion
and once the usefulness of jihad weakened in their chests and they lagged
behind. Once they forgot that the nation cannot have a place except through
the blood of scientists and that sacrificing their blood is the natural
result of the prophetic inheritance that they inherited in their chests.
May God rest the soul of Ibn-Hazm, who said: (verses of poetry in which
Ibn-Hazm says his wish in this world is to spread knowledge everywhere
about the Koran and religious practices).
As for you, our scientists, you have reconciled with the idols, and
handed the country and the servants (of God) to the Jews and the Christians
and the subservient of our apostate leaders when you were silent to their
crimes and were cowardly to publicly declare right and failed to carry the
banner of jihad and monotheism, with which God entrusted you when you
killed the protectiveness and enthusiasm over God's religion from the
hearts of young men and prevented them from blowing the trumpets of war so
they would protect this religion. The battle grounds were empty from lions,
except for those who God had mercy on.
You hardly find a scientist among us who is asked for counsel. O
servants of God, you can hardly find a scientist among us who can be asked
for counsel or a divine leader to guide us.
You have let us down in the worst circumstances and have surrendered us
to our enemy. You have neglected the saying of the prophet, may God's peace
and blessing's be upon him, which was told by Abu-Dawud and in which he
said: If a man lets down a Muslim in a homeland where he is belittled or
his sanctity violated then God will let him down in a homeland where he
needs to be helped.
Is there no one among you like Sa'id Ibn-Amir? It was said that when he
was their leader, the people of Hims complained about him to Umar and
criticized him for things; one of these thing is he used to sleep and go
into a stupor that it became intolerable for people. He would respond
apologetically, I saw the death of Khubayb al-Ansari in Mecca. The people
of Quraysh were carrying him on a branch and were saying: Would you rather
that Muhammad were in your place and that you are among your people and
with your money. He would say: By God my people, it does not please me that
Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon me, would sacrifice for my
sake with as much as a thorn in his foot. Each time I mention what I saw,
and at that time I was a polytheist, I remember Khubayb that day and shiver
from fear of God's punishment and I fall into a stupor. Is there no one
among you whose heart shivers from fear of God's punishment and what
happened to Sa'id for abandoning the mujahidin?
Yes, you have handed us to the enemy and you handed the nation before us
when you failed to support us, o ulema of the nation. The hand that killed
the camel of Salih is the same hand. And God destroyed a whole nation as a
result of this. The camel of Salih, peace upon him, is not dearer to God
than hundreds of thousands of the Muslims of this nation, who are being
slaughtered at the hands of the infidels because of your silence.
O ulema of the nation: You should know that -- eventually -- you will
face God on a day that will render the newly-born children white-headed and
the pregnant women lose birth to their babies. On that day, the person runs
away from his brother, his mother, his father, his wife, and his sons. On
that day, each will have something to worry about. On that difficult day,
prepare the answer for God when he asks you about the nation and what you
have presented to it, about the mujahidin and your support for them, and
about the enemies of the religion, the hatred you harbored toward them, and
hostility toward them.
God will ask you about the prisoners in the hands of the Jews,
crusaders, and polytheists. Why did you not save them? Do you not know what
Abd-al-Ruhman Bin-Amrah said when (Caliph) Umar Bin-Abd-al-Aziz sent him to
save the Muslims in Constantinople? He said: "I asked him: What shall
I do if they refuse to swap one for one? The caliph said: Give them more
than one." Bin-Amrah then told the caliph: "If they ask for four?
The caliph then said: Give them whatever they want in exchange for one
single Muslim." By God, one Muslim is worth all polytheists. If you
redeem a Muslim you will be victorious because you have championed Islam.
God will ask you about Afghanistan and Iraq. What have you done for
them? God will ask you about Mulla Omar and your failure to support him.
All he did was obey God and His messenger, and refused to disgrace his
religion. May God have mercy on Ibn-al-Jawzi, when he stood in the mosque,
urging people to wage jihad, safeguard their religion, and to push the
infidels away from the land of Muslims when people failed to carry out
their duties. He said: "O people! Why have you forgotten your
religion, left your pride, and failed to champion God? So, He will not
grant you victory. You imagined that pride is the lot of the infidels while
God made pride the lot of Allah, His messenger, and the believers.
Woe unto you! Are you not pained when you see the enemy of God and your
enemy stepping on your land, which was watered by the blood of your
fathers? This enemy is humiliating and enslaving you and you were the
masters of the world. Are you not moved or provoked when you see your
brothers surrounded by the enemy, humiliating them? Do you eat, drink, and
enjoy the luxury of life while your brothers there are set on fire and
sleep on ashes?
"O people! The war broke out; the call for jihad has been raised;
and the doors of the sky have opened. If you are not the knights of the war
give way to women to wage the war. Go take the braziers and kohl. O women
with turbans and beards. If you are not so, then here are the horses and
here are their reins. Do you know how these reins are made? They are made
by women from their own hair because this is the only thing they have. The
hair of women, which was kept away even from the sun, was cut because the
history of love had ended and the history of the holy war for the sake of
God had begun. If you cannot ride these horses, take the reins because they
are made of women's hair (shu'ur) and you have no feelings (shu'ur) in your
hearts."
He then threw the reins over the heads of people and shouted: "O
pillars of the mosque, come down; o stones of the mosque, come down; o
hearts, feel pain. The men have lost their manhood." By God, it is
true. Men have lost their manhood.
What shall we say at this time, when supporters are few and when nations
gathered against us as people gather at a large bowl? By God, we do not
want men like Abu-Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Sa'd, Al-Miqdad, Talhat, and
Al-Zubyar (Muslim caliphs and leaders). We want men like Safiyah (a woman),
who defended the sanctities of the Muslims when that cunning Jew tried to
enter the stronghold to look at Muslim women. She fought in defense of the
Muslims' honor. O God, help us. Things have come to a head.
O ulema, o youths of the nation, fear God and realize the things you
missed. The bond is the sword; beware the enemies of the shari'a among you.
Help your brothers with all that you have before history rejects you and
before the results appear.
When I address the ulema, I address the real ulema, not the ulema of
evil and the shaykhs of the satellite televisions. As for those, the graves
have complained to God from the rotten smell of the infidels. But the smell
of the ulema of evil is worse. Those are the ones who used religion to make
material gains.
As for you steadfast mujahidin, we say to you that despite all the
sorrow, hardships, distress, and ordeals that have been inflicted on us, we
swear that our actions will inflict harm on the enemies. We will pursue
jihad against them by all available means. We are ready to sacrifice
everything to fight them. Fighting the tyrants is one of the best deals
that bring you closer to God. Be patient, be patient, it is only a matter
of a few days and then comfort and victory will ensue, God willing. A late
victory does not mean that God will not keep His promise. Beware of retreat
and deviation from this path. By God, this path is full of hardships,
difficulties, and bitterness, but it pleases God.
It is a great blessing that God has chosen you to defend His religion
and fight for His sake. My companions, Abu-Hurayrah said: "One of
Prophet Muhammad's followers passed through a mountain pass containing a
spring of fresh water. This man wanted to stay there and isolate himself
from people, but told himself that he should first ask permission from
Prophet Muhammad. The man was advised against doing that by Prophet
Muhammad, who said that jihad for the sake of God is better than 70 years
of praying inside a person's house." Do you not like God to forgive
your sins and allow you to enter heaven? Fight for the sake of God, he who
fights for the sake of God, heaven will be his reward.
(Islamic scholar) Ibn-Taymiyah, may God have mercy on his soul, said:
"He is blessed by God who is allowed to live until this time when God
is renewing religion, reviving the spirit of Islam, and improving the
situation of believers and mujahidin so that they would be similar to the early
Al-Ansar Wa Al-Muhajirun (companions of Prophet Muhammad from Mecca and
Medina). Believers should thank God for this ordeal, which is truly a
generous gift, and for this sedition, which is a great blessing. If members
of the early Al-Ansar Wa Al-Muhajirun, such as Abu-Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and
Ali (Caliphs of Muslims after Prophet Muhammad), and others were present at
this place, the best thing they would do is engage in jihad against those
criminal people. Such an opportunity will be wasted only by people whose
trade is losing and judgment is bad. Furthermore, they will have little
benefit in this world and in the afterlife."
After all this, do you seek an alternative? Pray a lot to God, the
merciful, to make firm our steps along this path. (He recites several
verses of poetry asking God to facilitate his death as a martyr who
sacrifices his life for the sake of God)
O God, support mujahdin on earth, strengthen their might, and drive evil
away from them. O God, protect the Muslims from America, which came fully
equipped to fight God and his Prophet; O God destroy the rule of Bush, just
as you did with Caesar; O God weaken their ranks and make them a gain for
the Muslims; O God curse Arab and foreign tyrants and punish all apostate
rulers. Praise be to God..
Compiled and distributed by NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce. All rights
reserved.
City/Source: Middle East-- FBIS Report
FBIS Document Number: FBIS-NES-2004-0107
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