www.fahmedeen.org To SANE (Society of Americans for National Existence) Recently I came across your lengthy diatribe against Mufti Taqi Usmani in your so-called March 26, 2009 “letter” addressed to him. He was not supposed to answer you personally because he is humble and polite and because he is pretty far from cheap altercations. But I, as one of his admirers, took it upon myself to take you on. Just as you are serving your master David Yerushalmi, I am serving mine. Your master teaches you to traduce and badmouth other people. My Master, in contrast, commands me to “speak fair to people” (Al Quran 2:83). He also commands His servants to say “peace’ in response to the “ignorant ones.” (Al-Quran; 25:63). I therefore, say, “Peace!” in response to your letter, because every sentence of your letter demonstrates the ignorance against which we are directed by the Holy Qur’an (25:63) to say “peace”. No wonder! As John Monbiot says, - “one adult in five believes the sun revolves round the earth; only 26% accept that evolution takes place by means of natural selection; two-thirds of young adults are unable to find Iraq on a map; two-thirds of US voters cannot name the three branches of government; the maths skills of 1 5-year-olds in the US are ranked 24th out of the 29 countries of the OECD.” (Guardian: October 29, 2008) You seem totally ignorant of the maxim that one’s language reflects one’s stock, breeding and schooling, -the way one is born and taught. Please judge your language against this altruism. You did not take away a whit from Mr. Usmani or Mr. Ranzini; you only gave yourselves away. You say, “You, Mufti Usmani, have issued a fatwa for violent jihad against the West to be conducted by Muslims living in the West.” Although Mufti Usmani has never issued such a fatwa and you cannot prove it through any of his writings, you don’t even know what a “fatwa” is. You may profit by consulting the Columbia World Dictionary of Islam, which states that, “It is a vulgar error to suppose that a Fatwa is a ‘sentence of death,’ or some such thing, as Western journalists sometimes imply.” Rather, “A ‘Fatwa’ (Arabic plural ‘Fatawa’) is nothing more or less than the answer to a question on a matter of religion put to a person qualified to deliver answers to such questions, who is known as a mufti.” In other words it is the expression of expert opinion. It is like an opinion by a legal or medical expert. So, would you deny Mr. Usmani the free 1
www.fahmedeen.org expression of opinion, because, such freedom is the exclusive prerogative of Zionists and Christians, and he is a Muslim? Evidently you do not even seem to be aware of the true connotations of “violent.” If you were you would know that “armed” jihad, -which is what Mr. Usmani meant by jihad in some of his writings can NEVER be “aggressive, brutal or cruel,” which is what violent is synonymous with. The epithet would, on the contrary, apply admirably to Crusades. Your observation “any wonder a Pakistani newspaper all the way around the world takes notice of Bank and Ranzini going Shariah!?!” exposes the lamentable extent of your ignorance. It is the very apogee, because, the Pakistani newspaper, Pakistan Daily, you have made such a brouhaha about, was not the original publisher of the news item. Nor was it “all the way round the world.” Right in your own home a very American ABC News telecast the detailed Associated Press story on January 13. The Pakistani newspaper, on which you have vented your misplaced rage, only published an excerpt of the story, full 18 days later, on January 31. Anyone in your place would feel contrite at the gaffe you have made. The panic, that has overtaken the Shylocks due to shariah banking having secured a foothold on what has been their exclusive turf, is understandable. Hence, your vitriolic language, as if you would chew Mr. Ranzini (and Mr. Usmani, too?) if you could lay your hands on them, as the Crusaders chewed the flesh of Muslims and even Christians of the Eastern Church who did not join them. You taunt MF. Ranzini, saying, “Shariah is not quite as profitable as he thought!’ But you are ignorant of the fact that shariah financing is not about blind profit-making. This is what insulates shariah financial institutions against collapse. “The total net income for this pathetic excuse of a bank for the 9 months ending Sept o8 was $108,739” as you say. But did it go bankrupt? Did it seek any bailout? Did it have to lay off its staff? Compare that, please, with the “giants” that made mountains of profits: Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual Bank, AIG, et al. By the way did you know that the chief financial Officer of Freddie Mac committed suicide recently? This would never happen to a shariah-based financial institution. So pathetic is your ignorance that you don’t even know what your own Old Testament says on charging interest. “If you lend money to my 2
www.fahmedeen.org people, the poor with you, you shall not be as a money lender to him, you shall not put interest on him,” is not an Islamic injunction; it is right there in Exodus 22:25! Your claim that Mr. Usmani is a “leader of the war against the West,” in other words, Christendom, is blatant calumny. It is true that he in some of his writings supported armed jihad when the freedom and honor of an Islamic state is in danger. But, as a “mufti,” he only offered his considered opinion on a theological issue. How does that make him a “leader?” But taking liberty with language only exposes your crass ignorance. Your fulmination against Dow Jones, too, is risible. The company only demonstrated its vision and commonsense. It hired Mr. Usmani’s services as an authority on Islamic theology which has no relation to his views on jihad. And, finally, jihad! With the level of knowledge you seem to have and with your brains washed with a powerful anti-Islam detergent, you had better leave the subject alone. It is far too profound a subject for you to comprehend. However, the question “Is he who goes groping on his face more rightly guided or he who walks on a straight path?” (Al Quran; 67:22), illustrates the difference between Islam’s jihad and Christian crusade. For example, your Scriptures do not offer any guidance on how war is to be waged, when and with whom. So you have Dresden, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and so forth. You have Abu Gharaib, Guantanamo, Bagram, My Lai, Deir Yasin, Sabra Shatila, Qana, Mirwahim and, more recently, Gaza. And you have not only devastation of property but also merciless destruction of foliage as in Vietnam with Agent Orange. Such practices are unthinkable in jihad which prohibits spilling innocent blood. Islam prescribes strict rules of engagement. A mujahid enlists to fight only to please God and for no personal gain. He would not appropriate even a pin or a straw for himself. Unlike non-Muslims, who are accountable only to their commander, a mujahid is answerable not only to his commander but also to God. No mujahid ever ate the flesh of his victim. Crusading Christians did. They ate the flesh not only of their Muslim adversaries but even of the Christians of the Eastern Church who did not join them. No Muslim 3
www.fahmedeen.org burnt Jews on stakes or in gas chambers. Westerners did. Muslim rulers, on the contrary, offered sanctuary to Jews oppressed by Christians. Moreover, mujahedeen will never cheat on an undertaking. Compare this with what the Jews, -“Gorion son of Nicomedes, Ananias son of Sadok, and Judas son of Jonathan did with the Roman commander Metilius. They assured Metilius upon oath that they would allow safe passage to the Roman contingent if the soldiers laid down their arms. “But when, in accordance with the covenant, they had all laid down their bucklers and swords and with no suspicion remaining, were taking their departure, Eleazar’s party fell upon them.... Thus brutally butchered, perished all save Metilius; he alone saved his life by entreaties and promises to Judaize, even to the point of being circumcised.” This happened around September 66 C.E and it was Josephus, a Jewish historian who narrated this story. Ah! But you are ignorant even of your own history. In contrast, when the Prophet of Islam entered into a treaty with his foes, he stuck to it in letter and spirit, despite frustration among his followers. History celebrates this event as the Treaty of Hudaibiya. And, when he entered victorious into the city of Makka he declared general amnesty instead of ordering a massacre. That is jihad. Even today, you may contrast what Pfc. Steven Dale Green and his companions did to 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, in Iraq, with how Taliban behaved with the female Christian (Western) journalists, whom they kidnapped. By your standards Green and his pals were “civilized” guys and Taliban are “backward.” But the civilized ones gangraped a Muslim girl and then shot her along with her parents, while the backward Taliban did not ever touch their Christian captives. One such was Sunday Express reporter Yvonne Ridley. No wonder she was so enchanted by the conduct of her captors that she took to reading the Quran, converted to Islam and gave up drinking. You may turn to the BBC news for the full story. Indeed, if you sought Divine guidance and tried to learn and understand the meaning of jihad and the precepts of Islam, you would feel the change. By the way your threat that David Yerushelmi has Mr. Usmani in his “litigation sights” is no news. Shylocks will always drag innocent Antonios to the court.
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www.fahmedeen.org As to your challenge, “Bring it on,� it befits you. But Mr. Usmani desires me to convey to you that in answer to your challenge, he humbly prays to God that He may guide you to the Eternal Truth and the Straight path, -that is Islam. Amen! Peace! Dr. Muhammad Akbar
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