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Dr Kaukab Siddique | Editor-in-Chief Mohurram 9, 1433/December 5, 2011 # 50

Br. Rashid [Jamaat al-Muslimeen Detroit, Michigan] who confronted ISNA's Siraj Wahhaj about his lies which helped to imprison Shaikh Omar for life, now gives eyewitness account of CAIR's representative Dawud Walid stressing CAIR's role in turning in Muslims to the government. Please scroll way down.

Our America: Very briefly
Outreach: December 2: Jamaat al-Muslimeen literature was given to 100 people after Juma salat at the Islamic Center in Washington, DC. It included Shoora resolutions condemning crimes against women in USA, supporting "Occupy Wall Street," opposing the recolonization of Africa, condemning extra judicial killings of Shaykh Osama & Shaykh Awlaki, supporting Palestine and Pakistan. It included an article against sectarianism, a report on the uprisings in Yemen and an item on Sandusky's abuse of children.

Our Native American Family: December 2. National Congress of American Indians held a vigil in front of the Interior Ministry in Washington, DC where President Obama was addressing Indian chiefs friendly to the government. The protestors brought a resolution adopted by the General Assembly of Indians urging the president to show clemency to Leonard Peltier, political prisoner, who has been moved to Florida.[JAM was represented.] The president left without meeting the protestors.

African American Intellectual Speaks to Lincoln University Students: November 30. Dr. Wilmer Leon, independent broadcaster, addressed a gathering at Lincoln U. in Pennsylvania on the subject of African American future prospects after President Obama. He stressed the symbolic value of Obama's election which has changed the mental history of African Americans. He cautioned about the serious situation of Blacks and Hispanics outside the Middle Class with record high disparities in wealth and joblessness. He sharply criticized Obama's policies on Afghanistan and Libya. He noted that Obama will probably be re-elected, though it would be unwise, because his Republican opponents are light weights and that Herman Cain would drop out before Monday [which he did.]
The program was hosted by Dr. Siddique and facilitated by Prof. Hunter Hayes and Ms. Sotilleo.

Mohurram 10: Greatest Day of Sorrow in Islamic History
Husayn, r.a., grandson of the Prophet, pbuh, killed by a Tribal "Muslim" Army.
Great relevance to our Own Times
by Kaukab Siddique

"These Iraqis ask me about religious ruling on killing a fly while wearing ihram. They killed the grandson of the prophet, pbuh, who said about Hasan, r.a., and Hussain, r.a.: These are my two most beautiful flowers in this world." [From Abdullah ibn Umar, r.a., in Bukhari's Sahih]. "O Allah! I love these two, Hasan and Hussain. I beseech you O Allah to love them too. " [Words of Muhammad, pbuh, narrated by Abu Huraira, r.a., in the Musnad of Ahmad.]

It was the year 61 after the Hijra [migration] of the Prophet, pbuh, [October 10, 680 c.e] when an army of 4,000 trained soldiers surrounded a caravan of 200 people lead by Husayn, r.a., ibn Ali, r.a., and killed 72 males and took the women and children as prisoners. [ al-Isabah by Ibn Hajar, vol.2].

The army was sent by Ubaidullah ibn Ziyad, appointed governor of Iraq by Yazid, the Ummayad ruler in Damascus. Ibn Ziyad saw Husayn, r.a., as a rebel against the established government and wanted him to kneel down and accept the overlordship of Yazid. Imam Husayn refused to accept the tyrant and fought to the last, sword in hand, till he was cut down along with his entire male entourage other than one teenage boy who was spared [later to be Imam Zayn al-Abidin].

Husayn, r.a., fought this battle against overwhelming odds on the banks of the Euphrates river at a place later to be called Karbala. Ibn Ziyad's forces had captured the approaches to the river. Husayn, r.a., and his companions were dying of thirst even as they fought.

The battle began in traditional style, man to man, but each stalwarts of the "government" forces was cut down by the heroic Husayn, r.a., and those with him. Then the army started sending in barrages of arrows and the blessed family of the Prophet, pbuh, fell one by one. The Yazidis cut off the heads of all 72 including the Imam and sent them to Yazid. The tents of the blessed families were looted and burned down and the women and children humiliated and sent as prisoners of war to Damascus. The blood curdling details of this horrific, nightmarish tragedy are recounted in detail in the classic Tarikh of Tabari and other books of Muslim history.

Yazid was the first hereditary ruler in Muslim history. The idea of the son inheriting rule from the father or some very close relative is unthinkable in Islam. Muhammad, pbuh, Abu Bakr, r.a., Umar, r.a., and Usman, r.a., never taught hereditary rule [also known as kingship]. Yazid's mother was a Jacobite Christian and he was only nominally a Muslim. He was the first to bring corruption, song and music into the palace of a so-called Muslim Caliph. [See Abu al-Fida', died 1332 c.e. , Tarikh Mukhtasar al-Bashar which includes the earlier history book of Ibn al-Athir, d. 1234 c.e., al-kamil fi al-tarikh].

In Yazid and his governor Ibn Ziyad, we can see the dictators and tyrants of our times who all claim to be Muslims. This "formal" Muslim ruler, who is above the law, is the curse and downfall of the Muslim ummah. Imam, Husayn repeatedly reminded the attacking army that he was the beloved grandson of the Prophet, pbuh, that his mother was Fatima, r.a., the Prophet's, pbuh, beloved daughter, and that he had done them no harm and if they did not want to accept him, they should let him go back. His pleas had no effect. They wanted him to bow down and accept their legitimacy.

This soul numbing tragedy of this fearless beloved grandson of the Prophet, pbuh, reminds me of the Yazids of our time. Look at General Musharraf and his cold blooded slaughter of Islamic youths and women [girls] in the Red Mosque and Jamia Hafsa. He could have waited them out, but no, he had to kill them. Look at Karzai of Kabul: he has a beard and he prays and he rules on behalf of NATO. [NATO is our Yazid and Karzai is Ibn Ziyad.]

We must learn to distinguish between the true Believer and the formal "Muslim" who prays and fasts but is ready to sell himself to Zionism and Imperialism.
Finally, Yazid was wily. When he heard the people mourning, even women in his own household crying, when the heads of the martyrs were brought in and the blessed women of the Ahlul Bayt were brought in as prisoners, he realized that great uprisings would take place against him. He then placed all the blame on his Governor ibn Ziyad and ordered that the heads be returned to be buried with the bodies at Kerbala and that the women and children be treated with great respect and dignity and be returned to Madinah with all the comforts of life.
This reminds me of the Americans rebuilding mosques which they had bombed in Iraq and NATO paying villagers after Europe's tanks ploughed through the crops of poor Afghan farmers.
Now we see Pakistanis praising their army as "heroic" and the army of a Muslim nation [because 24 Pakistani troops were killed in a US air strike]. The army has been slaughtering Muslims in Swat, Dir, Adam Khel, South Waziristan, Khyber, Bajaur etc at the orders of the imperialists, but these soldiers pray and go to mosques after carrying out America's orders.
In the dust of Kerbala, in the blood of the Shuhada, in the fearless eyes of the Imam, in the courage and sense of honor and faith of the women of the Ahlul Bayt is the truth of Islam, the Sunnah of Muhammad, pbuh.

It's not a Shi'a-Sunni issue but it's about the eternal struggle between good and evil. Three years after Kerbala, Yazid attacked and ravaged the holy city of Madinah because the people of Madinah had rejected his "government" on hearing of the slaughter of the Ahlul Bayt. Then Yazid attacked Makkah where Abdullah ibn Zubair, r,a., the adopted son of Ayesha, r.a., was defying him. His attack on Makkah was beaten back by Abdullah, r.a., but in the process of trying to kill him, the Yazidis damaged the Ka'aba itself but it was rebuilt by Abdullah, r.a. Thereafter most of the Islamic domain proclaimed Abdullah ibn Zubair, r.a., as the rightful Caliph. Yazid was isolated and Abdullah, r.a., ruled for 10 years.
It's a shame that the Shia-Sunni polemic has lead many Sunnis to defend and even glorify Yazid by many devious means. It's not a Shi'a Sunni issue. It's about Islam and kufr-pretetending-to-be-Islam. Remember how the Saudis crushed Juhayman and his followers who had taken refuge in the Haram al-Sharif? The Saudis claimed that they are an Islamic authority [although they are linked to imperialism and Zionism] and that Juhayman was a heretic. Often history repeats itself. Believe it or not, Yazid claimed that al-Husayn, r.a., was a rebel against "Islamic authority!"
This is the verse I selected from the Qur'an to honor al-Husayn, r.a.:
"They are the ones to whom people said: 'The adversaries have gathered (in great number) against you, so fear them.' But this further enhanced their faith and they proclaimed: 'Allah is Sufficient for us and what an excellent Guardian He is!'" (Qur'an, 3:173)

With thanks to Sis. Kristi
Where Should the Birds Fly?
Documenting the Horrific Israeli Invasion and bombardment of Gaza
[A hijabi woman's contribution to understanding.]

A young girl sits among the rubble of her family home. She speaks of the many people she knows who have been killed, swept up in the swirl of bombs and tanks that were devouring Gaza. When asked if she lost many family members, she simply says: "Not many. Just my mother, my father and my brother."
Mona was 10 years old.
Fida Qishta is a Palestinian camerawoman/editor, who has been working on news stories and documentaries in the Gaza Strip since 2006. She has written articles for the U.K. Observer and Guardian newspapers and The International Herald Tribune.She's also a qualified teacher and founded the Life Makers Center in Rafah, Gaza, in 2004 to teach English language and drama to traumatized children.
Fida has documented the horrific Israeli invasion and bombardment of Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009. She and her crew of young Gazans kept the cameras rolling for months, recording the struggle of the people of Gaza to retrieve some sense of normalcy from the absolute abnormality of life in the world's largest prison camp, sealed off on all sides by Israeli and Egyptian walls, barbed wire and military
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1767087449/where-should-he-birds-fly

[Strongly recommended by Kaukab Siddique. Please donate, even if it is a dollar.]

"Thanksgiving?" Why a Statue and not the Facts?
There is a statue of Native American chief Massasoit in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The inscription notes that he was a friend of the Pilgrims and helped them survive the winter. It does not mention that the Pilgrims rewarded his family by murdering his son, Metacomet, whom they quartered and hung in the village square as celebration of Thanksgiving. Nor does it mention the 700 other members of Massasoit's tribe, the Wampanoigs, also summarily massacred by the Pilgrims.
- Nadrat Siddique

The Message of the Islamic New Year
by Imam Shamim Siddiqui [Long Island, New York]
Adviser to Jamaat al-Muslimeen

The New Year of Muslims, Hijri 1433 started from First of Muharram, corresponding to November 27, 2011. Let us find out what made Khalifa Omar Bin Khattab ® to start our Calendar from that day in the 16 th year of Hijrah after due consultation with the companions of the Prophet (S)
THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF HIJRAH: Hijrah [migration for the sake of Allah] is a cornerstone or the turning point of the process of the Islamic Movement for the establishment of Allah's Deen. It has six important phases towards development or formation of an Islamic society or state. Four stages come before Hijrah, [i.e. Dawah, Tarbiyah, Jamaah and Peaceful Resistance] and one after Hijrah, i.e. Qital. Hijrah is the turning point of the process of Islamic revolution and as such it has natural impact on the struggle towards Iqamatuddeen. These stages can be categorized into following major headings: * Expansion; * Consolidation; * Hijrah; *Qital
Hijrah was the process to consolidate the Islamic forces scattered throughout the country. It was essential to assimilate all the available manpower and material resources at the center of Madinah to transform the Islamic Movement into an organized state and counteract the onslaughts of the Batil which were inevitable. The idolaters never liked that the Islamic Movement should get a place to consolidate its position and march ahead in a continuous process. The evil forces of the time could not tolerate this situation and as such, it culminated into the battles of Badr, Uhud, Trenches and so on.
Thus Hijrah is an important milestone of the process of Dawah Ilallah towards Iqamatuddeen. It is a fundamental step towards consolidation of the strength gained through the extensive and intensive Dawah activities. Before Hijrah Muslims were not allowed to take up arms even in their defense while at Makkah [Reference: Verse 119 of Al-Tawbah] but after Hijrah they were permitted to pay the idolaters back in their own coin. [Reference: Verse 39 of Surah Al-Hajj] The Islamic movements around the world will encounter the same situation, provided their Dawah efforts reach to the same stage as that of Rasulullah's (S).
The situation in American perspective is somewhat different. Brothers and sisters who are interested to study the concept of Hijrah and Qital [the final stage] in American situation in detail are requested to go through Chapter IV of the writer's book, " Methodology of Dawah", pages 63-69. Today there is no Islamic country in the world where to migrate. Hence they are to struggle at the place where they are for the establishment of Allah's Deen which is incumbent on each of us.
May Allah give us Tawfeeq to do it as He commands.
Shamim Siddiqi

Announcement:
Coming soon: "Darul Arqam Muslim Converts Association of Durham"
Free classes for Muslims, Non-Muslims and Muslim Converts who want to know more about Islamic Knowledge on an ongoing basis. (Historical place w/services/resources; meet new Muslim friends)
Launching & fundraiser program for. Children and Adults December, 25th 2011 mark your calendar. Kid prizes!
(Lyons Park Center Auditorium Durham, 27707 NC USA 11am-4pm) 1313 Halley St. intersect w/Kent St.
(A bigger place Alhamdulillah)
Continental Breakfast and Lunch included Adult donation $25.00,Vendor $50.00 and children $10.00. Children's IslamicTalent Program,Islamic Arts and Crafts Room with take home gifts for the children.
Guest speaker Imam Muhammad Adly for Adult's program
Contact: Project Mgr. to get your ticket before Dec. 10. 2011. Help support the History making Muslim Ctr. Coming to Durham, NC. Amatullah V. Abdul-Karim BSN, MA. Amatul0777@yahoo.com
919-697-7147 Be a part of the history making event Come to our Launching fundraiser on December 25th . PO Box 15102 Durham, NC 27704 for tickets. At door slightly more . (We need a head count)

Egypt is Going Islamic Big Time:Nov.30
New York Times Supports Muslim Brotherhood, Attacks Salafis.
The 25% [surprise!] Salafi vote could Upset the 40% Brotherhood Vote

[Here is the NY Times Report. Take it with a pinch of salt- Ed.]
Islamists Say They Have Mandate in Egypt Voting
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/world/middleeast/voting-inegypt-shows-mandate-for-islamists.html

Islamists claimed a decisive victory on Wednesday as early election results put them on track to win a dominant majority in Egypt's first Parliament since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, the most significant step yet in the religious movement's rise since the start of the Arab Spring. The party formed by the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's mainstream Islamist group, appeared to have taken about 40 percent of the vote, as expected ... Analysts in the state-run news media said early returns indicated that Salafi groups could take as much as a quarter of the vote, giving the two groups of Islamists combined control of nearly 65 percent of the parliamentary seats.

American Jew was Helping Pakistani Businesses and Government.
Now in the hands of Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri
On Thursday, December 1, MSNBC reported: "Weinstein, who has a home in Rockville, Maryland, worked in Pakistan for several years and spoke Urdu, the language used by Muslims in Pakistan and India. He was the country director in Pakistan for J.E. Austin Associates, a U.S.-based firm that advises a range of Pakistani business and government sectors."
According to news reports, Pakistani Taliban [TTP] kidnapped Mr. Weinstein in August in the city of Lahore., moved him from place to place and has placed him securely in the hands of al-Qaidah leader Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri.
Al-Zawahiri, according to MSNBC quoting al-Qaidah web sites, is demanding that the US free the Islamic prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and stop bombing Muslim countries. Another NBC report says that the Egyptian leader of al-Qaidah is also demanding that the Blind Shaikh [Dr. Abdel Rahman] be freed in exchange for Weinstein.
[Al-Zawahiris's wife and children were killed in a US air strike a few years back. Dr. Abdel Rahman's son was killed in a US air strike more recently. US observers say that the chances of Weinstein being exchanged for Islamic prisoners are very low.]

US Bombing Raid leads to Protests Across Pakistan
[Here is a sample from Lahore as reported by the Daily Times.]
LAHORE, December 2:: Protest demonstrations to condemn the NATO strikes on Pakistani soldiers continued on Friday in various parts of the city as religious organizations, traders, students and people from various walks of life came out to express solidarity with the Pakistan Army.

Most of the rallies and demonstrations were taken out from the city mosques, while demonstrations were also held at Faisal Chowk and the Lahore Press Club after Friday prayers. The protesters were holding placards and banners inscribed with various messages and they chanted slogans against the US, NATO and in favor of the Pakistan Army. They also burnt tires; however, they remained peaceful.

Rallies were taken out by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Jamiat Alhe Hadith Pakistan, Muslim Students Organisation, Injuman-e-Tajaran, the Mall Road Traders Association and Jamiat Ahle Hadith Youth Force. At Jallo Morr, Chaudhry Ashiq Diyal and others led a protest demonstration.

Thousands of people turned out on roads on the appeal of Jamaat-e-Islami chief Syed Munawar Hassan. Prayer leaders condemned the blatant NATO aggression in their Friday sermons, while leaders of the JI and other religious parties called for a resolute stand against the aggressors. They also demanded immediate withdrawal from the US war on terror.

The JI chief said that Pakistan had extended maximum support to the US and NATO. People of the country had been demanding that the NATO supplies be stopped but nobody paid heed. For the first time, the government had stopped these supplies but it was unclear whether the intelligence sharing had also been stopped.

Syed Munawar Hassan appreciated the government's decision of boycotting the Bonn Conference on the future of Afghanistan. He said that in the first place, the US wouldn't quit Afghanistan. And secondly, he said, the future of Afghanistan should not be Washington's headache as Afghans were in a better position to decide for themselves.

Addressing a big rally outside Mansoora, Dr Farid Piracha, the JI deputy secretary general, demanded immediate eviction of the US troops from Shamsi and Shahbaz air bases. He called upon the rulers, the opposition leaders, and bureaucrats to bring back their wealth abroad.

Jamiat Ahle Hadith Pakistan observed "Protest Day" across the country against the US and NATO forces. A protest rally was held on Lawrence Road and it was led by Ibtesam Elahi Zaheer, Hafiz Khalid Shahzad Farooqi, Hafiz Mohsin and other members.

Addressing the rally, Ibtesam Elahi said that US was the enemy of Muslim Ummah and they willfully attacked the sovereignty of Pakistan. He said that government should not test the patience of the Pakistani nation as the government had not so far ordered the US ambassador to leave the country and call back Pakistani ambassador from US.

Convicted on Suspicion
22 year old Ziyad Yaghi Faces Life in Prison
["Defense lawyers also said none of the hundreds hours of audio recordings and video surveillance collected by the FBI in a 5-year investigation of Boyd ever captured him or his alleged co-conspirators discussing specific plans for an attack. The lawyers for the three also said the government's case amounted to prosecuting young Muslims who did little more than watch jihadist videos on computers and trade "stupid" Facebook posts in support of those fighting Americans overseas" -Associated Press.]
by Mel Underbakke, Ph.D., Director, Friends of Human Rights, Director, Education and Outreach Committee, National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms
P.O. Box 290136, Tampa, Florida 33687. Phone: 813-215-3403
Our federal government has been busy since 9/11 apprehending "thought criminals". They scored another victory on October 13, 2011, when Ziyad Yaghi and Hysen Sherifi were convicted of providing material support to terrorism and conspiring to carry out attacks overseas. A third defendant, Omar Hassan, was convicted of providing materials support to terrorists. Ziyad is facing a possible life sentence.
Were they convicted of committing any violent acts? No, they were not. They were convicted of "conspiring" to commit violent acts. Evidence consisted of testimony by Daniel Boyd, who said that Ziyad was an extremist. Daniel Boyd and his two sons had already pled guilty in this same case. In exchange for the plea and agreeing to testify against the others, many of the charges against the Boyds were dropped.
In other evidence, prosecutors told the jury that Ziyad used the code words "beach" and "marriage"; this in spite of pictures of Ziyad at the beach in Egypt, where he had gone to see family and get married .
To hear Laila Yaghi speak about her son, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsnAqwqfeXg
This is a case of great injustice. As an observer at the trial was heard to say, "This is wrong! This is speech!"
How can you help Ziyad? Please write a respectful letter asking the judge to hand down a lenient sentence. You may mention that there was no evidence of violence, and only speech was involved. Also, Ziyad is only 22 years old. Send the letters to Ziyad's defense attorney. The address is:
Jim Ayers, Attorney at Law, PO Box 1544, New Bern, NC 28560

CAIR's Role in Surveillance and Intelligence collection in Muslim Communities.
Eyewitness Account of CAIR's Dawud Walid's Statement.
By: Jihad Rashid [Detroit, Michigan]
Asslaamu Alaikum!

I am not surprised at CAIR's most recent statement, "In the meantime, the Majlis remains committed to combating domestic terrorism from within Muslim ranks.." I am a witness to a similiar statement being made by a Dawud Walid of CAIR.

On July 16th, 2011, the National Coalition To Protect Civil Freedoms, (NCPCF), held a conference at the Shrine of the Black Madonna in Detroit. As I sat in the audience listening to the plight of many of the Muslims and other political prisoners that have been illegally imprisoned or setup, I was shocked and appalled at the TOTAL DISRESPECT of the Michigan CAIR Representative Dawud Walid that was directed toward Dr. Kaukab Siddique. As Dr. Siddique was allowed to speak, Dr. Siddique reminded the audience about those so-called Muslim organizations that have openly admitted to working with the Federal goverment against the Muslim Ummah. Dawud Walid snatched the microphone from the MC and declared that he would inform on any Muslim or organization. This writer as well as the other panelist who were not Muslim were SHOCKED!
Dr. Siddique then mentioned the incident of the 5 Muslim youth who are now jailed in Pakistan due to the CAIR's involvement. (See New Trend#1397).One non-Muslim panelist also spoke out aganist Dawud Walid's statement.
As a friend of Professor Sami Al-Arian and a Tajwid student of Bayan Elashi of the Holy Land Foundation case, I could not believe that Dawud Walid would make such a statement, especially in the presence of several family members of those Muslims currently being held in federal prison without due process of law. This was truly a slap in the face of those family members who had invited Dawud Walid to speak. His statement violates the very foundation of the Islam! His statement clearly shows how far the Muslims have strayed from the Qur'an and the Sunnah of our Beloved Holy Prophet Muhammad (?).
Living in the City of Detroit close to the Wayne State University. I see the Muslim Women students wearing Hijab; however they wear extreme tight fitting jeans and tight blouses, yet, they constitute themselves as Muslims. This too is shocking, but the statement by CAIR's representative Dawud Walid is more repulsive. His statement should be CONDEMNED by ALL MUSLIMS!
Has Dawud read the Qur'an, has he read the Hadith of our Beloved Nabi (?)?Such behavior is the same type of behavior that led to the murder of Uthman and the Civil war between Ali and Muawiya. How can there be unity within the Ummah if such agent provocateurs dwell in the midst our Ummah.
Allah Subhanan Wa Ta'ala has stated in the Holy Qur'an, "O you who believe , Take NOT for friend or Protector the DISBELIEVERS instead of the BELIEVERS. Do you wish to offer Allah a manifest proof against yourself?"
(Surah 4 Ayat 144, also read Surah 3 Ayats 86 to 91).
Abu Musa Ashari related that he heard the Prophet (?) saying:"It is part of Glorifying Allah to show respect to a grey-haired Muslim, and to a person who can teach the Qur'an." (Abu Daud)
There are many Ayats of the Holy Qur'an and Hadiths of our Beloved, Holy Prophet (?) that condemn people who act in such a way.
Now some may say that I should hide our brothers faults. That is true if such faults will not bring harm to the Ummah.
Now, I am NOT writing this with the intent to harm our brother Dawud Walid, I only seek to help my brother in righteousnes, and to do that which is GOOD and to FORBID Evil.(Surah 3 Ayat 110). We as Muslims MUST speak words of Truth and stay united, for disunity only brings weakness and we become losers. (Surah 17:53).
As Malcolm X stated, history is one of our best teachers. As we reflect what happen at the battle of Uhud, the Muslims did not follow the orders of the Prophet (?) and were almost annihilated,( Surah 3 Ayat 152). We should also reflect on the Battle of Tours, when Charles Martel defeated the Muslims due to their love for the Dunya. When the Muslims heard rumors that Martel's army had outflanked them and was stealing their gold which was left behind them at their camp, this caused the Muslims to become disarrayed seeking to save their gold, falling out of rank, eventually causing them to lose the battle and stopped the Muslims from conquering all of Europe.
I end with a hadith of our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (?). Abu Hurairah related that Rasulullah said:"the Believers are like Mirrors for each other; the Believers are like brothers, who ward off HARM, and protect one another from Behind". (Abu Daud)
May Allah Guide Us and Protect Us. Wa Alaikum Assalaam. JIHAD RASHID

Western Intelligence Views a Serious Development in Mali, West Africa. Tuareg & other Black Africans are joining Jihad fighters.

[The following report prepared by Associated Press appeared in the pro-Government daily Dawn, Karachi, Pakistan. It has input from Noman Benotman who deserted al-Qaida and is now an analyst at the London-based Quilliam Foundation - Ed.]
Candy, cash - al Qaeda plants itself in Africa

AP December 3 [Published in Dawn, Karachi]

A nomad from the Tuareg tribe of the Sahara Desert brings his herd for vaccination to a team of US Special Forces in the Sahara Desert handing out aid near the town of Gao in northeastern Mali. With almost no resistance, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, is implanting itself in Africa's soft tissue, choosing as its host Mali, one of the poorest nations on earth. —AP Photo
SOKOLO: The first time the members of al-Qaeda emerged from the forest, they politely said hello. Then the men carrying automatic weapons asked the frightened villagers if they could please take water from the well.
Before leaving, they rolled down the windows of their pickup truck and called over the children to give them chocolate.
That was 18 months ago, and since then, the bearded men in outfits like those worn by Osama bin Laden have returned for water every week. Each time they go to lengths to exchange greetings, ask for permission and act neighbourly, according to locals, in the first intimate look at how al-Qaeda tries to win over a village.
Besides candy, the men hand out cash. If a child is born, they bring baby clothes. If someone is ill, they prescribe medicine. When a boy was hospitalised, they dropped off plates of food and picked up the tab.
With almost no resistance, al-Qaeda has implanted itself in Africa's soft tissue, choosing as its host one of the poorest nations on earth. The terrorist group has created a refuge in this remote land through a strategy of winning hearts and minds, described in rare detail by seven locals in regular contact with the cell. The villagers agreed to speak for the first time to an Associated Press team in the "red zone," deemed by most embassies to be too dangerous for foreigners to visit.
While al-Qaeda's central command is in disarray and its leaders on the run following bin Laden's death six months ago, security experts say, the group's five-year-old branch in Africa is flourishing. From bases like the one in the forest just north of here, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, is infiltrating local communities, recruiting fighters, running training camps and planning suicide attacks, according to diplomats and government officials.
Even as the mother franchise struggles financially, its African offshoot has raised an estimated $130 million in under a decade by kidnapping at least 50 Westerners in neighbouring countries and holding them in camps in Mali for ransom. It has tripled in size from 100 combatants in 2006 to at least 300 today, say security experts. And its growing footprint, once limited to Algeria, now stretches from one end of the Sahara desert to the other, from Mauritania in the west to Mali in the east.
The group's stated aim is to become a player in global jihad, and suspected collaborators have been arrested throughout Europe, including in the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, England and France. In September, the general responsible for US military operations in Africa, Army Gen. Carter Ham, said AQIM now also poses a "significant threat" to the United States.
The answer to why the group has thrived can be found in this speck of a town, where homes are made of mud mixed with straw and families eke out a living either in the fields of rice to the south or in the immense forest of short, stout trees to its north.
It's here, under a canopy stretching over an area three times larger than the city of New York, that Sokolo's herders take their cattle. They avoid overgrasing by organising themselves into eight units linked to each of the eight wells, labelled N1 through N8, along the 50-mile-long perimeter of the Wagadou forest. They pay $5 per year per head of cattle, and $3 per head of sheep, for the right to water their animals.
When the al-Qaeda fighters showed up with four to five jerry cans and asked for water, they signalled that they did not intend to plunder resources.
"From the moment you lay eyes on them, you know that they're not Malian," said 45-year-old herder Amadou Maiga.
They started to come every four or five days in Land Cruisers, with Kalashnikovs slung over their shoulders. At first they stayed for no more than 15 to 20 minutes, said the villagers, including herders, a hunter and employees of the Malian Ministry of Husbandry who travel to the area to vaccinate animals and repair broken pumps. If on Monday they took water from one well, on Wednesday they would go to another, always varying their path.
Fousseyni Diakite, 51, a pump technician who travels twice a month to the forest to check the generators used to run the wells, first ran into the cell in May 2010, when he saw four men in Arab dress inside a Toyota Hilux truck, all with AK-47s at their feet.
He said the men come with medical supplies and try to find out if anyone is sick.
"There is one who is tall with a big chest _ he's Arab, possibly Algerian. He's known for having an ambulatory pharmacy. He goes from place to place giving treatment for free," Diakite said.
They venture into the camps where the herders sleep at dusk and hand out cash to villagers who join them for prayers, he said _ bills of 10,000 West African francs (about $20), equal to nearly half the average monthly salary in Mali.
Most of the herders sleep in lean-to's in camps at the forest's edge. Because these are temporary settlements, they do not have mosques, unlike most villages in this nation twice the size of France that is 90 percent Muslim.
In Boulker, a hamlet near the forest, the fighters left 100,000 francs (around $200), instructing locals to buy supplies and build an adobe mosque, Diakite said.
"They said that for every population center with at least 10 people, there should be a mosque," he said.
Along with its poverty, Mali has an enormous geography and a weak central government — not unlike Afghanistan, where bin Laden first used the charm offensive to secure the loyalty of the local people, said Noman Benotman, a former jihadist with links to al-Qaida, now an analyst at the London-based Quilliam Foundation.
"We used to teach our people about this. It's part of the military plan — how to treat locals. This is the environment that keeps them alive," said Benotman, who first met bin Laden in Sudan and who spent years fighting alongside al-Qaida in Afghanistan. He said bin Laden gave his fighters specific instructions on how to conduct themselves: Don't argue about the price, just make the locals happy. Become "like oxygen" to them.
AQIM is taking the lesson to heart. Soon after they began taking water, one of the bearded fighters approached a shepherd at the pump to buy a ram. The fighters were looking to slaughter it to feed themselves. The shepherd offered it to him for free — too afraid to ask for money, said Maiga, the man's friend.
But the stranger refused to take the ram without payment, and immediately handed over a generous sum.
"They seem to know all the prices ahead of time. They point to a ram and say, `I'll buy that one for 30,000 cfa ($60),'" said Maiga, quoting the highest sum a herder could expect to get for a ram in these parts. "They never bargain."
AQIM grew out of the groups fighting the Algerian government in the 1990s, after the military canceled elections to stave off victory for an Islamist party. Over the next decade, they left a trail of destruction in Algeria. Around 2003, they sent an emissary to Iraq to meet an al-Qaida intermediary, according to Benotman. Three years later, the insurgents joined the terror family, in what second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri called "a blessed union."
Since then, their attacks have taken on the hallmarks of al-Qaida. A pair of explosions this August killed 18 people as they tore through the mess hall of Algeria's military academy, with the second bomb timed to hit emergency responders.
Al-Qaida in turn appears to be learning from its affiliates, which have used kidnappings for ransom in Algeria, Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan. After bin Laden's death in May, investigators found files on his hard drive showing plans to turn to kidnapping to compensate for a decline in donations.
AQIM in particular has perfected what analysts call a "kidnap economy," drawing on its refuge in Mali, according to diplomats, hostage negotiators and government officials. In 2003, the group kidnapped and transported 32 mostly German tourists from southern Algeria to Mali, where, according to a member of Mali's parliament, they struck a deal with local authorities that is still in effect today.
"The agreement was, `You don't hurt us, we won't hurt you,'" said the parliament member, formerly involved in hostage negotiations, who asked not to be identified because of the danger involved.
The government of Mali denies these accusations, but officials cited in diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks make the same assertion. The president of neighboring Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, told his American counterparts in 2009 that Mali is "at peace with AQIM to avoid attacks on its territory." Whereas the al-Qaida cell has captured more than 50 foreigners in Algeria, Niger and Mauritania, hardly any of the violence has touched Mali.
The cell has also managed to recruit local fighters, including 60 to 80 Tuaregs, the olive-skinned nomads who live in the Sahara desert, according to a security expert. And villagers say they have seen black-skinned sub-Saharan Africans in the pickups speaking the languages of Mali, Guinea and Nigeria.
"The situation in Mali is they have become locals — they are not foreigners," said Benotman. "This is really, really very, very difficult to do, and it makes it very hard to get rid of them."
One thing still stands in al-Qaida's way: Its hardcore ideology does not gel with the moderate Islam practiced by Mali's nomads. Most of them said they were afraid, caught between need for the money al-Qaida offers and wariness of its extremist beliefs.
When bin Laden died, the members of the local cell went from well to well to ask people to pray for his soul, according to Amaye ag Ali Cisse, an employee of the Ministry of Husbandry who travels twice a month to the wells to oversee the vaccination of animals.
"Everyone is uncomfortable," he said. "This is a religion that doesn't belong to us."
The herders say the fighters have not tried to impose their ideology by force. Instead, they say that the AQIM members wait until they have seen a herder at least a few times before broaching the subject.
"It was the third time that I saw them that they started preaching to me," said Maiga. "They said that everything they do is in order to seek out God."
Herder Baba Ould Momo, 29, said he tries to come up with an excuse to leave when the pickup trucks arrive at the well, because he's afraid the terror cell will pull him in. He said they backed off when they noticed he wasn't interested.
"The first thing they try to do is invite people to join them in the forest. If they see that the person is wavering, it's then that they start preaching — saying everything is transitory," said Momo, who like most of the herders wears plastic flip-flops, with a robe of wrinkled cloth. "But if the person is categorical in saying `No,' they leave them alone."
In June, Mauritania and Mali led a rare joint attack on the al-Qaeda cell in the Wagadou Forest. However, herders say that a week earlier, the al-Qaeda fighters told them that an attack was imminent and that they had laid down land mines in the forest. Mauritania blames Malian officials for tipping off AQIM.
The herders said that for around two weeks, they didn't see the bearded fighters. Then they returned with a new fleet of Hilux pickup trucks, and with more men. Since then, the fighters' tracks have been all over the forest floor, in a map of constant movement, said 60-year-old hunter Cheickana Cisse. They no longer sleep in the same place.
Just as Cisse was taking a drink of water at the N7 pump on a recent evening, two pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft cannons and loaded with combatants drove up. The men had chains of ammunition strapped across their chests, and belts loaded with cartridges.
They laid their AK-47s in a circle on the ground to create a space to pray, like a symbolic mosque. One of them asked Cisse if he had heard of bin Laden.
"He said, `We're like this with bin Laden,'" Cisse explained, intertwining his right and left index fingers like a link in a chain. "He said, `We're al-Qaeda.'"
The elderly hunter tried to slip away just as one of the fighters made the call to prayer.
"And they said, `You? Aren't you going to pray?' They told me to come into the circle. I could feel them watching me," he said. The men kneeled inside the circle of weapons. Four others guarded them, including one who climbed on the roof of the truck. Cisse tiptoed inside and began going through the prayer. "I kept stealing glances to see if they were doing the same moves as me," he said. "I know the words, but I was scared." When the group had finished, the four who had kept vigil took their turn inside the circle. Cisse quietly walked away. They didn't try to stop him

2011-12-05 Mon 19:12:05 cst
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