ur brothers and sisters in Palestine are being killed, imprisoned or maimed at the hands of the Zionist with the full backing of America and the United Nations each and every day. Those that defend them are now labeled “terrorists”. Our brothers and sisters in Kashmir continue to be subjected to the worst forms of torture and that has gone on for over 50 years. They are being massacred, raped and imprisoned with support from America while the UN turns a blind eye. In Bosnia, Muslims continue to be killed, the women raped, and our children massacred with full knowledge of the United Nations and with its cooperation.

In Chechen, the brave Muslims are once again battling the Russian’s who are receiving direct support from America and Israel on the grounds of eradicating Muslim fundamentalism. In Indonesia, America and the West, with the backing of the United Nations, are actively dividing this country which has the largest population of Muslims in the Islamic world.

In the invasion of Afghanistan, thousands of our Muslim brothers and sisters were killed and injured and now live under occupation. With their country still in ruins from the war, Muslims continue to be killed and injured. Afghanistan is now littered not only with 250,000 unexploded landmines but our brothers and sisters are living with unsafe levels of radiation that have resulted from Americas use of depleted uranium warheads that will continue to kill them for centuries to comes. In Iraq, a country rich with oil reserves is now a country reduced to ruins as the result of the “shock and awe” bombing raids that killed and injured thousands of Muslims and destroyed the country’s infrastructure. Now under American occupation, our Muslim brothers and sisters are without water, electricity and medical supplies. Hundreds continue to be rounded up and imprisoned and Iraqis continued to be killed by trigger happy US forces at an average of 20 a day.

With our Muslim Ummah facing overwhelming aggression, why is it that that so many Muslims, a people who have been entrusted with God’s final message to mankind and who are to assume a leadership role in the world, cower in the face of the enemy, even as Allah (SWT) has promises us victory? I struggled with this question for many months until I realized that many Muslims are Muslim in name only and an astounding percentage do not know, let alone practice, their religion.

Take for example Egypt, a country that boast 93% of its population as Sunni Muslims and that has produced some of the most respected scholars of Islam. On the streets of Cairo, when the Azhan goes off, a trickle of men head for the Mosque, woman that wear Hijab are in the minority and liquor stores are nestled amongst the Masjids. Many young Arab men, clad in Mexx t-shirts, Guess jeans and smoking Marlboro cigarettes, are quick to denounce America but scramble at the chance to embrace the American way.

The Muslim Ummah is weak because we as Muslims are weak. In America and the West, the enemies of Islam have cleverly segmented country and religion. Muslims in the West are now faced with choosing one over the other. In this there is no decision. Some have opted to serve two masters; a choice that fails to serve either. The enemies of Islam are cunning indeed. They have further fragmented Muslims into categories, from moderates to extremists. There is no such thing in Islam. There is neither compulsion nor compromise in the requirements laid out for us in the Qur’an or the Sunnah.

The enemies of Islam have taken one of our most sacred of acts, namely Jihad and reduce its meaning to military aggression waged by radical Islamists which it is not. This has created more fear amongst Muslims and many of our brothers and sisters have distanced themselves from the actions of our Mujahideen as the result. Every Muslim is obligated to participate in the defense of the Muslim people wherever they are attacked.

The Muslim Ummah is riddled with fear and suspicion which Allah has also warned us about.

With tactics well known to the enemies of Islam, Muslims are now pitted against each other when it is abundantly clear in the Quran and the Sunnah that it is a duty for Muslims to support their fellow Muslims wherever they are in the world.

We will only be able to stop this aggression, an aggression that ultimately will come to each and every one of our doorsteps, if we rise to the status that Allah has called us to; by first becoming knowledgeable in our religion and then putting into action the prescribed methods that have been laid down for us.

Two years on, the war on “terrorism” continues with no end in sight. Violence and hatred are escalating, with bombings, killings and human suffering all around. As long as America is interested in and committed to only its own and Israel's economic, military, and political hegemony, there isn’t a hope of peace. If the voices of reason fail to speak, and American Foreign Policy isn’t changed, there will come a point when it will be too late to alter the course, and the war on “terrorism” will take on a life of its own, if it hasn’t already.

While Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaida is an effective fighting force, the facts are that there are now multiple, diverse groups threatening US interests which highlights the extreme weaknesses found in this approach. If America continues down its current path, the war on “terrorism" will be a war with far too many fronts to fight on and too many enemies to defeat. When 67% of the American people don't bother to vote and American foreign policy is decided by the shameless hucksters, its very own citizens are doing more to destroy America than Al-Qaida ever could.

There can never be peace as long America continues to perpetrate acts of aggression against Muslims, either directly in invading our lands or by facilitating puppet regimes or hiding behind the transparent veil of the United Nations, whether it be in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya or anywhere on the globe.

As long as Muslims allow the enemies of Islam to shred the very fabric of our beliefs that pits brother against brother, and we ignore the obligations Allah has prescribed for us and remain ignorant of our deen (religion), our Ummah will remain weak and we will continue to be the target of aggression.

And when we as individuals come to the realization that man’s laws will always fail us and that only Gods laws can bring peace and harmony, then, and only then, we will make true progress. The solution lies in Islam.

All praise is to Allah, we praise Him and seek His help and ask for His forgiveness, We seek refuge from the evils, which are in ourselves and the wicked in our actions, whoever Allah guides, none can misguide, For whoever Allah guides, there is none to misguide him. For whoever Allah sends astray, there is none to guide him. And I bear witness that there is no God but Allah alone Who has no partner and I bear witness that Mohammed is His slave and His messenger.

Peace and blessings be upon those who follow His guidance.

Concluded September 11, 2003