Thursday, August 24, 2006

Interview with Abu Bakar Bashir

I just read an interview on Al-Jazeera's English website with the Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. It's really a very interesting interview. I agree with most of what he said in the first half of the interview, but not the second half. The second half is sort of where he goes off the deep end, advocating Jihad and no negotiations or anything. He also calls democracy shirk (disbelief), which I don't believe because democracy is a system of government that CAN be adapted to be Islamic. The Qur'an and Sunnah do not tell us what system of government that the Islamic State must follow, leaving this up to us to choose depending on the time period and so on.

Here's the link:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C46DA5C1-D200-48E6-8B24-76EE739EC243,frameless.htm

Speaking of which - Jihad and stuff - yesterday I watched the CNN documentary on Usaama bin Laden. It was... okay, I guess. I'd already read the book "The Osama bin Laden I Know", by Peter Bergen, which was pretty much what the documentary was based on, so I knew most of the stuff already - although there was one part where his childhood friend, Khalid Batarfi, mentioned that once, Usaama was being bullied, so Khalid went over to get rid of the guy, but afterwards Usaama told Khalid, "You know, if you'd waited a few more moments, I would have
solved the problem peacefully." Interesting, huh?

See, I find Usaama bin Laden a fascinating man. I mean, I totally disagree with his ideology and stuff, but I also understand where he's coming from. And reading about him before he helped create al-Qaeda, as a young man, shy, soft-spoken, more a follower than a leader, and seemingly the diplomatic pacifist, he just... fascinates me. Even when he went to Afghanistan, he wasn't a bloodthirsty warrior. And he knew Sheikh 'Abdullah Azzam (may Allah have mercy on him), who I personally think was really cool.
Anyway, to me it seems that Usaama was okay right up until he met Ayman adh-Dhawaahiri, the Egyptian guy who people say 'radicalized' Usaamah. From what I've read, I feel rather leery of adh-Dhawaahiri. He seems really off the deep end.
Maybe he had good intentions, but the way he tried to do things... I don't like it one bit.
So once Usaama met adh-Dhawaahiri - shortly before Sheikh Azzam was killed, I think - he started getting sucked into that sort of ideological thinking... the takfiri thing, declaring everyone - even other Muslims - kaafir (unbelievers, or, as the Western media loves to say, 'infidels').

Some people might call me crazy, others will worry that my poor impressionable youthful self is in danger of becoming brainwashed and sucked into the OBL 'cult'... but I honestly think that Usaama is a guy with good intentions, who wants to help Muslims around the world, but is misguided and therefore causing more harm than good.

Something I would absolutely love would be the chance to meet with Usaama, and talk to him. I want to know why exactly he does what he does, thinks what he does, why he's chosen the takfiri ideology... and I'd use Qur'anic ayaat (verses) and Ahadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) to show him what I believe, and why.

Wouldn't that be amazing? And who knows, maybe I could change his mind about some things... :P

Similarly, I totally want to be able to meet with people like the Indonesian Abu Bakar Bashir, and Khalid Mish'al, and Mullah Umar, and leaders of other 'Islamist' groups around the world. Even Hassan Nasrallah, although he's Shi'i. I still want to be able to talk with him and the others and find out why they think what they do, and do what they do...

So many questions, but will I ever recieve the answers? Allah knows best...

3 comments:

Frazza said...

I watched part of that documentary, but I can never watch CNN for longer than 20 minutes before I start feeling myself becoming stupid.

Your analysis is interesting, but on what do you base your understanding of his "ideology"? I don't believe he is guilty of the crimes he's accused of, and has simply become a caricature to overly simplify the complex enemy facing American imperialism today.

Masha-Allah, you seem to have a great heart, unspoiled by the fear, uncertainty, and doubt being propagated through all channels. Though it would be nice if you can avoid the term "Islamist"; what is that really supposed to mean?

May Allah Subhana wa ta'Ala protect you and keep you on the path of righteousness insha-Allah.

AnonyMouse said...

Shukran for your comment! :)

As to his ideology, I base my understanding of it based on what I have read regarding the phenomenon of 'takfirism' - basically, some people will try to use ayaat and ahadith to claim that other Muslims are not Muslim at all, but kuffaar. They say that because they do not support the mujaahideen, or because they do not do this or that, they have left the fold of Islam and are kuffaar.
Also, when you read/listen to some of Usaama's statements, while he makes some really good points, there are some things he says that I feel are sorta 'out there'.

But to tell the truth, I don't know all that much about it, so I can't say too much.

As for the crimes he is accused of, I am also sort of uncertain about that, but I agree that the West has turned him into an almost cartoon-like villain.

I've stated before that I think the term 'Islamist' is stupid, and it's technically incorrect, but like many other technically incorrect words it's become rather common in usage. According to the dictionary definition, 'Islamist' means: A person or an organization using Islamic religious precepts to form a political ideology.

So when I use that word, that's the definition I'm referring to... :)

Taysiir said...

I just decided to wiki-osama and see what I could find, the thing is, what Osama is doing, is per say, a good thing, he is fighting for the cause of the US oppression in Irak(first gulf war), US backing of Israel and for palestine.

Thats were the reason for which, it is believed from the popular vids, why he did the 9/11 things.

But, 2900+ INNOCENTS died, people who were not related to the USrael-Palestine conflict, mothers, fathers, children ... It was disgusting and I do CONDEMN what he did, since am just a civilian myself.

On another hand, sometimes I wonder if Osama is a myth, if he really exists, he just vanished in thing air ....