Who are the Terrorists?

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American Capitalism, a Necessary Evil?

The Shield

Islamic Commentary on the State of the Muslim
Ummah
Vol. 1, No. 7 March 2007




“They will ask thee as to what they should spend on others. Say: Whatever
of your wealth you spend shall [first] be for your parents, and for the near of kin,
and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer; and whatever good you do,
verily, God has full knowledge thereof.” Qur’an 2:215


America or more precisely, the American Government would have us believe that its way of life is the only alternative for the world today. This is in spite of its failure at home, where the rich became richer on the backs of free African labor in the form of slavery for more that 400 years.

Capitalism is championed as are distributive necessary evil with the premise that the rich would create jobs for the poor, and that money would be circulated. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Capitalism only benefits those who have the power and the money already to exploit the powerless and the poor. For instance, the wealthiest 1% of the households in America own 33.4% of the nation’s wealth, and the wealthiest 10% of the households own 71% of the nation’s wealth.

According to one source, “The richest 2 per cent of adults own more than half of global household wealth, and almost all of the well-heeled live in North America, Europe and richest Asia-Pacific countries.” Without argument, capitalism is a man thought out system that does not bring prosperity, much less, equality to people. Right here in America, there is an economic problem. Just look at the black and Latino inner cities or ghettos. The capitalist’s mind says that the poor, the non-white, are a necessary evil to motivate people to spend long hours at work and studying in school so that they don’t end up like them, the outcasts, the undeserving.

Many people, who are fooled by capitalism, accept this condition of the poor in America as a necessary evil to make the system of capitalism work. This is sick, that we would accept a system that creates poverty for many and massive wealth for a few. Capitalism was thought of by men, thus anything created my humans is naturally imperfect. The root of the problem or the cause of the many symptoms is the disease. Islam is the only system or ideology that can rid the world of today’s inequalities and problems. This is because Islam is from the one who created all that is in existence today.

Allah is the attribute giver, and he is the ultimate problem solver. Islam eradicated poverty during its zenith, and Insha-Allah it will again. We can say that when the Islamic system comes back, it will make sure that there are no necessary evils, there are no ghettos, there is no world poverty, especially in the Muslim world where resources are abound. Ali (ra), the fourth Khalifah in Islam said, “If poverty were a man, I would have killed it.” As human beings it should pain us to sleep when others go to bed on empty stomachs. Allah gives the motive for redistribution of wealth:

“Let the man of means spend according to his means: and the man whose resources are restricted, let him spend according to what Allah has given him. Allah puts no burden on
any person beyond what He has given him. After a difficulty7, Allah will soon grant relief.”
(TMQ 65:7)

There was time in the history of Islam, when Africa had so much, that the poor due Zakat was left untouched. Capitalism is an evil, but we Muslims say not a necessary one when the true alternative is revived!

An Ideological Ummah Can Never Be Colonized

The Colonization of Muslims

An Ideological Ummah Can Never Be Colonized


The Shield
Islamic Commentary on the State of the Muslim
Ummah
Vol. 1, No. 8 April 2007



“Allah has promised those among you who believe, and do righteous good deeds, that He will certainly grant them succession to (the present rulers) in the earth, as He granted it to those before them, and that He will grant them the authority to practice their religion, that which He has chosen for them. And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear (provided) they (believers) worship Me and do not associate anything (in worship) with Me. But whoever disbelieved after this, they are the Fasiqun
(rebellious, disobedient)” (TMQ 24:55)


The worst type of colonialismis intellectual. Armies can be repelled, invasions can be endured, and material setbacks can be absorbed as long as the Ummah maintains its connection with its ideological base i.e. the Islamic aqeedah. For a nation that believes in an eternal afterlife, of what concern are the temporal comforts of this life?

Allah has created us as beings with intellect, who once being convinced of something, are prepared to expend our energy and sacrifice our lives for this idea. Once intellectually convinced of an idea, humans by nature propagate it, that is we act in accordance with our concepts towards life. Muslims who believe in Allah will inevitably share their belief with everyone through invitation and discussion and will naturally challenge all beliefs that run counter to this, regardless of whether they have power or are powerless.

Under the merciless torture of his master, Bilal (ra) defiantly proclaimed “Ahad, Ahad, Ahad” (Allah is One), knowing it would enrage his master, despite his physical state of slavery and misery. Instead of acting like a fearful slave, he acted like a fearsome warrior; taunting his master by proclaiming Allah’s oneness. The aqeedah breeds a mentality of confidence and defiance to all that stands in its way. Despite boycotts, torture, slander,death threats, and seizure of material wealth, the Muslims remained steadfast, telling the Quraish that they would one day rule the Arabs and the non-Arabs and conquer the Roman and Persian empires; a prophesy which indeed came to fruition. Embracing this deen wholeheartedly, they knew their situation would soon change and that no amount of physical coercion would destroy their trust in Allah. Any nation that embraces a comprehensive way of life will inevitably challenge ideas that contradict it. And any nation that has a comprehensive way of life can not be colonized. This is because the idea towards life, or the aqeedah, defines success and prosperity and does not accept a position of defeat.

People with no aqeedah are easily coerced, colonized, and deceived. So in parts of Africa, the Europeans colonized and exploited the people with ease. In places like Afghanistan and India, the British had a very difficult time staying in control because thepeople retained Islam and refused an outside force to suppress them. With the Arabs and the Turks of the Uthmani Khilafah however, rather than trying to crush by force, they took advantage of the weakness in the Ummah. The British adopted a policy of attacking Islam and driving a wedge between the Muslims anIslam. They criticized various aspects of Islamic law in order thave the Muslims adopt a new wayof life; a new aqeedah. They concealed their intentions of dividing and colonizing the Ummah by promoting crooked ideas of Arab independence and Turkish nationalism.

They succeeded in establishing political groups with influence and power to adopt a secular way of life. Any nation that adopts an ideology, will naturally rise to dominance. After the hijrah when our beloved Prophet and his sahabah came to Madinah, they were poor, lacked a sophisticated military, and deprived of the material resources compared to the mighty Quraish. But within 8 years the Muslims had conquered the heart of Arabia, Makkah with an army covered in armor from head to toe and with a cavalry in excess of 10,000 horses. Even if a nation adopts a false and corrupt ideology, it will still rise because the ideology defines the goal of life.

Even if it is corrupt, a comprehensive way of viewing life is incredibly motivating and can transform even a nation of farmers into a formidable force. When Czarist Russia adopted the corrupt ideology of Communism it became a world superpower capable of dominating the world within 20 years. However, because Communism is a corrupt and unnatural creed, its own people eventually rejected it.

These incidents prove that once a nation adopts a specific viewpoint towards life, or aqeedah, their mentality is solidified and their actions are governed by an unshakable purpose that does not recognize temporary limitations. A nation that gives up its aqeedah (whether correct or not) truly becomes colonized. As stated earlier, no nation that embraces its ideology can ever be colonized. The Muslims who were once the rulers of the known world were pried from their deen. The Kuffar exported their ideas and culture into the Muslim lands. They then attacked Islam and depicted it as backwards. They did all this so that Muslims themselves would leave Islam as a way of life. The Kuffar worked to make sure that we didn’t view Islam as an ideology, or complete system.

They made sure that we weren’t ideological unless we carried their broken ideology. They injected their ideas and concepts towards life through music, literature, educational institutions, etc. Today ,Muslims have to reject all thoughts that don’t emanate from Islam. The Muslim Ummah is waking up and realizing that it will only regain its glory and status when it rejects all kufr thoughts and returns to Islam.

The West is workingextremely hard to counter this. Just like yesterday, their strategies have not changed. While they are content with Islam as a spiritual way of life, they portray the political, economic, and social aspects of Islam as backwards and incapable of dealing with the modern world. The situation of the Muslim Ummah is one of colonization. The only way an ideological Ummah can be colonized is from lack of conviction or laziness and confusion. The Kuffar have worked to drive us away from Islam, but they are only doing what Allah says they will do. Any nation will exert its way of life on others, so we can’t blame others for our situation. Muslims have no excuse to live in the current situation of slavery, humiliation and slavery, because we still have the Deen of Allah. Our issue is to reclaim our Deen (Way of Life) and adopt it in totality and change our situation from one of fear to one of victory. And this can only be done with the establishment of the Khilafah (Islamic State).