Destitute for the Mercy of Allaah

{“O you who believe! Fasting was prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become pious. Fast for a fixed number of days, but if any of you is ill or on a journey, the same number should be made up from other days. And as for those who can fast with difficulty, they have to feed a poor person. But, whoever does good of his own accord, it is better for him. And that you fast, it is better for you if only you knew.” }

[al-Baqarah; 183-184]

“It is, as the Lord of Glory Said, a fixed number of days. Rather, it is a fixed number of hours! The month of Ramadan is either 720 hours, or 696 hours, and every minute of it has a price and a value. The Salaf and the Companions - may Allah be Pleased with them - used to await these days of Ramadan from the year to year, as it has been reported in a narration that the Companions used to say, when Rajab had arrived: “O Allah, assist us in worshipping You in Rajab and Sha’ban, and allow us to witness Ramadan.”

Because Ramadan is the annual occasion of the cleansing of the soul, spirit, and body, its effect on the human spirit and body is not that profound. The acts of worship of the soul are many, and as much as the body receives its share of pain during the course of its worship, it will receive its share of light. That is why Jihad is the uppermost peak of Islam; because it is the most painful and difficult of the acts of worship. Its reward is greater, its effect on the soul deeper, and its result in building the spirit and in ingraining Tawhid in it is great.

Therefore, there are acts of worship dealing with one’s wealth. However, its effect on the soul is usually less than the effect of an act of worship dealing with the body. So, Zakah has a deep effect on the soul, as it purifies it from covetousness. However, you cannot truly sympathize with the poor person unless you feel his pain, live as he lives, and starve as he starves. If you starve, then you feel your body becoming stronger and more durable. At that time, you become joyous that you were able to sacrifice something and purify yourself from covetousness.

Jihad is the same way: Jihad with one’s wealth does not purify one’s soul in the same way as Jihad with one’s self does. And because of this, Islam did not relieve any of the Companions of the obligation of Jihad with his self, no matter what his position in society, and no matter how good his reputation, such as in the case of ‘Uthman.

And the Salaf - may Allah be Pleased with them - would calculate Ramadan by the minute. They were praying behind Ubayy bin Ka’b - and ‘Umar bin al-Khattab was praying Tarawih behind him - and they would require sticks to support themselves on as a result of his long standing in the prayer, and the Companions would say: “We fear that we will miss the suhur praying behind Ubayy, and we fear that the Fajr time will come, causing us to miss the Blessed Meal - they used to refer to suhur as the Blessed Meal - so, let our children rush to prepare the meal.”

And it was reported from some of the Tabi’in, and those who came after them, in regards to their Qur’an and prayer, that some of them would complete reciting the Qur’an sixty times in Ramadan, and this was specifically narrated in regards to al-Imam ash-Shafi’i; he used to complete it once during the day, and once during the night. Some of them would complete it once during the night and day, and others would complete it once every three days, until they reached the last ten days, in which they would seclude themselves in the mosque, completing it once a day.

And to complete the Qur’an in a day is easy, if we keep in mind that to recite the Qur’an slowly (tartil) takes about 24 hours, and a quicker recitation takes about ten hours. It is possible for the one who has memorized the Qur’an to complete one juz’ in 20 minutes, allowing him to complete all thirty juz’s in ten hours. I was told by Abu al-Hasan an-Nadawi: “I saw my teachers, and some of them would not speak at all in Ramadan. Rather, they would only engage in worship; either Qur’an or prayer. If someone were to speak to them, they would count out their words, and calculate them by the minutes and seconds.”

So, Ramadan consists of fasting and prayer.

Because of this, the Salaf, such as al-Imam Malik, would seclude themselves until the time of giving a class, saying: “Verily, Ramadan is for praying and reciting the Qur’an.” Some of them would say: “Ramadan is praying, giving charity, and reciting the Qur’an.”

And in Ramadan, the gates of Paradise are opened, and the gates of Hell are shut, and the devils are chained up. This is something that actually happens, as one of my trustworthy friends who used to have contact with the jinn - but has since repented - informed me:

“When I would ask the jinn who I would work with to relay to me any news, they would say: “We are inactive in Ramadan.” I used to think that they were believing jinn, as they would pray and fast with me. However, I realized from their answer, that they were devils (i.e., disbelieving jinn).

Later, after an experiment, I confirmed for myself that they were disbelievers: I requested from them one day that they heal my cousin, so, they said: “She will not be cured unless she puts on a cross.”

So, I said to them: “You really are devils. You are from the disbelieving jinn.”

They said: “We are from the believing jinn.”

I said: “From now, we have nothing to do with each other.”

They said: “We will hurt you, then.”

I said: “I dare you to try to hurt me. We will meet at midnight at the graveyard, the most secluded and frightening place I can think of,” and at midnight, I made ablution and prayed two rak’ahs, and went to the graveyard. I did this for three nights in a row, but the jinn were unable to even come near me.”

So, it is something physical, not simply metaphoric. The devils are chained, and they are unable to move about and cause evil between the people. The major jinn are the ones who are chained, while the minor devils are left to move about.

And Ramadan is the Ramadan of Jihad, so, I advise everyone of you to not fall short in a single day in Ramadan.

I was in Qatar, or the Emirates, and I was told: “The brothers in America called, asking if you could go spend the last ten nights with them.” I said: “Subhan Allah! I spend the last ten nights in America, and I leave Jalalabad, Qandahar, and Kabul erupting? The hour in these places is better than standing in prayer for sixty years, and I go and enter America, even if in Ramadan?” And because of this, for the duration of my stay here, especially in the last five years, I always loved to spend every Ramadan outside of Peshawar, and to not enter Peshawar unless it was necessary. I would spend it either in the training camp in Sada, Jadji, or any other place, so that it would be written for me as a Ramadan of ribat, and the Ramadan in the land of ribat is a thousand times better than Ramadan outside of the land of ribat, as the Prophet said: “Ribat for one day in the Path of Allah is better than a thousand days in any other place, even if one were to fast all day and pray all night.” [Reported by at-Tirmidhi and an-Nasa'i]

So, brothers, whoever of you stays in Peshawar, then let him comply with the following daily program:

Do not stay up late in Ramadan, as Ramadan is the time of praying, fasting, and seeking Allah’s forgiveness during the morning hours. So, break your fast in your homes on some dates or water, or in the mosque, and provide some dates and water in the mosques for those who might break their fast there, and glad tidings to the one who provides food for the one breaking his fast: “Whoever provides food for the fasting person, then, he will have the same reward as the fasting person, without the fasting person’s reward being diminished at all,” even if it is only on a piece of a date, so, for this, let the competitors compete for this great reward.

I was in Qatar, and some of the good-doers said to me: “We wish to provide food for a thousand fasting Mujahidin for all of Ramadan. How much does each Mujahid require in Ramadan?” I said: “He requires three Qatari riyals or dirhams.” Suddenly, a check was being written for 90,000 Qatari riyals, with him saying: “This is the cost of food for a thousand Mujahidin in Jalalabad, and I ask that you alert me of its arrival.” When it arrived the next day, I was surprised to hear the phone ring, with him telling me: “The money for the food of two thousand more is on the way. Feed them rice and meat, as they are the best of foods.”

Comply with this program, and it is easy: break your fast in the mosque, then pray the Maghrib. Return to your homes, eat as much as Allah has Willed for you to eat, and after that, make istighfar while you are awaiting the time for ‘Isha’. Then, pray the ‘Isha’ and Tarawih in the mosque, then, return to your homes. Eat the suhur, and be particular about this time. In addition to it being a blessed meal, the best time to make istighfar is in these early morning hours.

So, after the suhur, rush to make ablution and perform some Tahajjud, and increase in your connection with the Lord of Glory: “Our Lord descends to the lowest heaven during the last third of the night, Asking: ‘Who will call on Me so that I may respond to him? Who is asking something of Me so I may give it to him? Who is asking for My forgiveness so I may forgive him?’”

So, take advantage of these times - the early morning hours - in which an answered supplication is almost certain.

{“Those who are patient, those who are true, the obedient with sincere devotion in worship to Allah, and those who spend in the Way of Allah, and those who pray and beg Allah’s Pardon in the last hours of the night.” } [Al 'Imran; 17]

{“They used to sleep but little by night, and in the hours before dawn, they were asking for forgiveness.”} [adh-Dhariyat ; 17-18]

So, when the Fajr time enters, go to the mosque and pray there. And try, if you do not have work, to not sleep during the time between Fajr and sunrise: “For me to sit with a group of people after the morning prayer, remembering Allah - the Mighty and Majestic - until the Sun rises is more beloved to me than freeing four slaves from the children of Isma’il…” [Reported by Abu Dawud]

After this, go and rest until midday. From midday until ‘Asr, attend to the needs of your family.

Try to generally decrease in eating, drinking, and consuming sweets, keeping in mind that you are surrounded by widows, children, and orphans who are unable to plain rice. Set aside your sweets, bread, and rice for such people.

Your women are also in need of cleansing their souls, and they are in need of freeing themselves for the recitation of the Qur’an and worship. Their preoccupation with preparing food is a preoccupation from the essential activities of Ramadan; it is a preoccupation from istighfar, recitation, and worship. So, if you pray the ‘Asr, and you have no other obligations to keep you busy, seclude yourself in the mosque until the Sun sets, and indulge in the recitation of the Qur’an: “…and for me to sit with a group of people after the ‘Asr prayer, remembering Allah - the Mighty and Majestic - until the Sun sets is more beloved to me than freeing four slaves from the children of Isma’il.”

So, when it is time for Maghrib prayer, pray it, and return to your home.

This is a program that anyone can follow, either most or all of it. Pay close attention to these days, in particular, and pay attention to these hours. In Ramadan, there is no time for ‘he said, she said,’ or watching television, or socialization. Do not visit one another in your houses during the nights of Ramadan, as this constitutes wasting and theft of time of this blessed month. There is the mosque in which you are able to meet and chat in after praying Tarawih, and any of your brothers who need something from you, your meeting place is in the mosque, and your place of departure is the mosque. Do not preoccupy the people with your presence in their homes during the nights of Ramadan…”

[From a khutbah entitled 'Shahr as-Siyam wal-Qiyam']

The life of the Muslim Ummah is solely dependent on the ink of its scholars and the blood of its martyrs. What is more beautiful than the writing of the Ummah’s history with both the ink of a scholar and his blood, such that the map of Islaamic history becomes coloured with two lines: one of them black, and that is what the scholar wrote with the ink of his pen; and the other one red, and that is what the martyr wrote with his blood. And something more beautiful than this is when the blood is one and the pen is one, so that the hand of the scholar which expends the ink and moves the pen, is the same as the hand which expends its blood and moves the Ummah. The extent to which the number of martyred scholars increases is the extent to which nations are delivered from their slumber, rescued from their decline and awoken from their sleep.

- Shaikh ‘Abdullaah ‘Azzaam [Rahmatullaahi 'alaihi]

When the day dawned, Abd al-Rahman al-Fazari made a raid and drove away all the camels of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him), and killed the man who looked after them. I said: Rabah, ride this horse, take it to Talha b. ‘Ubaidullah and Inform the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) that the polytheists have made away with his camels. Then I stood upon a hillock and turning my face to Medina, shouted thrice: Come to our help I Then I set out in pursuit of the raiders, shooting at them with arrows and chanting a (self-eulogatory) verse in the Iambic metre:

I am the son of al-Akwa’

And today is the day of defeat for the mean.

I would overtake a man from them, shoot at him an arrow which, piercing through the saddle, would reach his shoulder. and I would say: Take it, chanting at the same time the verse

And I am the son of al-Akwa’

And tody is the day of defeat for the mean.

By God, I continued shooting at them and hamstringing their animals. Whenever a horseman turned upon me, I would come to a tree and (hid myself) sitting at its base. Then I would shoot at him and hamstring his horse. (At last) they entered a narrow mountain gorge. I ascended that mountain and held them at bay throwing stones at them. I continued to chase them in this way until I got all the camels of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) released and no camel was left with them. They left me; then I followed them shooting at them (continually) until they dropped more than thirty mantles and thirty lances. lightening their burden. On everything they dropped, I put a mark with the help of (a piece of) stone so that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) and his Companions might recognise them (that it was booty left by the enemy). (They went on) until They came to a narrow valley when so and so, son of Badr al-Fazari joined them. They (now) sat down to take their breakfast and I sat on the top of a tapering rock. Al-Fazari said: Who is that fellow I am seeing? They said: This fellow has harassed us. By God, he has not left us since dusk and has been (continually) shooting at us until he has snatched everything from our hands. He said: Four of you should make a dash at him (and kill him). (Accordingly), four of them ascended the mountain coming towards me. When it became possible for me to talk to them, I said: Do you recognise me? They said: No. Who are thou? I said: I am Salama, son of al-Akwa’. By the Being Who has honoured the countenance of Muhammad (may peace be upon him) I can kill any of you I like but none of you will be able to kill me. One of them said: I think (he is right). So they returned. I did not move from my place until I saw the horsemen of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him), who came riding through the trees. Lo! the foremost among them was Akhram al-Asadi.

Behind him was Abu Qatada al-Ansari and behind him was al-Miqdad b. al-Aswad al-Kindi. I caught hold of the rein of Akhram’s horse (Seeing this). they (the raiders) fled. I said (to Akhram): Akhram, guard yourself against them until Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) and his Companions join you. He said: ) Salama, if you believe In Allah and the Day of Judgment and (if) you kaow that Paradise is a reality and Hell is a reality, you should not stand between me and martyrdom. so I let him go. Akhram and Abd al-Rahman (Fazari) met in combat. Akhram hamstrung Abd al-Rahman’s horse and the latter struck him with his lance and killed him. Abd al-Rabman turned about riding Akhram’s horse. Abu Qatada, a horse-man of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him), met ‘Abd al-Rahman (in combat), smote him with his lance and killed him. By the Being Who honoured the countenance of Muhammad (may peace oe upon him), I followed them running on my feet (so fast) that I couldn’t see behind me the Companions of Muhammad (may peace be upon him), nor any dust raised by their horses. (I followed them) until before sunset they reached a valley which had a spring of water, which was called Dhu Qarad, so that they could have a drink, for they were thirsty. They saw me running towards them. I turned them out of the valley before they could drink a drop of its water. They left the valley and ran down a slope. I ran (behind them), overtook a man from them, shot him with an arrow through the shoulder blade and said: Take this. I am the son of al-Akwa’; and today is the day of annihilation for the people who are mean. The fellow (who was wounded) said: May his mother weep over him! Are you the Akwa’ who has been chasing us since morning? I said: Yes, O enemy of thyself, the same Akwa’. They left two horses dead tired on the hillock and I came dragging them along to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him). I met ‘Amir who had with him a container having milk diluted with water and a container having water. I performed ablution with the water and drank the milk. Then I came to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) while he was at (the spring of) water from which I had driven them away. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) had captured those camels and everything else I had captured and all the lances and mantles I had snatched from the polytheists and Bilal had slaughtered a she-camel from the camels I had seized from the people, and was roasting its liver and hump for the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him). I said: Messenger of Allah, let me select from our people one hundred men and I will follow the marauders and I will finish them all so that nobody is left to convey the news (of their destruction to their people). (At these words of mine), the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) laughed so much that his molar teeth could be seen in the light of the fire, and he said: Salama, do you think you can do this? I said: Yes, by the Being Who has honoured you. He said: Now they have reached the land of Ghatafan where they are being feted. (At this time) a man from the Ghatafan came along and said: So and so slaughtered a camel for them. When they were exposing its skin, they saw dust (being raised far off). They said: They (Akwa’ and his companions) have come. So. they went away fleeing.

When it was morning, the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Our best horseman today is Abu Qatada and our best footman today is Salama. Then he gave me two shares of the booty-the share meant for the horseman and the share meant for the footman, and combined both of them for me. …

Full hadeeth here: USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts.

By Amir Sulaiman

I bear witness that there is nothing in the heavens nor Earth worthy of worship besides Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is the slave and last Messenger of Allah. All Praise is for Allah, we praise Him, we seek His help, we seek His forgiveness, and we repent to Him for the evils of ourselves, and our evil actions. Whosoever Allah guides none can mislead, and whosoever He leaves to stray, none can guide.

As for what follows: These are not the words of a sheikh. These are neither the words of a scholar nor the words of an imam. These are simply the words of a young man preparing to die. These are the words of a man who has realized that the common theme of all creation is death, and only the Creator is free from this commonality. If it were clear to all of us that we are all dying, only a fool would not prepare himself for his meeting with his Lord. This life is short. In comparison with the Hereafter, this life may be the length of an evening. For surety, there will be a day when you and I will stand before Allah alone; accompanied only by our book of deeds, the scale, Heaven and Hell. We will witness naked men and woman being chained and dragged by their forelocks into a blazing fire like cattle being led to water. There will be terrible screams of terror and cries of regret. People will drown in their own sweat due to the intense hardship and tension of that day. No one from among those people will think that their life of sin and pleasure was worth it. No one will say “Yeah, I’m going to Hell now but I made 2.5 million last year off interest alone.” There will not be a person from them who will say “Yes, I’m going to Hell now but I loved him/her and my love was stronger than anything including my fear of Allah.” They will be begging Allah for another chance, promising that they will worship Him exclusively and do no more evil in the Earth. The only successful ones that day will be the ones who made that promise to Allah before their death because they knew that Judgment Day was coming.

I am not a psychic but I say with the utmost certainty that you are going to die. Like the sun rose today you will die. Like you were born yesterday you will die tomorrow. Be afraid, and let your heart tremble with the remembrance of your death. Know that you will lay alone in the cold Earth with regret as your only company. The fear is not for death itself but rather what is to follow it. The fear of the Day of Judgment in this life is the only thing that will save you from the fear when the Day actually occurs. Because the one who fears Judgment Day in this life will fear the haram like they fear being burned. That fear will save them from sin and the fear of punishment when they reach Allah. This is taqwa.

If only we realized the reality of the day of inevitable terror and potential punishment we would realize the reason for living. I have dedicated my life to escaping the wrath of Allah. I have given my life to pleasing the One who created me. I fall short everyday but it still remains my goal. In order to reach this goal I orientated my study and attention to finding safety from Hell and a route to the Paradise. Ironically, I have found no safer place for me in the heavens or Earth than the battlefield fighting (physically) for the sake of Allah.

The rewards for the Mujahid (one who fights jihad) and the shaheed (martyr) are so many that it is difficult to count. Besides the Prophets of Allah, I have not found, in the Book of Allah nor in any book of Hadith nor in the writings of any righteous scholar, a person more beloved to Allah than the Mujahid (the one who fights jihad),
especially the shaheed (the martyr) fighting for the sake of Allah. The Mujahid or Allah’s soldier is the best of all men.

Allah says in the Qur’an:

“Not equal are those of the believers who sit (at home), except those who are disabled (by injury or are blind or lame, etc.), and those who strive hard and fight in the Cause of Allah with their wealth and their lives. Allah has preferred in grades those who strive hard and fight with their wealth and their lives above those who sit (at home). Unto each, Allah has promised good (Paradise), but Allah has preferred those who strive hard and fight, above those who sit (at home) by a huge reward; Degrees of (higher) grades from Him, and Forgiveness and Mercy. And Allah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (4:95-96)

Allah also says:

“Those who believed (in the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism) and emigrated and strove hard and fought in Allah’s Cause with their wealth and their lives are far higher in degree with Allah. They are the successful. Their Lord gives them glad tidings of a Mercy from Him, a and that He is pleased (with them), and of Gardens (Paradise) for them wherein are everlasting delights. They will dwell therein forever. Verily, with Allah is a great reward. ” (9:20-22)

Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri: Somebody asked, “O Allah’s Apostle! Who is the best among the people?” Allah’s Apostle replied “A believer who strives his utmost in Allah’s Cause with his life and property…(until the end of the Hadith)

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (pbuh) said, “Whoever believes in Allah and His Apostle, offers prayer perfectly and fasts the month of Ramadan, will rightfully be granted Paradise by Allah, no matter whether he fights in Allah’s Cause or remains in the land where he is born.” The people said, “O Allah’s Apostle! Shall we acquaint the people with this good news?” He said,“Paradise has one-hundred grades which Allah has reserved for the Mujahideen who fight in His Cause, and the distance between each of two grades is like the distance between the Heaven and the Earth. So, when you ask Allah (for something), ask for Al-firdaus which is the best and highest part of Paradise.”

These ayats of Qur’an and these Hadith from the Prophet of Allah (pbuh) indicate the best of men are those who make jihad in the way of Allah. When the subject of jihad is raised many of the hypocrites or mis-informed ones site a Hadith. This Hadith is about the Prophet of Allah (pbuh) informing his companions, on the way home from the Tabuk expedition, that they were leaving the lesser jihad (the jihad of the battlefield) and approaching the greater jihad (jihad against oneself).

The scholars and collectors of Hadith agree that this Hadith is, at best, daeef (weak) and is likely fabricated. This ridiculous Hadith does not even need a scholarly opinion to see its weakness. A believing person whose heart is open to truth will see that this did not come from the manhaj or methodology of the Prophet (pbuh). The people who site this Hadith say ‘It is better to fast and control your hunger, pray and control your lusts than to go and physically fight Jihad.’ This anti-Jihad ideology drowns in its lack of sense and is an innovation into the deen of Allah. This feeble attempt at escaping truth has caused the all of our Ummah nd continues to allow our people to be oppressed.

There are some Hadith that are unanimously agreed upon by all scholars, students of knowledge, and laymen. These adith are in Sahih Bukhari. With the permission of Allah, these Hadith will make clear the fact that Jihad of the battlefield is the greatest jihad

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 44: Narrated Abu Huraira: A man came to Allah’s Apostle and said, “Instruct me as to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward).” He replied, “I do not find such a deed.”

Then he (pbuh) added, “Can you, while the Muslim fighter is in the battle-field, enter your mosque to perform prayers without cease and fast and never break your fast?” The man said, “But who can do that?” Abu- Huraira added, “The Mujahid (i.e. Muslim fighter) is rewarded even for the footsteps of his horse while it wanders about (for grazing) tied in a long rope.”

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 46: Narrated Abu Huraira: I heard Allah’s Apostle saying, “The example of a Mujahid in Allah’s Cause– and Allah knows better who really strives in His Cause—-is like a person who fasts and prays continuously. Allah guarantees that He will admit the Mujahid in His Cause into Paradise if he is killed, otherwise He will return him to his home safely with rewards and the spoils of war.”

These two Hadith are sufficient as evidence that to sit at home and remember Allah and to fast and make salat all night is not like the one who leaves his land of residence and fights in Allah’s cause. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) explained that to fast, pray in the mosque, and remember Allah continuously while the Mujahid hasgone to war is the only way one could receive the level of honor given to the soldier of Allah by Him. A Mujahid may be gone for months or years and it is obvious that no one could fast and pray without ceasing for that long.

The reason why Jihad of the battlefield is greater is because it contains the Jihad of self as well of the Jihad of the battlefield and they must be fought simultaneously. The Mujahid will have to fight his desires while he also fights his physical enemies. The Mujahid will sleep little and eat less. His meals will be the plainer than the meals of our domestic animals. He will pray where he can be shot and rest where he can be slain. He will trust in Allah, rely on his brothers and find safety in fear. He will fight the shaytan whose whisper will instructs the Mujahid to flee from the battlefield and to return home to the temporal, deceptive, and measely luxuries of this life. He will remember Allah most often because he will become acquainted with death like an owl is acquainted with night. He will look down at any portion of the Earth and see his grave. He will call on Allah until there is no more breath to call with and the angel of Death escorts him to the gates of Paradise. Anyone with even a vague shadow of understanding will see that the Jihad of the battlefield includes the Jihad of self and its difficulty is compounded. Allah says (what has been translated as)

“Those who believed (in the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism) and emigrated and strove hard and fought in Allah’s Cause with their wealth and their lives are far higher in degree with Allah. They are the successful.” (9:20)

The Jihad of the Battlefield is an essential part of our deen. There must always be men of our Ummah who will enjoin the right and forbid the wrong. There are six things sacred for the Muslims that must be protected at all cost

1) their blood (life)
2) their wealth
3) their honor
4) their intellect
5) their lineage
6) their deen.

These things are to be protected at all times and by any means. However, the Muslims have allowed for every one of these six (6) things to be attacked and/or taken from the Muslims. The American troops even occupy the place of our two holy sites (Mecca, Madinah in the Arabian Pennisula) which was forbidden by the Prophet (pbuh) of Allah on his death bed. The blood of the Muslims is cheap in the world market. This pitiful condition of our Ummah is because most of the Muslims have abandoned jihad. We have become a Ummah of slogans and pamphlets. Everything has become intellectual and metaphorical while the Kafirs are taking the real world from under our feet. Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) has warned us about this, saying: “Beware a time is coming when all nations of the world will gather together to wipe you out the way they gather around a table to partake of its meal.” His companion said “Will we be so few in number that day Oh, Messenger of Allah?” He (pbuh) said “No, on that day you will be many in number but you will be guthar (like the froth on the surface of the water after a flood) and Allah will take from the hearts of the Kafirs respect for you and fear of you and Allahwill cast into your hearts wahan.” The companion said “What is wahan?” He (pbuh) said “Love for this world and hatred of death.”

Jihad falls on the shoulders of the men of this Ummah. There are people who are weak and oppressed on the Earth. There were 1,000,000 Muslim deaths reported in Bosnia. The pagan Serbs slaughtered them without remorse. As I write this there are wives, mothers, and daughters of this Ummah being raped and slain by the Hindus in Kashmir. The Russian atheists are attacking our brothers in Chechnya. The Muslims of Kosovo are attacked and pushed from their land by the enemies of Allah. Who is responsible for these people. Do we, the Muslims, rely on the UN to take care of us? Since when do the followers of Muhammad (pbuh) rely on people who reject Allah and His Messenger to take care of our women and children. Where are the men of this Ummah? Do your hearts not anger with the thought of the filthy enemies of Allah raping your sisters and daughters? What do they have to do for you to fight them? Do they have to kill Muslims and take their land? They’ve done that. Do they have to rape our pious women and innocent children? They’vedone that. Do they have to insult Allah and His Messenger (pbuh)? They’ve done that. Do they have to come to your door? Are the Muslims to wait until they are down the street from their house? A party from among the Believers must rise up and defend the slaves of Allah. Someone has to do it. We should be ashamed that the males of the Muslims do not behave like men and defending what Allah has told us to defend. How can we sleep in our beds without our thoughts being tormented by these tragedies? In-sha-Allah I will join those men who have decided to defend this deen and the people of this deen.

Allah asks us in the Qur’an:

“And what is wrong with you that you fight not in the Cause of Allah, and for those weak, ill-treated and oppressed among men, women, and children, whose cry is: “Our Lord! Rescue us from this town whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from You one who will protect, and raise for us from You one who will help.” (4:75)

Allah also commands:

“Fight against them so that Allah will punish them by your hands and disgrace them and give you victory over them and heal the breasts of a believing people” (9:14)

We (and no one else) must protect our women and children. Why should we cower away from this duty laid upon us by Allah? We should rejoice in our opportunity to punish the kafirs and achieve the high station of honor Allah has place on the Mujahid. There are so many rewards for the Mujahid they are difficult to count. However there are seven (7) special things given to the martyr and no one else by Allah:

1. All his sins are forgiven from the first drop of their blood
2. He is saved from the punishment of the grave
3. He will cross the sirat with the speed of light (the sirat is the bridge that crosses over the Hell fire that every Muslim has to cross on Judgment Day; some will make it and some will fall).
4. He will receive seventy-two (72) women of Paradise
5. He are given a special crown and garment in the Paradise so all will recognize him as a martyr
6. He will be given the honor of interceding (with the permission of Allah) for 70 seventy members of his family
7. His soul will be kept in the bodies of green birds to fly around in the Paradise

The Mujahid on the battlefield is in the safest position possible because the one who fights physically for the sake of Allah does not die. This is the closest thing that Allah has given the Children of Adam to immortality. Allah has instructed us not to even entertain the thought that the one who fights for the sake of Allah is dead. Allah says (what has been translated as):

“Think not of those who are killed in the Way of Allah as dead. Nay, they are alive, with their Lord, and they have provision. They rejoice in what Allah has bestowed upon them of His Bounty, rejoicing for the sake of those who have not yet joined them,but are left behind (not yet martyred) that on them no fear shall come, nor shall they grieve.” (Qur’an 3:169-70).

In a Hadith the Messenger of Allah explains that the souls of the martyrs are in the hearts of green birds that fly wherever they please in the Paradise.

Also, the Mujahid does not feel any pain with death. Narrated by at-Tirmidhi, the prophet of Allah (pbuh) has stated: “The martyr feels not the pain of killing except like a pinch.”

The safety of the battlefield is one of the many ironies of Allah’s creation. When Allah created the Paradise He shrouded it in difficulty and when He created Hellfire He shrouded it in lust. Only the one who believes in Allah and His promise will fear their lust and find safety in their hardship. In the final analysis, there are only two possible outcomes for the people that fight for the sake of Allah: martyrdom (the best death possible) or victory and a great worldly reward as well as a magnificent reward from their Lord in the Hereafter. A true Mujahid can not lose and this is a promise from his Lord. Allah has instructed the believers to say (what has been translated as)

“Say: “Do you wait for us (anything) except one of the two best things (martyrdom or victory); while we await for you either that Allah will afflict you with a punishment from Himself or at our hands. So wait, we too are waiting with you.” (9:52)

Allah has saved the special rewards of the Judgment Day for those who believe. Those who doubt Allah and His promise will be among the losers that day. In order to make the doubters and the believers plain for everyone to see Allah has prepared a business transaction for the believers. The deal is very plain and not difficult to understand. It is straight to the point and lacks any trace of ambiguity. Our Creator has said (that has been translated as):

“Verily, Allah has purchased of the believers their lives and their properties;for the price that theirs shall be the Paradise. They fight in Allah’s Cause, so they kill (others) and are killed. It is a promise in truth which is binding on Him in the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel) and the Qur’an. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah? Then rejoice in the bargain which you have concluded. That is the supreme success.” (9:111)

Allah has given us an opportunity better than any other. We know that everything in the Paradise is better than what is on Earth. Therefore, if we had to choose we would obviously choose Paradise over this world.

Allah says we can sell this life in exchange for the Paradise. The “bargain”, as it has been written, is an opportunity from the Most Gracious and Most Merciful that only a fool would refuse. If a man approached you and said “I will give you 13.7 million dollars tomorrow if you let me have one dollar right now.” You would think one of two things. You may think that this is a fantastic bargain and you would quickly rush your hand into your pocket and hand over your dollar. On the other hand, you may refuse. The only reason you could possibly refuse was because you did not believe that the man was really going to give you 13.7 million dollars for your one dollar. It becomes blatantly obvious to all with minds that the only way that a person would refuse to sell the life of this world for the next life is that that person does not believe in the promise from Allah. Perhaps we think there is some catch or a loophole that Allah will use in order to make our deeds of no benefit to us on that day. May Allah forgive us for the weakness of our hearts.

What is Allah to gain from hustling His own creation? These questions sound ridiculous but we must question ourselves and wonder why we have not totally committed ourselves to Allah and why we fear the battlefield more than the Fire. We must also ask why we prefer this life more than, and to the expense of, the next life. I believe in Allah and what Allah has said is true and I know that He is not to benefit from hustling me. This is but a declaration that I would like to sell my life, and wealth to Allah so that I may receive what He has promised to those who believe in His bargain.

“Let those (believers) who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter fight in the Cause of Allah, and whoso fights in the Cause of Allah, and is killed or gets victory, We shall bestow on him a great reward.” (4:74)

The children of Adam (pbuh) were created weak and impatient. These are flaws that the Muslim must overcome. We view the Hereafter as being some far off time and place. However the Final hour is near and every child of Adam (pbuh) will get what he/she deserves. The benefits from fighting for Allah in this life and the next life are unparalleled. But if we could really understand and perceive the good that comes from it we would all want to fight. But among us are those whose hearts house disease and the plague of weakness and doubt overcomes them. The shadow of cowardice hangs over them like a storm cloud and prevents them from seeing the light of Paradise. Allah has promised the people of Paradise things that the eyes have never seen, the ears have never heard, and the mind has never conceptualized. There is no doubt if they could see the Paradise they would not hesitate. In spite of that, they will refuse the Paradise because of their fear of work, pain, and hardship in this life.

“Had it been a near gain (booty in front of them) and an easy journey, they would have followed you, but the distance (Tabuk expedition) was long for them, and they would swear by Allah, “If we only could, we would certainly have come forth with you.” They destroy their ownselves, and Allah knows that they are liars. May Allah forgive you (O Muhammad SAW). Why did you grant them leave (for remaining behind, you should have persisted as regards your order to them to proceed on Jihad), until those who told the truth were seen by you in a clear light, and you had known the liars? Those who believe in Allah and the Last Day would not ask your leave to be exempted from fighting with their properties and their lives, and Allah is the All-Knower of Al-Muttaqun.” (9:42-46)

We, as Muslims, must conclude that jihad is a part of our deen that can not be avoided. Rejoice in the chance to be counted as one of the honored men, men honored by the Most High. To shy away from what Allah has commaded of you is to shy away from success. Allah has given us jihad as a way of defending ourselves and our families. Today, because of our love of this life, our families are being killed and ruled by the enemies of Allah. The venom of cowardice has seeped its way into the heart of the Muslim man and caused our people’s oppression all over the Earth.

If you can not make it to the battlefield you are at least responsible for calling people to jihad and supporting it with your wealth and your voice. Allah says in His book:

“Then fight (O Muhammad SAW) in the Cause of Allah, you are not tasked (held responsible) except for yourself, and incite the believers (to fight along with you), it may be that Allah will restrain the evil might of the disbelievers. And Allah is Stronger in Might and Stronger in punishing.” (4:84)

My brothers in Islam, support the Mujahideen so that you may become a Mujahid. The one who buys the armor and weapons for a Mujahid becomes a Mujahid. If we let jihad become forgotten our people may never be free of oppression. The beloved Messenger of Allah (pbuh) fought twenty-seven (27) battles in his twenty-seven (27) years of prophethood. If the most important and precious man in history was not relieved from the difficulty of jihad than what makes us think that we should be?

Allah has built a sanctuary on Earth for the believing men of the Ummah of Muhammad (pbuh). This safe zone is where men hide from death, dishonor and the Hellfire. This place is the battlefield fighting for the sake of the one who created you. There is no doubt that the battlefield is the safest place on Earth for the Believer. Do not fear honor, immortality, and Paradise. Embrace the battlefield until Allah takes your soul back to Himself. I do not claim piety for myself; I am just scared that my life will not be acceptable to Allah on the Day of Judgment. When I recall all the times that I neglected those things that are incumbent on me and all the occasions I indulged in the haram my heart fills with fear. The reason I want to fight jihad is not because my iman is strong. Rather, I want to fight jihad because my iman is weak and I am terrified of what my book of deeds reads like. The refuge from my evils is the battlefield protecting the slaves of Allah and killing the friends of the Shaytan. I feel a warm cloak of safety in putting my life on the line for Allah because I know their will be no pain in my death and I can not die if I fight for Allah. There is no danger on the battlefield for the mu’min (believer). There is only danger for the Kufar and mercenaries.

I ask Allah for forgiveness for any of my mistakes in action and for any of my mistakes in writing. I bear witness openly and without doubt that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad (pbuh) is the last Messenger of Allah.

There is something basic missing from most Western commentary on Russia’s ferocious war against the secessionist Chechen Republic: the Chechens themselves. While many analysts ponder Yeltsin’s pursuit of his costly, unpopular war in the Caucasus or ask how the international community should respond to Russia’s decimation of Grozny, the Chechens - who call themselves the Nokhchi - appear as little more than an unexplored foil to the Russians.

But what sustains just under a million Muslim Chechens in their improbable resistance to Russian might? What are the religious dimensions of the conflict? How has Islam - and the powerful, clandestine Islamic mystical brotherhoods in particular - survived there, despite two centuries of brutal Czarist, Soviet and now Russian persecution?

While the majority of the former Soviet Union’s 48 million Muslims gained independence with the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, the Russian Federation still contains over seven million ethnically and linguistically diverse Muslim peoples. Two groups of these “internal Muslims” - the Tatars and the Chechens - are important to the Russian Federation for two key reasons. The first is economic: both Chechnya and Tatarstan possess substantial oil reserves, with Tatarstan alone producing 25% of the Russian yield. The second reason is political: of all the former Russian republics and autonomous republics, only Tatarstan and Chechnya refused to ratify the 1992 Russian Federation Treaty that established Yeltsin’s present Russian Federation. Moscow immediately attacked both de facto secessions, and the Tatar case is pending appeal before the new Russian Constitutional Court. In Chechnya two years of Russian threats, bluster and empty negotiations ended with invasion in late 1994.

That the political situation in Chechnya erupted into warfare comes as no surprise to anyone familiar with Moscow’s long and bloody history in the north Caucasus. The Muslim peoples of this multiethnic region claim a tradition of opposition to rule from Moscow that is entering a third century. Invariably at the heart of this Chechen resistance have been the remarkably resilient, furtive, and politically active Islamic mystical brotherhoods of the Caucasus.

The history of Russian expansion into Caucasia - the remote, rugged, mountainous territory between the Black and Caspian Seas that is home to over 30 different ethnic groups–began in the late eighteenth century with Catherine the Great’s attempts to forcibly annex the region. But the Russian invaders inspired fierce, unexpected resistance from a broad ethnic coalition of Caucasian Muslims who had united in loyalty to one spiritual leader - a Chechen Muslim mystic warrior named Shaykh Mansur Ushurma. Declaring the struggle a jihad, Shaykh Mansur and his Muslim mountaineers inflicted a crushing defeat on Czarist forces at the Sunzha River in 1785 and were briefly able to unite much of what is modern Daghestan and Chechnya under their rule.

Shaykh Mansur headed a branch of the Naqshbandi Sufi order, an Islamic mystical brotherhood that originated in fourteenth century Central Asia. Islamic mysticism - known as Sufism - spread quickly among both Muslims and non-Muslims in the Caucasus and Central Asia, largely through the missionary activities of itinerant Sufi scholars and mystics. These popular shaykhs (saints, literally “friends of God”) often acquired reputations as miracle workers, and their tombs frequently became shrines (mazars) and pilgrimage sites. As recently as the late 1970s, Soviet authorities testified to the abiding attraction of these shrines, listing more than 70 active mazars in Daghestan and over 30 more in Chechnya. More traditional Muslim religious leaders often attacked the Sufi “cult of saints” for un-Islamic practices, but from early on in the Caucasus, Sufism helped attract converts to Islam at a popular level and offered a powerful source of spiritual guidance and social identity.

These Sufi shaykhs usually directed a tight, clannish organization of disciples (murids) bound to them with oaths of absolute obedience. Senior disciples were allowed to initiate new devotees into the brotherhood, and these deputies were often dispatched to spread the order in villages deep in the mountains. Frequently, charismatic and ambitious murids formed their own branches and subbranches within an order. Certain Sufi orders and suborders became closely associated with specific ethnic groups and with particular notable families.

Zikr (remembrance [of God]) is the central ritual practice of most Caucasian Sufi orders. This mystical ceremony, designed to lead participants into an ecstatic union with God, involves the group repetition of a special prayer or various divine names of God. The Naqshbandis favor a silent form of zikr that is closed to outsiders, but other orders sometimes permit vocal and public zikr assemblies.

Reliable membership figures are impossible to establish, but a 1975 Soviet survey in Chechnya claimed that half of the Muslim population there belonged to local Sufi orders–a stunning total of over 300,000 murids. The Naqshbandis, joined later by the Qadiri Sufi brotherhood, have dominated north Caucasian Muslim spiritual life from the late eighteenth century to the present day. Naturally secretive and disciplined, with broad-based social support and foreboding mountainous terrain for cover, these orders have proven formidable adversaries for whoever has tried to rule the Caucasus.

Shaykh Mansur’s disciples continued their low-key resistance against the Russians even after his death in prison in 1793. Full-scale armed revolt against the Russian occupation of Daghestan and Chechnya resumed in 1824, when a series of Naqshbandi Sufi leaders called Imams began a bitter guerrilla war that would last for over 30 more years. The most famous of these Sufi warriors, the Naqshbandi Shaykh Imam Shamil, actually established a short-lived Islamic state in Chechnya and Daghestan before his capitulation in 1859. With Shamil safely imprisoned, the Russians moved to crush the remaining “Muridists” and pacify the region. Many of Shamil’s followers were hanged or deported, while his senior deputies escaped to Mecca, Medina or Turkey. But with the suppression of the Naqshbandis, a new order–the Qadiri–entered the fight.

The Qadiri order, with its origins in twelfth-century Baghdad, first appeared in the Caucasus in 1861 headed by a Daghestani shepherd named Kunta Haji Kishiev. Based in Chechnya, Kunta Haji taught a mystical practice that, unlike the Naqshbandis, allowed vocal zikr, ecstatic music and dancing. And, at first, he counseled peace with the Russians. His popularity surged but soon his following, swelled by many murid fighters from Shamil’s former army, so alarmed the Russians that he was arrested and exiled in 1864. That same year at Shali in Chechnya, Russian troops fired on over 4,000 Qadiri murids, killing scores and igniting a fresh wave of violence. The brotherhood–whose remaining leaders all claimed spiritual descent from Kunta Haji–became implacable Russian foes and struck deep roots in the Chechen countryside. Together with the rejuvenated Naqshbandis, the Qadiris rose up against the Romanovs in 1865, 1877, 1879 and the 1890s and plagued Czarist rule in the Caucasus through the Bolshevik Revolution.

The revolutionary years were especially bloody in Daghestan and Chechnya. The Qadiris, and a Naqshbandi movement led by Shaykh Uzun Haji battled for eight years against the White and the Red armies to create a “North Caucasian Emirate.” The pious, uncompromising Uzun Haji - whose tomb remains a major pilgrimage site for Chechen Muslims - saw little difference between the Czarist Russians and the atheist communists. “I am weaving a rope,” he was quoted by his enemies, “to hang engineers, students and in general all those who write from left to right.”

His uprising in Daghestan was suppressed in 1925, but the Soviets, branding the Sufis “bandits,” “criminals” and “counter-revolutionaries,” continued to arrest, execute and deport the “zikrists” almost up to the outbreak of WWII. The brotherhoods braved the crackdown as they always had: the shaykhs disappeared deep into the mountains, the murids organized their zikr assemblies in private homes, and the orders ensured their secrecy through the double bond of spiritual initiation and tight-knit clan loyalty.

During WWII, when disturbances occurred in Chechnya in 1940 and again in 1943, Stalin responded with astonishing brutality that bordered on genocide. Accusing them of still unproven collaboration with Nazi Germany, in 1944 he forcibly relocated six entire Caucasian nationalities, including the whole Chechen and Ingush populations, to special camps in Central Asia. All told, more than a million Muslims from the Caucasus were deported, with tremendous loss of life. By some estimates one third to one-half of the population of Chechen-Ingushetia alone - well over 250,000 people - disappeared after the republic was liquidated in February 1944.

The Chechens and other groups spent more than a decade in isolated work camps in Kazakhstan. But by all accounts, the forced resettlement failed to break either the Sufi brotherhoods or Chechen national spirit. Describing the fearsome “psychology of submission” that prevailed in Soviet relocation camps, Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn observed that only one people refused to be broken by the ordeal: “the nation as a whole - the Chechens.” And in later sociological surveys Soviet academics euphemistically noted that “the special postwar conditions” had actually strengthened religious beliefs within the exiled Caucasian peoples.

In 1957, when the Chechens and other exiled Caucasian groups were proclaimed “rehabilitated” and returned to their republics, they found that their land had been “Russified.” Hundreds of thousands of Russian farmers brought in to work the land during their absence had become permanent residents and now comprised a quarter of the region’s population.

The Chechens, Ingush and Daghestanis also discovered a land scoured of Islam. Soviet authorities had experimented with the near total suppression of Islam in the region, closing over 800 mosques and 400 religious colleges. Mazars were demolished, converted into state museums, or made inaccessible. Only after more than 30 years, in 1978, Soviet authorities in the Caucasus allowed under 40 mosques to reopen and staffed them with less than 300 registered ulema.

These measures against “institutional” Islam had little impact on the Sufi brotherhoods, which had never relied on mosques and madrasas as their centers. Indeed, the orders themselves–particularly the Naqshbandis–are noted to this day for organizing their own clandestine Arabic classes and schools to teach the Qur‘an. And, throughout the 1970s, the orders regained their popularity in Chechnya behind a new Chechen Sufi brotherhood–an order that had formed during the exile in Central Asia.

This new brotherhood–called the Vis Haji after its founder, the Chechen Sufi Uways “Vis” Haji Zagiev–is an offshoot of Kunta Haji’s branch of the Qadiri order. First identified in the camps in 1953, the Vis Haji combine scrupulous adherence to “conservative” Islam with unremitting anti-Russian, anti-Soviet rhetoric. Nevertheless Vis Haji murids are permitted to work in state industries, even those involving tobacco and alcohol. Described by some observers as “fiercely xenophobic,” the order exploits modern technology to spread a message of spiritual rectitude and political activism. Reports under the Soviets indicated that in some regions the Vis Haji secretly convened their own Islamic courts and illegally collected various religious taxes.

Vis Haji zikr, employing violins and sometimes drums, also accounts for some of the order’s popularity. Attractive even to nonmembers, zikr performances sometimes provide the basis for public assemblies and displays during religious holidays in many Chechen villages. In another unique practice, women are welcome to participate in Vis Haji zikr, and there are reports of women shaykhs leading their own circles of female adepts. Crucial in preserving Chechen Muslim identity during the exile, the Vis Haji are recognized today as the most active and innovative order in the Caucasus.

It is unlikely that Boris Yeltsin and the Russian Federation can fully succeed in Chechnia where generations of harsh, repressive rule and even abortive genocide have failed. It is wrong to locate President Dzhokhar Dudayev’s support against the Russians entirely with the Chechen Sufi brotherhoods: his agenda is not theirs, and his fidelity to Islam is considered politic and superficial. But faced with an invading Russian army, the brotherhoods have already joined the fray on his side. Earlier this year Chechen fighters retired to the mountains and abandoned Grozny, and the end of the Chechen war became as elusive as the Sufi orders themselves. In this tired battle of wills between Moscow and the Chechen Muslims, Boris Yeltsin and the Russian Federation rank as their weakest opponents yet.

Source: http://www.iol.ie/%7Eafifi/Articles/chechnya.htm