Islam and the People of the Book, Volumes 1-3 Critical Studies on the Covenants of the Prophet John Andrew Morrow Cambridge, England: Cambridge Scholars Publishing , December 2017. 1782 pages. $299.99. Hardcover. ISBN 9781527503199. For […]
Book Review: The importance of the Constitution ot Medina
By Rabbi Allen S Maller Khutba Bank (15 July 2018) The Constitution, Charter or Covenant of Medina pre-dated the English Magna Carta by almost six centuries. It applied to the 10,000+ citizens living in Medina […]
For Muslims, Intra-Faith dialogue is as important as interfaith outreach
John Andrew Morrow
Crescent International (July 2018)
Shawwal 17, 1439
In our continuing discussion with Dr. John Andrew Morrow, we conclude by asking him about practical steps on how to achieve unity among Muslims. He is best known for his Covenants’ Initiative for Muslims and Christians.
CI: What practical steps can be taken to develop unity among Muslims of different schools of thought in Islam?
We should commence by being human beings, God’s creation, the children of Adam and Eve (a). We should appreciate human unity within diversity. We need to respect one another. As Imam ‘Ali said, “People are of two kinds. They are either your brothers in faith or your equals in humanity.” Respect is one of the Seven Grandfather teachings of the indigenous nations from the Eastern Woodlands of North America. We must honour all of creation. This is why racism and sexism are unacceptable in Islam. Tawhid literally means to make as one, to unify, and to bring together. Tawhid, unity or oneness, is theological, social, economic, and political. As Muslims, we seek to unite and not to divide. Just like we need to be exposed to people of different colors and cultures when we are young, we need to be exposed to people of other creeds, denominations, and schools of jurisprudence, theology, and spirituality. This is why comparative jurisprudence is so important. Muslim children should learn that there is more than one way of doing things and that jurisprudence is not the goal: it is the means to the goal, namely, conformity to the One God. It is not how you pray that is important, namely, whether your arms are crossed or are left hanging, the important thing is to pray. While Muslims should follow one way of doing things, otherwise it results in confusion and chaos, they should recognize that the other ways are perfectly valid as well. Muslims need to be taught critical thinking, from an early age, as opposed to blind following. Masjids should be open to Muslims of all schools of jurisprudence and thought. They should be open to all genders. They should also be open to non-Muslims who wish to listen and learn without necessarily participating in prayers. It has become à la mode for open-minded Muslims to engage in interfaith dialogue. While this is important, it is imperative that we have intra-faith dialogue. I know one gentleman who is very active in Christian-Muslim dialogue. He is also of the opinion that Shi‘is are kafirs whose blood is permissible to shed. In his words, “Shi‘is are worse than Jews and Christians.” How tolerant is that? Let us put our cultural baggage, preconceptions, prejudices, stereotypes, misconceptions, and slanderous allegations aside and learn from one another. As Almighty Allah (swt) says in the glorious Qur’an, He made us different so that we would get to know one another; not so that we may despise one another (49:13). So, let us reach out to our neighbours; let us make acquaintances, and let us make new friends.
- 05 juni, utorak
- Crescent International
Kada sam ušao u Islam sredinom osamdesetih, plivao sam u okeanu selefizma. Da budem iskren, selefije/tekfirije su islamu uzeli toliko životno potrebnog duhovnog kisika, da me to gušilo. Da nisam pronašao tradicionalne šiitske, sufijske i sunitske muslimane, gdje ustvari mogu da dišem, umro bih, napuhao bi se i isplivao na površinu. Izgleda da su se vremena promijenila; međutim, ne bi trebalo da se zavaravamo jer i dalje znamo odakle sve to dolazi. Geneza i širenje selefizma nije organsko. Poslužilo je imperijalnim interesima Britanaca koji su nastojali da razbiju osmanski sultanat. Oni su uništili islam kao političku moć. Podijelili su muslimanski svijet u podređene nacije koje se mogu okretati jedna protiv druge.
Amerikanci, koji su djelovali kao nasljednici britanskih imperijalista, raspoređivali su selefije, vehabije i nevjernike kako bi se suprotstavili ekspanziji komunističkih imperijalista: od kojih su obje strane neprijatelji muslimana. Francuzi, Pakistanci i Indijci su svi finansirali mudžahedinske ogranke kako bi zaštitili svoje interese. Nakon što su se Sovjeti povukli iz Afganistana sa repom između nogu, razne borbene skupine su se sukobile jedna s drugom u bratoubilačkom građanskom ratu. Oslabljeni i podijeljeni, ono što je ostalo od mudžahedina je vrlo brzo pometeno od još ekstremnije skupine: Deobandi Talibana. Kada su talibani odbili da poslušaju svoje američke gospodare, bombardovani su nazad u kameno doba. Oni koji su decenijama obučavali, naoružavali i finansirali fanatične vjerske ekstremiste ubrzo su insistirali na tome da zapadnu demokratiju dovedu u Afganistan. U Sjevernoj Africi, situacija je bila slična: neprijatelji čovječanstva su tekfiri teroriste poslali na obične ljude u Alžiru kako bi potkopali njihove legitimne islamske aspiracije 1990. godina. U Evropi su ih koristili kako bi 1990. godine razbili Jugoslaviju i napravili pseudo-državu Kosovo nekoliko godina kasnije. U jugoistočnoj Aziji, oni su ih koristili za diskreditovanje “bona fide Moro“ pokreta u Mindanau te iste decenije.
11. septembar 2001. godine je označio stratešku promjenu. Od korisnih idiota, koji su bili podržavani i javno i tajno, tekfiri teroristi su pretvoreni u koristan izgovor kojeg treba napasti. Sa padom komunizma koji je barem težio ka socio-ekonomskoj pravdi, svijet je ostavljen na milost i nemilost kapitalističkim i globalističkim vampirima koji su sada imali još veću slobodu da sprovedu svoje zle planove da ogole planetu njenih resursa i izvuku svaku kap krvi iz čovječanstva. Pošto je završen Hladni rat, koji je iskorišten do maksimuma, trebalo je identificirati novu neprijateljsku ideologiju: Islam. Prijetnja “radikalnog islamizma” poslužiće kao izgovor da se napadne i zauzme suverena država Irak od 2003. do 2013. godine, i to po cijeni od preko milion civilnih žrtava i nekoliko milijardi dolara ukradenih sredstava. Iako su Amerikanci obećavali demokratiju, jedina stvar koju su isporučili bila je katastrofa: sektaški i etnički sukob koji je kulminirao u “majku svih zvjerstava“: Islamsku Državu (ISIL) koja nije bila niti “islamska” niti “država”.
Iako je tačno, u velikoj mjeri, da je radikalni selefizam prestao da se otvoreno propovijeda u mesdžidima na Istoku i Zapadu nakon 11. septembra i da je naizgled umjereniji oblik Islama počeo popunjavati vakuum, proces se nije dogodio organski. Iako izrazi kao što su “Tradicionalni islam” i “Sufizam” zvuče manje opasnim od selefijskog džihadizma, vehabizma, radikalnog islamizma i takfirizma, a širenje onoga što je predstavljeno kao normativan, mainstream i umjereni Islam izgleda pozitivno, promjena je ustvari obično ponovno brendiranje istog proizvoda. Isti ljudi koji su bili odgovorni za širenje selefizma tokom devedesetih godina i ISIL-a u drugoj deceniji 21. stoljeća, također su odgovorni za širenje onoga što je poznato kao Ahl al-Sunnah wa-al-Tasawwuf – naime, ortodoksni sunizam kombinovan sa ortodoksnim sufizmom – od 2001. godine. Štaviše, takfirizam nije nestao: jednostavno se preselio iz javne sfere u cyber sferu.
Globalisti su već dugo bili posvećeni apsolutnoj dominaciji. To podrazumijeva kontrolu svih protivnika i igranje svih aktera jednih protiv drugih: liberali protiv konzervativaca, kršćani nasuprot muslimana, Suniti naspram Šitta, Suniti i Šiiti protiv Sufija, bijelci protiv crnaca i domicilno stanovništvo protiv izbjeglica. Ukratko, svako je protiv svakog. Za globalističke političke stratege, radikalni Islam i umjereni Islam su jedno te isto. To su jednostavno ideologije koje oni koriste po potrebi zarad svojih interesa. One su sredstvo kojim postižu cilj. Vjerovati da favorizuju jednu nasuprot druge je isto što i vjerovati da posluju u etičkom okviru i posjeduju moralni kompas. To je nemoguće. Ne postoji takva stvar kao moral u geopolitici elite: samo sebični interesi.
-Ponekad državnici moraju da biraju između dva zla – racionalizovao je Henry Kissinger.
To je ono što razlikuje slugu Boga od sluge Sotone. Postojale su moralne i etičke linije koje proroci, poslanici i imami (a) nikada ne bi prešli.
-Ako bih morao da izaberem između pravde i nereda, s jedne strane, i nepravde i reda, s druge strane – rekao je Kissinger, “uvijek bih izabrao ovo drugo “.
Dok je red bolji od nereda, nijedan vjernik ne bi volio nepravdu nad pravdom. Govoreći o Imperijalnom Rimu, Publius Tacitus, orator, advokat i senator, je rekao: “Oni pljačkaju, oni kolju i oni kradu: to je ono što oni lažno nazivaju carstvom, i gdje ostave pustoš, to nazivaju mirom.“ Ovu potrebu za stabilnosti su podržale pristalice Emevija da bi racionalizovale ubistvo Imama Huseina (a). Čak i danas pronalazimo naučnike čiji koncept “mira” toleriše nepravdu. Što se tiče Islama, pozicija je jasna: “O vi koji ste se obavezali Allahu, istrajni budite u pravdi, svjedoci Allahu, čak i ako to bude protiv vas samih ili roditelja vaših i rođaka…” (4,15).
Same Zapadne sile koje su uložile svoje resurse u sadnju, kultivaciju i ubiranje sjemena radikalnog selefizma i džihadizma, su one koje su istovremeno zasadile duhovni, socio-politički i genetski modifikovani sufizam u pažljivo čuvane plastenike. Godine 2004., Sunday Times je objavio povjerljive dokumente britanske vlade koji su raspravljali o projektu pod nazivom “Contest”. Odlučna da spriječi rast ekstremizma među britanskim muslimanima, vlada Tonyja Blaira usvojila je dvostruki pristup: srušiti ekstremiste, a sa njima u krizu uvući i umjerene muslimane. Nazovite to „malo milom, malo silom“ ili tvrdo pokazivanje moći i mehko pokazivanje moći.
Da se zna, nekada davno mi se obratila dobro pozicionirana i dobro povezana osoba sa Arapskog poluostrva koja mi je ponudila nešto što je je mislila da ne mogu da odbijem.
-Napravićemo od vas sljedećeg Hamzu Yusufa – obećao je on. To su tačne riječi koje je koristio. Nikad nisam bio tako uvrijeđen u svom životu. Svima koji misle da sam na prodaju, kažem isto kao što sam i njemu tada rekao: “Možete ići pravo u pakao.” U stvari, jezik koji sam koristio bio je mnogo šareniji.
Sufizam je u stilu i to je upravo ono što jeste. To nije oživljavanje. To nije renesansa klasičnog Islama. Sufizam je postao dio Islama vijekovima ranije. Njegove tajne mreže predstavljaju opipljivu prijetnju. Pod odgovarajućim smjernicama, one se mogu iskoristiti za borbu protiv kolonijalnih snaga. One su također predstavljale i priliku. Ako bi došle pod kontrolu obavještajnih službi, mogle bi postati nosioci špijuna i štetnih elemenata svih vrsta. Kao i Mirovni korpus i nevladine organizacije, Sufijski redovi služe kao savršen paravan za razne radnje. Nije iznenađenje što su mnoga sufijska društva povezana sa tajnim društvima i bratskim organizacijama zapadnog svijeta. Jedno takvo društvo, koje je osnovao pedofil, usko je povezano sa Deep State, američkim neokonzervativcima, perzijskim rojalistima i reakcionarima, zajedno sa arapskim i muslimanskim kraljevima, despotama i diktatorima.
Da je Sotona bio sufija, bio bi član ovog tarikata. Vjerovatno već i jest. Iako gnostički, tesawwuf i ‘irfan su oduvijek bili omiljeni duhovnoj i intelektualnoj eliti islamskog svijeta, koja je uvijek bila manjinski pokret. Od 2001. godine sufizam postaje sve više mainstream, ne zbog veće duhovne introspekcije, već zbog stvaranja svijesti što je i moguće zbog masovnih medija i društvenih mreža. Što se više špijunska mreža širi i jača svoj utjecaj, lakše postaje onima kojih je jedan posto da se uključe u psihološke operacije i društveno-psihološki inžinjering širom svijeta. Ovo nisu halucinacije paranoidnog šizofrena. Ovo su istraživački ukorijenjeni, zasnovani na dokazima, zaključci. Nazovite to kao činjeničnu izjavu.
Projekt „Contest“ je bio i ostao stvarnost. Britanska vlada je 2003. predstavila strategiju protiv terorizma koja je objavljena tek nekoliko godina kasnije. Njen fokus je četvorostruki: Pripremiti se za napade, zaštititi javnost, progoniti napadače i spriječiti njihovu radikalizaciju. Prema riječima dr. Chrisa Allena, koji je podnio ostavku iz Prevent-a, jedne od grana Contesta, u 2014. godini, projekat ima “prikriveni cilj stvaranja “institucionalno odobrenog”, mainstream i umjerenog islama koji bi bio podržan kako od strane različitih “liberalnih” Muslimana tako i od samih vlada“. Te islamske organizacije koje su finansirane od strane države, uz podršku vodećih naučnika, koje su bile nesvjesne čitavog poduhvata, bile su zadužene, ne samo za borbu protiv radikalizma već i za upotrebu moći u muslimanskoj zajednici. Od svog osnivanja, desetine milijardi sredstava poreskih obveznika potrošene su na preko 1.000 projekata namijenjenih spriječavanju radikalizacije muslimana u Velikoj Britaniji ali bez ikakvog konkretnog uspjeha.
Dok su ljudi dobre volje usmjeravali, podržavali i radili sa muslimanskim organizacijama koje su finansirane od strane države, poput Radikalnog Srednjeg Puta i Nacionalne Muslimanske Ženske Savjetodavne Grupe, između ostalih, britanska vlada nije bila transparentna kada se govorilo o stvarnim ciljevima. Kao produktivni građani koji plaćaju porez, muslimani imaju pravo da dobiju vladina sredstva za podršku zdravih inicijativa. Cilj britanske vlade nije bio samo da se suprotstavi širenju tzv. “islamskog” ekstremizma, već da prati, kontroliše i preoblikuje vrijednosti i svijetonazor muslimanske zajednice. Drugim riječima, natjerati muslimane da se pridržavaju, afirmišu i preobrate na sekularizam, pod budnim okom Ministarstva unutrašnjih poslova. Svako ko se suprotstavi ovom društvenom poduhvatu i državno sankcionisanom “britanskom” ili “zapadnom” islamu smatrat će se ekstremistom i tretirati kao prijetnja. Ovo bi sve izgledalo kao da su dobri državnici otišli predaleko u svom dobronamjernom propagandnom ratu protiv ekstremizma, da ti isti ljudi ne podržavaju ISIL: i dozvoljavaju da se preko 1000 britanskih psihopata pridružuje redovima terorističkih ogranaka u Siriji i Iraku, te im nakon odsluženog roka omogućuju i povratak bez krivičnog gonjenja, čak ih nagrađujući sa kućama i ostalim pogodnostima plaćenim od strane poreznih obveznika, pod krinkom „službe za kraljicu i domovinu“.
U Sjedinjenim Državama situacija je bila, da kažemo, jedinstvena. Za neokonzervativce, 9. 11. je ponudio širok spektar mogućnosti za stjecanjem bogastva pljačkanjem Iraka i njegovih stanovnika uz dodatni bonus u vidu lišavanja američkih građana njihovih ustavnih i civilnih prava te kreiranja državnog nadzora u istom procesu. Zbog ustavne odredbe da je vjera odvojena od države, američka vlada je bila uzdržana oko finansiranja muslimanskih grupa koje su posvećene borbi protiv ekstremizma. Umjesto toga, američka administracija je uložila svoja sredstva u stvaranje i praćenje domaćih terorista kako bi opravdala svoj rat protiv terorizma. Budući da se finansiranje borbe protiv terorizma može opravdati samo ako postoji terorizam, mentalno nestabilne marionete su često korištenje u sprovođenju lažnih operacija u cilju širenja islamofobije.
U pokušaju da sruši vladu Sirije, CIA je iskoristila svoje stare saveznike, takfiri teroriste, da obave prljavi posao, dok su Saudijci, Turci i Katari platili račun na američkom tenderu. Obamina obavezna pravila angažovanja onemogućavala su Pentagonu da se bori protiv terorista. Navodeći “slobodu izražavanja”, Obamina administracija je odbila da zatvori račune socijalnih medija koje koristi ISIL. Kada je upitana da uhapsi, optuži i osudi američke borce u redovima ISIL-a za ratne zločine i genocid, liberalna vlada u Washingtonu je tvrdila da Sirija nije potpisnica Rimskog Statua, sporazuma kojeg je uspostavio Međunarodni Krivični Sud, te samim time ne postoji jurisdikcija da se to sprovede. S obzirom na to da su Sjedinjene Države ilegalno napale i okupirale suverene nacije, uvijek je ironično kada se iznenada pozove na međunarodno pravo.
Pored proljevanja krokodilskih suza za žrtvama ISIL-a u performansu vrijednom Oskara, lažni proroci pluralizma podržali su takfirske teroriste u Iraku i Siriji, umjesto da im se suprostave. Tek je na kraju svog predsjedavanja Obama objavio poziv za podnošenje prijedloga kako bi podržao svoju Inicijativu za Borbu Protiv Nasilnog Ekstremizma. “ISILu će uskoro ponestati teritorija”, rekao je jedan od vodećih članova Obamine administracije grupi muslimanskih lidera koji su pozvani u Bijelu Kuću, “računamo na vas kako biste im pomogli u reintegraciji u vaše zajednice”. To je bilo ravno tome da vas zadirkuje onaj koji vas muči. To je kao da pitate ženu koja je silovana da se pomiri sa silovateljem, da mu pruži toplu dobrodošlicu i podršku, kako bi on opet postao produktivan član društva, kad u suštini ta žena želi da on bude produktivan član na groblju.
Trenutna situacija u Bijeloj kući je složena. Za razliku od Obame, koji je pohvalio Islam i muslimane dok je podržavao radikalan “islamski” terorizam, predsjednik Trump govori loše o muslimanima dok u isto vrijeme strateški, sistematski i efikasno zatire takfiri teroriste po Siriji. Ubjedio je ili prisilio Saudijce da zaustave finansiranje ISIL-a i drugih takvih grupa. Katar je dobio ulogu žrtvenog jarca i bačen je pod autobus Saudijske Arabije i Ujedinjenih Arapskih Emirata. To je primoralo Katar da ponovo razmotri svoju regionalnu politiku i da uđe u orbitu Islamske Republike Iran. Trump stoga stavlja sve “loše momke” u jedan koš: Katar, bivši finansijer ISIL-a, i Iran, aktuelni finansijer Hezbollaha i Hamasa. Na domaćem frontu, Trump je utvrdio da Obaminu inicijativu za borbu protiv nasilnog ekstremizma treba preoblikovati u kampanju usmjerenu ka suzbijanju radikalnog islamskog ekstremizma, ignorišući stvarnu prijetnju ekstremne desnice i ekstremne ljevice u Sjedinjenim Državama. Čovjek planira prema sopstvenim prijetnjama.
Dakle, selefizam, u svojoj radikalnoj, nasilnoj formi, je znatno umanjen, ali ne od ranjenih liberala koji su u suštini zombiji. Takfirizam uništavaju desničarski pseudo-konzervativci i neofašistički kapitalistički globalisti koji su poravnati sa anti-islamskom politikom. Kako jedan neprijatelj blijedi, drugi se stvara. Muslimani moraju uvijek biti na oprezu u suprotnom su osuđeni na propast.
Salafism served its purpose, and now it’s time to use Sufism
By John Andrew Morrow
Crescent International (Ramadan 16, 1439)
We continue our conversation with Dr. John Andrew Morrow, an author and a scholar, about Muslims residing in the West. He is best known for his Covenants’ Initiative that aims to create better understanding between Muslims and Christians in the world today.
CI: In the late 1990s there was a spike in salafi perspective on Islam in the West among many Muslims. Do you think salafi Islam is declining in its popularity? If yes, why? If no, why not?
When I came into Islam in the mid-1980s, I was swimming in an ocean of Salafism. To be frank, the Salafis/Takfiris had taken so much life-giving spiritual oxygen from Islam that it was suffocating. Had I not found pockets of traditional Shi‘i, Sufi, and Sunni Muslims, where I could breathe, I would have died, bloated, and floated to the surface. The tide seems to have changed; however, we should not fool ourselves for it stems from the same sea. The genesis and spread of Salafism was not organic. It served the imperial interests of the British who set out to dismantle the Ottoman Sultanate. They destroyed Islam as a political power. They divided up the Muslim world into subservient nation-states that could be turned against one another.
The Americans, who have acted as heirs of the British imperialists, deployed the Salafis/Wahhabis/Takfiris to counter the expansion of communist imperialists: both of whom were enemies of Islam and Muslims. The French, the Pakistanis, and the Indians all funded mujahidin outfits to protect their interests. After the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan with their tails between their legs, the various fighting forces were pitted against each other in a fraternal civil war. Weakened and divided, what remained of the mujahidin was quickly swept away by an even more extreme band of extremists: the Deobandi Taliban. When the Taliban refused to obey their American masters, they were bombed back to the Stone Age. Those who had trained, armed, and funded fanatical religious extremists for decades soon insisted on bringing Western democracy to Afghanistan. In North Africa, the situation was similar: the enemies of humanity unleashed takfiri terrorists on the people of Algeria to undermine their legitimate Islamic aspirations in the 1990s. In Europe, they used them to tear Yugoslavia to pieces in the 1990s and to create the pseudo-state of Kosovo a couple of years later. In Southeast Asia, they used them to discredit the bona fide Moro movement in Mindanao during the same decade.
September 11, 2001, marked a strategic change. From useful idiots, who were supported both overtly and covertly, takfiri terrorists were turned into useful excuses, who were to be combated. With the fall of communism which, at least, aspired toward socio-economic justice, the world was left at the mercy of capitalist and globalist vampires who now had even greater freedom to enact their sinister plan to suck the planet dry of its resources and extract every drop of blood from humanity. Since the Cold War had ended, and the conflict had been beneficial to the bottom line, a new enemy ideology had to be identified: Islam. The threat posed by “Radical Islamism” would serve as a pretext to attack, invade, and occupy the sovereign state of Iraq from 2003–2013 at the cost of over one million civilian casualties and billions of dollars of stolen resources. Although the Americans promised democracy, the only thing they delivered was catastrophe: a sectarian and ethnic conflict that culminated in the mother of all monstrosities: an Islamic State that was neither “Islamic” nor a “state.”
While it is true, to a large extent, that Radical Salafism stopped being openly preached in masjids in both East and West after 9/11, and that a seemingly more moderate form of Islam started to fill the vacuum, the process did not take place organically. Although terms like “Traditional Islam” and “Sufism” sound less threatening than salafi Jihadism, Wahhabism, Radical Islamism, and Takfirism, and the spread of what is presented as normative, mainstream, and moderate Islam seems positive, the change is merely one of window-dressing and rebranding. The same people who were responsible for the spread of Salafism in the 1990s, and ISIS in the second decade of the 21st century, are also responsible for spreading what is known as Ahl al-Sunnah wa-al-Tasawwuf — namely, orthodox Sunnism combined with orthodox Sufism — since 2001. What is more, Takfirism did not disappear: it simply moved from the public sphere to the cyber sphere.
The globalists have long been committed to full-spectrum dominance. That includes controlling all opposition and playing all cards against each other: liberals versus conservatives, Christians versus Muslims, Sunnis versus Shi‘is, Sunnis and Shi‘is versus Sufis, whites versus blacks, and the native-born versus immigrants and refugees. In short, everyone against everyone else. For the political strategists of the globalists, radical Islam and moderate Islam are parallel tracks. They are simply ideologies deployed to advance their agenda. They are means to an end. To believe that they favour one over the other is to assume that they operate within an ethical framework and possess a moral compass. They do not. There is no such thing as morality in the geopolitics of the elite: only selfish interests. “Sometimes statesmen must choose between evils,” rationalized Henry Kissinger. This is what differentiates a servant of God from a servant of Satan. There were moral and ethical lines that the Prophets, the Messengers, and the Imams (a) would never have crossed. “If I had to choose between justice and disorder, on the one hand, and injustice and order, on the other,” said Kissinger, “I would always choose the latter.” While order is preferable to disorder, no believer would prefer injustice over justice. Speaking of Imperial Rome, Publius Tacitus, the orator, lawyer, and senator, said, “They plunder, they slaughter, and they steal: this they falsely name empire, and where they make a wasteland, they call it peace.” This need for stability was invoked by the supporters of the Umayyads to rationalize the slaughter of Imam Husayn (a). Even today we find scholars whose concept of “peace” is tolerating injustice. As far as Islam is concerned, the position is clear, “O you who have committed to Allah, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives” (4:135).
The very Western powers that have invested their resources in planting, cultivating, and harvesting the seeds of Radical Salafism and Jihadism, are also the ones that have concurrently planted spiritually, socio-politically, and genetically-modified Sufism in carefully guarded greenhouses. In 2004, the Sunday Times leaked confidential British government papers that discussed a project code-named “Contest.” Determined to curb the growth of extremism among British Muslims, the Tony Blair government adopted a two-pronged approach: crack down on extremists while co-opting moderates. Call it the carrot and the stick. Call it hard power and soft power.
For the record, I was once approached by a well-placed and well-connected person from the Arabian Peninsula who made me an offer he thought I could not refuse, “We will make you the next Hamza Yusuf,” he promised. Those are the very words he used. I have never been so insulted in my life. To anyone who thinks I am for sale, I say the same now as I said then, “You can go straight to hell.” In fact, the language I used was much more colourful.
Sufism is in style and that is exactly what it is. It is not a revival. It is not a renaissance of classical Islam. Sufism was co-opted centuries ago. Its secretive networks posed a tangible threat. Under proper guidance, they could be used to counter colonial forces. They also represented an opportunity. If they came under the control of intelligence agencies, they could become a vehicle for spies and subversives of all sorts. Just like the Peace Corps and NGOs, Sufi orders serve as a perfect cover for spooks. It comes as no surprise that many Sufi orders are associated with the secret societies and fraternal organizations of the Western world. One such order, founded by a pedophile, is closely connected to the Deep State, American neo-conservatives, Persian royalists and reactionaries, along with Arabian and Muslim kings, despots, and dictators. If Satan were a Sufi, he would be a member of this †ariqah. He probably already is. Although gnosis, namely tasawwuf and ‘irfan, has always appealed to a spiritual and scholarly elite in the Muslim world, it has always been a minority movement. Since 2001, Sufism has become increasingly mainstream, not because of greater spiritual introspection, but because of the crafting of consciousness that is possible due to mass media and social media. The greater the one-eyed web spreads and extends its influence, the easier it has become for the one-percenters to engage in psychological operations and social engineering on a planetary scale. These are not the delusions of a paranoid schizophrenic. They are research-rooted, evidence-based, conclusions. Call it a statement of fact.
Project Contest was and is a reality. The counter-terror strategy was introduced by the British government in 2003. It was only made public several years later. Its focus is four-fold: Prepare for attacks, Protect the public, Pursue the attackers, and Prevent their radicalization in the first place. According to Dr. Chris Allen, who resigned from Prevent, one of the branches of Contest, in 2014, the project has the “covert objective” of creating an “institutionally approved, ‘mainstream’ and ‘moderate’ expression of Islam that would be dually endorsed by various co-opted ‘liberal’ Muslims as also Government itself.” These government-generated, state-funded Islamic organizations, supported by leading scholars, who were often entirely oblivious to the entire enterprise, were tasked, not only with countering radicalism but with engineering, if not enacting, power in the Muslim community. Since its inception, tens of billions of taxpayer funds have been spent on over 1,000 schemes aimed at preventing the radicalization of Muslims in the UK with no measurable degree of success.
While people of good faith directed, supported, and worked with state-funded Muslim organizations like Radical Middle Way and the National Muslim Women’s Advisory Group among others, the British government was not exactly transparent when it came to its aims. As productive, tax-paying citizens, Muslims are entitled to receive government funding to support sound initiatives. The goal of the British government was not simply to counter the spread of so-called “Islamic” extremism, it was to monitor the Muslim community, to control and reshape its values, and to restructure its worldview. In other words, make Muslims comply, conform, and convert to secularism, under the careful watch of the Home Office. Anyone who opposed this social engineering and the government’s state-sanctioned “British” or “Western” Islam would be deemed an extremist and treated as a threat. This may all seem like good government leaders going too far in their well-intentioned propaganda war against extremism and terrorism, were it not for the fact that the very same people were supporting ISIS at the time: allowing over 1,000 British psychopaths to join the ranks of the terrorist outfit in Syria and Iraq, allowing them to return without prosecution, and even rewarding them with taxpayer paid houses and support of all sorts so as to help “reintegrate” them into British society, a code word for “reward them for their service to Queen and Country.”
In the United States, the situation was, shall we say, unique. For the neocons, 9/11 offered a wealth of opportunities to make wealth by pillaging Iraq and its people with the bonus of stripping American citizens of their constitutional and civil rights and creating a surveillance state in the process. Due to the separation of church and state, the US government was reticent to overtly fund Muslim groups that were committed to combating extremism. Rather, the American administration invested its resources in creating and tracking domestic terrorists to justify its War of Terror. Since funding to fight terrorists can only be justified if there is terrorism, mentally-unstable stooges were often set up in false-flag operations to help foster Islamophobia.
In its attempt to overthrow the Syrian government, the CIA enlisted its old allies, the takfiri terrorists, to do their dirty deeds while the Saudis, the Turks, and the Qataris paid the bill at the bidding of the US. Obama’s onerous rules of engagement made it impossible for the Pentagon to fight the terrorists. Citing “freedom of expression,” the Obama administration refused to shut down the social media accounts used by ISIS. When asked to arrest, try, and convict American ISIS terrorists for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide, the “liberal” government in Washington claimed that Syria was not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the treaty established by the International Criminal Court, and therefore had no jurisdiction. Considering that the United States has illegally attacked, invaded, and occupied sovereign nations, it is always ironic when it suddenly invokes international law.
Besides shedding crocodile tears for the victims of ISIS in a performance worthy of an Academy Award, the false prophets of pluralism supported, rather than opposed, the takfiri terrorists in Iraq and Syria. It was only at the end of his presidency that Obama issued a call for proposals to support his Countering Violent Extremism initiative. “ISIS will soon run out of territory,” said a leading member of the Obama administration to a group of Muslim leaders who were invited to the White House, “we count on you to help reintegrate them into your communities.” It was tantamount to being teased by one’s tormentor. It is like asking a woman who has been gang-raped to make up with her assailants, to give them housing, hospitality, and support, so that they can become productive members of society when, in truth, the woman really wants them to be productive members of the cemetery as a feast for maggots.
The current situation in the White House is complex. Unlike Obama, who praised Islam and Muslims while supporting radical “Islamic” terrorism, President Trump has trash-talked Muslims while strategically, systematically, and efficiently exterminating takfiri terrorists in Syria. He convinced or coerced the Saudis to stop funding ISIS and other such groups. Qatar was given the role of the fall guy and thrown under the bus by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This forced Qatar to reconsider its regional policies and to enter the orbit of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Trump therefore put all the “bad guys” into one camp: Qatar, the former funder of ISIS, and Iran, the current funder of Hizbullah and Hamas. On the domestic front, Trump has determined that Obama’s Countering Violent Extremism initiative should be revamped into a campaign aimed at Countering Radical Islamic Extremism, ignoring the very real threat posed by the extreme right and the extreme left in the United States. One plans to one’s own peril.
So, Salafism, in its radical, violent, form has indeed been curtailed, but not by the bleeding-heart liberals who, in reality, are brain-eating zombies. Takfirism is being taken down by right-wing pseudo-conservatives and neo-fascist capitalist globalists who are aligned with profoundly anti-Islamic political and Islamic interests. While one enemy fades, another one rises. Muslims must always be vigilant lest they be doomed.
By Dr. John Andrew Morrow
AMUST (27 May, 2018)
Although the Covenants of the Prophet were common knowledge to educated Muslims throughout most of Islamic history, knowledge of them faded after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century.
While the works of Hamidullah and Miyanji were familiar to some Muslim scholars, it was only after the publication of The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World that knowledge of them became widespread.
The publication of the book in 2013 inspired the Covenants Initiative, an international movement that calls upon Muslims to abide by the spirit and the letter of the Covenants of the Prophet as they are in perfect agreement with the traditional teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah.
The Covenants Initiative has been signed by over three hundred Muslim scholars, intellectuals, and activists. The movement helped inspire the Marrakesh Declaration on the rights of religious minorities in the Muslim world as well as the Fortenberry Resolution which condemned ISIS for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
Fourteen hundred years after the death of the Prophet, these Covenants demonstrate that the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians by extremist groups and the destruction of their religious buildings represents a gross violation of the teachings of the Qur’an and the Prophet, including the Prophet’s letters and Covenants.
Indeed, these Covenants can serve as a source of inspiration for the establishment of insuperable harmony between the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
The Covenants of the Prophet can strengthen tolerance, goodwill, and better understanding between faiths. They represent a genuine call for reconsidering the deteriorated relationships between the three religions. These findings serve to promote peaceful coexistence, respect, and care beyond mere tolerance.
In fact, they shed light upon the nature and policy of the Prophet vis a vis how to govern diverse groups and maintain relationships among other people, both of which are completely in line with the Prophet’s life and teachings.
Whether it is the Constitution of Medina, the letters or Covenants of the Prophet, or the Qur’an, these teachings represent a practical example for how to build peaceful and successful relationships between different faith communities in the contemporary world.
May 18, 2018
SHAFAQNA – In the Name of the Most-High. Respected Professor and Doctor John Andrew Morrow. May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you. We would like to extend our sincere thanks and gratitude for accepting to be interviewed by the Dalil Foundation Magazine which is published by the Holy Sanctuary of Imam Husayn. We wish to point out that you are free to share any additional information that you deem appropriate to this dialogue.
DR. JOHN ANDREW MORROW
May the peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be with you. I am at your humble service. I am willing, by the grace of God, to respond to all your questions.
QUESTION 1
Respected doctor and professor, can you kindly share with us details of your personal life, your conversion from Roman Catholic Christianity to the true religion of Islam?
DR. JOHN ANDREW MORROW
Like everyone, I was a believer [mu’min] when I came into this world. As the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Every child that is born is naturally predisposed to be a believer.” [ كُلِّ مَوْلُودٍ يُولَدُ عَلَى الْفِطْرَةِ ]. Consequently, we are all believers [mu’minin] by nature. It is our families and our societies that turn us into Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, polytheists, heretics, and atheists.
I always felt the love of God. I always felt the presence of God. I prayed only to the One God. I did not believe that Jesus was God. I could accept him as “Son of God” in the spiritual sense. However, I never conceived of him as being eternal. I worshipped the Creator of the Universe and not His Creation. I viewed Jesus as a source of intercession. I certainly did not believe that God consisted of Three Persons. For me, God was, is, and will always be, One. It was only when I was a teenager, when I understood Christian theology better, that I realized that I was not a Christian. I was simply seeking a path to God. I studied all religions in depth and found that Islam, submission and surrender to the One, was my home. It was a journey to the center of my own soul.
I respect the Roman Catholic Church enormously. I learned to love and worship God. I learned about the prophets and messengers of God, peace be upon them all. I learned the Ten Commandments and the Law of Moses, peace be upon him. I learned morals and ethics. I learned Natural Law and Canon Law. I am not one of the ungrateful. Christianity is a path to God. Both Allah, glorified and exalted be He, and His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, said that it was so. We may have differences but they are differences in degree. We must recognize and respect elements of truth wherever they are found. This is why the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his purified progeny, granted covenants of the protection to the People of the Book.
QUESTION 2
What motivated you to select the School of Ahl al-Bayt over other Islamic schools of thought?
DR. JOHN ANDREW MORROW
I respect all schools of thought in Islam. The school of Ahl al-Bayt has a special status since it was transmitted by the Imams of the Progeny of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon them all. It has a long, rich, and living tradition of ijtihad.
QUESTION 3
Could you please provide a brief statement of the necessity of faith in general and its importance in human life?
DR. JOHN ANDREW MORROW
Faith is like air, water, and sunlight. It is essential for life. Without it, one dies a spiritual death. May God make us thirsty. And may God quench our thirst with the water from the Fountain of Kawthar.
QUESTION 4
Professor, as you know, the Islamic world is subjected to fierce ideological attacks by groups outside the Islamic system. What do you think the most important reasons for this? What are the remedies?
DR. JOHN ANDREW MORROW
Islam is under attack. Morality is under attack. Justice is under siege. Muslims must struggle. We must fight words with words and ideas with ideas. We must fight culture with culture and science with science. We need to inspire an Islamic renaissance. There are no simple solutions. We need to implement a comprehensive strategy for the revival of Islamic civilization and culture plan
QUESTION 5
How can we confront, from an intellectual and doctrinal point of view, the perverse understanding of the teachings of Islam that are spread by misguided and ignorant people who operate from within the Islamic system?
Islam is an open system. We should allow freedom of thought within the broadest possible parameters. Otherwise, all progress is stifled. So long as one agrees on basic principles, Islam provides a great deal of latitude and flexibility. Islam is eminently malleable and adaptable to changing times and circumstances. Islam truly belongs to the age. We cannot impose beliefs and practices on people. Human beings were created free. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Difference of opinion in my Community is a mercy” [ الخلاف في أمتي رحمة ]. We need to educate people. We need to foster critical thought. We need to present Islam as a viable socio-political and economic model. We need to stress that Islam is committed to justice. Religious institutions play a crucial role in the revival of Islam. They are the vanguard. They need to have achievable and measurable goals. They need to work in cooperation rather than competition. They must use all means to get the message to the masses.
QUESTION 6
Based on the previous question, what role can the scientific institutions of religious belief, as well as intellectual elites in this regard?
DR. JOHN ANDREW MORROW
Rather than view atheism as a negative, we can employ reverse psychology and treat it as a positive. To declare that “There is no god” is the first half of the shahadah. Atheists are half way there. We only need to insert “but Allah” and convince them that “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.” It is the nature of people to believe. Either they believe in the right thing or they believe in the wrong thing. If people reject religion based on reason, at least they are thinking. Hence, there is hope. In some cases, they are not rejecting religion itself or God itself but the explanations that were given to them. As Imam ‘Ali, peace be upon him, explained, if given a choice between religion and reason, on should select reason for reason will always lead back to religion whereas religion will not lead back to reason. This is why Shiite books of traditions begin with the “Chapter of Reason” while Sunni books of traditions begin with the “Chapter of Faith.” We only have to look at the Salafis, Wahhabis, and Takfiris to see how dangerous it is to abandon the intellect, reasoning, and critical thinking.
QUESTION 7
Professor and Doctor… Of the intellectual and doctrinal dilemmas that have afflicted some human societies is the question of atheism and secularism. What are the main reasons for the spread of this phenomenon and the best ways to address this problem and reduce it?
DR. JOHN ANDREW MORROW
There is a clear correlation between secularism and materialism. There is a clear connection between modernity and atheism. We need to fight atheism with faith. We repel evil with good. We need to encourage what is good and discourage what is bad in the best possible way. We need to show people a better way of life. A life without spirituality is like a rose without rain: it withers and dies. It is empty, meaningless, and hollow. It is a life that is a prelude to eternal death. Islam, tasawwuf, and ‘irfan are better than this fleeting world as they offer eternal life. Islam offers individuals the opportunity to lead productive and meaningful lives: to be in this material world but not of it.
QUESTION 8
How can we, who live in an age of technological and scientific development, root our Muslim youth in the theoretical foundations of our faith, and keep them from slipping and deviating from the intellectual and the doctrinal foundations of Islam?
DR. JOHN ANDREW MORROW
Talk to people in a language people. Reach out to young people. Communicate with young people. Engage and empower young people. The youth are our future. The future of our faith, and the future of our planet, depends on them. Give them a voice and give them a choice.
QUESTION 9
One of the academic and ethical projects of the Dalil Foundation is to build an intellectual system on a sound basis. From your point of view, what are the best methods, strategies, and mechanisms to achieve this goal?
DR. JOHN ANDREW MORROW
I encourage all institutes, scholars, scientists, intellectuals and ordinary people to identify themselves with the primordial principles, rights and freedoms found in the covenants of the Prophet with the Jews, Samaritans, Christians and Zoroastrians. There are pearls of wisdom within those shells. We need to share them with the world with pride for they can enrich us all. They provide a blue-print for the Ummah of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his Household. They pave the way for the return of the Messiah and the Hidden Imam, may Almighty Allah hasten their reappearance.
QUESTION 10
What are the modern means of engagement that influence the Western mentality?
DR. JOHN ANDREW MORROW
People are the product of their environment. To understand Western thought, you need to understand history in its broadest sense. If Westerners have reached a place ideologically, it is the result of a complex trajectory. Different paths lead to different destinations. Many Westerners turned away from religion because it defied reason and contradicted science. They were disillusioned by religion because it was racist, misogynistic, and oppressive. What is more, it was exploited by people in power. In short, they had every right to reject religion as an institution.
Muslim leaders need to learn from these lessons. Otherwise, they may inadvertently lead people away from Islam. Politics and policies have long-term and unintended consequences. Although many Westerners have become secular, many have reconnected with various spiritual traditions, including Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam, to lead more balanced lives. There are many problems in the West. However, there are just as many problems in the Muslim world. What we have in common is hope: hope for a better and more just future. Never quit and never abandon faith.
QUESTION 11
Is there today in the Western world a breakdown between the different interpretations of the Islamic religion, and a distinction between the strict understanding adopted by the Wahhabi Salafi thought of the teachings of Islam and the moderate approach to non-Muslims adopted by the Ahl al-Bayt?
For many Westerners, Takfirism is Islam and Islam is Takfirism. The media is responsible for this distortion since it serves the interests of their globalist masters. Many nominal Muslims also bear responsibility for promoting such misconceptions. Fortunately, there are many groups, like the Covenants Initiative, that are working hard to correct these misconceptions, to build bridges, and to promote tolerance and pluralism. We need to promote unity within diversity, set aside secondary issues, and focus on commonality and universality. We pray that Almighty God help us all through these difficult times.
QUESTION 12
Do you have any final words for the readers of Dalil Magazine?
As for any parting words for your readers, I simply urge them to read the Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his purified progeny, as these primary foundational sources provide solutions to the problems that we face in the world today.
SHAFAQNA – In the Name of Allah, the Light. Praise be to Allah, the Light of Lights, and peace be upon the Prophet Muhammad, his daughter Fatimah al-Zahra, and the Twelve Imams who were living reflections of divine luminosity.
Greetings of peace and words of welcome. The Husayniah Islamic Society of Seattle and Global Initiatives are pleased to host you for Husayn, peace be upon him, Day, on this 28th day of April of 2018. May Almighty God bless Sister Zahra Abdi, all the respected speakers who will share their words with you this evening, and the audience as a whole.
In the beginning, there was Allah, the One, the Only. He was a Hidden Treasure who wished to be known. In the cold, dark space of eternity, He manifested His Light. From His Light, He revealed His Treasure, the Light of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. From the Light of Muhammad, He created ‘Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, and Husayn, namely, the light of his son-in-law, daughter, and grandchildren. From the light of Husayn, Allah created the lights of the nine following Imams. Fourteen Infallibles featuring the Prophet, his Daughter, and the Twelve Imams. They were named after the Names of God: the very manifestations of His Divine Attributes.
Prior to creation, in the First World of Particles, the World of Shadows, or the World of the Pact, the Prophet, Fatimah, and the Imams, were lights that surrounded the Divine Throne. From the light of the Holy Household, the Ahl al-Bayt, Allah created the light of the angels, the light of the prophets, and the light of human beings. Together, they took four oaths. They attested that Allah was One. They pledged loyalty to the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, to Imam ‘Ali, and to the Imams from his progeny. All were initiated into the exoteric and esoteric reality of religion. As the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family, said:
Allah created me from the quintessence of light, and called me, so I obeyed Him. Then He created ‘Ali from my light, and called him, and he obeyed. From my light and the light of ‘Ali He created Fatimah: He called her, and she obeyed. From me, ‘Ali and Fatimah, He created al-Hasan and al-Husayn. He called them, and they obeyed Him. Allah has named us with five of His names: Allah is al-Mahmud (the Praised) and I am Muhammad (Worthy of Praise); Allah is al-‘Ali (the High), and this is ‘Ali (the One of High Rank); Allah is al-Fatir (Creator out of nothing), and this is Fatimah; Allah is the One with Hasan (beneficence), and this is Hasan; Allah is Muhassin (the Beautiful), and this is Husayn.
He created nine Imams from the light of al-Husayn and called them and they obeyed Him, before Allah created either Heaven on high, the outstretched earth, the air, the angels or man. We were lights who glorified Him, listened to Him and obeyed Him. (Lantern of the Path)
In the Second World of Particles, Allah took the light of Muhammad and ‘Ali and, with it, created the particles of Adam, and from him, all of humanity. Allah gathered all the souls and asked them: “Am I not your Lord?”. They all testified to his Divine Unity. Allah then commanded the lights to prostrate to Adam since he contained the light of Muhammad and ‘Ali which was the very light of Allah. And so, they did, all save Iblis or Satan.
And so, we were, for eons, in the world of souls and spirits, immersed in the warmth and radiance of divine love. Allah said “Be” and it was. He created the physical world out of the Light of Muhammad and ‘Ali. The universe came into being with a big bang. After ages, our planet came into existence, and after millions of years, it was suitable for our physical Adam to surface. In him was placed the light of Muhammad and ‘Ali, Allah bless them and grant them peace. And so, began the voyage of divine light from Adam peace be upon him, down to the historical Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny. The light of the Prophet passed to his daughter Fatimah, God bless them both. It rejoined the light of ‘Ali to produce Hasan and Husayn, peace and blessings be upon them all. Light upon light, nur ‘ala nur (24:35) the light of the Light was passed down to Imam Husayn, ‘alayhi al-salaam. Such is Imam Husayn, peace be upon him, from a spiritual and metaphysical point of view. You may accept. You may reject. However, a tantalizing taste of the esoteric you have been given: an essential complement to the exoteric.
The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, received revelation. He was sent to renew and revive the religion of Abraham, peace be upon him. Through him, God’s religion was completed and perfected, although truth is to be found in all divinely revealed religions. He insisted from day one, from the very first time he preached the message of Islam to his extended family and kin, that ‘Ali was to be his heir and his successor, both spiritually and politically. He repeated this divinely-revealed mandate regularly throughout his mission. He said that Ali was to him what Aaron was to Moses; that the truth was with ‘Ali and that ‘Ali was with the truth; and that ‘Ali would be the master and guardian over everyone over whom the Prophet Muhammad had been master and guardian. May peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and His Holy Household.
The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and the People of His House, proclaimed that he was leaving behind two weighty obligations, the Qur’an, and his Ahl al-Bayt, the People of His Household. He stated that the People of the House, the Imams from his Progeny, were like the Ark of Noah, and that anybody who boarded it would be saved, and those who failed to board it, would be doomed. The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, stated that he would be followed by Twelve Caliphs or Successors and that the last of them would be the Mahdi, the Divinely-Guided One, who would reappear along with Jesus at the End of Times. May Allah hasten their reappearance. Ilahi amin ya rabb al-‘alamin.
The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his Purified Progeny, warned Imam ‘Ali that the community would betray him. He foretold that his grandson, Imam Husayn, would be slaughtered by a segment of the so-called Muslim community. Wa Allahi, the Archangel Gabriel himself, peace be upon him, informed the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, that his beloved grandson, peace be upon him, would be martyred in Karbala. He even brought him soil that was soaked in his blood.
Imam Husayn, peace be upon him, was the Wali Allah, Hujjat Allah, Khalifat Allah, Bab Allah, Ayat Allah al-Kubra, al-Mathal al-a‘la, and al-urwat al-wuthqa, the Friend of Allah, the Proof of Allah, the Vicar of Allah, the Door to Allah, the Supreme Sign of Allah, the August Symbol, and the Most Solid Handle. He was the spiritual and temporal successor of his grand-father, the Messenger of Allah, despite the fact that he was deprived of his right by Mu‘awiyyah ibn Abi Sufyan, may God send him to Guantanamo Bay or, better yet, subject him to extraordinary rendition. That sounds even scarier.
Imam Husayn had no political ambition. He never tried to overthrow the Umayyads. He devoted himself to piety and passing down the true teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family. He posed no military threat to the oppressive and despotic superpower of the time. He engaged in passive resistance. He was entirely non-violent.
Yazid, the rotten fruit from the rotten tree, succeeded his father, and continued to spread corruption on Earth. What is more, he wanted all Muslims to be complicit in his crimes. In fact, he demanded allegiance from Imam Husayn, peace be upon him. When he refused, he planned to have him killed at the Ka‘bah during the Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca. Husayn, peace be upon him, refused to submit, in word or in action, to Yazid for to recognize him as Caliph, or Successor of the Prophet, was tantamount to recognizing Satan as God.
Imam Husayn, peace be upon him, left the holy Hijaz and headed toward the city of Kufah which was a traditional stronghold for the followers of his father, Imam ‘Ali, peace be upon him. He knew he would never make it. In fact, he headed directly toward the land of his destiny, the desert region known as Karbala’. There, his small band of family members, friends, companions, and supporters, were surrounded by the armies of injustice and oppression. Vastly outnumbered and out-armed, they were systematically slaughtered.
Although some Shiite Muslims reduce the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, peace be upon him, to a political event, his providential death was profoundly significant on a spiritual plane. Just like Christians believe that Jesus, peace be upon him, died so that we would know the true, Shiite Muslims believe that Imam Husayn, peace be upon, died so that we would know the truth, so that the truth of Islam, original Islam, Muhammadan Islam, would survive until the End of Days.
As the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and His Holy Household, said: “Husayn [is] the leader of the Youth of Paradise” (Tirmidhi). As the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and His Holy Household, said: “Husayn [is] my offspring in this world” (Tirmidhi). As the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and His Holy Household, said: “Husayn is from me and I am from Husayn. May Allah love those who love Husayn” (Tirmidhi). As the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and His Holy Household, said: “Whoever loves [Husayn], he surely loves me” (Tabari and Ibn al-Sari).
And yet he was hunted down heartlessly, hounded by hyenas, surrounded by snakes, harassed by sons of harlots, persecuted by pigs, tormented by terrorists, only to be slaughtered like a lamb and butchered like a baby. By whom? By the forefathers of al-Qaedah, Da’esh, and al-Nusrah, by the same demented and demonic terrorists who have brought hell to Algeria, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Nigeria, Belgium, France, Spain, the UK, Canada, America, and beyond.
During the first year of his rule, Yazid, the archetypal tyrant and servant of Satan, killed the grandson of the Prophet, the archetypal holy man and servant of God. During the second year of his rule, Yazid pillaged and plundered the sacred city of Medina. His forces killed over 10,000 people, including nearly one thousand Companions of the Prophet. Over one thousand women became pregnant due to rape. To top it all off, he burned down the Holy Ka‘bah in Mecca, the holy of holies, during the third year of his rule. And yet he had and has followers to this very day. Some of them were very fervent. It was in their vested interests to support the oppressive regime. It benefited them financially and politically. Most of the masses simply shrugged their shoulders, obeyed the government blindly like livestock, and followed their leaders like lemmings, even if it meant plunging into the ocean of eternal fire.
But Husayn said no. I say no. We say no. Hell to the no. We refuse to remain quiet in the face of injustice for “tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter” (2:191). Give us liberty or give us death. Death before dishonor. Stand on the right hand of history. Side with the poor, the meek, the downtrodden, the discriminated, the persecuted, and the oppressed. Stand for the truth no matter the cost. As the Lord of Martyrs, peace be upon him. said, “A death in dignity is better than a life of humiliation.” I repeat: “A death in dignity is better than a life of humiliation.” Such is the message of Imam Husayn, peace be upon.
So, peace be upon you, of Father of ‘Abd Allah. Peace be upon you, O son of the Messenger of Allah. Peace be upon you Commander of the Faithful and the son of the inheritors (of the Prophet). Peace be upon you, O son of Fatimah, the Leader of the Women of the Universe.
Al-salaamu ‘alayka ya Aba ‘Abdillah. Al-salaamu ‘alayka ya ibn Rasulillah! Al-salaamu ‘alayka ya ibn Amir al-Mu’minin wa ibn sayyid al-wasiyyinna. Al-salaamu ‘alayka ya ibn Fatimah Sayyidati Nisa’i al-‘Alamina.
May peace and blessings be upon you all. And may peace and blessings be on the Prophet and His Purified Progeny. Salawat ‘ala Muhammad wa ali Muhammad!
By John Andrew Morrow
Por John Andrew Morrow
REVISTA CULTURAL BIBLIOTECA ISLAMICA (15 DE MAYO DE 2018)
“Dios mediante nacerá, Dios mediante, será un niño”, dijo una mujer a mi esposa embarazada. Ella respondió: no, ”Dios mediante será una niña”. Confundida, la mujer repitió insistentemente una vez más “por Dios, será un niño” y mi esposa respondió, en clave, “por Dios, niña”.
Aunque a mi esposa no le agradó ese cambio de palabras, a mi me resultó casi normal. Escuché esas tonterías sexistas durante décadas. Recuerdo cuando un orgulloso padre joven visitó una mezquita con sus cuatro hijas. Fue recibido por hombres corpulentos y barbudos que se lamentaban de que no tuviese descendencia masculina y dijeron: “Lo sentimos mucho por ti. Rezamos para que Dios te conceda un varón”.
Para muchos padres, tanto musulmanes como no musulmanes, el nacimiento de un hijo es una bendición, independientemente de su sexo. En lugar de orar específicamente por un varón, simplemente oran para que la criatura nazca saludable. Lamentablemente, sin embargo, algunos hombres musulmanes, en particular los de ciertas culturas patriarcales, tienen ideas misóginas. Lo que es peor, han impuesto a muchas mujeres sus criterios. En verdad, algunos musulmanes, al darse a luz una niña, en vez de ponerse contentos y celebrarlo, se muestran amargados, dolidos.
Aunque muchas poblaciones vivieron en un medio islámico durante más de 1.400 años, la fe musulmana no ha logrado penetrar plenamente en sus corazones. Se comportan como las piedras: aunque estén mucho tiempo bajo el agua, no la absorben. La respuesta de esa gente a la concepción de una niña es la misma hoy que catorce siglos atrás. Dice Dios Todopoderoso en el Glorioso Corán: “Cuando se le anuncia a uno de ellos una niña, se queda hosco y se angustia” (Corán, 16:58).
La situación descrita en el Corán la vivió el propio Profeta ―paz y bendiciones sean sobre él, su familia y sus fieles seguidores―. Expresa una tradición relatada por Amili: «Un hombre se enteró que su esposa tuvo una nena mientras estaba en presencia del Mensajero de Dios y se enojó. Este le preguntó: “¿Estás molesto?” Dijo el hombre: “Cuando salía de casa, mi esposa estaba de parto, y ahora me traen la noticia de que tengo una hija”. El Mensajero de Dios dijo: “La tierra tiene suficiente espacio para ella, el cielo le da cobijo y Dios le dará sustento. Es una flor de dulce aroma que te dará satisfacciones”».
A diferencia de muchos hombres musulmanes, el Profeta Muhammad ―la paz y las bendiciones sean sobre él y su familia― amaba y valoraba al sexo opuesto. Aseguró que Dios concedería el Paraíso a cualquiera que criase una, dos o tres niñas y no favoreciese a sus hijos varones por encima de alguna de ellas (Ahmad, Amili, Barbahari, Muttaqi al-Hindi, Kulayni, Abu Dawud). El Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq dijo: “Los hijos son un favor y las hijas son buenas obras. Dios os pedirá favores, pero os recompensará por vuestras buenas obras” (Kulayni).
Según el Mensajero de Dios, “las niñas son modelos de afecto y conmiseración. Y una bendición para la familia” (Muttaqi al-Hindi). Además declaró: “A quien tenga una hija, gracias a ella Dios protegerá del fuego del Infierno; admitirá en el Paraíso si tiene dos; eximirá de la obligación de la caridad y el esfuerzo supremo si tiene tres” (Muttaqi al-Hindi).
Aunque el Profeta Muhammad era el mejor de la creación, no tenía descendencia masculina. Sus hijos varones murieron en la infancia. Dios Todopoderoso afirma en el Glorioso Corán: “Muhammad no es el padre de ninguno de vuestros varones, sino el Mensajero de Dios y el último de los profetas. Dios es omnisciente” (Corán, 33:40). Según algunas fuentes sunnitas y shiitas, el Mensajero de Dios solo tuvo hijas. Para algunas fuentes shiitas, solo tuvo una: Fatimah al-Zahra’.
Dijo el Mensajero de Dios: “Todos los hijos son de sus padres menos los hijos de Fátima pues yo soy su padre” (Aḥmad). Y manifestó al hablar de Hasan y Husein: “Ahí están mis hijos” (Tirmidhi, Tabari, Ibn al-Sari, Tabarsi). La forma de encarar esta cuestión por parte del Profeta Muhammad produjo un cambio de paradigma frente a la cultura patriarcal, en la que el mérito de los hombres se medía por la cantidad de hijos varones que tenían. Ese nuevo paradigma otorgó a las mujeres el lugar de dignidad, respeto y reverencia que les correspondía.
El Profeta Muhammad ―la paz y las bendiciones sean sobre él y su familia― afirmó: “Dios, el Sublime, es más condescendiente con las mujeres que con los hombres” (Majlisi). El Mensajero de Dios prometió: “Todo aquel que haga el bien a sus hijas, será salvo del Infierno” (Majlisi). E insistió: “Lo mejor de tu descendencia son tus hijas” (Hakim). Y aseguró: “la señal de una mujer afortunada es que su primer hijo es una niña” (Hakim).
Por lo tanto, considerando las palabras de Dios ―Glorificado y Exaltado sea― y las de Su Mensajero ―la paz y las bendiciones sean sobre él y su progenie―, mi esposa y yo oramos con gran satisfacción: “Allāh’ Allāh bint”, es decir, “Dios, Dios, danos una niña”. Y Dios respondió a nuestras plegarias. Bienvenida al mundo, pequeña Ayah. Eres una flor del Jardín del Paraíso.
*Historiador, Hispanista e islamólogo canadiense, autor de varios libros y artículos, colaborador de la Revista Biblioteca Islámica.
The Muslim Post (May 16, 2018)
To ask: “Who fears the Covenants of the Prophet?” is synonymous with asking “Who fears the truth?” This is the issue at hand. Those who fear the truth also fear the one who spreads it. They fear The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World because they go together with the truth. Although either title would be suitable, we feel that it is better to ask, “Who fears the Covenants of the Prophet?” since “truth” is an abstract noun that acquires “life” when applied: truth is tied to the objective of knowledge and manifests itself when results are obtained that cannot be questioned since they are obvious.
As the object of knowledge, The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World contain nothing that is abstract; rather, they are a reality like the universe, like the flowing river, and like the text that you are reading. Although they are feared, in and of themselves, what is feared the most about The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World is their spread, application, and implementation.
After the rediscovery of these Covenants on the part of Dr. John Andrew Morrow, attempts were made to conceal them or distort them in diverse ways, for example, by claiming that they corresponded to a particular historical period and that they were no longer applicable. The attempt to “change something so that nothing changes” was also made under the form of “saying something to say nothing so that everything stays the same.” This politically-motivated and perverted approach to the Covenants stands in contrast to the historical, rational, contextualized, and profound scholarly approach that is rooted in fact.
This is the methodology that Dr. John Andrew Morrow has applied to The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World and which has triggered a veritable tsunami in the obsolete and ill-intentioned minds from both East and West. These frightened decrepit minds babble, stammer, and stutter to say nothing of weight. For example, they present the text or supposed text of a Covenant of the Prophet without any explanation or clarification except for negation or rejection. Hence, the majestically brilliant rediscovery of The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World by Dr. John Andrew Morrow who analyses them profoundly and meticulously, shares his research in various languages, debates honestly with those who deny, reject or ignore them, relying on documented evidence, and demonstrates how they were successfully applied – although with many shortcomings – throughout the centuries. And such an attitude stands out, exceedingly and exemplarily, to even the humblest passer-by on that path.
It is worthwhile to mention that anyone who crosses Dr. John Andrew Morrow on this path will be impacted in all areas of life. Those who object to the Covenants of the Prophet know that their application would put an end to the murderous blood-bath that accompanies the quest for limitless wealth that is sought after, precisely, by those who denigrate them. In effect, the great enemies of life, who are the great enemies of truth, as well as the great enemies of humanity, see how the work that is accomplished with these documents is creating antibodies who will neutralize the despicable maneuvers that are based on lies and deceit, as well as genocidal and criminal theft and plunder.
Dr. John Andrew Morrow brings to light a work that is magnificent both in its content and objective. It contains stipulations given by God to humanity and pursues the long-desired peace, harmony, and fraternity between all human beings of good-faith who wish to turn weapons into instruments of progress and public welfare; the secret meetings of evil and greed into popular assemblies of joy and happiness; and vexatious misery and selfishness into solidarity, brotherhood, and peaceful co-existence.
This is precisely what the powerful despise. They are those who wish to place all of humanity at their service by means of sanguinary slavery and by means of a gigantic lie that relies on the demonization of Islam and the absolute condemnation of The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World which are treated as “Christian forgeries.” Even worse, these powerful people who hate all religions, although they disguise themselves with some of them, wish to eliminate, for their own benefit, one sixth or more of the world’s population, a fact that has been documented in many sources.
We have the Georgia Guide Stones, erected in 1980, which propose to maintain the world population under 500 million people governed by a single global executive, a number that is close to the one proposed by Mikhail Gorbachev. We also have the proposal of Ted Turner, the creator of CNN, who believes that the maximum amount of people on earth should be only 300 million. Or, even worse, we have the proposal of Dave Foreman, the co-founder of Earth First, who says that the population of the earth should not exceed 100 million.
However, what Dr. John Andrew Morrow maintains, based on The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World, is that the planet can provide for a population that is much greater than the current number on the condition that the stipulations enunciated by the Prophet Muhammad in his Covenants are fulfilled, namely: the creation of a Confederation of Free Peoples governed by the guidelines given by the Creator. Therefore, what is most feared by the genocidal manipulators of the New World Order is the possibility of re-applying The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World.
Those who fear the rediscovery of Dr. John Andrew Morrow, namely, The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World – who are not few – are overwhelmed by the truth. This is because The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World and the truth are one, as we said, in both spirit and essence.
Who are those who fear the truth? The truth terrifies the oppressor, the pervert, the terrorist, the selfish, the usurper, the confidence trickster, the criminal, the narcissist, the stingy, the tight-fisted, the materially powerful, the savage militaristic hawk, the liar, the exploiter, the enslaver, the racist, the elitist, the dishonest, the deceitful, the despicable, and the immoral, as well as the hypocrite and the corrupt ruler, namely, all those who love ridicule and disdain.
Those who oppose the truth, because blind and absurd hatred devours theirs hearts and souls, take advantage of any political maneuver or offensive act that is available to maintain and protect their privileges and abominable behavior. It is for this reason that someone said that truth and politics have never gotten along very well since truth has never been considered a political virtue. Politics is only uplifting and becomes a virtue when it is guided and grounded in the sacred laws contained in revealed scriptures as well as great spiritual expressions or genuine religious traditions.
It is crystal clear. Those who fear the truth, namely, the lovers of selfish political interests, are those who love ridicule and disdain. Hence, when the sun of justice, love, fraternity, honesty, commitment, effort, solidarity, and sacrifice, among others, surfaces – namely, those attributes that are exhibited in the texts that God revealed to humanity as well as The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World – the demented and devastating anger of those who feel that they are marked for shame and disgrace attempts to negate, by any means possible, that very manifestation. It is for this reason that they fear the one who lights up the world with this sun.
The great weapon, and the first one that is used to negate something, is a combination of distortion, twisting, and misrepresentation, as well as lies, and deceit. Let us learn some more about those who openly or secretly oppose the work that Dr. John Andrew Morrow is accomplishing by means of The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World. By doing so, we will get to know the spirits of darkness that despise these documents. Unfortunately, in more than a few cases, we are dealing with individuals who are permanently illuminated by the lights of luxurious settings or by their appearance as “famous personalities,” “honest intellectuals,” and “distinguished religious scholars.”
As evil as these spirits of darkness may be, they do not, in general, cease to be cunning. They use all available methods to present the truth as lie and vice versa. They use every type of intellectual, philosophical, ideological, psychological, and political instrumentation to make people believe that something does not truly exist or is unsuitable. They call virtually everything into question in order to make something seem unbelievable: what exists does not exist; what is said never took place; the dates that are presented as documented facts cannot be corroborated; the authorship of such and such documents is unknown despite the fact that there is a list of ten, twenty or thirty witnesses; the historical circumstances cannot be proven, and so on and so forth. They create a tangled web of confusion with the objective of boring people or making them feel that they are unable to discern the truth. In so doing, they “convince” people that something never took place and viciously attack, using the most absurd accusations, those who clearly demonstrate the facts and the truth of the matter. On the contrary, those who move with truth, who present the facts based on solid and verifiable evidence, need not recur to nefarious means to advance their arguments.
Abel stands for truth while Cain stands for deceit and distortion. Truth is indisputably inferior materially in comparison to falsehood. He who stands for falsehood relies on any tool available, regardless of how false and untrue that it may be, to prevail. However, he who stands for truth would never do such a thing. As a result, falsehood, deceit, and concealment are more “practical” when it comes to worldly matters. Furthermore, for many people, truth is generally inconvenient since it prevents them, if they hold fast to it, from obtaining ordinary pleasures as well as material power through the exploitation and violation of the most basic of human rights.
It is for this reason that so many people distance themselves from those who will not tolerate falsehood and who will not compromise truth. Many times, truth produces pain and most people are not willing to subject themselves to suffering. As a result, many only accept The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World formally. They say that they are good, that they are authentic; however, they do not act accordingly. Neither terrorists who follow the most insane lies, neither genocidal dictators disguised as good Muslims, nor others with a morbid fascination for Islam — who are not few – are willing to recognize The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World — beyond formalities — and to act in accordance with them, since to proceed in such a fashion would interfere with or harm their selfish, egotistical, and irreligious interests. The spirits of the shadows, who inhabit the darkness that houses the wicked, only wander about, reproduce themselves, and are strong in the shadows. That is why they oppose the truth and, in this case, The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World. On the other hand, truth seeks light and is a friend of light. Truth avoids hiding itself and manifests itself with great clarity.
In the world, especially the current one, deceit, misrepresentation, and lies are the “normal” means of operating. Lies have become so widespread in human society that they are like a habit or a custom that fears it opposite: truth. As much it may harm most of the world population, and however much it may produce disastrous results, everything has become inverted. The despots and those who sully and tarnish the truth present themselves as democrats and advocates of honesty and morality; terrorists and rapists present themselves as liberators; the corrupt present themselves as virtuous puritans and good people; the aggressors present themselves as victims; those who promote violent injustice present themselves as promoters and recipients of peace prizes; and the most unjust and the most intellectually inept present themselves as “renowned academics.”
For the spirits of darkness, anything goes, including lies and the invention of non-existent situations. This leads them to fear The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World. We have already identified those who are afraid of The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World. We have also explained why their dread is so evident. The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World turn the entire ideological and supposedly religious lie that feeds the anti-Islamic terrorism that presents itself as Islamic and, most importantly, it marks for death those who created it and continue to create it, namely, Western Genocidal Empires (WGEs) and their vile servants in the Arabian Peninsula and the surrounding region.
The presentation of The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World to the anti-Islamic kinglets in the Arabian Peninsula, to the terrorists, and to the countries who have entered the murderous alliance of NATO, has the same effect as presenting The Bible to Dracula: all their lies crumble apart and are exposed along with their wretched plots and conspiracies which are advanced at the expense of the successive slaughter of innocents in both East and West.
The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World are a terrible blow to evil-doers since they represent, not merely a theory, but rather the blue-prints of a social-political system that has been applied successfully. Attempting to revive the practical application of the Covenants of the Prophet generates hatred and fear in the hearts of shadow-dwellers who, for the moment, refuse to recognize them, deny them, and reject them.
Finally, we should never forget that, to a considerable extent, the world is controlled by the unjust, namely, by the forces of darkness. There are those, however, like Kant, who hold that “human beings cannot tolerate life in a world devoid of justice” and that this “human right is considered sacred regardless of the sacrifices it entails.” Everything indicates that Dr. John Andrew Morrow is following this path with his rediscovery and study of The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World for which reason he deserves all our support.
(This article is an English translation of an original Spanish article titled “¿Quién le teme a los Pactos del Profeta Muhammad con los Cristianos del Mundo” which was published in “Red Islam” on March 19, 2018, and which is available at: http://www.redislam.net/2018/03/quien-le-teme-los-pactos-del-profeta.html)
Dr. John Andrew Morrow 