Now East London Mosque Does Not Support the Killing of American Troops in America

THIS IS A GUEST POST BY DHAIBHIDH C MHAC DHUIHDHLHEIGH OF THE LENINIST VANGUARD (DRUMNADROCHIT CHAPTER).

I am truly, truly, truly disturbed.   I wrote before about the shameful attempts to smear me, our Brothers Osama Saeed and Azad Ali and the forces of good hegemony over our past statements concerning Anwar al-Awlaki, and his tour-guide business to Somalia.

I cannot stress enough that I refute any allegations that these past statements reflect a desire to see American troops being killed in America.  I am now disgusted to see similar allegations being made against the truly inspiring East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre.  The Khatib, or primary iman of this place of worship and community outreach is Shaykh Abdul Qayyum, a man of peace, who has also been the target of neo-con smear-attempts for his support for the Palestinian people.

In an article, the notoriously right-wing The Times stated:

This year a video lecture by Mr Awlaki was delivered at the East London mosque under the banner “The End of Time” with a poster depicting New York in flames. The mosque said that an outside group had used its facilities for the event.

It is truly disengenuous to attempt to link promotion literature for this eschatological discussion to a support for terrorism.  Look, for instance, at the promotion literature for the upcoming blockbuster, 2012.  Why is this not being condemned?

Obviously, our Brothers at the mosque were most disturbed, and wrote immediately a letter of clarification to The Times, which was not published.  They wrote a second letter, which The Times has seen fit to publish:

Sir, Contrary to reports in The Times (Nov 12), Anwar Al-Awlaki did not give a lecture via video link at an event held at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009.

The article implied that the event was organised by the East London Mosque. The event titled the “End of Time” was a private ticketed event, organised by an external company called Noor Pro Media, which hired the London Muslim Centre (LMC).

The East London Mosque hires its facilities (LMC) to all members of the community, Muslim or non, with the proviso that nothing unlawful takes place. The centre has a robust hiring policy to ensure this, and as far as we are aware, nothing illegal and/or extreme took place at this event.

We unequivocally condemn the actions of Major Hasan, and the reported statement of Anwar Al-Awlaki expressing support for him.

Shaynul Khan
Assistant Executive Director
East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre

I think this is reasonable.  I am unsure why the ELM did not heed warnings prior to the event from The Telegraph or leader of the opposition at Tower Hamlets, Cllr Peter Golds, as reported by The East London Advertiser but this matter should now be put to rest and wounds allowed to heal.

Osama Saeed and Azad Ali Do Not Support the Killing of American Troops in America

THIS IS A GUEST POST BY DHAIBHIDH C MHAC DHUIHDHLHEIGH OF THE LENINIST VANGUARD (DRUMNADROCHIT CHAPTER).

I normally am pleased to address you all, but I am sure you will appreciate why I do so with such a heavy heart today. I was truly saddened to hear of the shameful events surrounding the slaying of 13 American soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas. The eagerness which the international and Islamophobic media showed in naming Major Nidal Malik Hasan who surely deserves to be considered innocent until proven guilty was truly disturbing.

We must, of course, all stand against such acts of terrorism, wherever they may occur. For that reason, I was truly saddened to read an apologia for the slayings by a man whom I had once considered to preach nothing but peace.

I have previously been truly inspired by the words of US-born cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki but feel cheating by his recent thoughts on the Fort Hood slayings, which he called the actions of a hero.

I cannot stress how much I disagree with these words, and consider it truly disingenuous to attempt to smear me and my comrades in the struggle against Imperialism, hegemony and Islamophobia as the notorious neo-con Centre for Social Cohesion has done. Equally shamefully, the right-wing The Times has picked-up this and accused our Brothers, Osama Saeed and Azad Ali of praising the viper, al-Awlaki.

Brother Azad’s is a truly inspiring civil servant whose advice on incitement of racial and religious hatred is sought by the Crown Prosecution Service, and before being named in the national media, had described al-Awlaki as:

”one of my favourite speakers and scholars” and “I really do love him for the sake of Allah, he has an uncanny way of explaining things to people which is endearing”.

As if the shameful forced repayment of much needed set-up money was not demeaning enough, Brother Osama is right to feel offended, and has said:

I completely disagree with what he has said about Fort Hood, and a host of other matters which he has more recently written and spoken about.”

Like any normal human being with a scintilla of compassion and sense of justice, I believe it is essential to settle to sore in humanity which is the settler state of Israel and establish a bi-national haven of peace, but words such as these are not helpful:

The illegal state of Israel needs to be eradicated. Just like Rasulullah drove them out of the Arabian peninsula the Jews of Palestine need to be driven out to the sea. There are no Israeli civilians unless they are Muslim. When the enemy targets our women and children we should target theirs.

Engagement with the democratic process is essential for any revolutionary socialist, and I cannot agree with al-Awlaki’s words on the truly disturbing situation in Somalia:

“[Al-Shabaah] not only have succeeded in expanding the areas that fall under their rule but they have succeeded in implementing the sharia and giving us a living example of how we as Muslims should proceed to change our situation.The ballot has failed us the bullet has not.

Had I known that al-Awlaki’s 44 Ways to Support Jihad would be made public, I never would have offered him support.

I am led to believe that this political activism is like a computer game, so I would like now to press the reset button.

What Sort of Peace Is This?

The SNP PPC for Glasgow Central, Osama Saeed wrote in 2006 of Yemen-born US citizen, Anwar Al-Awlaki:

Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki was originally hounded in the US becuase two of the 9/11 bombers happened to pray at his mosque. Many of my Muslim readers will either know him personally or have heard his lectures. He preached nothing but peace, and I pray he will be able to do so again.

Perhaps al-Awlaki should have stuck to ministering to fallen women, as he has endured striking bad luck in his congregants at Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Virginia, where he was Grand Imam: for another was Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the only suspect in the Fort Hood shootings.

Al-awlaki wrote on his website:

Nidal Hassan is a hero.

He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people. This is a contradiction that many Muslims brush aside and just pretend that it doesn’t exist. Any decent Muslim cannot live, understanding properly his duties towards his Creator and his fellow Muslims, and yet serve as a US soldier. The US is leading the war against terrorism which in reality is a war against Islam. Its army is directly invading two Muslim countries and indirectly occupying the rest through its stooges.

Nidal opened fire on soldiers who were on their way to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. How can there be any dispute about the virtue of what he has done? In fact the only way a Muslim could Islamically justify serving as a soldier in the US army is if his intention is to follow the footsteps of men like Nidal.

The heroic act of brother Nidal also shows the dilemma of the Muslim American community. Increasingly they are being cornered into taking stances that would either make them betray Islam or betray their nation. Many amongst them are choosing the former. The Muslim organizations in America came out in a pitiful chorus condemning Nidal’s operation.
The fact that fighting against the US army is an Islamic duty today cannot be disputed. No scholar with a grain of Islamic knowledge can defy the clear cut proofs that Muslims today have the right -rather the duty- to fight against American tyranny. Nidal has killed soldiers who were about to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in order to kill Muslims. The American Muslims who condemned his actions have committed treason against the Muslim Ummah and have fallen into hypocrisy.

Allah(swt) says: Give tidings to the hypocrites that there is for them a painful punishment -

Those who take disbelievers as allies instead of the believers. Do they seek with them honor [through power]? But indeed, honor belongs to Allah entirely. (al-Nisa 136-137)

The inconsistency of being a Muslim today and living in America and the West in general reveals the wisdom behind the opinions that call for migration from the West. It is becoming more and more difficult to hold on to Islam in an environment that is becoming more hostile towards Muslims.

May Allah grant our brother Nidal patience, perseverance and steadfastness and we ask Allah to accept from him his great heroic act.

Funnily, shortly after a number of US service personnel started posting on al-Awlaki’s website, it appears to have stopped responding.

HAT TIP – Harry’s Place.