Pakistan - Jama't-ud-Da’wah (JuD): The Saudi Wahabbi Influence

Already back in August 2006,the JuD leader Hafiz Sayeed was arrested in connection with a series of Lashkar train bombings in India then released and placed under a two-month house arrest. Since then, Sayeed has been active in expanding Jama’t-ud-Da’wah's reach across Pakistan by a Da’awa network, providing education and medical treatment at schools and clinics located in 66 cities across the country. On December 15th 2008,in reaction to the closure and the arrests, Jama’t-ud-Da’wah published on its English web site a respond statement, which unsurprisingly employed the humanitarian element and motives as an emotional attempt for requiting emotions and solidarity feelings of the supportive reader. In past cases, when it was proven over and over again that radical Islamic charities acted as front organization for radical Islamic terror organizations (Saudi based Al Haramain, IIRO, BIF and Hamas affiliated charities), spokesmen reacting on behalf of the radical Islamic charities (that were scrutinized or legal lawful actions are taken against them by governments) have reacted in the same perpetual pattern of wretchedness complaining about government oppressive actions aiming to target the poor unprotected population. Within the pattern of reactions used by radical Islamic charities, a manipulative sophisticated maneuver is employed by raising claims which hopeful will evoke pangs of conscience and remorse within the international public domain while “pointing a finger” on “conspiracies and oppressive measures” taken by governments and law enforcement agencies whenever actions are taken against them. The prevalent motive in using the emotionality appeal, is by describing acts taken against them as “un human”, targeting of the poor the widows and the weak population, when actually the radical Islamic Wahabbi oriented charities themselves were and still are using and abusing the population for their own radical Islamic goals through the Da’wah social-economic network activities. While creating increased dependency and ideological seizure of radicalization on the grass roots’ “harts and minds” within the battle of ideas, the population is mobilized and recruited by the overt arms of the terror organizations by their Da’wah and benevolence activities, building increased commitment and dependency to the terror organization to its ideologically and political violent objectives. Similar projects of radicalization are the strategic goal of all violent local Islamist groups in Jihad active zones such as in the south Philippines, Chechnya, the Maghreb, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Palestine, Egypt, Africa, Kashmir and more. The Lebanese “Al Tawhid” opposition leader, former minister Wiam Wahab, recently accused Saudi Arabia for its responsibility in financing terrorism and for the events occurring in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Palestine.[4]

“Who will suffer from Jama’t-ud-Da’wah’s closure?”

In the wake of its designation, On 15 December 2008, the JuD published on its English web site a reaction statement to the UN designation under the title “Who will suffer from Jama’t-ud-Da’wah’s closure?”[5] The statement was emphasizing the JuD humanitarian aspects of its relief work that will be affected by the closure. The JuD announcement accuses that the designation and closure will effect its humanitarian work noting that “thousands of survivors of the devastating 2005 and 2008 earthquakes, hundreds of whom receive free medical assistance every day in various quake affected areas, thousands of people of flood affected areas of Sindh and Balochistan provinces, 6,000 poor and deserving people who receive medical treatment and medicines at Jama’t-ud-Da’wah’s free dispensaries throughout the country because they cannot afford to go to a regular clinic, thousands of patients, who benefit from Jama’t-ud-Da’wah’s fleet of modern, fully equipped ambulances, 5,000 poor, destitute, and orphan children, for the assistance of whom Jama’t-ud-Da’wah spends around 5,000,000 (five million) rupees every month, thousands of unfortunate people who come to Jama’t-ud-Da’wah’s medical camps and hospitals for surgeries, 5,000 students who receive assistance for their educational fees every month and other kinds of humanitarian assistance”.[6] It should be noted that according to JuD on line publication, donations and contributions for the quake victims were also used by the JuD to build 62 new mosques in which the Wahabbi-Salafi purist doctrine was introduced mainly in regions dominated by the Sufi sect (which according to the Wahabbi doctrine are regarded as polytheists like the Hindus, Buddhists, the Ahmadiyya school, the Qadians, the Dervish and even Shia’ Muslims)[7]. According to the publication, this activity was intended to” promote for the first time the Salafi Da’wah in these regions” [8], whereas the humanitarian disaster was exploited and manipulated by JuD as a platform to “set a foot at the doorstep” and increase its influence through relief and Da’wah activities. The perpetuate pattern used by the Saudi humanitarian aid through local "Zakat" and Islamic organization, was intentionally focused in promoting Wahhabi Islam (through humanitarian aid as a platform) while cynically rejecting and discriminating people in need who belong to other traditional schools of Islam. In an article published in April 1980, and entitled “Duty of Implementing the Resolutions”, Sheikh Muhammad Ali al-Harakan (the Saudi based Muslim World League general secretary) declared: “Jihad is the key to Muslims' success and felicity, especially when their sacred shrines are under the Zionist occupation in Palestine, when millions of Muslims are suffering suppression [sic], oppression, injustices, torture and even facing death and extermination campaigns in Burma, Philippines, Patani, USSR, Cambodia, Vietnam, Cyprus, Afghanistan. This responsibility becomes even more binding and pressing when we consider the malicious campaigns being waged against Islam and Muslims by Zionism, Communism, Free Masonry, Qadianism, Bahaism, and Christian missionaries.”[9] The Muslim World League, also has declared in its 1988 Constituent Council 29th session, declared” Extensive campaigns were also launched by the League against the perverse, deviationist and anti-Islamic movements, trends, cults and groups such as Zionism, Communism, Qadianism, Bahaism and also against the vicious programmes of the Christians missionaries”.[10]

The sharp-sighted reader could have noticed that on the very same home page of the Jama’t-ud-Da’wah web site, within the featured “Da’wah section”, a posture of the ” The Ideological Attack” book was presented. This famous book consists the teachings and Fatwas of the late Saudi Grand Mufti and the prominent Wahabbi scholar, Sheikh Abd Al Aziz Bin Baz. (Ready to be down loaded or heard in an audio format). Ironically and unsurprising, the very same radical Islamic charity which advocates for humanitarian work, simultaneously promotes within the rage of its activities the most radical Islamic ideology of the Wahabbi school of thought, the same ideology that was, and still is, the bedrock of the radical political Islam with its devastating violent manifestations executed by Al Qaeda and its affiliated global Jihad groups as recently demonstrated in the Mumbai attack.

Sheikh Bin Baz teachings and Islamic jurisprudence are to be found in many Islamic centers, mosques around the world, they are posted on hundreds of radical Islamic entities and radical Islamic terror organizations web sites, his teaching and books are available and have been part of the radical Islamic indoctrination curriculum in Jihadi training camps.[11] According to the Center for Religious Freedom, a US based research institute, “his Fatwas, which carry considerable weight, have been also circulated through official Saudi diplomatic channels to mosques and schools throughout the world, including some in the United States, and have been particularly influential in radicalizing Muslim youth at home and abroad. Similarly”.[12] Similar to other radical Islamic groups, Bin Baz’s publications are highly regarded also by Jama’t-ud-Da’wah as one of the most authoritative sources in the Muslim world actually perceived as a manifestation of the Saudi Islamic Wahabbi-Salafi ideology. Bin Baz radically dichotomous mode of thinking, coupled with his persistent demonizing of non-Muslims and tolerant Muslims, runs through his Fatwas’ publications. The Saudi doctrinal sources of Jihadi-Salafism which was led by the prominent Sheikh Bin Baz and a large class of his disciples, created among other issues, the “Movement of Awakening” (Harakat al-Sahwah), led by the two Sheikhs Salman al-Awdah and Safar al-Hawali which contributed as well to the globalization of the Saudi Whahabbi Da’awah.


The Ideological Radicalization

The past two decades has seen a steady radicalization of Muslim separatist movements within the Kashmiri conflict. What began in as a nationalist struggle against Indian rule evolved under the influence of Arab Jihadists into a struggle to establish an Islamic state throughout the "Muslim lands" in the subcontinent. The Kashmir arena provided a fertile ground for an increasing influx of Muslims volunteers (particularly Arabs) who professed radical Salafi-Jihadist ideology, most of whom had trained in the Afghan terrorist camps of Osama bin Laden and others who formed the emerging Al-Qaeda network. The foreign Jihadists regarded the war of Kashmir not as a national liberation movement but as a part of the global pan-Islamic struggle - a gateway for instigating revolution throughout the Kashmiri Jihad front and beyond. Already back in 2002,according to Al Qaeda affiliated publication, posted on November 2002,among other issues it was mentioned, “the human strategic depth of Islam is to be found in the Eastern Muslims [Southeast Asia]. The population census of the Muslim world [indicates that their number] is a billion and three hundred million (among whom are three hundred million Arabs. Therefore, the [strategic] human depth of the Muslims is in our brothers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, and the nation must take them into account. [meaning] that we must translate our “Jihad” culture for them.”[13]

Jama’t-ud-Da’wah as a radical Sunni-Wahabbi oriented Islamic organization, led by Hafiz Mohammad Sayeed, the Emir of the Jama’t-ud-Da’wah JUD), which is the “political” wing and the overt front organization of the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LET), influenced by the Whahabbi-Salafi Pan-Islamic doctrine, committed to spread its ideology advocating armed Jihad, as well as virulent rhetoric condemning the United States, India, Israel, and other perceived enemies. Its ideology is highly inspired and influenced by the above mentioned Wahabbi-Salafi school of thought, the actual brand of purist Islam practiced and promoted by Saudi Arabia through its worldwide network of charities as a tool in promoting the Saudi-Wahabbi political and religious influence in the Sunni Muslim world.

According to Husain Haqqani, the Pakistani ambassador to the U.S., who was an adviser to the late Benazir Bhutto, also reports the Saudi funding of this terror-under-cover-of-religion operation. In 2005, Haqqani wrote a paper for the Hudson Institute [14] in which Haqqani wrote as follows: "The most significant Jihadi group of Wahabbi persuasion is Lashkar-e-Taiba (The Army of the Pure) founded in 1989 by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. Backed by Saudi money and protected by Pakistani intelligence services, Lashkar-e-Taiba became the military wing of Markaz al-Dawa wal-Irshad (Center for the Call to Righteousness)”[15]. According to Haqqani, “Saeed created a large campus and training facility at Muridke, outside the Pakistani metropolis of Lahore. After the U.S. froze Lashkar-e-Taiba's assets and called for it to be banned, Saeed changed his organization's name in Pakistan to Jamaat-ul-Dawa (the Society for Preaching).... Under U.S. pressure, [then-President] General Musharraf placed Jamaat-ul-Dawa on a watch list in November 2003."[16]

Saudi Arabia created a network of charities, preachers and teachers who have enormous financial resources, which they utilized in order to advance and disseminate their version of Islam. Their standing, as the keepers of the Holy places and their oil income, gave the Wahhabis an influential capability on a worldwide scale. The local communal Islamic organizations, care for public life, education, knowledge, and rituals, (where public education is slack) were controlled and financed by the Wahhabis.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa-the Saudi Wahabbi Ideology contribution

Ideas are one of the most important exports of Saudi Arabia in its quest for Islamic dominance as it regards itself as the “spearhead of the Muslim world” as the “Guardian of the two Holy Places” committed to take care of Muslim communities and minorities around the world. Saudi Arabia had a network of preachers and teachers who have enormous financial resources, which they utilized in order to, advance and disseminate their version of Islam around the world.[17]

Saudi finance to radical Islamic institutions, among them Jamaat-ud-Dawa, has heavily influenced the contents of the vast amount of literature that they produce and distribute. Many of them produce low-priced books, and, now, audiotapes, videocassettes and compact discs, and some even operate their own web sites. Local scholars were influenced by the vision and understanding of Islam is indelibly shaped by their own experiences in Saudi Arabia. They see the Saudi Wahhabi version of Islam as normative and other forms of Islam as deviant. A principle purpose of these publications is to attack the west and rival Muslim, including Sunni, groups, and to sternly condemn them as ‘aberrant’ on account of differences in their methods of performing rituals and their rules governing a range of issues related to normative personal and collective behavior. Another interesting feature of the literature that is directly linked to the close association with the Saudi Wahabbis is a fierce hostility to local beliefs and practices.

Identifying themselves with the Saudi Wahhabi Ulama, enabled Jam’at-ud-Da’wah to present themselves as faithful allies of the Saudis, which in turn helps earn them recognition as well as monetary assistance from Saudi sponsors. In addition, such publications also serve the purpose of presenting the Saudi Wahhabi version of Islam as normative, and in putting forward the claim of the Saudi regime to being the only one in the world sincerely and seriously committed to ‘genuine’ Islam. Despite the attempt of the Saudi government to blur the direct aid to Jihad groups, from time to time there are reports in the inter-Arab and the international press that indicate that the Saudi Based charities transfer funds for Jihad causes in Kashmir, Saudi leaders meet with the leaders of the Jihad groups in the country, and they support the Jihad activity of the Muslims in Kashmir including training Jihad fighters.

The Saudi activities in this field does not happen in a vacuum, rather as an integral part of the Saudi policy of exporting Wahabbism outside the borders of Saudi-Arabia while utilizing penetration routes into the Islamic communities that are in distress, especially conflict regions or disaster-stricken regions. In the Kashmir context, it should be noted that the Saudi policy with regard to the Jihad arenas is identical. That is, the Saudis see the Jihad arena in Kashmir equal to the other Jihad arenas, such as: Chechnya, Bosnia, the Philippines and Palestine.

The Late Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Bin Baz - “The Ideological attack”

Cynically and ironically, while advocating compassion in the name of the deprived population that JuD is so concerned about, the very same population has been exposed for years to the intense radical Islamic Saudi Wahabbi Da’awa indoctrination led by Jama’t-ud-Da’wah through the radicalization process as demonstrated within the example of Bin Baz “Ideological Attack” book. Bin Baz’s writings were published around the world and some of them were translated into several languages, both printed copies and digitally. Their translation and distribution were an integral part of the Saudi system for spreading radical Wahabbi Islam around the world. The means for distribution included Saudi worldwide operating charities, the Internet, video and audiotapes and books. Following his death in 1999, the Bin Baz Institute was founded and it commemorates and spreads his teachings.[18]

The concept of Jihad plays an important role in Bin Baz’s scholarship. He dealt with defining Jihad, the types of Jihad and in what circumstances Jihad should be used. Bin Baz dedicated a special emphasis on Jihad against the infidels. Bin Baz perceived Jihad as a continuation of the Da’awa efforts. According to Bin Baz, Islam spread through the Da’awa and was supported by the sword. In places where Da’awa efforts to spread Islam fail, then the sword should be used. In Bin Baz’s opinion, the greatest Jihad is with one’s life, after that with money and after that Jihad with Da’awa and guidance. According to Bin Baz, Da’awa is also a type of Jihad.[19]

When Bin Baz was asked: “is protection of the country, land and honor considered Jihad?” Bin Baz issued a religious edict that protection of Muslim territory, family, honor, religion and standing at the fighting front is considered a form of Jihad and will reward the Muslim with the title of “Shahid”(Martyr) and entrance to paradise. Bin Baz stressed to the fighters in the front that they must fear Allah, purify their intentions, pray with the group five times a day, mention Allah’s name often, strive for unity and be patient in order to receive tranquility and beware of disobedience to Allah. For this, he quotes verses 45-46 in the “grants from the spoils chapter” in the Qur’an.[20]

Being that the defense of the Islamic country, land and honor is a supreme value in Islam, Bin Baz issued an edict, as did others before him, that if the youth was commanded by the Muslim ruler to go on Jihad, then the Muslim youth, who very much wants to go and fight in the holy war (Jihad), should obey the ruler and not his mother if she refuses (it should be noted that obedience to one’s parents is a very important value in Islam).[21]

In his book “The Ideological Attack”, (published in 1998 and a short time before his death) Bin Baz again expresses his views in a very hostile manner towards the Jews and the Christians. He contended that the Muslim world was exposed to a barbaric attack on the part of the Christians, the Jews, the Communists, the atheists, the secularists and others. With regard to the Christians, Bin Baz stated that: "The Christian crusaders' attack today is most violent…. Muslims whose brains have not been corrupted, cannot tolerate the fact that the heretics are coercing…therefore, such a Muslim tries with all his might to banish them – even if he has to sacrifice his life." With regard to the Jews, Bin Baz said: "The Jews' plot after taking over the Muslims' lands is to take over other lands. They have realized some of their plans and are continuing to try and materialize the rest".[22]

Sheikh Bin Baz defines the “Ideological Attack” as “a set of efforts, undertaken by a particular nation, in order to conquer or influence another nation, such that [the attack nation] is steered in a particular course of direction because of it”. Bin Baz claims that Muslims are under an “ideological attack” from three main sources: 1. The attack of the Christian crusaders 2. The Zionist attack and 3. The communist and atheistic attack. Of the three, Bin Baz points to the Christian attack as the most threatening to Islam. He explains that an “ideological attack” is more severe than military warfare because the attacked is unprepared to counter it. The attack comes in the form of school curriculums, general education, media, etc. Bin Baz lays the authority in the hands of the leaders of the Muslims, both religious and political, to explain to their population “what they have fallen into” and to lead the counter-attack measures. Bin Baz determines that a crucial factor in halting the attack is to guide the society to truly comprehend the realities of Islam, which can by achieved by correct Islamic guidance in the home and in educational institutions, in addition to the call for Da’wah.


On the official Bin Baz Arabic website [23], a warning was posted against travel to countries of “heretics”. An example is given, stating that travel agencies advertise study abroad summer programs in Europe and America where young Muslim students are exposed to a “heretic” host family, music, dancing and entertainment sites, all which may have severe influence on the traveler. The article discloses the effects these types of activities may have: provocation to stray from the righteous path, moral corruption, doubting of faith, admiration for the “heretic” culture, adoption of “heretic” culture, and finally, the recruitment of young Muslims to serve as preachers in their home countries. The warning calls for parents to deny their children’s’ request to travel abroad.

Even though Bin Baz attributes importance to all types of Jihad, he especially emphasized the Jihad against the infidels, both in Jihad with one’s life and with money. In a manuscript published by the Saudi National Guard in 1973 titled “the Jews stance towards Islam and the merit of Jihad and Mujaheedin”, Bin Baz claimed that Jihad for Allah (in the fighting sense) is considered the most preferable amongst good deeds and commandments. According to Bin Baz, Jihad is divided into two: offensive and defensive Jihad. Its goals are to bring victory to Muslims, uplift Islam, subdue the hypocritical heretics, calling on people to return to Islam, facilitate the spread of Da’wah, raising the horn of Allah etc’. Bin Baz brought examples from the Qur’an and the Hadith for the merits of Jihad for Allah through funds and sacrificing one’s life. It should be noted that in the 80’s and 90’s the Saudis adopted the religious - ideological concept of “Jihad with Money”(al Jihad bil- Mal)[24], which enabled the support and spread of Da’wah and the Jihad concepts around the world.[25] Bin Baz called on all Muslims, especially Arabs, to help their brethren being attacked as much as they could, with money and with life.[26] Bin Baz also sanctioned, “Faith and Jihad are the ones that will free the Muslim from the tormenting of Allah” and stressed that Jihad through money is the broadest, since through money one can recruit manpower, purchase arms, propagandists, and cloths for the fighters, food and tents.[27]

In his article, “Cultural Attack: A Complementary Interpretation of Usama bin Ladin”[28] Uriya Shavit, explains the process through which the Saudi Ulama identified a phenomenon which they labeled as the “cultural attack” or “intellectual attack” by the West, whose intention was to weaken the Muslim faith and eventually conquer Muslim land, until all Muslims were subordinated with Western culture and values. In order to counter this attack the Ulama (Saudi Islamic scholars/clerics), conceived of a two-pronged strategy: The first is to eliminate Saudi Arabia of any Western influences by Islamization of all aspects of Saudi life. The second is to launch a counter-attack in the Western world. The Muslim World League published a book entitled “The Means of Combating the Intellectual Attack on the Muslim World”, to deal with the issues outlined by the Ulama. The Ulama saw the Saudi Kingdom as a potential leader of the struggle against the Western attack, and the Kingdom did not oppose this concept. The Saudi discourse of the “cultural attack” emphasized the need to shift the struggle into the international arena, launch a multidimensional counter attack and harm the West in the same way that the West harms the Muslim world. The practical implementation of this ideology was noticed also in the sub continent when local radical Islamic groups and organizations were mobilized towards this effort.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa is the largest charity in Pakistan is now being linked to the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks, especially that the charity is considered the political wing of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.What is important is that we are facing fresh reminder of the old accusations of the exploitation of charitable work in the support and financing of terrorism, a fact that was well known for years and nothing was done to realize and take actions against the financing and the ideological exploitation carried out for more than two decades. The Mumbai attack was another waking call demonstrating how charitable and Da’wah work is being used in promoting radical Islamic ideological and its political agenda around the Muslim world and within Muslim communities around disputed regions such as in Iraq acts as a mask for Iranian influence, Hezbollah in Lebanon acts in promoting Iran’s influence, and how Hamas used charities in promoting terrorism and suicide attacks.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa as the front parent organization of Lashkar-e-Taiyyba was and still is since the beginning of the 90’s a part of the evolving global Jihad phenomenon although it focused in operating within the local Kashmir dispute. Their global approach was largely enhanced by the Saudi Wahabbi-Salafi ideology which was embraced by its prominent Jihadi leaders in promoting its global outreach as an Islamic local entity bonded within the framework of the general world wide Islamic solidarity of the “Ummah”(the Islamic Nation) concept. The increasing use of technology, especially the use of the Internet, by Islamic extremist groups including the JuD, has led to a new phenomenon known as "Glocal" issues, whereas global issues are now becoming local issues.[29] Osama bin Laden could not have his current, and increasing, level of success, if Muslims did not believe their faith, brethren, resources and lands, to be under attack by the United States and, more generally, the West. The Internet has helped to spread Al-Qaeda’s global Jihad concepts to reach Muslim communities around the world with this very message.[30]

The concrete violent confrontation with the Christians and the Jews, as manifested in the Mumbai attack, was carried out and materialized as a tool to counter the Western ideological attack conspiracy. The attack should be perceived within the larger context as a direct manifestation and translation into action items of Bin Baz’s and other purist Islamic scholars influenced by the Wahabbi-Salafi ideology that played as a major contributing factor to the Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Lashkar’s global Jihad state of mind as a motivational and spiritual “engine”. Therefore, killing Americans, British and Jews should not come as a surprise to anyone, whereas Lashkar, which once focused on the local India-Pakistan fight over Kashmir - hit a “new threshold” [31] of terror. Study of the Mumbai attack reveals the critical role played by the JuD as the overt front of Lashkar-e-Taiyyba and its connections to the Da’wah social-welfare infrastructure of clinics, schools, mosques and charities in recruiting and pushing young local Kashmir Muslims to the point of committing acts of terrorism.

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Jama’t-ud-Da’wah statement following its’ designation



http://www.jamatdawah.org/ accessed on 18 December 2008
Jama't-ud-Da’wah English web site



The Saudi Wahabbi Ideology Influence – "The Ideological Attack"



http://www.jamatdawah.org/ accessed on 18 December 2008



Quotations from the “Ideological Attack”



http://www.jamatdawah.org/


(Note: English misspellings appear in the original, copied as is).

“From those treatises and verdicts are:

• A Critique of [Arab] Nationalism (1/284)

• The Importance of Knowledge in Combating Destructive Ideologies Such as Atheism, Capitalism and Freemasonry (4/59)

• Concerning the Need to Form a United Front By the Various Islaamic Groups In Sudan Against the Secularists (4/166)

• The Obligation of Jihad in Afghanistan (5/I58)

• Concerning the Baabaree Mosque of India and Respecting Muslim Sentiments (7/349)

• Concerning Muslim Minorities in Europe and America and the Need to Support Them (2/370)

• Causes For the Weakness of the Muslims In Front of their Enemies and the Means To Cure This (5/101)

• A General Call to All Governments and Organizations to Aid the Muslims of Bosnia and Herzegovina With Manpower, Wealth, Weapons and Supplications (7/356)

• Concerning the Merits of Jihaad and That It is Not Only Defensive (3/171)

• A Letter to the Afghaan Mujaahidoon and the Efforts of the Enemies of Allaah in Seeking To Split Their Ranks (7/348)

• The Ideological Attack by the Christians, Zionists and Communists and the Methods Employed By Them (3/438).”


“Question: The enemies of Allaah are very eager to enter into the Muslim lands by various methods. So what efforts do you believe should be exerted in order to put a stop to this surge that has threatened the Islaamic societies?”

“Answer: This is not something strange coming from the callers to Christianity, Judaism, or the other religions of unbelief. Since Allaah, the Most Perfect and to Whom belongs all praise, informed us about this in His clear Revelation when He said:” Never will the Jews and the Christians be pleased with you until you follow their ways of life. Say: Indeed the

Guidance of Allaah that is the only Guidance. And if you were to follow their false desires after what you have received of the knowledge of Revelation, then you would have neither a guardian, nor any helper against Allaah.”

Allaah, the Most Perfect, also said: “And they will never stop fighting you, until they turn you away from your Religion, if they can.”

“0 you who Believe! Enter into Islaam completely, and do not follow the footsteps of Shaytaan, because he is to you a clear enemy.”

“Question: Are the Arabs generally subjected to this type of warfare, in particular the kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

Answer: Yes, the Muslims in general, including the Arabs, the kingdom, and other than them, are all subject to a great ideological attack from the various nations of unbelief (Kufr); from both the east and the west. The severest and most serious of these [ideological] attacks are: - The attack of the Christian crusaders the Zionist attack, the communist and atheistic attack.”

“After numerous case studies and assemblies they arrived at [something] that was far more dangerous and destructive than military warfare; which was that the Christian nations, both individually and collectively, should launch an ideological attack on those Muslims who were just beginning to grow and develop. This is because conquering the hearts and thoughts of a people is far more permanent than conquering their lands! The Muslim whose mind has not been corrupted cannot bear to see the unbelievers wielding authority, and ordering and prohibiting in his own country. Therefore such a Muslim strives his utmost to expel and distance them - even if he has to sacrifice his own life, or his most cherished possession for this cause; and this is what happened after the major conquest of the crusaders.”

“As for the Muslim who is exposed to this filthy attack, he becomes ill in thought and desensitized to this disease; he may not even see any danger with the presence of Christians in the lands of the Muslims. Indeed, he may even think that their presence is a source of goodness, which aids and advances civilization.”

“So the Christians have sufficed themselves with this ideological attack, as opposed to the military one, because it is more effective and more permanent…they resort to this in situations where speed is sought; such as what happened in Uganda and Pakistan. Or when there is a need to stabilize the advancement, or establish centers, or to establish bases, which engage in destructive ideological warfare; such as what happened in Egypt, Syria, Iraaq, and other countries, before their expulsion”.

“Also what Allaah, the Most High, mentions in His statements:” Never will the Jews and the Christians be pleased with you until you follow their way of life.”

“The Zionist war is just the same. The Jews strive their utmost to corrupt the beliefs, morals and manners of the Muslims. The Jews scheme and crave after possessing the Muslim lands, as well as the lands of others. They have fulfilled some of their plans and continue striving hard to implement the rest of them. Even though they do engage the Muslims in warfare involving strength and arms and have occupied some of their lands, they also fight them by spreading destructive thoughts, beliefs and ideologies; such as Freemasonry, Qadiaanisim, Bahaaism, Teejaanism and others - seeking the support of the Christians and others, in order to fulfill their objectives.”

“The peace between the Muslim leaders of Palestine and the Jews does not mean that the Jews will permanently possess the lands that they possess now. Rather, it only means that they will be in possession of them for a period of time, until either the truce expires, or until the Muslims become strong enough to force them out of the Muslim lands -in the case of an unrestricted peace. Likewise, when we have the ability, it is obligatory to fight the Jews until they enter into Islaam, or until they give the Jizyah (a tax levied from those non-Muslims who are permitted to live under the protection of the Muslim state) in servility...“

Notes:

[1] See the authors’ background article” In The Wake of the Mumbai Attacks”28 November 2008. http://www.ict.org.il/NewsCommentaries/Commentaries/tabid/69/Articlsid/533/currentpage/1/Default.aspx

[2] 1267 Committee Sanctions Lashkar e-Tayyiba Associated Individuals and Entities. See http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1267/index.shtml.

[3] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/11/AR2008121100901.html

[4] http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD215708. 17 December 2008.

[5] http://www.jamatdawah.org/news_detail.php?news_id=788

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ahmadi (Ahmadiyya) is the collective name given to the two distinct groups (The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement) comprising of followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (d. 1908) from Qadian, in Punjab, India. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad termed his movement the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat (community) envisioning it to be a revitalization of Islam.

[8] JuD “Al ANFAL” monthly Arabic bulletin, July 2008,p.31. See http://arabic.jamatdawa.org/anfal/anfal%20july%202008/31.html

[9] “Duty of Implementing the Resolutions “ The Muslim World League Journal – April 1980.

[10] The Muslim World League Journal, Vol.16,“Constituent Council 29th Session”, November/December 1988,p.6.

[11] Author’s interview with former “Abu Sayyaf” high-ranking activist in the Philippines. (Manila, 8 July 2008).

[12] ”Saudi Publications On Hate Ideology Invade American Mosques”, Center for Religious Freedom, 2005.p.4. http://crf.hudson.org/files/publications/SaudiPropoganda.pdf

[13] Jonathan Fighel and Yoram Kehati, “Mending the Hearts of the Believers” Analysis of Recent Al-Qaida Documents, Part 1,28 November 2002. See http://www.ict.org.il/Articles/tabid/66/Articlsid/87/currentpage/17/Default.aspx.

[14] Husain Haqqani, “The Ideologies of South Asian Jihadi Groups” 19 May 2005. See http://www.futureofmuslimworld.com/research/pubID.30/pub_detail.asp

[15] Ibid.

[16] “Saudi-Financed Terror Camp Raided in Pakistan” 9 December 2008. http://larouchepac.com/news/2008/12/09/saudi-financed-terror-camp-raided-pakistan.html

[17] Bernard Lewis, The Crises of Islam- Holy War and Unholy Terror (Random House Trade, 2004).

[18] http://www.binbaz.org.sa/

[19] Abd Al-Aziz Bin Baz, “The Greatest Jihad”, in: Muhammad Bin ‘Abd Al-Aziz Al-Musand (editor), Fatawa Islamiyya, 4 (Riyadh Dar Al-Watan, 1994), pp. 261-262.

[20] Abd Al-Aziz Bin Baz, “The defense of Muslim territory is considered a form of Jihad” in: Muhammad Bin Abd Al-Aziz Al-Musand (editor), Fatawa Islamiyya, 4 (Riyadh Dar Al-Watan, 1994), pp. 259-260.

[21] Abd Al-Aziz Bin Baz, “Love of Jihad and obedience to one’s mother”, in: Abd Al-Aziz Bin Baz and Abdullah Al-Tiyar (editors), Majmu‘ Fatawa Samahat Al-Sheikh Abd Al-Aziz Bin Baz (religious edicts of the esteemed Sheikh Abd Al-Aziz Bin Baz), 3 (Riyadh: Dar Al-Watan, 1416 Hijra: May 1995-May 1996), pp. 1203-1204.

[22] http://www.9-11commission.gov/hearings/hearing3/witness_emerson.htm. See also: Abd al-Aziz bin Baz, The Ideological Attack, (Middlesex, UK: Message of Islam, 1999), pp. 5, 36-38, and 41.

[23] http://www.binbaz.org.sa/.See also http://www.islamicawakening.com/viewarticle.php?articleID=484&

[24] Saudi cleric Sheikh Salman bin Fahd al-Awdah, “Al-Irhab: Al-Mafhum wal-Mu’alajah” (Terrorism-the concept and how to cope with it). The article in question appeared on his website, www.islamtoday.net

[25] Bin Baz, “Merit of Jihad and Mujahadin”, Majmu‘ Fatawa wa-Maqalat Mutanawwi‘a (various articles and religious edicts), 2 (Riyadh: Maktabat Al-Ma‘arif Lil-nashr Wa-al-tawzi‘, 1997), pp. 430-448.

[26] Abd Al-Aziz Bin Baz, Majmu‘ Fatawa wa-Maqalat Mutanawwi‘a (various articles and religious edicts) 2 (Riyadh: Maktabat Al-Ma‘arif Lil-nashr Wa-al-tawzi‘, 1997) pp. 413-429.

[27] Bin Baz, “Merit of Jihad and Mujahadin”, Majmu‘ Fatawa wa-Maqalat Mutanawwi‘a (various articles and religious edicts), 7(Riyadh: Maktabat Al-Ma‘arif Lil-nashr Wa-al-tawzi‘, 1997) pp. 336-340.

[28] Uriya Shavit, “Cultural Attack: A Complementary Interpretation Of Usama bin Ladin3” in Middle East Quarterly, Fall 2006, Volume XIII, Number 4.See http://www.meforum.org/article/999.

[29] Declassified Key Judgments of the National Intelligence Estimate "Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States" dated April 2006. http://intelligence.house.gov/Reports.aspx?Section=11

[30] Ibid.

[31] Daily News, “India terror group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, the new Al Qaeda?”21 December 2008. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/12/21/2008-12-21_india_terror_group_lashkaretaiba_the_new.html