Realities of the Conflict Between Islam and Unbelief, by Shaykh Ayman al-Zawahiri

Reprinted with permission from Laura Mansfield

In the Name of Allah, and all praise is due to Allah, and may peace and prayers be on the Messenger of Allah and on his family, companions and allies.

Muslim brothers everywhere: peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

A number of critical events in our Islamic world are passing us these days, and I deem it important for us to emphasize a number of their fundamental characteristics, in view of the importance of educating the Ummah in the facts of the conflict between Islam and infidelity, from both a legal as well as factual point of view.

The first thing that I wish to talk about is the passing of 89 years since the Balfour Declaration, in which someone who didn’t own the Holy Land of Palestine gave it to someone who didn’t deserve it…

That historical event which we must not allow to pass from memory, and which we must transmit from generation to generation, in order that we be aware of the extent of the animosity of Britain and the Crusader West in general to the Muslim Ummah…

The animosity of to Islam which stretches over centuries: isn’t it the one who used to occupy most Islamic lands? Isn’t it the one who moved Abd al-Aziz Al Sa’ud and al-Husayn ibn Ali to stab the Ottoman state in its back? And isn’t it the one who handed over to the Jews one of the holiest places of Islam?

And today in Palestine, conspiracies to abort the Jihad and surround the Mujahideen are being hatched by the same forces which created and with the cooperation of their agents among our people.

I repeat to you, my brothers, that we must be conscious of the legal and factual realities of this conflict, lest the treacherous leadership deceive us and we get lost in the market of political bargaining.

And the first of these facts which we must be conscious of and focus on and repeatedly emphasize, is that the fighting must be for elevating the Word of Allah, and that the elevation of Allah’s Word on His earth means the elevation of His Law (Shari’ah), and that the Muslim cannot possibly be a believer without litigating to Divine Law alone to the exclusion of all other laws. The Truth (Exalted is He) says, “But no, by your Lord (O Muhammad), they are not believers until they make you judge in all disputes between them, and find in their souls no resistance to your decisions, but accept them with the fullest conviction.” (4:65) Thus, it is unimaginable that the Muslims could create a government in Palestine or elsewhere based on the rule of other than the Shari’ah, and whose authority doesn’t come from the Shari’ah.

And the second of these facts is that the recovery of every land which was once a land of Islam is the personal duty of every Muslim. Therefore, as Muslims, we cannot possibly concede to Israel so much as a hand-span of Palestine, and there is no difference as far as we are concerned between Palestine 1948 and Palestine 1967: all of it is Palestine and all of it belongs to the Muslims, and all the international resolutions which bit off chunks of it and allowed the presence of Israel on it – from the partition resolution to Resolution 1701 – are null and void, non-binding resolutions, which aren’t worth so much as a mosquito’s wing on the scales of Islam.

It is our duty to reject and cast off these resolutions and wage war on them, instead of taking indecisive stances towards them, and saying that we shall respect them and acknowledge them as a fact of life, and other such terms which lead to the forfeiture of the Muslims’ rights.

Recognizing these resolutions implies recognizing the Hebrew state in the land of Palestine, criminalizing Jihad against it, and isolating the Mujahideen outside it from the Mujahideen inside it.

And the secularists who have approved these resolutions are criminals in the eyes of Islam who have agreed to the establishment of in one of the holiest places in Islam.

These secularist traitors – who have renounced Islamic Law, agreed to the presence of and traded Palestine for crumbs – cannot possibly have any legitimacy, and we cannot possibly recognize them as legitimate rulers, much less consider them our brothers. They are enemies of Islam and Muslims who have turned their backs on the Shari’ah of Islam and surrendered the Muslims’ lands to the Jews.

The third fact is that every way other than Jihad will only lead us to loss and failure, and those who attempt to liberate the lands of Islam through elections which are held on the basis of the secular constitutions or the resolutions surrendering Palestine to the Jews will never liberate one sand-grain of Palestine: instead, their actions will lead to the smothering of the Jihad and blockading of the Mujahideen.

Backtracking in front of the West will not make them happy with us, regardless of how much expertise we acquire in maneuvering, equivocating and talking. The Truth (Exalted is He) says, “The Jews or the Christians will never be satisfied with you unless you follow their religion.” (2:120)

The fourth fact is that recognition of takes many forms. Among the forms of recognition of is membership in the United Nations, because is a member like the rest of the members, and it is the obligation of all members – according to the text of the UN charter – to respect its sovereignty and the integrity of its territories.

And one of the regrettable events in this sphere concerns the conference of “emerging democracies” which was held under UN auspices in this past October and which the Israeli foreign minister refused to attend because a delegation from the Palestinian government which included members of the HAMAS movement was attending the conference! i.e., they complain about attending the same conference as us, while we eagerly compete for that! Is this the political action which protects the honor and rights of the Muslims?!

Another lamentable example in this context is the recent draft Security Council resolution put forward by on behalf of the Arab grouping and vetoed by the , which condemned the latest aggression against Gaza in addition to condemning the launching of rockets against . The ambassador of Palestine at the United Nations supported this draft and regretted ’s objection to it: i.e., the Palestinian government adopted and supported a draft resolution criminalizing Jihad against !

And here we must make clear the true nature of the United Nations. The United Nations is an organization hostile to Islam. Its charter is based on the rule of other than the Shari’ah and obligates all UN members, including the governments of the Islamic countries, to recognize , because it – like them – is a member of the UN. And it also obligates them to recognize ’s occupation of and the Muslim Caucasus, ’s occupation of East Turkistan, Spain’s occupation of Ceuta and Melilla and the occupation of other Muslim lands by non-Muslim governments which are part of the UN.

And furthermore, the UN is the one who established the Jewish presence in Palestine, the Crusader presence in Afghanistan, and the Crusader occupation of Iraq, and it is the international false witness which runs the rigged elections in Afghanistan and Iraq, and it is the one who today is attempting to enable the Crusaders to invade Darfur under cover of the UN. The United Nations is the one whose international forces are today deployed on the borders of , to prevent the meeting up of the Mujahideen from outside Palestine with those within it, in order to complete the blockade against the Mujahideen in Palestine. The United Nations is a tool in the hands of the and its Crusader partners for taking over the world through intimidation, enticement and extortion, and it has a leadership comprised of the Big Five and a backyard called the General Assembly in which the weak states shout at one another.

And among the forms which the recognition of takes is the acceptance of the legitimacy of the Palestinian National Authority which came in being on the basis of the Oslo accords.

And among the forms which the recognition of takes is the acceptance of the legitimacy of Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the PNA and ’s man in Palestine.

And authorizing the Palestinian Liberation Organization – which recognizes – to negotiate with is an abyss which leads in the end to the crushing of Jihad and recognition of .

Disregarding the legal and factual realities of the conflict between unbelief and Islam has led to some of the brothers in Palestine being led from a lull in the fighting to elections on the basis of a secular constitution, then from elections on the basis of a secular constitution to respecting the international resolutions, then from respecting international resolutions to approving the “prisoners’ document”, then from approving the “prisoners’ document” to a government of national unity, and then from a government of national unity to their expulsion from the cabinet…and the story continues.

How is it that they didn’t demand that Palestine have an Islamic constitution before entering any elections? Aren’t they an Islamic movement? Don’t they strive for Allah’s Word to be the highest?

We hear talk of an agreement to restructure the PLO. But what we know and what the entire world knows is that the PLO is a secular organization which calls for the establishment of a secular state in Palestine, and that the PLO is the one who recognized Israel and abandoned more than 80% of Palestine and agreed to the accords of disgrace and surrender So on what basis are they calling for the restructuring of the PLO? We had hoped that the brothers would demand an Islamic charter for the PLO before talking about restructuring it.

And furthermore, what would their stance be were the PLO to be restructured through elections – as we hear – and the majority chose abandonment of Palestine and agreeing to recognize ?

And this opens the door to the biggest question: what is the authority which rules? Is it the majority of votes? Or Divine Shari’ah?

I hope that no one replies to me by saying that Palestine has its individuality and the people of Palestine know it better than anyone else.

First of all, Palestine is the cause of every Muslim, just as all the Muslims’ causes are the causes of every Muslim in Palestine. Secondly, I’m not talking about details and secrets about which the people of Palestine know best: rather, I’m talking about the fundamentals of Islam and Shari’ah and the right of Shari’ah to rule, and I’m talking about refusing to compromise on one sand-grain of Islamic land.

That’s why I say to our brothers in Palestine: brothers in Islam; brothers in Jihad; brothers in Ribat, sacrifice and martyrdom-seeking: hold onto your Qurans, hold on to your rifles.

My Muslim brothers in Palestine: all Muslims stand with you, and wish to offer their lives in exchange for the liberation of al-Aqsa, so stand with your Muslim brothers in Islam in , , Kashmir and , and let the world hear your support of them.

I also encourage the Muslim Ummah to support the people of Palestine with all the support they can, in order that the flame of Jihad is not extinguished in the environs of Jerusalem.

And I call on all Muslims to back the Mujahideen in Palestine with their persons, wealth, materiel, opinion and expertise, in spite of the international resolutions and in spite of the Sykes-Picot borders.

The second thing I wish to talk about is the passing of five years since the entrance of the Crusaders to Kabul, surrounded by their agents who sold their religion for a paltry worldly price and some of whom used to claim to belong to Jihad and the Islamic movement, but Allah revealed what was in their hearts, and so they entered Kabul on the backs of the Crusader tanks and under their cross.

The American government thought that it had scored an easy victory, but Bush didn’t have a clue about what awaited him in . And the truth about the Americans and their allies began to come to light in Tora Bora and Shah-i-Kot. And the Jihadi resistance began to increase, with the Bush administration claiming that it was the remnants of al-Qaida and Taliban in order to cover up its losses, and Bush claiming that he keeps on his desk pictures of the leaders of al-Qaida and crosses out the pictures of those of them who are killed or captured. And in vain, the Western media and with it the international false witness, the UN, sought to cover up the catastrophe. And so began the campaign of lies and deception: first the Loya Jirga, then the interim government, then the presidential and parliamentary elections…those elections which took place under the threat of aerial bombing to destroy any village suspected of harboring resistance to the Crusader. And I can authenticate specific incidents in which the Crusader-helping traitors threatened those who cooperate with the Mujahideen not merely with death, but with the destruction of their entire village, and then carried out their threat.

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Laura Mansfield

Laura

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