Who Is Trying To Damage Islam?

During one of the news on CNN a lady commentator in a funny tone was describing how Muslims were humiliating Islam in Afghanistan after the departure of Taliban. After Taliban's departure from Kabul, CNN reporter could not find any thing but few "Muslims" who celebrated after shaving their beard, some ladies who removed their "Burqa", some boys who were dancing and music on the street of Kabul. CNN also showed how Northern Alliance (NA) militia was dragging their opponent Muslims on the streets of Kabul. A young boy was slapping on the face of an old man, another young boy was pulling the beard of an old man. NA forces reportedly shot many Muslims as well. CNN showed how revengeful and disrespectful Muslims are.

There is no doubt in my mind that the oppressive regime of Taliban also humiliated Islam in Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan during their rule.

In a story, Paul McGeough of The Sydney Morning Herald in Taloqan finds little hope for the people of Afghanistan. He writes in his report (http://www.smh.com.au/news/0111/17/review/review3.html)

Please note that the Taliban and Northern Alliance, both parties are lead by Islamic clergy of Afghanistan. Mullah Muhammad Omar is the leader of Taliban and Mullah Burhanuddin Rabbani is the leader of Northern Alliance. Mullah Muhammad Omar used to teach Islam in an Islamic Institute (Dar-ul-Aloom) in Afghanistan and later in Pakistan. Mullah Burhanuddin Rabbani used to teach Shari'a (Islamic law) at the University of Kabul. Mullah Muhammad Omar and his soldiers killed thousands of innocent Afghani civilians Muslims while Mullah Burhanuddin Rabbani and his soldiers also killed thousands of civilians Afghani Muslims. Most of the world knows the atrocities and genocide created by both so-called Muslim scholars in order to please Allah (in their opinion). Burhanuddin Rabbani has recently given orders to his forces to kill any "Arab" or "Pakistani if they find them. I am sure Mullah Burhanuddin Rabbani must be thinking that by doing so he will make Allah very happy!

I am disappointed and sad by these incidents but I am also angry and frustrated. I am not sure how long Muslims of this world will suffer from the hands of these so-called scholars of Islam.

For more than ten years Muslims in Pakistan are getting slaughtered by these fanatics. Muslims are getting killed by Muslims while praying inside the mosques. Mosque (Masjid), in Islam is a sanctuary for Muslims and Muslims themselves have disgraced the sanctity of the mosque. Off course ordinary Muslims in Pakistan have nothing to do with this. They are suffering most because of these fanatics.

Last year, I visited my home country, Pakistan. I was in Karachi on a Friday afternoon in a lower middle class neighborhood area. I walked not more than a kilometer in the area and I saw graffiti in Urdu language on one wall saying, "Shi'a Kafir and their punishment is death". I went few steps and I saw on another wall " Brelvi Kafir and their punishment is death". After few blocks I saw a wall with graffiti saying " Deobandi Kafir " and on another wall " Wahabi Kafir". I asked myself that Pakistan supposed to be a country of Muslims. If all these sects (Firqahs) are "Kafir" (non-believers) then who is Muslim in Pakistan?

In another mosque, I went for afternoon (Zohar) prayer. After the prayer it was announced that a guest Imam from another city would be speaking at the mosque. I wanted to listen to his speech. After few minutes the guest scholar came with four bodyguards armed with guns and many followers shouting slogans praising the leader. I was scared to see so many guns in the mosque. I had never seen before so many guns inside a mosque. I wanted to get out but realized that the people will misunderstand if I stand up and I may get into trouble. I stayed and listened to the speeches. Finally, the guest Imam spoke and after reading some verses from the holy Qur'an he started his speech in Urdu. I could not believe on my ears that this Imam started his speech with using (M.F.) word for Imam Khumeni. I am not a Shi'a Muslim. I am a Sunni Muslim but I was shocked. How come a person who supposed to be very knowledgeable about the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and supposed to teach good manners to others is so low that he is using very vulgar language in the mosque. Using vulgar language anywhere is forbidden in Islam and this Imam was yelling and using all kinds of abusive words for fellow Muslims inside the mosque. He supposed to be our model but he was nothing but a very rude, arrogant and senseless person. In my heart, I was asking Allah why such people are our religious leaders? Where are they taking us? There are video and audiocassettes of various so-called scholars of Islam in which they openly preach hate and violence against their own Muslim brothers and sisters because of their belonging to a different denomination. We all know this behaviour is absolutely against the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

During the last decade another class of these very influential and wealthy so-called scholars and leaders of Islam have emerged. They are not only in Pakistan but also in many Muslim countries. Some of these so-called scholars / leaders have appointed themselves to the level of Ameer ul Mo'meneen (Head of an Islamic State). They have recruited few hundreds or thousands followers and based upon these needy followers these leaders / scholars think that they are like a Head of State. They have formed organizations to carry out JIHAD. These Jihadi organizations have recruited young, educated, jobless, poor and frustrated people in their organizations with incentive of some tangible and one non-tangible reward. The tangible incentives include, ownership of gun / rocket launcher which gives these young boys sense of power and control. They also get cash rewards, which gives them good status in the family and in the community. Both ammunition and money give them perfect feelings of a hero of Hollywood movie. The leaders of these Jihadi organizations then force these recruits to commit murders, crimes and illegal activities. These leaders keep complete record of their followers activities and if anyone tries to escape, either he gets killed or become victim of black mailing and torture within his own organization.

The intangible incentive is Heaven. These so-called scholars have brain washed young Muslims.

The most interesting aspect of this self announced Jihad is that there are several Jihadi organizations in Pakistan and non-of the leaders of these Jihadi organizations have died in the battle. The only people who die in these activities of self-claimed Jihad are poor recruits. Just go back ten years and see what was the living standard of these leaders of Jihadi organizations and now how they are enjoying life. These leaders used to be either poor or lower middle class citizens of Pakistan. Now, they live in mansions, drive big jeeps, travel in first class, stay in five star hotels, eat the best dishes and wear what an ordinary person in Pakistan can just dream. They have servants, cooks and security guards available to them at all times. All these blessings fall upon these leaders but nothing on the recruits. When these religious leaders go in public they describe the simple and very humble life of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and they expect that the public should practice what they preach. But these leaders themselves are immune from practicing the life of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him)

These leaders have exploited religion so badly that they have made brother an enemy of his own brother. They have used Islam to build their own houses, accumulate wealth and abuse the rights of other Muslim brothers and sisters. Whenever, people try to find out the truth about these so-called scholars, they use Islam as their shield. These leaders harass people if people question their authority. They say Islam gets into danger if their authority is challenged. Therefore, people have no right to know what is the source of income of these scholars and what authority these so called scholars have?

On the other side, most of the Muslim countries have very authoritarian governments and whenever the people challenge these governments, the governments use these so-called scholars in order to get false fatwa from them, which can be used to protect the government.

How these so-called Jihadi organizations are established and nourished?

In Pakistan, during the periods of Ex-Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, Pakistani military faced lots of sanctions from USA and Europe, which weakened the military strength of Pakistan. On the other side during the same period India enjoyed relatively better economical and military situation. Pakistan could not afford large expenses of a very needed large military. Therefore, Pakistani governments tried to build a cheaper line of defense in case of attack from India. Therefore, these Jihadi organizations were formed in order to have a free of charge military to protect elite military of Pakistan. Saddam Hussain used the similar strategy during the Gulf War. Now, these Jihadi organizations are so powerful that they are becoming nuisances for Pakistan's own government. If these Jihadi organizations are not unarmed soon, there is a good possibility that Pakistan will be dragged into a civil war by these organizations. These organizations are so strong in their sectarian beliefs that they will not hesitate to kill thousands of Pakistani Muslims who may oppose them.

The role of Saudi Arabia is also very important in establishing these Jihadi organizations. The funding and the strategy for most of the Jihadi organizations come from Saudi Arabia.

For the Muslim world USA and Saudi Arabia play similar roles. For example;

It is absolutely critical for the Muslims to listen to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and do not pay attention to those who wrongly use the religion of Islam in order to expand their own personal control and power upon Muslims. There are true scholars of Islam and they practice what they preach, and they preach Islam in its pure state.

In Islam, the concept of Jihad is very sacred. The struggle of Jihad must start first within us. We must bring change within ourselves and in our own Muslim countries. We need to remove dictatorships, corruption, poverty, illiteracy, human rights abuses and exploitation of women in the name of Islam. Muslims should stop using USA, India and the West as a scapegoat for the problems of Muslim ummah. Muslims must see what have they done for their own countries. If the enemies of Islam want to destroy Islam, then it is obvious that Muslims should not expect good things from the enemies of Islam. We should analyze what have we done for Islam? Muslims themselves have damaged Islam more than the enemies of Islam. Within the last two decades the civil wars / sectarian violence in Afghanistan, Somalia, Algeria, Egypt and Pakistan are proof of this "unfelt" animosity for Islam.

May Allah give us the strength to become the true messengers of peace (Islam) and strong believers of faith. Ameen