WONG FEI-HUNG berasal dari keluarga Muslim

Wong Fei-Hung yang lahir pada 1847 di Kwantung (Guandong) berasal dari keluarga muslim yang dikenal ahli dalam ilmu pengobatan dan beladiri tradisional Tiongkok (wushu). Ayahnya, Wong Kay-Ying adalah tabib dan pemilik klinik pengobatan bernama Po Chi Lam di Canton (ibukota Guandong), serta menguasai wushu tingkat tinggi yang membuatnya terkenal sebagai salah seorang dari Sepuluh Macan Kwantung.

Kombinasi ilmu pengobatan Tiongkok tradisional dan teknik beladiri yang berpadu dengan olah keluhuran budi membuat keluarga Wong banyak turun tangan membantu orang-orang lemah dan tertindas pada masa itu. Banyak diantara pasiennya yang meminta bantuan pengobatan berasal dari kalangan miskin tetapi mereka tetap membantu dengan sungguh-sungguh. Selain itu, secara diam-diam keluarga Wong juga turut aktif dalam gerakan bawah tanah melawan pemerintahan Dinasti Ch’ing yang korup dan menindas rakyat.

Wong Fei-Hung mulai mengasah bakat beladirinya sejak perjumpaannya dengan guru ayahnya bernama Luk Ah-Choi yang kemudian mengajarinya dasar-dasar jurus Hung Gar. Jurus ini ditemukan, dikembangkan dan menjadi andalan Hung Hei-Kwun, kakak seperguruan Luk Ah-Choi. Hung Hei-Kwun adalah pendekar dari Shaolin yang lolos dari peristiwa pembakaran dan pembantaian oleh pemerintah pendudukan Manchuria (Dinasti Ch’ing) pada 1734. Dengan kepemimpinan Hung Hei-Kwun inilah, para pejuang pemberontak hampir mengalahkan dinasti penjajah jika saja pemerintah tidak meminta bantuan pasukan-pasukan bersenjata bangsa asing (Rusia, Inggris, Jepang).

Wong Fei-Hung kemudian meneruskan belajarnya pada ayahnya sendiri hingga kemudian pada awal usia 20-an tahun, ia telah menjadi ahli pengobatan dan beladiri terkemuka. Bahkan ia berhasil mengembangkannya menjadi lebih maju. Kemampuan beladirinya semakin sulit ditandingi ketika ia berhasil membuat jurus baru yang sangat taktis namun efisien yang dinamakan cakar macan dan pukulan khusus sembilan. Selain dengan tangan kosong, ia juga mahir menggunakan bermacam-macam senjata. Masyarakat setempat pernah menyaksikan bagaimana ia seorang diri dengan hanya bersenjatakan tongkat (toya) berhasil mengalahkan 30 orang jagoan pelabuhan berbadan kekar dan kejam di Canton yang mengeroyoknya karena ia mau membela rakyat kecil yang akan mereka peras.

Dalam awal kehidupan berkeluarganya, Tuhan mengujinya dengan berbagai cobaan. Seorang anaknya terbunuh dalam suatu insiden. Wong Fei-Hung tiga kali menikah karena istri-istrinya meninggal dalam usia pendek, lalu ia memutuskan untuk hidup sendiri sampai kemudian ia bertemu dengan pasangan hidupnya yang terakhir bernama Mok Gwai Lan, seorang perempuan muda yang kebetulan juga sangat ahli beladiri. Mok Gwai Lan pun turut mengajar beladiri pada kelas perempuan di perguruan suaminya. Pada 1924 Wong Fei-Hung meninggal.

http://www.jaist.ac.jp/~rac/pub/kanigara/id/Home/masterwong.htm

Walisongo berasal dari Cina

Entah kenapa banyak sekali sdr kita umat Muslim merasa gerah, apabila
mendengar bahwa delapan dari Sunan Walisongo itu adalah orang Tionghoa,
padahal Nabi Muhammad saw sendiri pernah bersabda "Tuntutlah ilmu walau
sampai negeri Cina" (Al Hadits), nah pada saat itu orang Tionghoa nya
sendirilah yg datang ke Indonesia, sehingga mereka tidak perlu repot2 harus pergi belajar untuk menuntut ilmu ke Tiongkok.

Prof Slamet Mulyana pernah berusaha untuk mengungkapkan hal tsb diatas dlm bukunya "Runtuhnya Kerajaan Hindu-Jawa dan Timbulnya Negara-negara Islam di Nusantara", tetapi pada th 1968 dilarang beredar, karena masalah ini sangat peka sekali dan mereka menilai menyakut masalah SARA. Kenapa demikian?

Bayangkan saja yg mendirikan kerajaan Islam pertama di Jawa adalah orang Tionghoa, bahkan Sultan nya yg pertama pun adalah orang Tionghoa: Chen Jinwen alias Raden Patah alias Panembahan Tan Jin Bun/Arya (Cu-Cu).

Walisongo atau Walisanga yg berarti sembilan (songo) Wali, tetapi ada juga yg berpendapat bahwa perkataan songo ini berasal dari kata "tsana" yg berarti mulia dlm bhs Arab sedangkan pendapat lainnya mengatakan bahwa kata tsb berasal dari kata "sana" dlm bhs Jawa yg berarti "tempat"

Para wali tsb mendapatkan gelar Sunan, yg berarti guru agama atau ustadz, namum perkataan Sunan itu sebenarnya diambil dari perkataan "Suhu/Saihu" yg berarti guru dlm bhs dialek Hokkian, sebab para wali itu adalah guru2 Pesantren Hanafiyah, dari mazhab (sekte) Hanafi.

Perlu diketahui bahwa sebutan "Kyai" yg kita kenal sekarang ini sebagai sebutan untuk guru agana Islam setidak-tidaknya hingga jaman pendudukan Jepang masih digunakan untuk panggilan bagi seorang lelaki Tionghoa Totok, seperti pangggilan "Encek". Jadi bagi mereka yg merasa bahwa dirinya orang Tionghoa totok tulen silahkan menyandang gelar Kiyai.

Walisongo ini didirikan oleh Sunan Ampel pada th. 1474. Yg terdiri dari 9 wali yaitu:

Sunan Ampel alias Bong Swie Ho
Sunan Drajat alias Bong Tak Keng
Sunan Bonang alias Bong Tak Ang
Sunan Kalijaga alias Gan Si Cang
Sunan Gunung Jati alias Du Anbo - Toh A Bo
Sunan Kudus alias Zha Dexu - Ja Tik Su
Sunan Giri adalah cucunya Bong Swie Ho
Sunan Muria
Maulana Malik Ibrahim alias Chen Yinghua/Tan Eng Hoat
Sunan Ampel (Bong Swie Ho) alias raden Rahmat lahir pada th 1401 di Champa (Kamboja), ia tiba di Jawa pada th 1443. Pada saat itu di Champa banyak sekali orang Tionghoa penganut agama Muslim yg bermukim disana. Pada th 1479
ia mendirikan Mesjid Demak. Ia juga perencana kerajaan Islam pertama di Jawa yang beribu kota di Bintoro Demak, dengan mengangkat Raden Patah alias Chen Jinwen - Tan Jin Bun sebagai Sultan yang pertama, ia itu puteranya dari Cek Kopo di Palembang.

Orang Portugis menyebut Raden Patah "Pate Rodin Sr." sebagai "persona de grande syso" (orang yg sangat bijaksana) atau "cavaleiro" (bangsawan yg mulia), walaupun demikian orang Belanda sendiri tidak percaya moso sih sultan Islam pertama di Jawa adalah orang Tionghoa. Oleh sebab itulah Residen Poortman 1928 mendapat tugas dari pemerintah Belanda untuk menyelidikinya; apakah Raden Patah itu benar2 orang Tionghoa tulen?

Poortman diperintahkan untuk menggeledah Kelenteng Sam Po Kong dan menyita naskah berbahasa Tionghoa,dimana sebagian sudah berusia 400 tahun sebanyak tiga cikar/pedati. Arsip Poortman ini dikutip oleh Parlindungan yang menulis buku yang juga kontroversial Tuanku Rao, dan Slamet Mulyana juga banyak menyitir dari buku ini.

Pernyataan Raden Patah adalah seorang Tionghoa ini tercantum dlm Serat
Kanda Raden Patah bergelar Panembahan Jimbun,dan dalam Babad Tanah Jawi
disebut sebagai Senapati Jimbun. Kata Jin Bun (Jinwen) dalam dialek Hokkian berarti "orang kuat".

Cucunya dari Raden patah Sunan Prawata atau Chen Muming/Tan Muk Ming adalah Sultan terakhir dari Kerajaan Demak, berambisi untuk meng-Islamkan seluruh Jawa, sehingga apabila ia berhasil maka ia bisa menjadi "segundo Turco" (seorang Sultan Turki ke II) setanding sultan Turki Suleiman I dengan kemegahannya.

Sumber:
- Jan Edel "Hikajat Hasanoeddin"
- B. J. O. Schrieke, 1916, Het Boek van Bonang - Utrecht: Den Boer
- G.W.J. Drewes, 1969 The admonitions of Seh Bari : a 16th century Javanese
Muslim text attributed to the Saint of Bonang, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff
- De Graaf and Pigeaud "De eerste Moslimse Vorstendommen op Java" - "Islamic
states in Java 1500 -1700".
- Amen Budiman "Masyarakat Islam Tionghoa di Indonesia"
- Prof. Slamet Mulyana "Runtuhnya Kerajaan Hindu-Jawa dan Timbulnya
Negara-negara Islam di Nusantara

Mang Ucup
Email: mangucup@xxxxxxxxxx
Homepage: www.mangucup.org

http://www.freelists.org/archives/list_indonesia/04-2005/msg00335.html

Bencana Paceklik Hancurkan Tiongkok

Dari : Majalah ARANA ed.2 vol.3
Judul : Bencana Paceklik Hancurkan Tiongkok

Kekuasaan dinasti Tang pulih dengan bantuan pasukan Islam dari Khilafah Abbasiah di Baghdad, memadamkan pemberontakan Jenderal An Lu Shan. Kaisar menyusun kembali pemerintahan dan system perekonomian negara. Dia juga berusaha menunjukkan rasa terimakasih kepada pasukan Islam. Kaisar Hsi Tsung membangun rumah tamu yang megah guna menampung para pembelanya.

Masa damai tampaknya tidak terlalu lama dinikmati oleh Kaisar Hsi Tsung. Paceklik besar menyerang daratan Cina. Iklim tidak bersahabat. Terjadi siklus angin muson dingin dengan musim kemarau yang pendek. Iklim ini menghancurkan areal pertanian negara. Persediaan makanan di lumbung penduduk menipis, sementara persediaan pangan milik negara menyusut tajam.

Para ahli sejarah mencatat Cina di bawah pmerintahan dinasti Tang sebagai masa keemasan bagi sejarah kejayaan Cina. Sejarah juga mencatat Negara dengan puncak masa kejayaannya itu harus takluk oleh perubahan iklim yang luar biasa. Pertanian tanaman pangan hancur lebur.

Menurut hasil penelitian para ahli, selama 15.000 tahun terakhir berlangsung tiga masa cuaca dengan musim dingin yang sangat tidak lazim dan sangat kuat serta musim panas yang lemah dengan masa kering dan kemarau berkepanjangan. Dua periode pertama terjadi dalam titik kunci zaman es terakhir sementara siklus ketiga terjadi sekitar tahun 700 – 900 Masehi.

Pada tahun-tahun itu Tiongkok masih diperintah oleh dinasti Tang. Dalam masa ini sejarah juga mencatat kejayaan seni dan kesusasteraan. Kejayaan itu didukung pula oleh kesejahteraan rakyat yang tinggi. Tercatat pula bahwa kawula dinasti Tang disebut sebagai masyarakat yang menikmati masa paling sejahtera dalam era masa keemasan Tiongkok.

Kesejahteraan itu antara lain mereka raih lewat perdagangan dan pergaulan internasional dengan kawasan Timur Tengah. Pedagang Arab muslim hadir di Tiongkok membawa barang perdagangan dan teknologi. Dari Cina mereka membawa sutera dan keramik, ke Cina mereka membawa bahan pewangi dan pedang serta tombak dari baja Damaskus.

Sayangnya dinasti Tang yang berkuasa selama tiga abad (618-905M) harus hancur akibat pemberontakan dan paceklik. Seorang tokoh bernama Hwang Chau memimpin rakyat, yang kelaparan akibat paceklik, menyerang ibukota Changan. Mereka tidak puas karena Kaisar Hsi Tsung terlalu berlebihan dalam menjamu tentara Khalifah Abbasiah yang telah membantunya menghancurkan pemberontakan An Lu Shan.

Hwang Chau mengangkat diri menjadi kaisar dengan panggilan Kaisar Tah Chi. Terjadi pembunuhan massal terhadap orang asing yang selama ini membantu dinasti Tang. Tercatat sekitar 100.000 orang asing tewas dan sebagian besar dari mereka adalah orang Arab muslim. Selain itu adalah orang Parsi, Yahudi dan Nasrani.

Daratan Tiongkok menderita kelaparan. Kekacauan terjadi dimana-mana. Pemberontakan lain muncul di wilayah Yan Chow, dekan muara sungan Yang Tze. Mereka menjarah bahan makanan dan harta benda. Pemberontakan yang dipimpin Tien Sheng Kong itu melakukan penyembelihan terhadap 5.000 orang asing, termasuk orang Arab dan Parsi.

Dinansti Tang runtuh pada tahun 905 M dan digantikan oleh lima dinasti yang berkuasa silih berganti dalam waktu tidak lama, antara tiga sampai 18 tahun. Tersebutlah dinasti Liang (905-923M), dinasti Tang (923-036M), dinasti Tsing (936-947M),dinasti Han (947-950M) dan dinasti Chow (950-960M). Sampai akhirnya muncul orang kuat yang berhasil memulihkan keamanan Tiongkok. Dia adalah Jenderal Chao Kuang Yin dan kemudian membangun dinasti Sung (960-1279M).

Pembunuhan terhadap orang asing, terutama Arab dan Parsi, membuat perdagangan luar negeri Tiongkok mundur. Penerimaan Negara dari bea cukai menurun tajam. Selain itu kegiatan impor dan ekspor macet, akibatnya kesejahteraan rakyat tak bisa dipertahankan.

Dinasti Sung berusaha membujuk kembali agar pedagang Arab dari Timur Tengah bersedia kembali ke Tiongkok. Chao Kuang Ying pembangun dinasti Sung, yang juga dipanggil Kaisar Tai Tsu (960-917M) memberikan berbagai kemudahan dan jaminan keamanan. Kaisar membentuk Kementerian Perdagangan guna memajukan perdagangan dalam dan luar negeri Tiongkok.

Dalam kurun waktu itu tercatat nama seorang Arab yang berjasa dalam memajukan perdagangan Tiongkok. Dia adalah Abdul Syukur. Dalam bahasa Cina namanya dipanggil sebagai Pu Shou Keng. Mula-mula kaisar menunjuk dia sebagai penghulu sekalian orang Arab di Tiongkok.

Kemudian diangkat menjadi Komisaris Tinggi Urusan Kepolisian Laut. Tugasnya memelihara keamanan lalu lintan kapal-kapal di laut dari gangguan bajak laut. Terakhir dia diangkat menjadi Menteri Perdagangan kekaisaran Tiongkok. Pu Shou Keng telah menjadi bukti kehadiran orang Arab muslim dalam jenjang birokrasi pemerintahan Cina.

Keterlibatan orang Arab muslim dalam pemerintahan Cina bermula memang pada dinasti Tang, lalu berlanjut pada dinasti Sung. Ketika dinasti Sung runtuh dan digantikan oleh bangsa Mongol yang mendirikan dinasti Yuan peran serta kaum muslimin dalam birokrasi kekaisaran juga cukup besar.

Pedagang Arab kembali berduyun-duyun menuju Cina. Lewat daratan mereka melalui jalur Sutra. Namun sebagian besar menempuh jalur laut yang lebih aman karena Pu Shou Keng telah menumpas berbagai kapal bajak laut ketika dia menjabat sebagai Komisaris Tinggi Urusan Kepolisian Laut Tiongkok.

Arus perdagangan makin maju, jumlah penerimaan negara juga meningkat. Penerimaan tahunan dinasti Sung tercatat 10 juta Kuan ( satu Kuan, adalah satu untai mata uang tembaga dengan lobang segi empat di tengahnya). Jika dinilai dengan mata uang dollar AS saat ini jumlah itu setara dengan US$15 milyar. Sementara penerimaan dari Bea Cukai sekitar 2 juta Kuan atau sekitar US$3milyar per tahun.

Arana berikut : Jenghis Khan menyerbu Tiongkok dan membangun dinasti Yuan (1279-1368M)

(Abu Sally)

Islam masuk Cina bersamaan dengan hijrahnya Rasulullah saw

Judul asli : Kini, Hampir 200 Juta Muslimin ada di Cina
Dari Majalah ARANA ed.1 vol.2

Saad Ibn Lubaid pun menyebarkan ajaran Islam kepada orang-orang Arab di Kanton antara 9H dan 14H. Ini terjadi sekitar 20 tahun sebelum ada hubungan diplomatik antara dinasti Tang di Tiongkok dan daulat Umayyah (661-760M) di Timur Tengah. Orang Tionghoa memanggil Arab muslim dengan panggilan “Arab berjubah putih”.

Muslimin dan muslimat di daratan Cina tercatat sebagai kaum yang menjalankan ibadah dengan ketat. Wajah mereka berseri sebagaimana laiknya wajah yang dibasuh dengan air bersih dan suci lima kali dalam sehari. Jumlah mereka hampir 200 juta dari 1,5 milyar penduduk Cina.

Bangunan masjid ada dimana-mana. Di Beijing ada dua masjid agung. Pertama masjid Tung-tse di pusat kota dan kedua masjid di kawasan Niu-jie yang sudah berusia sekitar 1.000 tahun. Niu-jie adalah kawasan pemukiman Islam yang dibelah oleh jalan sepanjang 5 km dan disana berderet supermarket serta restoran menjual makanan halal.

Kemesraan kehidupan ummat Islam di bumi Chung Kuok ini berakar pada masa kehidupan Nabi Muhammad saw (570-632M) dan masa Dinasti Tang (618-905M). Pada masa Kaisar Tai Tsung (627-649M), kaisar kedua, Rasulullah mengucapkan sabda yang terkenal itu, “Tuntutlah ilmu walau ke Negeri Cina”.

Sepeninggal Rasulullah, pada 636M, Khalifah Umar ibn Khattab mengirim Saad ibn Abi-Waqqash untuk merebut ibukota imperium Parsi, Cresiphon. Pada 641M Islam menguasai seluruh wilayah imperium Parsi sampai perbatasan pegunungan Thian San di Asia Tengah. Khosru Yezdegird III (632-651M), khosru terakhir melarikan diri dan minta bantuan Kaisar Yong Hui untuk merebut kembali wilayahnya.

Yezdegird III pada 30H/651M bergerak memasuki wilayah Khurasan untuk merebut ibukota Merv. Panglima Ahnaf ibn Kais Al Tamimi berhasil memukul mundur pasukan gabungan Cina dan Parsi. Yezdegird III terbunuh di tepi sungai Sir-Darya. Peristiwa ini terjadi masa pemerintahan Khalifah Ustman ibn Affan (23-35H/644-656M).

Khalifah Utsman bereaksi keras atas intervensi Cina. Dia mengirim delegasi ke ibukota Cina, Changan, membawa nota memperingatkan langkah Kaisar Cina. Delegasi dipimpin oleh Panglima Besar Saad ibn Abi-Waqqash. Perjalanan Saad ibn Abi-Waqqash itu tercatat dalam kitab Chee Chea Sheehuzoo (Perihal Kehidupan Nabi) yang ditulis oleh Lui Tschih, penulis muslim Tionghoa pada abad ke-18.

Panglima Saad ibn Abi-Waqqash bertemu dengan Yong Hui. Kaisar Cina minta maaf atas kejadian itu. Sengketa selesai dan Saad kembali ke Madinah.

Selain itu masih ada catatan resmi pihak Tiongkok yang menyebutkan pada abad ke-5 Masehi, sebelum agama Islam lahir, armada dagang Tiongkok telah berlayar sampai Teluk Persia. Selanjutnya, catatan resmi dinasti Sui (605-618M), yang digantikan oleh dinasti Tang, juga menyebutkan hal itu.

Orang Arab sudah memperdagangkan hasil produksi Cina sebelum memeluk agama Islam. Banyak pula yang berlayar ke Cina setelah memeluk agama Islam. Tiongkok, ketika itu, terkenal sebagai negeri yang paling maju di dunia.

Sejarah mencatat, dinasti Tang (618-905M) menyediakan tempat kediaman khusus bagi orang asing di Bandar Kwang Chow (Kanton), Chang Chow dan Chuan Chow. Bandar Kanton itu berada di Kwantung dan dua yang lain berada di Fukien. Orang-orang asing (Arab, Persia, Yahudi, Nasrani), diizinkan berdagang dengan orang Tionghoa di bandar-bandar yang telah ditetapkan.

Ada pula catatan yang mengungkap bahwa keturunan orang-orang Arab yang telah berada di Tiongkok sebelum Islam lahir, memeluk agama Islam di Tiongkok. Hal tersebut bisa terjadi karena ada sahabat Nabi Muhammad saw yang berlayar ke Cina pada sekitar 618M. Saat itu Rasulullah mengizinkan pengikutnya hijrah ke Ethiopia untuk menyelamatkan diri dari siksaan kaum jahiliah.

Rombongan yang hijrah ke Ethiopia berjumlah 101 orang dipimpin oleh Jaafar bin Abi Thalib. Dalam jumlah itu termasuk Saad ibn Lubaid. Dia merasa tidak serasi dengan kehidupan di Ethiopia lalu berlayar dari Teluk Aden ke wilayah lain.

Armada Arab dari Teluk Aden dan Teluk Parsi biasanya berlayar ke arah timur pada bulan Mei dan Juni dan pulang kembali Oktober dan November mengikuti angin musim. Kapal yang membawa Saad ibn Lubaid tiba di bandar Kwang Chow (Kanton). Di bandar itu dia bertemu dengan orang senegerinya yang belum memeluk agama Islam.

Saad Ibn Lubaid pun menyebarkan ajaran Islam kepada orang-orang Arab di Kanton antara 9H dan 14H. Ini terjadi sekitar 20 tahun sebelum ada hubungan diplomatik antara dinasti Tang di Tiongkok dan daulat Umayyah (661-760M) di Timur Tengah. Orang Tionghoa memanggil Arab muslim dengan panggilan “Arab berjubah putih”.

Saad adalah seorang Al Shahabi yang nama lengkapnya Saad ibn Lubaid Alhabsyi. Dia punya teman bernama Yusuf. Saad dan Yusuf giat dalam penyiaran ajaran Islam. Saad di Chuan Chow dan Chang Chow, dan Yusuf di Kwang Chow (Kanton).

Kegiatan mereka berbekas dengan keberadaan Kwang Tah Se (masjid dengan menara cemerlang) di Kanton dan kehadiran Chee Lin Se (masjid dengan tanduk- menara- satu). Itu adalah dua masjid tertua yang dibangun di Tiongkok sekitar tahun 640M. Selain itu kepentingan azan, menara masjid yang di Kanton yang berusia lebih dari 1.360 tahun itu juga dijadikan mercu-suar bagi kapal yang memasuki bandar Kanton.

Banyak turunan muslim Tionghoa yang memakai nama keluarga SAA, singkatan dari nama Saad, penyiar agama Islam pertama di Tiongkok. Tercatat pula Laksamana Saa Ching Ping yang harum namanya pada saat Republik Tiongkok menumbangkan Dinasti Manchu (1644-1911M). Ada pula nama keluarga Yui, singkatan dari Yusuf, penyiar Islam pertama yang menemani Saad.

Penyiaran agama Islam di kalangan orang Arab yang bermukim di Tiongkok berlangsung tanpa hambatan. Hal ini terjadi karena kenyataan sejarah semua orang Arab di Arabia sudah memeluk agama Islam menjelang Nabi Muhammad wafat. Lalu-lintas melalui jalur laut dewasa itu memudahkan membawa berita dari Arab ke Tiongkok.

Orang-orang Arab telah berabad-abad tinggal di Tiongkok. Telah pula terjadi perkawinan antara orang Arab dan Tionghoa, Islam pun berkembang dengan cepat. Saad dan Yusuf memperlihatkan keteladanan seorang Muslim dan pengaruh dari keteladanan ini besar sekali.

Fakta ini menunjukkan agama Islam berkembang lebih dahulu dibandingkan dengan wilayah lain di luar Arabia. Di Tiongkok agama Islam tidak berkembang lewat peperangan. Keadaan ini sama dengan perkembangan Islam di Asia Tenggara.

Menjelang akhir masa dinasti Tang, terdapat sekitar 120.000 imigran di Tiongkok, 80% -nya adalah orang Arab. Selebihnya orang Parsi, Nasrani dan Yahudi. Begitu pula masa dinasti Sung. Ini menunjukkan hubungan yang erat antara Tiongkok dan Arab.

Catatan dinasti Tang menunjukkan telah berlangsung 37 kali protokol diplomatik antara perutusan Arab dan Tiongkok. Catatan resmi ini dipungut dari Outline of Islamic History in China, buku karya Muhammad Pai Shou Yi, cetakan 1945. Catatan lain menunjukkan hubungan antara pemerintah Islam dan Tiongkok terjadi pada tahun 755M.

Saat itu di Tiongkok terjadi pemberontakan yang dipimpin An Lu Shan, gubenur Pinglu. An Lu Shan merebut ibukota Changan dan Kaisar Hsuan Tsung serta keluarga mengungsi ke kota I-Cheh (sekarang Chengtu) di wilayah Szechuan. An Lu Shan menyatakan diri sebagai kaisar dengan gelar Kaisar HsiungWu.

Perutusan dikirim ke Baghdad menemui Khalifah Al Manshur (136-158H/754-775M). Khalifah menyambut baik utusan Tiongkok dan mengirim pasukan dalam jumlah besar dari Khurasan. Pasukan menyeberangi pegunungan Thian San, masuk wilayah Sinkiang, wilayah Kansu dan terus menerobos ke ibukota Changan. Pada 775 M Changan direbut. Sebulan kemudian ibukota kedua, Loyang, direbut. An Lu Shan terbunuh dalam pertempuran. Kaisar Hsuan Tsung kembali ke ibukota Changan.

Sebagian besar pasukan Islam kembali ke Khurasan. Sekitar 4.000 orang yang bujangan menetap di Changan. Mereka menikahi wanita Tiongkok. Data ini diperoleh dari sensus tahun 760, masa Kaisar Chin Chung, dari dinasti Tang.

Tiga dinasti di Tiongkok, Tang, Sung dan Yuan melahirkan sejumlah tokoh besar masyarakat Muslim yang menghormati adat istiadat Tionghoa, dan loyal terhadap Tiongkok. Kaum muslim Tiongkok bersama dengan non muslim membangun sebuah khilafah Islam yang dikenal dengan Dinasti Ming (1368-1644M). Kemudian Dinasti Manchu (Mongol) menguasai Tiongkok sampai dengan 1912M. Lalu dimulailah masa Republik Tiongkok yang dipelopori oleh Dr. Sun Yat Sen (1912 sampai kini)

Satu hal yang perlu dicatat bahwa kaum Muslimin Tiongkok bahu membahu dalam membangun Tiongkok baru. Dr. Sun Yat Sen memuji peran pahlawan Tionghoa yang beragama Islam dalam membangun Republik Tiongkok. Sampai kini kaum Muslimin Tiongkok masih tetap berperan.

- Abu Sally.
( Tulisan ini ditulis ulang dari buku The Muslim in China yang ditulis oleh Haji Ibrahim Tien Ying Ma)

ISLAM’S MESSAGE TO THE WEST

We’re coming to get you
Earlier this month the terror group Jemaah Islamiyah hit Bali again. Now, in this exclusive interview for Investigate magazine in New Zealand and Australia, given shortly before the latest bombings, alleged terror leader Abu Bakar Ba’asyir tells TAUFIQ ANDRIE and SCOTT ATRAN there’s no place to hide from militant Islam in the Pacific, and no hope of peace. Ever.

This interview was conducted on August 13 and 15, 2005 from Cipinang Prison in Jakarta. Questions were for-mulated by Dr. Scott Atran and posed for him in Behasa Indonesian by Taufiq Andrie. The interview took place in a special visitor’s room, where Ba’asyir had seven acolytes acting as his bodyguards, including Taufiq Halim, the perpetrator of the Atrium mall bombing in Jakarta, and Abdul Jabbar, who blew up the Philippines ambassador’s house. The transcript follows the short introduction below.

In this interview, the alleged terrorist leader Abu Bakar Ba’asyir provides his justification for waging jihad against the West. He also explains the calculus of suicide bombers and discusses his interpretation of Islam concerning war and infidels. Despite accusations that he is head of the al-Qa’ida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist organization and has planned the most lethal terrorist attacks in Southeast Asia, Ba’asyir has only been convicted on conspiracy charges in the 2002 attack on a Bali nightclub that killed 202 people. His 30-month sentence for his role in that bombing, which included scores of Australian tourists among the casualties, was recently reduced by four months and 15 days.

Just outside the visitor’s cell is Hasyim, who runs Ba’asyir’s daily errands. Hasyim is a member of Majlis Mujahidin Indonesian (MMI), the country’s umbrella organization for militant Islamist groups headed by Ba’asyir. Like many Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) members, including Ba’asyir and JI founder Abdullah Sungkar, Hasyim originally came from Darul Islam, a post-independence group banned by the Suharto regime that has operated semi-clandestinely in Indonesian society much as the Muslim Brotherhood has in the Middle East.

In 1993, Sungkar split from DI, bringing with him most of the Indonesian Afghan Alumni that he and Ba’asyir had sent to fight the Soviets. Until Suharto’s downfall in 1998, Sungkar and Ba’asyir expanded their network of Islamist schools from exile in Malaysia, funnelling students to training camps in Afghanistan and the Philippines, and expanding JI’s influence across Southeast Asia. After Sungkar’s death in 1999, Ba’asyir became “Emir” of JI – a position and organization whose existence he publicly denies but for which there is overwhelming evidence, including from current and former JI members Dr. Atran has interviewed. Although Sungkar himself established direct ties with bin Laden, it is under Ba’asyir’s stewardship that JI has adopted key aspects of al-Qa’ida ideology and methods, targeting the interests of the ‘far enemy’ (the U.S. and its allies) with suicide bombings (Bali, Marriot Jakarta, Australian Embassy, Bali again) in support of global jihad.
Referred to as Ustadz (“teacher”), Ba’asyir is surrounded by visiting family and students who offer him a daily assortment of news magazines and foods, especially dates, his favorites. His disciples tend to be well-educated, often university graduates, and they wash his clothes. Ba’asyir’s wife visits him once a month, and Ustadz offers to share the food she prepared with his prison mates, including Christians. He is a lanky, bespectacled Hadrami (a descendent from the Hadramawt region of Yemen, like bin Laden and Sungkar) who fasts twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. He is 66 and seemingly in good health. Dressed in a white robe, red sarong and white cap, he is sitting on a wooden chair, one foot up perched on the edge. He exudes politeness and is all smiles, with a strong voice and easy laugh he answers questions as if teaching.

Q: You say that it is fardh ‘ain [an individual obligation] for Muslims to wage jihad against Infidels.

A: There are two types of infidels. The infidel who is against Islam and declares war on Islam is called kafir harbi [enemy infidel]. The second type is kafir dhimmi [protected infidel]. These are people who don’t fight against Islam, but don’t embrace it either and basically remain neutral.

Q: When in Cipinang, did Ustadz meet Father Damanik? [1] Is he kafir dhimmi?

A: Yes, I was visited and was respected by him. I have a plan, if Allah allows me, to pay a visit to his house. That’s what I call “muamalah dunia,” daily relations in the secular life. Because al-Qur’an sura 60 verse 8 says that “Allah encourages us to be kind and just to the people who don’t fight us in religion and don’t help people who fight us” so we are encouraged by Allah to be good and just to them. It means that we can help those who aren’t against us. On these matters we can cooperate, but we also have to follow the norms of Shari’ah. If Shari’ah says not to doing something, then we shouldn’t do it. Shari’ah never prohibited business in the secular world except in very minor things. So it is generally allowed to have business with non-Muslims. We can help each other. For example, if we are sick and they help us, then if they become sick, we should help them. When they die we should accompany their dead bodies to the grave though we can’t pray for them.

Q: What is the principle of Hudaybiyah [the covenant between prophet Muhammad and the People of the Book]?

A: Hudaybiyah means different things according to the legal situation. When Islam is strong, we come to the infidel’s country, not to colonize but to watch over it so that the infidel cannot plan to ruin Islam. Everywhere, infidels conspire to ruin Islam. There is no infidel who wouldn’t destroy Islam if they were given even a small chance.Therefore, we have to be vigilant.

Q: What are the conditions for Islam to be strong?

A. If there is a state, the infidel country must be visited and spied upon. My argument is that if we don’t come to them, they will persecute Islam. They will prevent non-Muslims converting to Islam.

Q: Does being a martyr mean being a suicide bomber?

A: As I explained [the day before] yesterday, there are two types of infidel terms for suicide: first, those who commit suicide out of hopelessness, second, those who commit suicide in order to be remembered as a hero. Both are types of suicide and there is no value in it.
In Islam there are also people who commit suicide out of hopelessness and we call this killing oneself. But if a person defends Islam, and according to his calculations must die in doing so, although he works hard in life, he will still go and die for Islam.
The consideration is: “if I do this, will Islam benefit or lose? If I must die and without my dying Islam will not win, then my dying is allowed.” Because to die in jihad is noble. According to Islam, to die is a necessity because everyone dies. But to seek the best death is what we call “Husn ul-Khatimah,” and the best way to die is to die as a shaheed [martyr].

Q: Is it acceptable to postpone a martyrdom action in order to make the hajj [pilgrimage to Mecca]?

A: A martyrdom action cannot be postponed in this case because jihad is more important than making the hajj. For example one of most revered ulema, Ibn Taymiyya, was asked by a rich person:
“O Sheikh, I have so much money but I’m confused about donating my money because there are two needy causes. There are poor people who, if I don’t help, will die of starvation. But if I use the money for this purpose, then the Jihad will lack funding. Therefore, I need your fatwah [religious decision] O Sheikh”
Ibn Taymiyya replied: “Give all your money for jihad. If the poor people die, it is because Allah fated it, because if we lose the Jihad, many more people will die.”
There is no better deed than jihad. None. The highest deed in Islam is jihad. If we commit to jihad, we can neglect other deeds. America wants to wipe out the teaching of jihad through Ahmadiyah [an Islamic school of thought that believes that Pakistan’s Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Prophet Muhammad’s successor]. Through this organization, America works. Why? Because Ahmadiyah prohibits its followers to undertake jihad because [they argue] jihad is the teaching of Christians. This organization originates from India. Its headquarters are in London, funded by America. Ahmadiyah is America’s tool to destroy Islam, including JIL [Jaringan Islam Liberal, Islamic Liberal Network], an NGO in Jakarta that advocates a liberal form of Islam. It is funded by USAID.

Q: So is the idea to postpone is not allowed in any circumstances, even in order to visit sick parents?

A: No, no. If we are in jihad, the jihad must come first. Unless jihad is in [the state of] fardh kifayah [a collective duty, for the nation]. If jihad is in [the state of] fardh ’ain [an individual duty], jihad must be number one. There is no obligation to ask permission from one’s parents. But even if jihad is still in the fardh kifayah state, such as jihad to spy on infidel countries, Muslims don’t require their parent’s permission.

Q: Can a martyrdom action be permanently abandoned if there is a good chance that the martyr’s family would be killed in a retaliation action? similarly if the community where the martyr is from will also experience retaliation and casualties?

A: That is the risk and the consequence of jihad. If the martyr’s family understands Islam deeply, they will obtain many rewards. Their reward will come, if they understand. A martyr must have ikhlas [sincerity]. The parent who understands this concept must be thankful to Allah. This is the spirit of jihad that most scares the infidels. This is a moral force. According to General De Gaulle, moral force is 80% and actual action only 20% [of successful combat]. For infidels the motivation is to be a hero or [to die for] the nation. Some are even encouraged to drink [alcohol] so that they can become brave. Russia was badly defeated in Afghanistan. [Afghanistan] is different than Eastern Europe which could be conquered in only a month or two. Russians thought [that they could conquer] Afghanistan in two weeks maximum because its people were backward, isn’t that right? That was Russia’s calculation based on their experience in Eastern Europe. But Afghanistan fought Russia back with their aqidah [by following Islamic doctrine] in the way of jihad. I’ll tell you a story so that you’ll understand. There was an Afghan mother who made cakes. She asked her children to distribute the cakes to the mujahideen. One by one her children were hit by shells on their way to deliver the cakes. When the mujahideen informed her they said : “Dear mother, please be strong because your children are martyred.” [The mother replied]: “I’m not crying for my children but I’m crying because I don’t know who’ll bring my cakes to the mujahideen.” Then one of the mujahideen agreed to replace her children. So, this is the spirit of jihad. You find ikhlas and willingness. Prophet Muhammad said: “I want to make jihad then die, then live again, then do jihad again, then live again, then jihad – for ten times.” This is because of the noble status for Muslims who became shaheed.

Q: Do you think the community which believes in martyrdom actions cares if the martyr only manages to blow up himself/herself and fails to kill any of the enemy?

A: No, [provided that] the ni’at [intention] to be a shaheed must be for Allah. During battle it is different. Istimata is also different. Still, the whole notion revolves around martyrdom. But in places like London and in America there must be other calculations. In battle it is best to cause as many casualties as possible.

Q: Do you think God favors or cares more for the martyr who manages to kill 100 enemies or one enemy?

A: The value [nilai] and reward [pahala] is the same.

Q: In regard to the global condition, what kind of things can the West, especially America, do to make this world more peaceful. What kind of attitudes must be changed?

A: They have to stop fighting Islam, but that’s impossible because it is “sunnatullah” [destiny, a law of nature], as Allah has said in the Qur’an. They will constantly be enemies. But they’ll lose. I say this not because I am able to predict the future but they will lose and Islam will win. That was what the Prophet Muhammad has said. Islam must win and Westerners will be destroyed. But we don’t have to make them enemies if they allow Islam to continue to grow so that in the end they will probably agree to be under Islam. If they refuse to be under Islam, it will be chaos. Full stop. If they want to have peace, they have to accept to be governed by Islam.

Q: What if they persist?

A: We’ll keep fighting them and they’ll lose. The batil [falsehood] will lose sooner or later. I sent a letter to Bush. I said that you’ll lose and there is no point for you [to fight us]. This [concept] is found in the Qur’an. The other day, I asked my lawyer to send that letter to the [U.S.] embassy. I don’t know whether the embassy passed on my letter to Bush [telling him], “You are useless, you’ll lose.” There are verses in the Qur’an that say, “You spend so much money yet you’ll be disappointed.” The verse is clear so I’m not some one who can predict the future but I get the information from Allah, so I’ll never be sad because I believe the time will come. Still, I feel that the Ummah [Muslim community] has a problem now. If the Ummah loses the [current] battle it isn’t because of Islam. A Muslim, as long as he is not “broken” [and remains committed to Allah’s rule] will get help from Allah.

Q: How about using nuclear weapons by Muslims, is it justified?

A: Yes, if necessary. But the Islamic Ummah should seek to minimalize [the intensity of the fighting]. Allah has said in verse 8 chapter 60 that we should equip ourself with weapon power – that is an order—but preferably to scare and not to kill our enemy. The main goal is to scare them. If they are scared they won’t bother us, and then we won’t bother them as well. But if they persist, we have to kill them. In this way, Prophet Muhammad sought to minimalize the fighting.

Q: In your personal view, what do you think of bombings in our homeland, namely the Bali, Marriott and Kuningan bombings?

A: I call those who carried out these actions all mujahid. They all had a good intention, that is, Jihad in Allah’s way, the aim of the jihad is to look for blessing from Allah. They are right that America is the proper target because America fights Islam. So in terms of their objectives, they are right, and the target of their attacks was right also. But their calculations are debatable. My view is that we should do bombings in conflict areas not in peaceful areas. We have to target the place of the enemy, not countries where many Muslims live.

Q: What do you mean by “wrong calculation,” that the victims included Muslims?

A: That was one them. In my calculation, if there are bombings in peaceful areas, this will cause fitnah [discord] and other parties will be involved. This is my opinion and I could be wrong. Yet I still consider them mujahid. If they made mistakes, they are only human beings who can be wrong. Moreover, their attacks could be considered as self-defense.

Q: Does that mean you think they didn’t attack?

A: No, they didn’t attack because they defended themselves. They shouldn’t be punished. In Bali where 200 people died, it was America’s bomb. That was a major attack and Amrozi [the Bali plotter who bought the explosives] doesn’t have the capability to do that. [2]

Q: Did Amrozi tell you this himself?

A: He himself was surprised to see the explosion. When he said that it was Allah’s help he was right but he didn’t make that bomb. America did. There is much evidence to this effect and so the police dare not continue their investigations. According to England’s expert, that bomb was not Amrozi’s bomb. You should ask Fauzan. He knows this subject. That bomb was a CIA Jewish bomb. The Mossad cooperates with the CIA. [3] I had an exchange of views with the police and they didn’t say anything. I said to them, “You are stupid to punish Amrozi if he really knows how to make such a bomb. You should hire him to be a military consultant, because there is no military or police person [in Indonesia] who can make such a bomb.” However, when I asked Ali Imron [4] in the court he said: “Yes, I did it” I believe him [that he made one of the smaller bombs that went off]. A bomb expert from Australia said that anyone who believes that Amrozi and friends made that [bigger] bomb is an idiot; [this is also the opinion of] a bomb expert from England whose comments I read in a magazine. If Amrozi really did make that bomb, he deserves the Nobel Prize. So, the death penalty is not fair.

Q: I want to ask your opinion of Nasir Abas’s book where he said that you are the Emir of JI? [5]

A: This is a traitor, a betrayer. I was in Malaysia and I had a jama’ah [congregation] the name of which was Jama’ah Sunnah. We just studied Islam.

Q: Were you aware that Nasir Abas was your student?

A: Yes, I was. But he was not the only one there; he also studied with Ustadz Hasyim Gani. I joined his group. He died. I think Nassir Abas’s book is [written] on orders from the police and for money.

Q: According to you, the book is incorrect, especially on Jemaah Islamiyah and you being its Emir?

A: This is not a court and the real court has failed to prove it. [6]

Q: What was Nasir Abas’s motivation in writing that book?

A: I don’t know. But basically he got orders from the police and received some money. I think that was his motivation. He doesn’t have the courage to meet me. If I meet him, I’ll send him to do jihad in Chechnya or to the Southern Philippines so that Allah will accept his remorse [taubah]. He invented his own story.

Q: I heard that Nasir Abas came here. Did he meet you?

A: No, he came here to meet others.

Q: If I may know, when was the first time you heard the name al-Qa’ida?

A: After the police questioned me; during the time I was filing a law suit against TIME magazine. Do you remember when I did that? They wanted me to take 100 million rupiah to stop the case but I didn’t. But I don’t know anymore about the case. During that time, I was under suspicion but I wasn’t arrested. That was the first time I heard the name al-Qa’ida. [7] A policeman from the intelligence section whose name I forget interrogated me from morning until afternoon. He asked about that name [al-Qa’ida]. That was the first time I heard of it. Before, I never heard of it. I went to Pakistan but I didn’t hear that name. I went there to accompany my son [8] and meet some Arabs but I never heard that name.

Q: How about Shaykh Osama bin Laden?

A: I heard his name a long time ago. I read his writings, saw his tapes and met Arabs in Pakistan who talked about him when I accompanied my son, Abdur Rahim. Who didn’t know Osama? He was a mujahid against the Soviets and he had his own military that he funded by himself. He was a hero who America also praised. He was then also supported by America. America was piggybacking on him because America didn’t have the courage to fight against the Soviets. They were afraid of the Soviets and they relied on the Afghans.

Q: Have you ever met him?

A: No, no. I want to though. After my release, I hope I can meet him. [9]

Q: Where will you find him?

A: If he still exists—but how could I? On Osama, my stand in court was clear. I have sympathy for his struggle. Osama is Allah’s soldier. When I heard his story, I came to the conclusion that he’s mujahid, a soldier of Allah.

Q: So you will always be on his side?

A: Many say this and Osama is right. His tactics and calculations may sometimes be wrong, he’s an ordinary human being after all. I don’t agree with all of his actions. He encouraged people to do bombings. I don’t agree with that. He said that JI followed his fatwah. His fatwah said that all Americans must be killed wherever they can be found, because America deserves it. Therefore [according to bin Laden] if Muslims come across Americans, they have to attack them. Osama believes in total war. This concept I don’t agree with. If this occurs in an Islamic country, the fitnah [discord] will be felt by Muslims. But to attack them in their country [America] is fine.

Q: So it means that the fight against America will never end?

A: Never, and this fight is compulsory. Muslims who don’t hate America sin. What I mean by America is George Bush’s regime. There is no iman [belief] if one doesn’t hate America. There are three ways of attacking: with your hand, your mouth and your heart.

Q: Does this mean America’s government? Its policies?

A: If its citizens are good that’s fine, especially the Muslim citizens. They are our brothers. Non-Muslims are also fine as long as they don’t bother us. A witness at my trial, Frederick Burks, wrote that he’s against Bush. [10]

Q: How can the American regime and its policies change?

A: We’ll see. As long as there is no intention to fight us and Islam continues to grow there can be peace. This is the doctrine of Islam. Islam can’t be ruled by others. Allah’s law can’t be under human law. Allah’s law must stand above human law. All laws must be under Islamic law. This is what the infidels fail to recognize, that’s what America doesn’t like to see. You should read a book, “The Face of Western Civilization” by Adian Husaini. It’s a good book, a thick one. The conclusion of the book is that Western scholars hold an anti-Islamic doctrine. It is true there will be a clash of civilizations. The argumentation is correct that there will be a clash between Islam and the infidels. There is no [example] of Islam and infidels, the right and the wrong, living together in peace.


FOOTNOTES
1. Father Rinaldy Damanik is the leader of the Christian community in Poso District, Sulawesi where violence between Muslims and Christians led to hundreds of deaths on both sides between late 1998 and 2002 (and where intermittent violence continues to this day). I interviewed Father Damanik in his home in Tentena on August 10, 2005. It turns out that Father Damanik shared the same jail cell block successively for some months (September 2002 – January 2003) with Reda Seyam (legendary Al-Qa’ida film-maker), Imam Samudra (the JI computer expert condemned to death for planning the meetings and choosing the targets for the Bali bombings) and Ba’asyir. Damanik befriended all three. There are smiling photos of Reda and Damanik together, and Samudra and Ba’asyir have both confirmed their warm feelings toward Father Damanik. Damanik used to call Ba’asyir “Opa” (grandfather) and Ba’asyir’s wife would bring gifts of food to Damanik. They discussed
injustice, Shari’ah, faith in God, suicide attacks and opposing America. According to Dam- anik, they found much agreement on the sources of injustice but disagreed strongly over the means to overcome it.

2. Amrozi bin Nurahasyim was sentenced to death by an Indonesian court for having plotted the bombing of the Sari Club in Kuta, Bali along with Imam Samudra and Amrozi’s older brother, Mukhlas.

3. The story about the CIA-Mossad conspiracy is widespread among JI leaders and foot soldiers and (usually with a laugh) used to illustrate that that JI is itself a concoction of “Jewish Intelligence.”

4. Ali Imron, the younger brother of Mukhlas and Amrozi, was sentenced to life in prison for the Bali bombings after having expressed remorse for his role in the attacks.

5. Muhammad Nasir bin Abas, who trained Bali bombers Imam Samudra and Ali Imron, received his religious instruction from Sungkar and Ba’asyir in Malaysia before they sent him in 1991 for three years to Towrkhan military camp in Afghanistan. He became a top JI military trainer but also gave religious instruction. In April 2001 Ba’asyir appointed Abas head of Mantiqi 3, one of JI’s strategic area divisions, which covered the geographical region of the Philippines and Sulawesi and was responsible for military training and arms supply. Abas turned state’s evidence in Ba’asyir’s trial, outlining the structure of JI and Ba’asyir’s position as Emir. But Abas refused to openly condemn Ba’asyir or accuse him of ordering any terrorist operations, always respectfully referring to Ba’asyir as Ustadz. In July 2005 Abas published Membongkar Jamaah Islamiyah (Unveiling Jamaah Islamiyah). The first part of the book details JI’s organization, ideology and strategy. The second part is a rebuttal to Samudra’s own book, Aku Melawan Terroris, and what Abas believes to be a tendentious use of the Quran and Hadith to justify suicide bombing and violence against fellow Muslims and civilians.
In between my interviews with Ba’asyir I interviewed Abas, who says that he quit JI over Ba’asyir’s refusal to condemn or contain the operations and influence of Riduan Isamuddin (aka Hambali). In January 2000, Hambali hosted a meeting in an apartment owned by JI member Yazid Sufaat in Kuala Lumpur that included 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and 9/11 highjackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hamzi. As Abas tells it, Hambali, who was JI’s main liaison with Al-Qa’ida and a close friend and disciple of Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, was given control of Mantiqi 1, which covered the geographical region of Malaysia and environs and was strategically responsible for JI finances and economic development. But Hambali was dissatisfied being saddled with the “economic wing” (iqtisod) and wanted to play a more active role in the conflict zones. The then-leader of Mantiqi 3, Mustafa (now in custody) blocked Hambali from muscling in on his area but Hambali was able to send fighters to fight Christians in Ambon (Maluku) in 1999, which was under Mantiqi 2 (covering most of Indonesia and strategically responsible for JI recruitment and organizational development). Encouraged by success in heating up the Maluku crisis, Hambali decided first to extend his (and al-Qa’ida’s) conception of jihad to all of Indonesia (including the 1999 bombing of the Atrium Mall in Jakarta, the August 2000 bombing of the Philippines Ambassador’s house, and 17 coordinated Church bombings on Christmas eve 2000) and then to “globalize” the jihad by enlisting suicide bombers to hit Western targets and interests (including a failed plot to blow up Singapore’s American, Australian and Israeli embassies in December 2001, and the successful 2002 Bali bombings and 2003 suicide attack on Jakarta’s Marriott hotel). Although Abas argues that JI shouldn’t be outlawed because many in JI reject Al-Qa’ida’s vision of global jihad, in fact JI’s infrastructure and leadership continue to protect (with safe houses) and condone (as “self-defense”) efforts by the likes of master-bomber Dr. Azhari bin Hussain and his constant sidekick, JI’s top recruiter Nurdin Nur Thop, who some tell me recently established a suicide squad, called Thoifah Muqatilah, for large actions against Western interests.

6. According to Abas, JI’s essential organization and ideology is outlined in a set of general guidelines for the Jemaah Islamiyah Struggle (Pedoman Umum Perjuangan al-Jamaah al-Islamiyah, PUPJI), a 44-page manual that contains a constitution, outlines the roles of office bearers and gives details of how meetings must be organized (e.g., about what to do if a quorum cannot be obtained in the leadership council). The guidelines declare that anyone who adheres to fundamental Islamic principles that are devoid of corruption, deviation (e.g. Sufism) or innovation, can take the bayat (oath of allegiance) to the Emir of JI and become a JI member. Although JI would be, in principle, open to anyone who meets these conditions, in fact only carefully selected individuals, including the Mantiqi leaders, were allowed to take the bayat and obtain copies of the PUPJI. Such individuals generally (but not always) would have undergone previous training in Afghanistan or graduated at the top of their class in courses that Sungkar and Ba’asyir designed for JI recruitment (though designation of courses as JI was unknown to potential recruitees). Abas fulfilled both conditions. Although many people (including some Afghan Alumni I have interviewed) think of themselves as JI, or are not certain of whether or not they
belong to JI, Abas insists that if they did not formally take the bayat they are considered sympathizers or supporters of JI but not members (just as some prisoners at Guantánamo are sincerely uncertain as to whether or not they belong to al-Qa’ida if they did not formally take the bayat to Bin Laden).
Abas says the PUPJI was drafted by a committee, including Ba’asyir, and then formally approved by Sungkar as the basis for JI. When asked about the PUPJI in an earlier (untaped part of the) interview, Ba’asyir claimed, on the one hand, that the PUPJI manual was planted by police and intelligence services but, on the other hand, that it contains sound principles modeled on the doctrine of the Egyptian Islamic Group (Gama’at Islamiyah). Abas says that the manual also contains elements of Indonesia’s military organization, particularly in regard to the ranking of personnel (binpur) and responsibility for territory (bintur). He adds that although the PUPJI allows the JI to conduct itself as a “secret organization” (tanzim sir) - and conceal its doctrine, membership and operations from public view – it does not allow the practice of taqiyyah (dissimulation) to extend to lying to the (Muslim) public (another reason Abas gives for his leaving JI).

7. Other members of JI who openly acknowledge sympathy with bin Laden and Qa’ida say much the same thing. For example, I interviewed the JI member who founded the first mujahidin training camp in 2000 for the conflict in Poso, Sulawesi. He had earlier been sent by JI founder Abdullah Sungkar during the Soviet-Afghan War to train in Abu Sayyafs’s Ihtihad camp in Sada, Pakistan and to study with Abdullah Azzam, Bin Laden’s mentor and the person who first formulated the notion of “Al-Qa’ida sulbah” (“the strong base”) as a vanguard for jihad. This JI member also acknowledges hosting Khalid Sheikh Muhammad at his home in Jakarta for a month in 1996. Yet, he claims never to have heard of “al-Qa’ida” applied to a specific organization or group headed by Bin Laden until 9/11.

8. Ba’asyir sent his younger son, Abdul Rahim, to the Afghanistan border during the Soviet-Afghan war to spend time under the wing of Aris Sumarsono (aka Zulkarnaen, who became JI’s operations chief) later enrolling Rahim in an Islamic high school in Faisalabad, Pakistan. Seeking a stricter salafist education for his son, Ba’asyir directed Rahim in the mid-nineties to Sana’a, Yemen, to study under Abdul Madjid al-Zindani (like Abdullah Azzam, Zindani was a legend among self-proclaimed “Afghan Alumni” who fought the Soviets). By 1999, Rahim was in Malaysia and soon under Hambali’s stewardship. Abdul Rahim now operates freely in Indonesia
(reports in August 2005, place him in Aceh, heading a new charity, Camp Taochi Foundation) but he is suspected of having taken over JI’s contacts with Al-Qa’ida remnants after Hambali’s capture.

9. Ba’asyir’s statement that he never met bin Laden is contradicted by testimony from other JI members, both free and in custody. In the following letter (authenticated by Indonesian intelligence) dated August 3, 1998 and addressed to regional jihadi leaders, Ba’asyir and Sungkar state they are acting on bin Laden’s behalf to advance “the Muslim world’s global jihad” (jabhah Jihadiyah Alam Islamy) against“ the Jews and Christians:” Malaysia, 10 Rabiul Akhir 1419 [August 3, 1998] From: Abdullah Sungkar and Abu Bakar Ba’asyir To: Al Mukarrom, respected clerics, teachers (ustadz), sheikhs All praises upon God who has said: “The Jews and Christians will never be satisfied until you follow their way of worship” Al Baqarah: 120 Praise and peace upon Prophet Muhammad who has said: “If I’m still alive, I’ll surely expel the Jews and Christians out of the Arabian peninsula” And may God bless us and any of his followers who want to follow his orders.Respected clerics, teachers and sheikhs. This letter is to convey a message from Sheikh Osama Bin Laden to all of you. We send you this letter because we can’t visit and see you directly. However, we send our envoy, Mr. Ghaus Taufiq [a Darul Islam commander in Sumatra], to bring this letter personally to all of you. We also attach Bin Laden’s written message in this letter and Bin Laden also sends these messages to all of you:

1. Bin Laden conveys his regards (Assalamu’ alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh)
2. Bin Laden says that right now, after “Iman” (to believe in God), the most important obligation for all Moslems in the world is to work hard to free the Arabian Peninsula from the occupation of Allah’s enemy America (Jews and Christians).
This obligation is mathalabusy syar’i (a consequence of the shari’ah) that every Moslem must not consider this obligation to be a simple matter. Prophet Muhammad, although he was sick, ordered the Muslim Ummah to prioritize their obligation to expel the infidels from the Arabian Peninsula. Therefore, as the Prophet has said, the Muslim Ummah must take this obligation seriously. It is very important for the Muslim world to work very hard to free the Arabian Peninsula from colonization by the infidel Americans.

If we can free the Arabian peninsula as masdarul diinul Islam (the source of Islam) and makorrul haromain (Holy Mecca) from occupation by the infidel Americans, Inshallah (God willing) our struggle to uphold Islam everywhere on God’s land will be successful. Stagnation and the difficulty in upholding Islam at present stems from the occupation of the Arabian Peninsula by the infidel America. This great struggle must be put into action by the Ummah (Muslim community) all over the world under the leadership and guidance of clerics in their respective countries. Under such leadership, we will prevail.

The first step of this struggle is issuing fatwah (Islamic edict) from clerics all over the world addressed to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The edict must remind the King what Prophet Muhammad said about the obligation for the Muslim Ummah to expel the infidels from the Arabian Peninsula. Otherwise, this world will suffer a catastrophe. These edicts will give strong encouragement and influence to the King of Arabia. This is the message from Osama bin Laden conveyed to all of you.
Sheikh Osama bin Laden really wants to visit all clerics and Islamic preachers everywhere in the world to share his views so that there will be a common understanding about this momentous struggle. In the end, we will have similar movements simultaneously across the world. However, Bin Laden realizes that the situation outside his sanctuary is not presently safe. He also awaits your visit with his deep respect so that this great struggle may proceed. These are Bin Laden’s messages that we convey to all of you.

We take this opportunity to explain certain facts about Bin Laden:
• At present, Sheikh Osama stays in Afghanistan, in the Kandahar area, under the protection of Taliban
• He doesn’t oppose either the Taliban or Mujahideen. He’s trying to unify both groups.

From his camp in Kandahar, Bin Laden organizes plans to expel infidel America from the Arabian Peninsula by inviting ulemas and preachers from all over the world. In this camp, Bin Laden is accompanied by a number of Arab mujahideen, especially those who previously fought in Afghanistan. Bin Laden and these mujahideen prepare to form “jabhah Jihadiyah Alam Islamy” (The global jihadi coalition in the Moslem world) to fight against America. The above information is about Sheikh Osama Bin Laden that you should know.

If you have the time and commitment to visit Sheikh Osama, Inshallah, we can help you meet him safely.
We praise God to all of you for your attention and cooperation.
Jazakumullah khoirul jaza (Thanks to God the best thanks) Wassalamu’alaukim, Your brother in Allah, Abdullah Sungkar Abu Bakar Ba’asyir

10. Frederick Burks appeared at Ba’asyir’s trial testifying that he had interpreted at a 2002 meeting about Ba’asyir between an envoy of President George W. Bush and Indonesia’s then-president Megawati Sukarnoputri. Burks said the unidentified envoy accused Ba’asyir of involvement in a series of church bombings in Indonesia in 2000 and asked for the cleric to be secretly arrested and handed over to US authorities. Megawati declined, he said.

http://www.investigatemagazine.com/archives/investigate_articles/nov_05_nz_edition/index.html

Islam : The Next American Religion ?

MICHAEL WOLFE
From Western Minaret

The U.S. began as a haven for Christian outcasts. But what religion fits our current zeitgeist? The answer may be Islam.

Americans tend to think of their country as, at the very least, a nominally Christian nation. Didn't the Pilgrims come here for freedom to practice their Christian religion? Don't Christian values of righteousness under God, and freedom, reinforce America's democratic, capitalist ideals?

True enough. But there's a new religion on the block now, one that fits the current zeitgeist nicely. It's Islam.

Islam is the third-largest and fastest growing religious community in the United States. This is not just because of immigration. More than 50% of America's six million Muslims were born here. Statistics like these imply some basic agreement between core American values and the beliefs that Muslims hold. Americans who make the effort to look beyond popular stereotypes to learn the truth of Islam are surprised to find themselves on familiar ground.

Is America a Muslim nation? Here are seven reasons the answer may be yes.

Islam is monotheistic. Muslims worship the same God as Jews and Christians. They also revere the same prophets as Judaism and Christianity, from Abraham, the first monotheist, to Moses, the law giver and messenger of God, to Jesus--not leaving out Noah, Job, or Isaiah along the way. The concept of a Judeo-Christian tradition only came to the fore in the 1940s in America. Now, as a nation, we may be transcending it, turning to a more inclusive "Abrahamic" view.

In January, President Bush grouped mosques with churches and synagogues in his inaugural address. A few days later, when he posed for photographers at a meeting of several dozen religious figures, the Shi'ite imam Muhammad Qazwini, of Orange County, Calif., stood directly behind Bush's chair like a presiding angel, dressed in the robes and turban of his south Iraqi youth.

Islam is democratic in spirit. Islam advocates the right to vote and educate yourself and pursue a profession. The Qur'an, on which Islamic law is based, enjoins Muslims to govern themselves by discussion and consensus. In mosques, there is no particular priestly hierarchy. With Islam, each individual is responsible for the condition of her or his own soul. Everyone stands equal before God.

Americans, who mostly associate Islamic government with a handful of tyrants, may find this independent spirit surprising, supposing that Muslims are somehow predisposed to passive submission. Nothing could be further from the truth. The dictators reigning today in the Middle East are not the result of Islamic principles. They are more a result of global economics and the aftermath of European colonialism. Meanwhile, like everyone else, average Muslims the world over want a larger say in what goes on in the countries where they live. Those in America may actually succeed in it. In this way,America is closer in spirit to Islam than many Arab countries.

Islam contains an attractive mystical tradition. Mysticism is grounded in the individual search for God. Where better to do that than in America, land of individualists and spiritual seekers? And who might better benefit than Americans from the centuries-long tradition of teachers and students that characterize Islam. Surprising as it may seem, America's best-selling poet du jour is a Muslim mystic named Rumi, the 800-year-old Persian bard and founder of the Mevlevi Path, known in the West as the Whirling Dervishes. Even book packagers are now rushing him into print to meet and profit from mainstream demand for this visionary. Translators as various as Robert Bly, Coleman Barks, and Kabir and Camille Helminski have produced dozens of books of Rumi's verse and have only begun to bring his enormous output before the English-speaking world. This is a concrete poetry of ecstasy, where physical reality and the longing for God are joined by flashes of metaphor and insight that continue to speak across the centuries.

Islam is egalitarian. From New York to California, the only houses of worship that are routinely integrated today are the approximately 4,000 Muslim mosques. That is because Islam is predicated on a level playing field, especially when it comes to standing before God. The Pledge of Allegiance (one nation, "under God") and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (all people are "created equal") express themes that are also basic to Islam.

Islam is often viewed as an aggressive faith because of the concept of jihad, but this is actually a misunderstood term. Because Muslims believe that God wants a just world, they tend to be activists, and they emphasize that people are equal before God. These are two reasons why African Americans have been drawn in such large numbers to Islam. They now comprise about one-third of all Muslims in America.

Meanwhile, this egalitarian streak also plays itself out in relations between the sexes. Muhammad, Islam's prophet, actually was a reformer in his day.

Following the Qur'an, he limited the number of wives a man could have and strongly recommended against polygamy. The Qur'an laid out a set of marriage laws that guarantees married women their family names, their own possessions and capital, the right to agree upon whom they will marry, and the right to initiate divorce. In Islam's early period, women were professionals and property owners, as increasingly they are today. None of this may seem obvious to most Americans because of cultural overlays that at times make Islam appear to be a repressive faith toward women--but if you look more closely, you can see the egalitarian streak preserved in the Qur'an finding expression in contemporary terms. In today's Iran, for example, more women than men attend university, and in recent local elections there, 5,000 women ran for public office.

Islam shares America's new interest in food purity and diet. Muslims conduct a monthlong fast during the holy month of Ramadan, a practice that many Americans admire and even seek to emulate. I happened to spend quite a bit of time with a non-Muslim friend during Ramadan this year. After a month of being exposed to a practice that brings some annual control to human consumption, my friend let me know, in January, that he was "doing a little Ramadan" of his own. I asked what he meant. "Well, I'm not drinking anything or smoking anything for at least a month, and I'm going off coffee." Given this friend's normal intake of coffee, I could not believe my ears.

Muslims also observe dietary laws that restrict the kind of meat they can eat. These laws require that the permitted, or halal, meat is prepared in a manner that emphasizes cleanliness and a humane treatment of animals. These laws ride on the same trends that have made organic foods so popular.

Islam is tolerant of other faiths. Like America, Islam has a history of respecting other religions. In Muhammad's day, Christians, Sabeans, and Jews in Muslim lands retained their own courts and enjoyed considerable autonomy. As Islam spread east toward India and China, it came to view Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, and Buddhism as valid paths to salvation. As Islam spread north and west, Judaism especially benefited. The return of the Jews to Jerusalem, after centuries as outcasts, only came about after Muslims took the city in 638. The first thing the Muslims did there was to rescue the Temple Mount, which by then had been turned into a garbage heap.

Today, of course, the long discord between Israel and Palestine has acquired harsh religious overtones. Yet the fact remains that this is a battle for real estate, not a war between two faiths. Islam and Judaism revere the same prophetic lineage, back to Abraham, and no amount of bullets or barbed wire can change that. As The New York Times recently reported, while Muslim/Jewish tensions sometimes flare on university campuses, lately these same students have found ways to forge common links. For one thing, the two religions share similar dietary laws, including ritual slaughter and a prohibition on pork. Joining forces at Dartmouth this fall, the first kosher/halal dining hall is scheduled to open its doors this autumn. That isn't all: They're already planning a joint Thanksgiving dinner, with birds dressed at a nearby farm by a rabbi and an imam. If the American Pilgrims were watching now, they'd be rubbing their eyes with amazement. And, because they came here fleeing religious persecution, they might also understand.

Islam encourages the pursuit of religious freedom. The Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock is not the world's first story of religious emigration. Muhammad and his little band of 100 followers fled religious persecution, too, from Mecca in the year 622. They only survived by going to Madinah, an oasis a few hundred miles north, where they established a new community based on a religion they could only practice secretly back home. No wonder then that, in our own day, many Muslims have come here as pilgrims from oppression, leaving places like Kashmir, Bosnia, and Kosovo, where being a Muslim may radically shorten your life span. When the 20th century's list of emigrant exiles is added up, it will prove to be heavy with Muslims, that's for sure.

All in all, there seems to be a deep resonance between Islam and the United States. Although one is a world religion and the other is a sovereign nation, both are traditionally very strong on individual responsibility. Like New Hampshire's motto, "Live Free or Die," America is wedded to individual liberty and an ethic based on right action. For a Muslim, spiritual salvation depends on these. This is best expressed in a popular saying: Even when you think God isn't watching you, act as if he is.

Who knows? Perhaps it won't be long now before words like salat (Muslim prayer) and Ramadan join karma and Nirvana in Webster's Dictionary, and Muslims take their place in America's mainstream.

http://www.amaana.org/articles/islamamer.htm

Islam a Brilliant Phenomenon in America

Mrs. Ivan Yazbik Haddad the professor of the History of Islam in the University of Massachusetts as well as editor- in – chief of the Journal of "the world of Islam" and Mrs. Adirta Lumiss the reasercher of the Religious and Social Researches Center of the Hartford have performed deep and constant studies in connection with the religion. Both of them as the researchers have studied for two years upon the Muslim migrants, their children as well as their grand children in the United States of America. In the meantime they have carried-out Joint researches which the outcomes of their Joint research have been published by two organizations respectively: one of them called the Center of the Religious and Islamic Studies and the Relationships between Islam and Christianity known as "Dunkan palk Mac Donald " and another one, the Religious Studies Center entitled "the Development of the Religious Values in the United States of America".


These two researchers believe that today Islam has been converted into a brilliant phenomenon in the United States of America, a phenomenon that previously was supposed as a method of life particular to the Arabs and a religious belief alien with the Jewish and Christian religions. Now it has reached to such a vastness and power which should be looked as a dominate religious movement, a movement which rapidly is developing.

At present in the United States of America there are acting more than 600 mosques and the islamic religious centers even though there are witnessed many differences among the people who claim that they are American Muslims, nevertheless the statistic which has been presented by the various researcher shows a figure between two up to three million.Of course the rate of birth among the Muslims, the increasing conversion of a great number of the non- Muslims to Islam and the wave of migration of the Muslims to the United States of America (annually almost 25 up to 30 thousands people) show that in the first decade of twenty first century in all likelihood the number of the Muslims in the United States of America will reach to a number which after Christians they will constitute the biggest religious minority in this country.

The categorizing of the North American Muslims:
The Muslims of the North America could be divided into two specific groups:

The migrants and the natives. The first group include the persons that either they themselves or their fathers or fore fathers have migrated to this land from the other points of the world. The students of the universities could be put to this group.

The biggest figure in this group belongs to the Lebanese but as a whole there could be seen 60 nationalities in this group particularly Pakistani, Iranian, Afghan, Turk and the Muslims of the Eastern Europe.

The second group meaning the native Muslims which mainly include the African Muslims residing in the United States of America who are citizens of this country and gradually have been converted to Islam. The number of them at present is almost 75 thousands people and every day their number is being increased.

The establishment of the Federation of the Islamic Associations:
The first mosques and the religious centers in the United States of America were established by the individuals and groups with the purpose of gathering and probing the muslims’ religious and social needs in any regions and their activities were restricted to the specific area. After a generation there was established a kind of federation from a number of the mosques and the religious center but not very strong with the purpose of creating relationships and solidarity among the regions and the various states which as usual it was initially carried-out by the Lebanese. This federation today is known as the Federation of the Islamic Associations, which its headquarters is located in Detroit, the capital city of the state of Michigan. It is noteable that from 1960 in addition to this federation also the other Islamic organizations have been established gradually with the support from abroad that follow the same goals.

The aforesaid organizations today have very important role with respect to the various activates of the Islamic mosques and centers. Among these organizations there could be indicated “the World Union of the Muslims” which its headquarters is located in the holy Mecca. This union has a local office (Bureau) in the United States of America which has initiated the formation of "the Council of the Mosques" that so for 70 mosques have membership in it. The main activities of this council are as the provision of budget for establishing the mosques, dispensation of holy Quran as well as the religious teaching pamphlets.

The another active group from the Muslims includes "the Islamic Community of North America" which has been established recently which has two organizations under the banner of its support such as "the Islamic Communities of America, and the Students Islamic Associations". This community has hundreds branches and local offices throughout the United States of America. The Students Islamic Association which has branches in many of the universities is a very active forum which has undertaken the responsibility of the provision, dissemination and distribution of the islamic books and pamphlets and its members are known as the fundamentalist muslims.

The reforms in the structure, the mode of organizing and the leadership of the Islamic groups in the United States of America:
In the two past decades there took place main changes in the structure and leadership of the entire islamic groups existing in the United States. There were inflicted new pressures from inside and outside upon the Muslim migrants who inevitably covered- out a number of reforms on the mode of their formation as well as organizational management.

Previously, the Muslim migrants usually used to gather around one another in the shape of the small groups and mostly in the matrix of social and ethnical clubs in the shape of a religious organization. These small groups have entirely fixed themselves with the cultural framework of American society and such as the other religious groups they had adjusted themselves with the American life method. In the recent years the personalities affiliated to the mosques and Islamic religious centers with the firm decision have revised upon the issue of the Islamic leadership and through appointing of the educated individuals under the title of the congregational prayer Imam of the mosques they have given new colures to their activities.

The present migrant Muslims on the contrary of the initial emigrant Muslims are the educated individuals who hold the university grades.At present in the American Islamic community the percent of the educated Muslims in comparison is more than the entire Islamic communities throughout the world.

A plentiful number of the muslims, residing in the United States of America, in the recent years have acquired new tracings from Islam. This has been carried out by the Islamic Community of North America, which its goal is guiding the American Muslims towards a life compatible with the Islamic teachings. This organization wants to teach the Muslims that within the framework of a completely materialistic life how there can be maintained the Islamic values.

Undoubtedly the recent events and the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran have deeply impacted upon the American Islamic Communities and they belief in that, bounding to the Islamic teachings is the sole way of victory and acquirement of power for the Islamic countries and based on it as well as taking into consideration the revolutionary powers of Islam in line with mobilizing the deprived grass roots of the Islamic nations who are under the oppression and cruelty of the arrogant powers. Thus the Governmental of U.S.A is intensive in anxiety and afraid with respect to the logic of Islam hence in the case of happening any incident or events in that country they promptly and automatically condemn the Muslims to the terror and destruction! While they know well that the dignity of Islam is the school of logic and dialogue, and its basis is on the basis of peace and Justice and it is harbinger of philanthropy.

The wave of migration of the Muslims to the United States of American in five phases:
The migration of the Muslims to the country of the United States of America took place in five specific phases in the shape of five extensive waves.

The first wave of the migration is relevant to 1875 up to 1919. Those migrants were Arabs who in the era of the Ottoman Empire had expatriated their own countries in the rural areas of the Arabic countries such as Syria, Jordan. Palestine and Lebanon who most of them were illiterate. The migrant Muslims who have migrated to the United States in the above mentioned years which was due to the stagnation in the Middle East hoped to reach to the financial and welfare break through same as the Lebanese Christians who had previously migrated to that country. A number of them after gaining the required incomes had returned to their own homelands but another group of them remained in the United States of America and founded the Muslim communities in the various points of that country.

Owing to the illiteracy of this group as well as their lack of proficiency in English they merely were able to work in the factories or mines or be active in the shape of the tradesmen, shop keeping, or retailers. Because they used to work in the industrial areas they didn’t have enough time to become familiar or acquainted with the Americans and the most associations of them were merely with the Muslims as well as their fellow-country men.

The second wave of migration took place in 1918 up to 1922 which means after the First World War. Those migrants were mostly from the urban areas who had somehow a kind of kinship or bonds with those who had previously been settled in the United States of America. Those Muslims had petrifaction in the release of Syria from the hegemony of the Ottoman Empire and they wished one day the english and french laws and regulations be ruling upon their country.

The third wave of the migration is relevant to 1930 up to 1938 because in those years U.S. A authorized the migration of the relatives and kinsmen of the migrant to that country.

The fourth wave of the migration took place over a span of between years 1947 up to 1960. That huge wave of migration not only brought the migrants from the Middle East to the United States of America but also from India, Pakistan, Eastern Europe, Former Soviet Union and the other Islamic regions which it dispatched innumerable migrants towards the United States of America.

In the recent wave innumerable leaders of the origin countries who were mostly educated and holding the university degrees and the westernized intelligentsia had presence along with their families and children.

Their influx towards the United States of America was with the purpose of migrants as refugees and with the aim of accessing to the better life, higher education, advanced technology as well as the nobel opportunities for progress also upgrading their thoughts.

The wave of migrant began from 1967 and at present also continues. In addition to the economic reasons, the political necessities also are reckoned as the main factors For example in this era the strife between the Israelis and the Arabs and the successive defeats of the Arab nations owing to the treasons and disabilities of their leaders which inflicted many hurts to the personalities and the identity of the Arabs had an important role.

The attention of the people to the World to Islam:
One of the contemporary realities is the presence of Islam in the entire points of the world. Every where of the world the Muslim minorities have been formed and today the attention of the inhabitants of the world have been focused on this point that not only Islam has presence in the societies such as China and former Soviet Union but also in the far countries such as Japan, Australia and South of the Africa Continent which in them also are witnessed active Muslims. Also there exist coherent Islamic communities in the most of the nations such as Germany, Belgium, France, England also in the north and South of America. Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) is consisting of 53 delegations from 53 Islamic countries which covers almost the entire world of Islam and feels responsibility towards the life situation of the Muslims minorities throughout the world and is interested about their status.

Quarrel of the American politicians with Islam:
The biased politicians as well as the prejudiced researchers of the western countries have attempted to separate Islam from the Christian and Jewish religions so that they have proclaimed Islam is a faith alien with the two already mentioned religions and there is no relationship between the legacy, in the religious researches and studies which have been carried-out with the Americans and are being carried-out the repeated usage of the word of (Jewish-Christian) in describing the Heavenly Religions have a main purpose which is the isolation of Islam and separating it from the other Divine Religions. The governmental officials of U.S.A through this plan and the other similar acts are attempting to ostracize the Muslims with the followers of the other religions from the multi-religious and multinational society of America. Without considering that this action is intentional or unintentional is keeping away the Muslims in participation in the future structure of the American society.

Indignation of the Americans against Islam have caused the intellect also this land are either entirely remain ignorant about Islam or Judge about it improperly, nevertheless the future belonged to Islam even though it be in the United States of America because a great number of the migrants who have recently arrived in that country are intensively worried about a problem which is the lechery and disturbance of ethical yardsticks ruling upon the society of America.

The excessed statistics usage of drugs, prostitution warmongering of the american governmental authorities, nakedness of the women and eradicating the indecency of the sexual problems which they attribute these corruptions to the Christianity because the initial of this religion have been obliterated and they believe in there does exist any thing worthy of imitating in the United States of America.

Footnotes:
1- The following books have been published from her so far:

- Women, religion and the social changes (in collaboration with Ellison Fondly)

- The strike of Islam (in collaboration with Byron Hains and Ellison Fondly)

- The point of view of Islam concerning the death, and the resurrection day (in collaboration with Joan Smith)

2- Her main work is: The women and the veil

3- For further formation the interested ones can refer to the following essays:

- The essay of Dr. Raghib-al- Zaman entitle “the Muslims of the United States of America including resident and gusset” containing in the year book of AAPSS/1891

- The American Encyclopedia with respect to the ethnical groups. Publication no891, Cambridge has various articles a bout the Muslims groups of the United States of America.

- The expense of Islam in the United States of America written in the link Journal, 12th year, resign no.4.

- The book entitled "the Arabic language group in the cities of the United States of America" written by Barbara from the publications relevant to the migration, New York 4791

- The book entitled "the Muslim Arabs in the United states of America" written by Abdullah-al- Quli from the university publications of new meson

- The book entitled "the Arab Americans: a number of studies with respect to the assimilate of the ethnical groups" written by Aalin Manchurian and Ann Paden.

http://www.taghrib.ir/tmain_en.aspx?lng=en&mode=art&artid=2409

The urgency of unity and solidarity among Muslims

Imam Khomeini: “If you are spiritual, the calls for discord will not have any effect on you”
By : Ali Maasumi


It is more than 150 years since the well distinguished, informed and enlightened intellectuals of the Islamic World spoke on the urgency of unity and solidarity among Muslims. They stated that this is the prerequisite for the success of Muslims in the face of enemies’ onslaught and especially the invasion by colonial and arrogant powers of the West.

Imam Khomeini:
“If you are spiritual, the calls for discord will not have any effect on you”
Ali Maasumi (Wuzvai)

It is more than 150 years since the well distinguished, informed and enlightened intellectuals of the Islamic World spoke on the urgency of unity and solidarity among Muslims. They stated that this is the prerequisite for the success of Muslims in the face of enemies’ onslaught and especially the invasion by colonial and arrogant powers of the West. If we focus on the bulk of Imam Khomeini’s speeches on the exigency of Muslim Unity, then we realize that he had the highest number of very profound speeches on this subject.

"Unity" is one term which can be easily understood, but there have been factors and obstacles which indicate that, in understanding this simple term, Muslim Communities have not shown ability and aptitude. One of the most important pointers of such a state of affairs is that, for more than 150 years the enlightened personalities of the Islamic World have been issuing guidance on the critical necessity of unity, but still lack of Muslim solidarity in facing the enemy is one of the fundamental problems of the Islamic communities. Of course when we talk about Muslim communities we mean all the strata of the Islamic communities from intellectuals, bureaucrats etc to the common people who live and are considered as part of any given society.
Certainly in each section of the Islamic communities there are astutely informed people who have shown a high understanding of unity. Unfortunately when we review and present the achievements of those who strived on the path of unity and what effect they actually had, we realize that we are still miles away from the desired goals. It is indeed because of this that on the one hand, schism and discord are some of the most important tribulations afflicting the World of Islam and on the other hand, the enemies of the World of Islam in their plots to divide Muslims have inflicted the heaviest blow to Muslim countries and communities. These enemies continue to occupy, plunder and loot the economic resources and potentialities of Islamic communities and countries. They have become more brazen in their efforts to destroy the Islamic Culture and have installed puppet governments in Islamic Countries subservient to their wishes. A closer look at the speeches of Imam Khomeini and his political and social conduct reveals that in his viewpoint, unity is not just a moral advice and a cultural and social value, but also the greatest strategy and the best political method for the Islamic communities to remain powerful in confronting their enemies. It is for this reason that for centuries, the enemies of Islam have been using the tactic of sowing discord in Islamic communities as the most effective way to spread their imperialism and colonial control over the World of Islam. What is astonishing is that, Islamic communities have not been able to show maturity befitting their status in understanding this strategy used by the enemies for almost 200 years in ruining their destiny. Why have Muslims not been able to accomplish unity for the last 200 years and illustrate their real and institutional solidarity in the face of enemy’s strategies to sow discord? Today after 150 years, lack of unity is considered the fundamental drawback of the Muslim Ummah.

We must confess here that our enemies have been able to exhaustively implement their strategies thus bringing about dispute among Muslims. An indicator of the success by enemies is that by creating discord, they still continue to dominate while Islamic communities have failed to move forward and implement unity, leading to conflict. In other words, our disparity is the guarantor of the perpetuation of the divisive plots by the enemies, however when this state changes and our unity leads to the misery and defeat of the enemies, then we can proudly claim that the strategy of Unity has been desirably implemented.

At times the enemies of Islam have been so successful in creating divisions among Islamic communities and nations to such an extent that instead of the normal discord and lack of sympathy among themselves, Islamic communities have moved a notch higher and violently confronted or fought against one another. When affairs reach such a state, this becomes the apex of the enemies’ satisfaction in their devious plots. This has been the case in the contemporary history and we are actually witnessing it now in some regions of the World of Islam. Through deceit and spending colossal sums of money, the enemy wants to use all means possible to ignite sectarian violence and thus prevent the new wave of Islamic revival. The enemies will inevitably use all their political, military, propaganda and economic might to generate divisions among Muslims since the life line of these invading and imperialist powers totally depends on this.
From the political and cultural lackeys of the enemies, we expect nothing but continuation of their role as puppets in the hands of enemies bent of creating sectarian discord among Muslims since their worldly life also relies on such a state of affairs. These lackeys of the enemies always try to instigate sectarian and tribal friction among Muslims by adorning the coat of indigenous members of Islamic Communities while echoing the sentiments and ideas of their masters and trying to divert the masses from focusing on their main and common enemy, to be precise, the Western arrogant crusaders. It is for this reason that we expected nothing from these henchmen and traitors since over the years they have proved that have been betraying Muslims. Whenever an opportunity presented itself or when they received orders from their masters, these henchmen sacrificed their religion and countries and even their social status to satisfy their vicious desires. In all their crimes as henchmen they have preferred worldly gain to heavenly reward. It is indeed unfortunate that these henchmen are found in the broad spectrum of the society.
Some come in the form of intellectuals and democrats while others commit this crime in the name of political, cultural and social activists. Another group serves colonial interests through religious fanaticism while some in their promotion of superstitious beliefs have furthered enemies’ interests. Still others who have flaunted the clerical garb of scholars and Muftis offer unreserved assistance in the divisive strategies of the enemies through their utterances. Towards attainment of the historical strategy of unity of Muslims, we also expect little from governments, which like the above mentioned henchmen, are tools in the hands of colonialists being controlled like puppets.
Muslims who are not attached to colonialists and enemies can only advance the historical strategy of unity if they understand and realize the importance of unity and posses a spiritual soul and divine goals. When man correctly and completely understands the rationality and wisdom of a particular thing then he will definitely go after it, but there has to be grounds for spiritual wisdom. If one has a spirit of divine goals and motivations naturally not only will he be void of personal and worldly impulses while taking steps towards unity, but also the calls for discord will not have any effect on him since he is capable of clearly distinguishing between satanic yells and divine inspiration.

Imam Khomeini believed that in the midst of the continuous hue and cry by those bent on creating discord, having wisdom, knowledge and a spiritual soul are the paramount factors which can save man from getting entangled in the trap of divisive plots. Regarding this he says: ‘We must move towards strengthening our unity. Both our people and government should not think that (this is a government and that is a nation) there is difference between them.
We are all in one caravan going towards the next world and therefore we must obey God and be together. If we are such, then there will be no problem in gaining victory which will come to us. This is the victory that God grants, this is the assistance which God bestows, and we accept Him by heart and soul.

If God had not wanted, it would not have been and assuming by the force of sword and guns we become victorious and count this as victory of our efforts only, then this is not victory but defeat. You might now consider it as victory but it is not and is actually a great defeat and it must be so. In obeying God who has said that you must be united, then you must have unity and should avoid discord. We must have unity, meaning we maintain it. There is unity but it needs continuity! We must continue this Unity and the principle of this implies that we should avoid listening to the utterances of those who, God Forbid, want to create divisions. Of course persons who want to corrupt are in every place but when a nation wants to create unity and be united for the sake of God, then it is not indebted to lend its ears to the utterances of the person who wants to spread corruption. The indebted ear is of the person who is sloth in this regard. When one is slow on the course to spirituality and divinity, then that is when man is affected by everything that is uttered. The effect increases gradually.

But when we strengthen this path that we are for God and from God, then we must work for God and return to God, ‘From God we come and Unto Him is our return ‘....
It is said you must be together and if we are together no one can do the slightest thing to harm you. We must be together for the obedience of God. (Sahife Imam Vol.19 Pg. 206-207)

It is expected that in this very sensitive moment in the history of Islam and with the knowledge gained in the study of spirituality, Muslim masses will not heed the bickering of those with the intent of fomenting divisions and discord and thus will be able to completely defeat colonialists and those who cause discord.

*Imam Khomeini has said: We must have unity and sustain it. You must not listen to the words of people who speak to bring about discord. Those who target (to destroy) unity are corrupt. If you want to have unity, do not listen to the words of the corrupt ones. If you do not want the words of those who cause divisions to affect you, be spiritual and divine. Words of those who cause discord affect those who are weak spiritually.
** It is 150 years since the enlightened intellectuals of the Islamic world started speaking about unity in the face of colonialists and declared division as the greatest problem in the World of Islam. This issue shows that the World of Islam has not pushed forward the strategy of confronting divisions and striving for unity in a befitting manner. This is while colonialists and the enemies of Islam have been able to successfully implement the strategy of creating discord which is the most important tool of the imperialists over the Islamic world and that is why Muslims today are stuck in the quandary of discord and infighting.

***Schism in the World of Islam has led to the historical conquering of Muslims by the enemies. As long as this disastrous equation is in place, then there is no hope that the World of Islam will free itself from the shackles of Western colonialists. Therefore all endeavors of Muslims must be geared towards shattering this equation. The core and the forces of Islamic resistance whose aim is serving Islam must act in harmony and undertake to unite in confronting their common enemy instead of engaging in internal disputes and sectarian scuffles.

****We expect nothing from the ranks of colonial lackeys who operate in Islamic communities among the intellectuals and political activists, this also the case of those wearing the cloak of religious fanaticism and zealotry, nothing is expected from the circles of superstitious ones and those wearing the garb of Muftis and scholars while serving imperialists. These lackeys can not ponder about unity since their base is that of henchmen in the hands of colonialists. Therefore Muslims must ignore the bickering of colonial lackeys bent on creating discord and instead endeavor to attain sustainable unity.

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