NOTE: Below is an essay written by an online jihādi about the Aceh Jihād in Indonesia. It was originally written on the website Arrahmah.com, which is not in English. The essay is unedited and reflects what the jihādi wrote. If you want a copy of Parts 1 & 2 feel free to email me.
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Formulating The Map Of Contributions Of The Islamic Ummah
The Mujahideen need to formulate the map of contributions of the ummahwhich is required for the establishment of Islam, in order to make sure that all elements of the ummah can play their roles according to interests and abilities. Because, in the reality such as Indonesia today (2010), it is unlikely that we can be imagining that the entire Islamic ummah are supporting jihad, let alone to go to the jihad arena.
Unless if the reality is like Iraq or Afghanistan, when the kafir enemies are savagely attacking the Islamic ummah, then as many cadres as possible are required to come to the jihad arena. In a situation like this, the most needed and effective contribution is the picking up of weapons to expel thekafir invaders as immediately as possible.
The map of contributions that we meant is, for example, on how to answer the query of a Muslim journalist; what kind of contribution could he give for jihad and the establishment of Islam if he does not plunge directly into the battlefield? As well as, a similar query from the traders, teachers, farmers, drivers, sailors, IT experts, engineers and all kind of human professions and expertise.
Does inflaming jihad in Indonesia mean summoning them all to abandon their professions and come in droves towards the jihad arena? Once again, in the case of a country with the size of Indonesia, where the total population is more than 200 millions, and with the absence of a “trigger” to ignite the fight, is that a wise choice of method in the establishment of Islam here?
Or will there be tolerance for them to pursue their professions but are still able to contribute for the establishment of Islam? If the answer is yes, then what they need is a map of contributions. They could still work in each of their field, while giving contributions in a chain of links that culminates in jihad fie sabilillah. As far as I know, there has never been a blueprint of the map of contribution made, which covers the entire fields and expertise of the Islamic ummah, at least in Indonesia.
The Islamic ummah in Indonesia have a number of websites which are incessant in voicing out the jihad theme and news, such as Arrahmah.com, Muslimdaily.net, Eramuslim.com and others. The Mujahideen do not need to provoke the admins of those websites to leave their posts and go to the battle hills. Because, the existence of those posts is very vital in educating the ummah about jihad and in advocating the Mujahideen from the cases that are ever ready to ensnare them.
The same goes with the doctors, whether it be the general practitioners or the specialists. Their expertise needs to be maintained in each of their workplace, to be used one day. The cadres of the ummah who are engaging in the technical and engineering field, let them develop in each of their workplace, because jihad really needs their expertise when the time comes one day.
In fact, the da’wah bodies which are alive in the midst of the ummah, with all their diversities and focuses of attention, are also required to be maintained. For example, the institution which focuses in eradicatingmunkar (FPI), pursuing educations for Muslim children (pesantrens and schools), specialization in dealing with the deviated sects (LPPI), specialization in fighting Liberalism and Pluralism (INSIST: Adian Husaini and Co.), specialization in fighting Shiah, specialization in fighting Christianization (FAKTA, etc.) and all other elements of the ummah which have the roles of guarding the big house from the gnawing of the rats ofmunkar and falsehood.
This paradigm is founded on the view that jihad is not the medicine for every disease. Jihad is not like the advertisement of a drink product:“whatever the food, the drink is always Sosro- the Bottled Tea.” To oppose the Shiah in Indonesia, it can’t be done by threatening them with weapons from the battle hills. Because, they are like a chameleon, cleverly infiltrating all lines of livelihood in the cities and villages. They have the kind of aqeedah called Taqiyah, i.e. the necessity of appearing just like the enemies in order to defeat them. The best and most effective way to disclose their guise is by al-kitab, not by as-saif.
Exposing their evils is through ‘ilm and da’wah, not challenging them to gunfights, whereas their own existence itself is hard to detect. Wasn’t Islam established on two mediums; al-kitab al-hadiy and as-saif an-nasir(the Kitab that functions as guidance provider, and the sword that functions as helper). The kitab symbolizes ‘ilm and da’wah, while the saifsymbolizes jihad fie sabilillah. Without the blend of both, the journey of Islam will be imbalanced. If only featuring the kitab, Islam will be abused by the enemies. If only featuring the saif, Islam will appear fierce like a gangster, thus people will be scared to approach it.
The region of Indonesia, with its Muslim majority, is best to be made as the object of da’wah, not the object of jihad yet. Not just any da’wah, but the da’wah that supports the journey of jihad. The ummah are guided so that they are able to understand, practice and defend Islam in the right way. If their expertise and professions are well managed, the strength of the ummah could be used to establish Islam in time, when the momentum has arrived. Unfortunately, mankind are always unable to subdue their true nature; isti’jal (in hurry). Wanting to establish Islam like a magician. Or at least wanting to achieve results like the thugs; point the guns, all will be done.
Careful In Recruiting The Jihad Cadres
The jihad that is interpreted as fighting in the battlefields, should choose the best cadres who have a high level of security. Because, it had already been repeated times that armed jihad was proclaimed in Indonesia, but it always ended up in pitiful arrests. We must always be careful and selective in choosing the cadres who are prepared to conduct jihad with weapons, because, the character of jihad is different from the character of da’wah.
Not all people whose speeches are sweet in supporting jihad are right to be invited to jihad in the battlefield. The intelligence are swarming about, many of whom looking very “salafi” and very “jihadi”. It is too difficult to tell those who are really truthful and safe to be invited for jihad from those we are harming jihad instead.
The intelligence are working very seriously in order to sabotage the ranks of the Mujahideen. We cannot just rely on the cadres of jihad by looking at the external appearances, but we must really feel safe and very familiar with the persons who would become our partners in jihad. Be careful with the questionable jihad cadres i.e. those who are only enthusiastic in talking about jihad, but are reluctant when invited to talk about the correct ways of making wudhu’ as per the sunnah of the Prophet SAW, about the subject of cleanliness (thaharah), and the subject of uncleanliness. They are averse and not enthusiastic in talking about the subject of jilbab on their wives and children, the subject of the school of choice for his children, the subject of the Islamic home interior, the subject of crying due to the fear of Allah, the subject of zuhd, the subject of wara’ , the subject of halal activities, the subject of riba, the subject of ittiba’ to Rasulullah SAW and so on.
Indonesia is not a place that is currently raging with conflicts like Afghanistan, Iraq or Somalia. In the regions of conflict, carefulness that is too tight is not really required in recruiting the cadres of jihad. Anyone who have enough bravery to come to the battlefield and who want to participate in jihad along with the Mujahideen, should be received with open hands.
But for a case like Indonesia, which is not a country of conflict, we cannot instantly feel safe working with the questionable cadres of jihad. Not all who show their interest in the theme of jihad are suitable to be invited to the jihad arena.
This is the character of jihad. Different from the character of da’wah, which is very open. Anyone could be invited to join in the ranks of da’wah. It is compulsory upon us to explain to anyone who enquires about Islam, we cannot refuse it. In fact, even if those enquiring are from amongst the intelligence who want to entrap a da’ie. Anyone who are interested inda’wah and spreading Islam, as long as their good faith is observed, we must appreciate them.
Meanwhile, in jihad, the ranks of Mujahideen can (in fact, must) refuse themunafiq who want to participate in jihad, if they would apparently harm the agenda of jihad. See Surah At-Tawbah verse 83. But, when Rasulullah SAW was in Madinah, he still appeared to be close and intimate with the munafiq, because the life in Madinah was patterned in da’wah. History mentioned that the leader of the munafiq during the Prophet’s time, named Abdullah bin Ubay, could pray behind the Prophet SAW.
War, Not Battle
Jihad must be interpreted as a ‘universal war’, not a ‘momentary clash’. Being mistaken in the perception of jihad will produce confusion in realizing jihad.
In the English language there is the term ‘war’ and the term ‘battle’. ‘War’ is a long warfare between two parties, while ‘battle’ is a short-term clash between two armed groups. Or in other words, war is a series of battles performed by two parties that are mutually hostile to each other.
The fight between the Islamic ummah against the kafir with all of their stooges is a long fight and battle which is of a cross-generation in nature. Due to that, its more accurate to be called ‘war’. An enmity which involves the entire aspects of life, all kinds of expertise and livelihood of mankind. In fact, without the limit of time.
Both sides are using all capabilities and means in order to defeat the opponent. There is rivalry in patience on espionage. There is rivalry in cleverness on sabotaging. There is rivalry in smartness on fooling the enemies. There is rivalry in the strength of the armies in arm fights. There is rivalry in the advancement of technology. There is rivalry in the strength of the economy. There is rivalry in the strength of mental toughness. There is rivalry in the solidness of the ranks. There is rivalry in the sharpness of shooting (sharpbootings). The entire peak of sciences and all of their magnificence are mixed and blended as best as possible in order to produce victory.
Jihad fie sabilillah—therefore—is more accurate to be placed in the interpretation of ‘war’, not ‘battle’. Jihad is not how to hit and beat the enemies in a short time but unable to sustain that victory. If the measure is the ability to hit the enemies in one of the combat sessions, that is not the victory of jihad. The victory of jihad is when we are able to triumph in a battle and we are able to sustain that victory by the establishment of a power, because the main purpose of jihad is to eliminate the barriers that hinder the implementation of Islam at the state level.
With that, jihad also needs the proficiency in politics, besides developing the strength of the economy. There is an interesting reflection made by an Afghan jihad figure who came from the Arab land. This reflection was presented by Hazim Al-Madani in his book, Hakadza Nara al-Jihad.
Below is the documentation by Hazim Al-Madani:
The final result from the combination of the Islamic ummah’s global jihad experiments: we are quite successful in achieving figures on the military success, but our achievement is nil in the field of politics. I remember (Hazim Al-Madani said), one day an Arab jihad personality in Afghanistan said: “We were engrossed in the military battles, success was forged on the sincere souls and we succeeded in reviving the love for shaheed. But we were negligent in thinking about power (politic), as we were not embracing it wholeheartedly. We were still seeing politic as a filthy thing. The result was that we were successful in changing the direction of the wind of victory with priceless sacrifices, until approaching the last round when victory was ready to be reaped, the enemies were unleashing their shots of “mercy” to us – thus was the vocabulary they usually use – in order to tame us.”
At that time, many people disagree with this reflection, though many agreed as well. But, the reality that later transpired proved the truth in what this signalman pointed out. The entire world was throwing out the Arab Mujahideen after the war against Russia (Soviet Union at that time). The Mujahideen who returned to their villages were “given mercy” (read; arrested) by their own countries. Thus was the documentation by Hazim Al-Madani.
However, it should be remembered that this kalimah is not to justify the filthy politic, in the style of the political parties in Indonesia. Not the dirty politic exhibited by the worshippers of the dunya by means of intermixingal-haqq with al-bathil, covering the truth or reducing the value of the truth. No, not at all! But what we meant is the politic that we had read from the Prophet SAW’s way of managing the affairs of the ummah, whether in matters of social, da’wah or jihad in the battlefield. The politic that is a standard mechanism in upholding the human civilization. If we neglect this globally applicable standard mechanism, we will only go round without end as we are not taking example from the Prophet SAW and not following in the footsteps of his sunnatullah: natural law of cause and effect.
Jihad can take a very long time, like the Crusader War that took place for about 200 years. The Afghan jihad, during its success in conquering the Soviet Union in the 90’s, becomes an invaluable lesson for us. Apparently, after the Mujahideen were helped by Allah in that they managed to expel Soviet Union, they disputed amongst themselves and Afghanistan became very weak and exhausted from the internal enmity. Alhamdulillah, Allah rescued the result of that long jihad in the form of the emergence of the Taliban, which succeeded in unifying the ranks of the Islamic Afghanistan into one saf (row), before it was eventually disturbed by America with its jargon, the “War on Terror”, in 2001.
Therefore, we must interpret jihad with ‘war’, not ‘battle’. It is also differentiated in the Arabic language. ‘Battle’ is called ‘qital’, ‘harb’ or‘ma’rakah’. As for ‘war’, the term ‘jihad’ is used. That is the reason why we do not find in Al-Qur’an a terminology which is a combination of words formed by ‘qital’ and ‘amwal’. Meaning, there is no “battle with properties”. The combination of words available is the word ‘jihad’ with ‘amwal’, in which its meaning is to conduct jihad with properties. There are 9 verses which contain the combination of the words ‘jihad’ and ‘amwal’, whereas there is not even one verse which have the combination of words ‘qital’and ‘amwal’.
This means, jihad is not solely a rivalry in arm fights in the battlefield, because jihad can also be done with properties. If jihad only means combat, there would be no term of “jihad with properties”. Jihad is a war that is universal in characteristic, covering every element of man’s life. Covering military, politic and economy. Therefore, make sure the entire Islamic ummah know the map of contribution in jihad in order to establish Islam. Lest there would be potentials of the Islamic ummah which are scattered and not threaded in a network strand of global jihad in order to make Islam prevail and bury the arrogance of the kafir with all of their stooges.
The Mujahideen Should Unify With The Ummah
The Mujahideen are like the fish and the ummah is its water. If the Mujahideen leave the ummah, the ummah would also leave the Mujahidieen . Both are mutually in need of each other in a balanced way. Due to that, the relationship of the Mujahideen with the ummah must be harmonious and synergistic, not mutually disparaging each other, much less cursing.
The Islamic ummah needs guidance in order to understand Islam. They need to be given enlightenment about how to defend and establish Islam. Their contributions must be appreciated, not underestimated.
The Mujahideen need to tell clearly the meaning of their struggles, by giving the feeling of security to the Islamic ummah from the impacts that would possibly come with the struggles. Sure, it cannot be denied that bad worldly impacts would always accompany every one of those struggles.
Hazim Al-Madani, in his book Hakadza Nara al-Jihad reminded us about the importance of this issue. Just for information, Hazim Al-Madani was one of the Afghan jihad figures who had a close link with Al-Qaeda.
Below are what he wrote:
“Today, the international world is fighting a war against us. If there are those who do not take part in the coalition to fight us, it is not because they are sympathizing with us. But, more to because of their wish to obtain a larger share from this ghanimah (we are all ghanimah for them). Though the reality was as such, they who do not join in the international coalition have the potential to weave partnerships with us. But the problem is, we must prioritize loyal partners who are prepared to sacrifice for us, not the partners who would one day betray us. And in brief, the loyal partner is the Islamic ummah itself.
I am stressing this point with the availability of historical evidences that support it. With these evidences I hope the sons of this ummah, who are involved in the scene of Islamic practices, are confident that the ummahare standing behind them, defending them and repaying their sacrifices with whatever they possess, without ever leaving them to strive alone in the battlefield.
Afghanistan after the escape of the Soviet Union, at the time when the supports from the Arab and Islamic governments were stopped due to the intervention of America, when the governments were not attracted to support the Mujahideen to reap the fruits of victory, who were the ones to extend assistance until the emergence of the Taliban movement? Was it the government and their army who helped the sons of this ummah? Wasn’t it the individuals in the Islamic ummah who voluntarily set aside a part of their incomes to be donated to the Mujahideen?
Somalia, when the captivating jihad attraction against the international coalition erupted, who were the ones to extend relief aids to the Mujahideen that had made the Americans running away helter skelter from there? Who were the ones who carried out that jihad attraction? Was it the government of Somalia with its army or was it the sons of the Islamicummah? Wasn’t it the elements in the Islamic ummah who were willing to partially allocate from their income to be contributed to the Mujahideen?
Bosnia, the time when it was raging in civil wars, who were the ones to extend aids in order to protect the Islamic ummah who had become victims of massacres? Was it the government and its army or was it the Islamic ummah through its best sons? Who extended the economic aids? Wasn’t it the Islam ummah who set aside part of their subsistence to be donated voluntarily?
Cechnya, which was twice hit by waves of invasion by the Russian forces, at the time when the world was in the grip of the American hegemony. Who funded the Mujahideen in defending every every inch of the ground in Cechnya? Was it the government and their soldiers, or was it the Islamummah with all of their souls, bodies and properties?
Palestine, along their series of agony, and heroic story of the Intifadhahresistance. All these become an example of how sacrifices are currently being fulfilled by the ummah and will always be fulfilled.
In fact, we do not know, if the material supports from the Islamic ummahwould reach the hands of the Palestinian Mujahideen or they would be seized by the Arab governments. It is clear here, who are sacrificing and who are on the other hand, stopping it.
Yemen, who exploded the American aircraft carrier, the USS Cole, until it was torn. It is clear, it wasn’t the Yemen armed forces, but the elements in the Islamic ummah.
Who struck New York and Washington on the fully blessed Tuesday in 2001? Was it the governments and their armies, or was it the Islamicummah? They presented their best sons and voluntarily gave away part of their subsistence for jihad and the Mujahideen.
The map of the battle has been firmly locked. But not between the West and the East, or the North and the South. But between the bloc of kufr and the bloc of iman. Like the two sides of a scale, on one side are the kafirs with all of their accomplices and outfits, while on the other side are the Islamic ummah with all their supports and outfits.
It is clear, the Islamic ummah are occupying one battle board, while the other is occupied by the world kafir bloc. This fact is well understood by the West and the rulers of the world. Due to that, they are always carrying out systematic efforts in order to separate us (Mujahideen) from the Islamic ummah. Allah will always win, but many of mankind are not confident with it. Indeed, the ultimate reliance of the Mujahideen after Allah is on the Islamic ummah, who are always longing for the establishment of the laws of the Qur’an in their lives until they meet Allah. Not relying on the governments and their apparatuses in countries with the Muslim majority, because their brain and abdominal cavities have been clogged up with the obsessions towards the dunya and the politics which are of low taste.
The duty of the Mujahideen is to make the Islamic ummah to come within their ranks, it is not allowed to leave them even just for a short time because it will be taken advantage of by the rulers and the kufr laws.” (end, quoted from Hakadza Nara Al-Jihad).
May we be able to revive jihad in Indonesia and ensure that Islam is liberated here. Ameen.
Wait for the next series in Wacana Jihad.
Warmest Salaam to all the jihad and da’wah enthusiasts out there.
Sour©e: Arrahmah.com
A Reflection On Aceh Jihād 2010 (Part III – Last Part)
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