When former US President George W. Bush first referred to the US war on terrorism as a crusade, many international pundits and diplomats were appalled. None could believe that the former president had characterized the US effort to apprehend and to punish those who were responsible for the September 11th 2001 attacks on the United States, in that way.
The international Muslim leadership and organizations were also shocked, and appalled by his choice of a word depicting what was being presented as a war against the use of political violence, as a crusade, or a Christian religious war against Islam.
It was not until years later, after the illegal invasion and destruction of Iraq, a Muslim country that had no relationship to 9/11, and subsequent invasions of other Muslim countries not involved, nor suspected of involvement in 9/11, that Muslims and others began to realize that the former President’s characterization of the so called war on terrorism was indeed accurate.
Credible and substantiated reports that Qur’ans were being flushed down toilets and destroyed and that mosque were being targeted and blown up, were the first clues that the war on terrorism was not really a war against political violence. Also, reports that Muslims were being subjected to mass round ups, kidnappings, secret detainments, massacres and torture were also clues that the war on terrorism is much more than merely an attempt to identify and to apprehend suspected terrorists. The US military was distributing Bibles and Bible tracts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a wave of Christian missionaries either followed, or accompanied the US military into Iraq and other Muslim countries where they carried out efforts to convert Muslims to Christianity in exchange for food, medical assistance, housing, etc. This, after most Muslim charities had been either shut down or operations limited due to false claims that their charitable works and contributions were being used to fund terrorism.
To date this crusade has engulfed more than 5 predominately Muslim countries in violence and destruction, resulting from attacks by either US military forces, or their proxies. More than 1,366,000 people, all innocent civilians, have been murdered in Iraq, while previously, more than 500,000 innocent Iraqi children had been literally starved to death as the US and the UN imposed a devastating economic sanctions regime on Iraq in a failed attempt at regime change.
It is not sufficient for us to mention these things without also mentioning that prior to the 9/11 attacks, the United States and the world were already being prepared for this type of an assault on Islam, and Muslims. Pro-Israeli polemicists and propagandists had begun, years prior to the 2001 attacks on the US, a campaign that was clearly aimed at demonizing Islam and Muslims and perpetuating the false idea that all Muslims are either terrorists or potential terrorists. People such as Steven Emerson, Daniel Pipes, Rita Katz, Judith Miller and other Zionists, played a primary role in creating an environment of suspicion and fear of Muslims, suggesting in their writings and lectures that Muslims hate the West due to the teachings of Islam and the Qur’an, and could not be trusted, and that we should be denied Constitutional rights and subjected to unique and novel types of persecutions.
Whereas it was not so clear in the past that this campaign was perhaps intended to foment fear and hatred of Muslims, and aimed at dehumanizing Muslims in preparation for what subsequently did become an all out war against Islam and Muslims, it is clear now that this was indeed the purpose and intent of their campaign. While these people worked to poison public opinion in the US and Europe in respect to Islam and Muslims, their operatives inside the US government and military did the most harm, plotting and unleashing after 9/11, a crusade that has not only devastated the Muslim and Arab world, but that also caused the US to abandon our own laws, traditions and values, which caused us to lose credibility and prestige in the eyes of most of the world.
On March 2, 2010, in commemoration of the birthday of our beloved prophet Muhammad (sa), the President of Libya and Commander of the World Islamic People’s Leadership, Muamar Ghaddafi, gave an historic speech, wherein he spoke the truth concerning these issues, and the obligation for Muslims throughout the world to unite in opposition to this crusade, and to condemn all unjust and illegal violence such as terrorism and also the renegade organizations that have sought to undermine Islam and Muslims through an attempted usurpation of Islamic authority, and distortion of Islam. President Ghaddafi specifically mentions Al Qaeda, and says that it is up to the international Muslim ummat to teach the world the difference between the honorable jihad of Muslims, and the illegal and criminal violence of organizations such as Al Qaeda. He said, “We should be clear that terrorism, which is a hallmark of Al Qaeda, led by Ayman al Zawahiri and his gang of criminal murderers, is not jihad. Unfortunately we have young people who have been deceived and who believe that this type of crime is jihad. We must make it clear to them that the unjust killing of Muslims is not jihad and violation of the Islamic laws is not jihad.”
He appealed to the Muslim youth saying, “To kill innocent women and children and to kill Muslims because of sectarianism is kufr (unbelief), and this is not jihad.”
President Ghaddafi went on to say, “Kidnapping, beheading, drug trafficking, banditry and robbery, smuggling of illegal goods, intimidation of the Muslim people who feel unsafe even in their own countries…this is terrorism, let us be clear. The Muslim people must be against such crimes, and turn against the gangs like Al Qaeda, who mock Islam with their illegal actions.”
In another part of this same speech, President Ghaddafi also condemned the crusade against Islam and Muslims and called the Muslim ummat to defend itself against this crusade by embracing and reinvigorating the Islamic obligation, and spirit of jihad, which is the righteous struggle against all evil, oppression and injustice. He specifically called for a Muslim boycott of Switzerland, based upon the fact that Switzerland has repeatedly allowed the ugly cartooning and defaming caricatures of the prophet Muhammad (sa), along with defamation of Islam. Switzerland also banned Muslims from building mosques with minarets. He explained this as a jihad to deny Switzerland money, and not to act violently, which is what Al Qaeda desires.
It is our opinion that President Ghaddafi sincerely wants to teach our youth and the world, that the desire for justice is the right of every human being, and to act to attain that justice is also a right and it is a right enjoyed by the Muslim and not only the non-Muslim. The Islamic obligation for jihad, is not merely a call to an armed confrontation, it is a call to act and struggle for justice in every reasonable way that we can.
In keeping with this theme, President Ghaddafi made it clear that the struggle of the Palestinian people to be free from the illegal Israeli occupation of their land, and to end the illegal economic embargo and other crimes against humanity and war crimes that are daily perpetrated against them, is the righteous jihad of Islam. He said, “There is a big difference, like the difference between heaven and earth, between terrorism and the jihad of the Palestinian people.”
President Ghaddafi also called upon Muslims throughout the world to end their attempts to separate themselves from the larger countries in which they live, and to instead adopt a cooperative approach, working with the governments to improve understanding of Islam, while demonstrating that Muslims are honorable people who live by the Qur’an. He suggested that Muslims struggle to become leaders in their countries and communities, and to struggle to change things from within, rather than to separate and form small and powerless countries that will be dependent upon the larger more powerful countries for security and other essentials.
It is our opinion that President Ghaddafi’s speech represents a first step towards reclaiming Muslim dignity and reasserting the Muslim right to justice and our Islamic duty to embark upon the jihad as a means of self defense and also as a method by which to attain justice and security for the Muslim lands and people. We agree with President Ghaddafi’s statement that an attempt has been made to equate jihad with terrorism, and that this was done with the intent to prevent Muslims from acting in our own defense and to force our surrender to the crusade, and our abandonment of Islam.
In consideration of the points mentioned, it is with great pleasure that the National Association of Muslim American Women (NAMAW) announces our endorsement of President Ghaddafi’s speech and we join our voice with his voice, calling the Muslim ummat to unity, an end to sectarianism, and re-invigoration of the true spirit of jihad. We join President Ghaddafi in the call for opposition to Al Qaeda and other violent gangs. We endorse his call to boycott Switzerland, and international support for the righteous struggle and resistance of the Palestinian people in their quest for freedom, and the right to return to their homeland. We also support and endorse his recommendation to forge alliances with the honest people within our governments, in an effort to alleviate the present oppression and persecution being suffered by Muslims throughout the world at the hands of certain special interests within these governments. We also support his call for greater Muslim integration, and activism on the community level, and more Muslim leadership in politics.
We believe that the recommendations and explanations provided by President Ghaddafi in his speech represent a refreshing change by a Muslim leader of his stature, who rather than to repeatedly chastise Muslims for crimes we have not committed, recognizes the Muslim rights, and call for a re-invigoration of the spirit of jihad, and true Islam. We pray that God will continue to guide and to protect him, and appeal to Muslims everywhere to reflect upon, and to adhere to his wise advice, and counsel.
(signed) Anisa Abd el Fattah, Chairwoman
National Association of Muslim American Women (NAMAW)
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