Memo to Bin Laden: Don’t Disgrace Islam

Author: 
Muqtedar Khan, Washington Post
Publication Date: 
Wed, 2003-02-19 03:00

Muqtedar Khan, Ph.D., the director of international studies at Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan wrote the following memo in reply to the Osama Bin Laden videotape, broadcast last week, which calls on Iraqis to carry out suicide missions against Americans. This memo, he says , is an American Muslim’s response to the “fugitive terrorist.”

Mr. Bin Laden,

In the name of Allah, The Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.

I shall begin by reminding you of some basic Islamic principles, set out in the Qur’an. They should remind you that there is more to Islam than a call to arms.

1. Islam was sent as mercy to humanity.

2. Do not make mischief on the earth (Qur’an 29:36).

3. People, We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes that you might know one another. The noblest of you before God is the most righteous of you. (49:13)

4. There are among the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) upstanding nations that recite the message of God and worship throughout the night, who believe in God, who order honor and forbid dishonor and race in good works. These are the righteous. (3:113-114).

I am writing this to make it clear that there are Muslims in America and in the world who despise and condemn extremists and have nothing to do with Bin Laden and those like him for whom killing constitutes worship.

Islam was sent as mercy to humanity and not as an ideology of terror or hatred. It advocates plurality and moral equality of all faiths (Qur’an 2:62, 5:69).

To use Islam as a justification to declare an Armageddon against all non-Muslims is inherently un-Islamic – it is a despicable distortion of a faith of peace.

One of Allah’s 99 names in the Qur’an is “Al-Salam” which means Peace. Thus in a way Muslims are the only people who actually worship peace. Today this claim sounds empty, thanks to people like you, Mr. Bin Laden. You and those like you are dedicated to killing and bringing misery to people wherever they are.

Yes, many innocent people lost their lives in America’s war on Afghanistan and many more might lose their lives in Iraq. This is indeed regrettable. But we must never forget how the West is divided over this and how nations and people within nations are agonizing in Europe and in America over this decision to go to war in Iraq.

While many Americans and Europeans oppose the war, Muslim nations have already agreed to cooperate in this war. No Muslim leader has tried to play the role of a statesman on this issue.

Before we rush to condemn America, we must remember that even today millions of poor and miserable people all over the world are lining up outside US embassies, eager to come to America, not just to live here but to become Americans. No Muslim country today can claim that people of other nations and other faiths see it as a promise of hope, equality, dignity and prosperity.

Yes, we American Muslims will continue to challenge the Bush administration’s proposal to wage war against Iraq. We think a regime change in Washington is as necessary as a regime change in Baghdad, but that is an intramural affair. Once the war is declared, make no mistake, Mr. Saddam Hussein and Mr. Bin Laden, we are with America. We will fight with America and we will fight for America. We have a covenant with this nation.

Sure at this moment, out of anger, frustration and fear, some in America have momentarily forgotten their own values. I am confident that, God willing, this moment of shock and insecurity will pass and America will once again become the beacon of freedom, tolerance and acceptance it was before Sept. 11. On that day, Mr. Bin Laden, you not only killed 3000 innocent Americans, many of whom were also Muslims, but you signed the death warrants of many innocent people who will die in this war on terror and many more who will live but will suffer the consequences, the pain and the misery of war.

Before Sept. 11, the US was giving aid of $45 million a year to Afghanistan and was content to wait for the Iraqi people to free themselves and the rest of the world from their dictator.

On that day you changed the rules of the game and Muslims in many places are suffering as a direct result.

When the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his companions fought in the name of Islam, God made them victorious and glorified them in this world. They made Islam the currency of human civilization for over a millennium.

You and your men, on the other hand, face nothing but defeat, global ridicule and contempt; you run and hide like rats in caves and dungeons. You live in the dark. Your faith neither enlightens you nor enables you to live in the light and you have made Islam the currency of hate and violence.

Let me tell you that I would rather live in America under Ashcroft and Bush at their worst than in any “Islamic state” established by ignorant, intolerant and murderous punks like you and Mulla Omar at their best.

Remember this: Muslims from all over the world who wished to live better lives migrated to America and Muslims who only wished to take lives migrated to Afghanistan to join you. We will not follow the desires of people (like you) who went astray and led many astray from the Straight Path. (Qur’an 5:77).

I conclude by calling upon you, Mr. Bin Laden, your Al-Qaeda colleagues and Mr. Saddam Hussein to surrender to international courts and take responsibility for your actions and protect thousands of other innocent Muslims from becoming the victims of the wars you bring upon them.

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