TERRORISM:

Causes and Remedies


And The Muslim's Attitude towards Tribulations



A lecture by Sheikh Saalih as-Suhaimee
Translated by: www.asaala.com





In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Praised be Allah, the One and Only, and may the peace and blessings be upon the Seal of the Prophets; to proceed:

Well, Allah, the Exalted, has blessed us with the best blessing in that He sent to us His Prophet—peace be upon him— with whom Allah saved us from the darkness (of Kufr) into the light (of Islam), honored us after we were humiliated, brought us together after we were scattered parties, and made us brothers who love one another for Allah; none of us is favored over the other except with Taqwaa (piety). Allah, the Exalted, said:

"Verily, the more pious you are, the more honorable with Allah you will be" (al-Hujuraat: 13)

And He, the Exalted, also said reminding us with this great blessing and how we were before the emergence of Islam:

"And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah (i.e. this Qur'an), and be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allah's Favor on you, for you were enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace, you became brethren (in Islamic Faith), and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes His Ayaat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.,) clear to you, that you may be guided" (Aal-'Imraan: 103).

The Muslims prospered through this great blessing during the times of Prophethood until the seed of dissension emerged when Abdullah bin Saba' and his followers stirred up the people against 'Uthamaan—may Allah be pleased with him--. Indeed, the first seed of Khawaarij had been already emerged before that upon the objection of Dhul-Khuwaisirah at-Tameemee to the Prophetic division of the spoils of the battle of Hunian. Dhul-Khuwaisirah then said: "O Muhammad! Do justice for you did not do so"; he also said: "This is a division that was not meant for the face of Allah (i.e. the sake of Allah)". The Prophet then said:

"Woe to you! And who will do justice if I do not. Do not you trust me, while I am the trustworthy of those of the Heavens?" and when 'Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—intended to kill him, the Prophet said:

" leave him, for from the posterity of this very man there will be born people whom you will belittle your prayer and fasting before theirs; they will recite the Qur'an, but it will not go beyond their throats; and they would go out of the religion (i.e. Islam) as an arrow goes through a game's body."

After that, the sedition was stirred up against 'Uthmaan—may Allah be pleased with him—as I said because of partisanship and opposition that intended to hit Islam in the heart; this sedition became worse after 'Uthmaan—peace be upon him—was assassinated, and short after that things got worse and worse, and the deviant sects started to emerge, on the top of which was the Khawaarij who fought against 'Ali—peace be upon him—, legitimized the lives and properties of the Muslims for themselves, and threatened the travelers, and waged war against Allah and His Prophet.

There, 'Ali—may Allah be pleased with him—rooted out their sedition and found Dhul-Khuwaisirah among the dead. They (i.e. the Khawaarij) planned after that to kill a group of the Companions, and thus they succeeded in killing 'Ali—may Allah be pleased with him--. Hence, their tribulation comes back and forth until this very day, and it will continue to come and go until the last of them be among the army of Ad-Dajaal like what the Prophet-peace be upon him—said.

Nowadays, we find that some voices, writings, and calls of some cheap persons are oriented towards calling the foolish ones to partisanship and splitting apart; they call to split apart from the Muslim party and establish narrow-minded parties that call to extremism and excessiveness with shinning but cunning ways, which caused a great gap in the lines of the Muslim nation. Those cheap persons used each and every possible way to convince our youth with that deserted ideology which enabled the enemies to fish in troubled waters under the name of human rights at times and the call to change the curricula at others under the pretense that such curricula are behind what happened of extremism and excessiveness from some individuals and groups.

How the people of this ideology propagated their deviations:

First, they underestimate the call to monotheism under the pretense that the creed is known to all people and can be understood in ten minutes as some of them say. Rather, they gave up nurturing the youth in accordance with the sound creed under the pretense that this will split the nation apart.

Second, they despise the scholars, stir up people's hatred against their knowledge, and defame their reputations under the pretense that they (i.e. the scholars) do not know about the Fiqh of the true state of affairs (i.e. political happenings), and that they are not qualified to solve the troubles of the Ummah and rising up with it.

Third, they keep the youth away from pursuing legislative knowledge which is derived from the Book and the Sunnah and keep them busy with soul-stirring chants or what is spread by the media, be it read, heard or seen.

Fourth, they belittle the rulers and show their defects—or what is thought to be defects—on the pulpits of the mosques or via the suspicious satellite channels; they also misinterpret the Texts regarding the obedience to the rulers in that they say that it is related to the greater Caliph, neglecting the fact that the scholars agreed upon that in case there are more than one Muslim country, then the ruler of each country has the duties and rights of a caliph; and so he is to be obeyed in righteousness and not revolted against so long as he rules with which Allah has revealed, and this is something that all the scholars of the Ummah agreed upon.

Fifth, they attract the theorists who propagate for the deserted ideology and gather the youth for them in order to brainwash their minds in secret gatherings that take place in camps or parks where they focus on secluding the youth from their scholars and rulers and tying them with people who adopted disobedience (of the ruler) and Takfeer as their methodology.
Sixth, they call to Jihaad, which is—in their views—deeming lawful the Muslims' lives and properties, urge the people to vandalize and blow bridges and other facilities under the pretense that the Muslim countries became an abodes of war where fighting should take place. They propagate this deviant ideology through some chants. Rather, they might even hold training fields in order to train the youth to use all types of weapons in remote places inside their countries or suspicious places abroad.

Seventh, they distribute the books, flyers, pamphlets, and recordings that propagate for the deserters' ideology and charge the Muslims with Kufr, especially the scholars and rulers. And below is a list of some of them:

1.The works of Saiyid Qutb, the most dangerous of which are those that charge the contemporary Muslim nation with Kufr and defame the Companions and even the prophets like Fee Dhilalil-Qur'an, Kutub wa Shakhsiyaat, al-'Adalah al-Ijtimaa'iyah, and Ma'aalim fit-Tareeq.

2.The works of Abul-A'laa al-Mawdoodee.

3.The works of Hasan al-Banna.

4.The works of Sa'eed Hawaa.

5.The works of 'Isaam al-'Ataar.

6.The works of Abil-Fat-h al-Baianoonee.

7.The works of Muhammad bin 'Ali as-Saaboonee.

8.The works of Muhammad Hasan Habannakah al-Maidaanee.

9.The works of at-Turaabee.

10.The works of al-Hudhaibee.

11.The works of at-Talmasaanee.

12.The works of Ahmad Muhammad Raashid—a pen name--, and among the most dangerous of which are al-Masaar, al-'Awaa'iq, al-Muntalaq, and ar-Raqaa'iq.

13.The works of 'Isaam al-Basheer.

14.The works (including the pamphlets and recordings) of Muhammad Suroor Zainul-'Aabideen, the head of the forum in London. And all the other books which are widely spread in our libraries.

Thus, we must root out this source through banning these books and censoring the libraries that facilitate their distribution, because such books will distort the minds of those young boys who are still green and without enough amount of knowledge that may protect them; they confuse their minds and let them follow the delusions until they become ready to do anything, be it killing themselves or other Muslims or ahl al-dhimma (i.e. free non-Muslim under the Muslim rule) in order to attain their aim, which is dying in the Cause of Allah and going to Paradise as their theorists fooled them that this is the right way upon which the winners of Allah's Pleasure tread. Hence, Takfeer, bombing, vandalism in the Muslim countries, and going against the methodology of the Salaf became the righteous way for those.

The poet says:

You must be sick for sure
If you see death for a cure,
And let it be enough that death becomes a wish to endure!

Eighth, they (the activists of takfeeree groups such as; Al-Ikhwaan Al-Muslimoon "Muslim Brotherhood" and their ramifications) sneaked into our educational institutions, be them schools, colleges, or universities, and they distorted many of our youth by implanting the takfeeree ideology in their minds; and they did this by means of students' picnics and made up narratives which are no more than lies and exaggerations in most cases.

Thus, the aforementioned were some ways where these people succeeded in distorting a big portion of our youth until the latter became denying for the methodology, scholars, and rulers. They also convinced the youth that the Truth is what they are adhering to, and that the others are on the wrong path.
And after all this clarification of some causes of this intrusive thought, there is an important question to address; it is:

How do we shield our youth against such deviant ideology?

Well, in order to protect ourselves and youth against this Takfeeree ideology, then we—individually and collectively—must take the following procedures:

1.Calling the youth to return back and hold fast to the Book and the Sunnah. Allah, the Exalted, says:

"And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah (i.e. the Qur'an and the Sunnah) and be not divided among yourselves" (Aal-'Imraan: 103).

And He, the Exalted, also said:

"And in whatsoever you differ, the decision thereof is with Allah (He is the ruling Judge)" (Ash-Shooraa: 10).

Hence, holding fast to the Book of Allah is, indeed, the protective fortification by which Allah protects the man from eternal punishment.

2.Asserting that the Book and the Sunnah should be understood in accordance with the methodology of the rightly-guided Salaf, and this will not be possible until the Muslims study under the reliable scholars who shall keep the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet—peace be upon him—pure from the alterations of exaggerators, the theft of liars, and the interpretations of ignoramus. Allah, the Exalted, says:

"So ask of those who know the Scripture [learned men of the Taurah (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel)], if you know not" (An-Nahl: 43; Al-Anbiyaa': 7),

And He, the Exalted, also says:

"When there comes to them some matter touching (public) safety or fear, they make it known (among the people), if only they had referred it to the Messenger or to those charged with authority among them, the proper investigators would have understood it from them (directly)" (An-Nisaa': 83).

And it is also important to stop those who make mischief on Earth among the ones who issue rulings without prior knowledge and defame the scholars of the Ummah by calling them names which describe none but those who utter them, because sticking around the people of the Prophet's legacy (i.e. the reliable scholars), who are well-versed in knowledge will for sure protect those youth from the bandits who utter what they know not, spread falsehoods, and claim that there is no reference for these youth to go back to.

3.Keeping away from the abodes of tribulations in order to shield against their evils and wicked consequences. Allah, the Exalted, says:

"And fear the Fitnah (affliction and trial, etc.) which affects not in particular (only) those of you who do wrong (but it may afflict all the good and the bad people)" (Al-Anfaal: 25).

Thus, one could keep away from them through holding fast to good deeds by which Allah protects His slaves from tribulations. In this respect, the Prophet—peace be upon him—says:

"Be prompt in doing good deeds (before you are overtaken) by turbulence which would be like a part of the dark night. During (that stormy period) a man would be a Muslim in the morning and an unbeliever in the evening or he would be a believer in the evening and an unbeliever in the morning; he would sell his faith for worldly goods."
And from Abu Huraira—may Allah be pleased with him—that the Prophet—peace be upon him—said:

"There will be soon a period of tribulations in which the one who sits will be better than the one who stands and the one who stands will be better than the one who walks and the one who walks will be better than the one who runs. Who would look forward to them will be overtaken by them. So who finds a refuge or shelter against them should resort to i."

4.Doing one's best with regard to worship and fear of Allah, the Exalted, through abiding by His commands and abstaining from disobedience of Him, because this is the escape key of every calamity. Allah, the Exalted, says:

"And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make his matter easy for him" (At-Talaaq: 4) and He, the Exalted, also says: "And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty)" (At-Talaaq: 2).

Thus, fearing Allah, holding fast to His Religion, and acting upon what pleases Him are the causes of each and every success in the two abodes; this life and the afterlife.

5.Drying up the swamps of sins and disobedience (i.e. putting an end to them), because what has befallen the Muslims of tribulations, evils, and disunity is the product of these widely spread sins and disobedience; indeed, what befell them was the offspring of their hands as Allah said:

"(What is the matter with you?) When a single disaster smites you, although you smote (your enemies) with one twice as great, you say: "From where does this come to us?" Say (to them), "It is from yourselves (because of your evil deeds)" (Aal-'Imraan: 165);

And He, the Exalted, says:

"Evil (sins and disobedience of Allah, etc.) has appeared on land and sea because of what the hands of men have earned (by oppression and evil deeds, etc.)" (Ar-Room: 41).

6.Holding onto the Muslim congregation and their ruler and implanting the concept of obedience to the ruler in what is lawful. Allah, the Exalted, says:

"O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger, and those of you (Muslims) who are in authority" (An-Nisaa: 59), and the Prophet—peace be upon him—says:

"Allah will accept three things and detest other three things for you; He will accept for you to worship Him without associating any deity with Him; hold fast to the Rope of Allah (i.e. the Qur'an and the Sunnah), all together and not to become divided among yourselves; and advise (secretly) whom Allah has given authority over you (i.e. the ruler)."

And he said in another hadeeth:

"There are three merits that a Muslim's heart will not bear any grudge that makes him deviate from: being sincere with his acts (i.e. worship) to Allah, giving advice (on a regular basis) to the one whom Allah gave authority over people (i.e. the ruler), and holding fast to the Muslim congregation". And he also said:

"Whoever disapproves of something done by his ruler then he should be patient, for whoever becomes separate from the company of the Muslims even for a span and then dies, he will die as those who died in the Pre-Islamic Period of Ignorance. (i.e. as rebellious Sinners)."
And al-Bukhaaree reported in his Saheeh from the long hadeeth of Hudhaifah that the latter said:

"…I asked, "What do you order me to do if such a thing should take place in my life?" He (peace be upon him) said, "Adhere to the group of Muslims and their Chief." I asked, "If there is neither a group (of Muslims) nor a chief (what shall I do)?" He said, "Keep away from all those different sects, even if you had to bite (i.e. eat) the root of a tree, till you meet Allah while you are still in that state."

7.Observing patience against calamities, because patience will quench so many tribulations. Allah, the exalted, says:

"O you who believe! Seek help in patience and prayer. Verily, Allah is with the patient" (Al-Baqrah: 153). And He, the Exalted, says: "And bear with patience whatever befalls you" (Luqmaan: 17).

The Prophet—peace be upon him—says:

"How wonderful is the matter of the believer! All of his matter is good for him; he will bear with gratitude what befalls him of goodness, and thus it will be good for him; and he will also bear with patience what befalls him of evil, and thus it will be good for him. And this will not be for anyone except the believer."

8.Treating matters with insight and deliberateness, avoiding quick decisions and Fataawaa, and staying away from anger; and these are among the merits of the prophets and the messengers and their followers. Allah, the Exalted, says:
"Verily, Ibraaheem—peace be upon him—was, without doubt, forbearing, used to invoking Allah with humility, and repentant (to Allah all the time, again and again)" (Hood: 75).

And the Prophet—peace be upon him—said to the Ashajj bani 'Abdi-Qais:

"Indeed, you possess two qualities that Allah and His Prophet like; insight and deliberateness".

9.Observing kindness and politeness in dealing with the tribulations. The Prophet—peace be upon him—says:

"Kindness is not to be found in anything but that it adds to its beauty and it is not withdrawn from anything but it makes it defective" and he also said: "Verily, Allah likes kindness in every matter".

10.Striving for visualizing the matters as is, understanding it, and evaluating its significance, because the judgment issued about anything is the product of its understanding. And thus, the believer should not be deceived with the looks, but rather he should be careful about everything going around him in order to give everything its true weight and proper preparations. Doing this, he should be holding fast to his objectives, not giving up the righteous methodology, avoiding quick judgments, and abstaining from plunging into the religious issues without prior knowledge about them. Allah, the Exalted, says:

"And follow not (O man i.e., say not, or do not or witness not, etc.) that of which you have no knowledge (e.g. one's saying: "I have seen," while in fact he has not seen, or "I have heard," while he has not heard). Verily! The hearing, the sight, and the heart, of each of those you will be questioned (by Allah)" (al-Israa: 36).

11.Making sure of what the person hears and not to give ear to rumors, especially those transmitted by the media and suspicious satellite channels that many of which aim at distorting the Muslims, stirring up discord among them, and weakening their unity. Allah, the Exalted, says:

"O you who believe! If a rebellious evil person comes to you with news, verify it, lest you harm people in ignorance, and afterwards you become regretful to what you have done" (al-Hujuraat: 6)

And the Prophet—peace be upon him—says:
"Be ware of suspicion about others! For suspicion is the falsest talk".

12.Referring back to the legal restrictions in the Qur'an and Sunnah regarding the appellations of beliefs and charging anyone which Kufr, Fisq, or being innovator, being ware of issuing judgments upon Muslims blindly, and verifying what one hears, because this is very dangerous as the Muslim is prohibited from charging a specific Muslim brother with Kufr even though the latter made an action of disbelief (Kufr) until the conditions are met and the impediments are absent. Allah, the Exalted, says:

"O you who believe! When you go (to fight) in the Cause of Allah, verify (the truth), and say not to anyone who greets you (by embracing Islam): 'You are not a believer'; seeking the perishable goods of the worldly life. There are much more profits and booties with Allah. Even as he is now, so were you yourselves before till Allah conferred on you His Favors (i.e. guided you to Islam), therefore, be cautious in discrimination. Allah is Ever Well¬-Aware of what you do" (an-Nisaa: 94).

And the Prophet—peace be upon him—warned against that as he said:

"Let not a man charge another with Fisq or Kufr, because this charge will fall back to him in case the other is not so."
And 'Abdullah Ibn 'Umar—may Allah be pleased with them--narrated that the Prophet—peace be upon him—said:

"Whoever says to his brother: O Kaafir! Then surely one of them will be such." Agreed upon .

Ibn Daqeeqil-'Eed says regarding the meaning of this hadeeth: "and this is a great warning for who charges others with Kufr when they are not; and it is a great calamity that many scholastic theologians and some people who are associated with the people of Sunnah and Hadeeth committed when they became at variance regarding the creeds and thus treated their opponents harshly and charged them with Kufr."

Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah asserts that by saying: "I am among the most warning people against the charge of Kufr, Fisq, or sin to a specific person until he is debated by means of evidence—upon the contradicting of which the person is sometimes considered Kaafir, Faasiq, or sinner—; and I confirm that Allah had forgiven the Ummah their mistakes, be them actions or utterances.

These are some things that the Muslim should bear in mind in the times of harsh tribulations; and it is an incumbent upon all the Muslims—individuals and groups, rulers and ruled, or scholars or students of knowledge—to work collectively in order to root out these tribulations, especially the present Takfeeree tribulation, which led some of them (i.e. the Takfeeree) to deem lawful the lives and properties of the Muslims and vandalize their facilities by using the means of bombing and destruction supported by some suspicious organizations, mercenary writers, and the misguiding fataawaa.

These things resulted in deceiving some foolish young men who turned to be subversive murderers who kill the Muslims and those who are granted access to the Muslim countries by means of entry visa and plunder the properties; and they call this Jihaad. Well, this is naming things by other than their true names.

And I should here draw the attention towards the people's attitudes from Jihaad in an attempt to clarify the Truth to whom who searches for it:

A.The attitude of Ahulus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa'ah:They believe that Jihaad is lawful and will last until the Day of Judgment with the leadership of every pious or dissolute among the Muslim rulers; they also believe that the Muslim should be always prepared for it until he dies. The Prophet—peace be upon him—said:

"One who died but did not fight in the way of Allah nor did he express any desire (or determination) for Jihaad, then he would have died upon a way of hypocrisy."

However, Jihaad has conditions and requirements to be met, and they are summarized as follows:

1.It must be completely meant for the sake of Allah, the Exalted.
2.The Muslims must be strong enough in order to do it.
3.It must be under a unified Muslim flag.
4.It must be called for by the Muslim Imaam (i.e. the ruler).
5.It must be preceded by a call to Islam and hence is declined by those who are called or that the Muslims are denied the right to call to Islam.
6.It should be more likely that the act of Jihaad will not result in a greater defect than the expected gains for the Islam and the Muslims.
Thus, if these conditions were met, then welcome with Jihaad. Otherwise, it must be abstained from.

B.The attitude of the negligent: They hold the people back from Jihaad even if its conditions were met; and they do this under the pretense that it is the time of the greater Jihaad, which is striving against the desires and inclinations. In this respect, they repeatedly mention a forged hadeeth on that. It is the hadeeth that reads:
"We came back from the lesser Jihaad to the greater one".

In deed, this is the methodology of some Sufis who roam the lands in the name of Da'wah and rely on the stories, dreams, visions, and weak and forged hadeeths.

C.The attitude of the Khawaarij: they name the Jihaad with other than its true name; they are the Khawaarij of this era whom their ancestors assassinated 'Uthmaan and 'Ali—may Allah be pleased with them—and whom their last successors will fight by the side of the Dajaal as the Prophet—peace be upon him—said:

"They leave the idol-worshippers and kill the Muslims; they recite the Qur'an, but it will not go beyond their throats"

he—peace be upon him—also called them "the dogs of the Hell-fire denizens; the most evil murdered ones will be theirs" .
They murder the Muslims in the Muslim countries as if they were war abodes; they offered the enemies the best service that the latter will never be able to get by any other means, and they gave them excuses to do harm to Islam and the Muslims and invade some Muslim countries. Allah knows who stands behind them (i.e. the Takfeeree) among the Zionist and Masonic organizations either directly or indirectly.

And thus, it is an incumbent upon all the Muslims to unveil their forgery and straying so that their deviations will not spread among people like a plague. It is also prohibited to harbor any one of them, because this will be considered under helping one another in sin and transgression. Allah, the Exalted, says:

"Help you one another in Al¬Birr and At¬Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression" (al-Maa'idah: 2).

Thus, who harbors them, covers them up, defends them, or justifies their deeds, then he will be participating in the killing of the innocent, protected people among the Muslims, those who granted an entry visa to the Muslim countries, those who are under covenants with the Muslims, or the Dhimmi's (i.e. free non-Muslims under the Muslim rule). In this respect, any one who covers them up will be under the Prophet's—peace be upon him—hadeeth that "May Allah curse who covers up an innovator".


And all praise is due to Allah, and may the peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his household, and all his Companions.