Author: Observer Worldview
Publication: The Observer, UK
Date: November 24, 2002
URL: http://www.observer.co.uk/worldview/story/0,11581,845725,00.html
Online document: the full text of
Osama bin Laden's "letter to the American people", reported in today's
Observer. The letter first appeared on the internet in Arabic and has since
been translated and circulated by Islamists in Britain.
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious,
the Most Merciful, "Permission to fight (against disbelievers) is given
to those (believers) who are fought against, because they have been wronged
and surely, Allah is Able to give them (believers) victory" [Quran 22:39]
"Those who believe, fight in the
Cause of Allah, and those who disbelieve, fight in the cause of Taghut
(anything worshipped other than Allah e.g. Satan). So fight you against
the friends of Satan; ever feeble is indeed the plot of Satan."[Quran 4:76]
Some American writers have published
articles under the title 'On what basis are we fighting?' These articles
have generated a number of responses, some of which adhered to the truth
and were based on Islamic Law, and others which have not. Here we wanted
to outline the truth - as an explanation and warning - hoping for Allah's
reward, seeking success and support from Him.
While seeking Allah's help, we form
our reply based on two questions directed at the Americans:
(Q1) Why are we fighting and opposing
you?
Q2)What are we calling you to,
and what do we want from you?
As for the first question: Why are
we fighting and opposing you? The answer is very simple:
(1) Because you attacked us and
continue to attack us.
a) You attacked us in Palestine:
(i) Palestine, which has sunk under
military occupation for more than 80 years. The British handed over Palestine,
with your help and your support, to the Jews, who have occupied it for
more than 50 years; years overflowing with oppression, tyranny, crimes,
killing, expulsion, destruction and devastation. The creation and continuation
of Israel is one of the greatest crimes, and you are the leaders of its
criminals. And of course there is no need to explain and prove the degree
of American support for Israel. The creation of Israel is a crime which
must be erased. Each and every person whose hands have become polluted
in the contribution towards this crime must pay its*price, and pay for
it heavily.
(ii) It brings us both laughter
and tears to see that you have not yet tired of repeating your fabricated
lies that the Jews have a historical right to Palestine, as it was promised
to them in the Torah. Anyone who disputes with them on this alleged fact
is accused of anti-semitism. This is one of the most fallacious, widely-circulated
fabrications in history. The people of Palestine are pure Arabs and original
Semites. It is the Muslims who are the inheritors of Moses (peace be upon
him) and the inheritors of the real Torah that has not been changed. Muslims
believe in all of the Prophets, including Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon them all. If the followers of Moses
have been promised a right to Palestine in the Torah, then the Muslims
are the most worthy nation of this.
When the Muslims conquered Palestine
and drove out the Romans, Palestine and Jerusalem returned to Islaam, the
religion of all the Prophets peace be upon them. Therefore, the call to
a historical right to Palestine cannot be raised against the Islamic Ummah
that believes in all the Prophets of Allah (peace and blessings be upon
them) - and we make no distinction between them.
(iii) The blood pouring out of Palestine
must be equally revenged. You must know that the Palestinians do not cry
alone; their women are not widowed alone; their sons are not orphaned alone.
(b) You attacked us in Somalia;
you supported the Russian atrocities against us in Chechnya, the Indian
oppression against us in Kashmir, and the Jewish aggression against us
in Lebanon.
(c) Under your supervision, consent
and orders, the governments of our countries which act as your agents,
attack us on a daily basis;
(i) These governments prevent our
people from establishing the Islamic Shariah, using violence and lies to
do so.
(ii) These governments give us a
taste of humiliation, and places us in a large prison of fear and subdual.
(iii) These governments steal our
Ummah's wealth and sell them to you at a paltry price.
(iv) These governments have surrendered
to the Jews, and handed them most of Palestine, acknowledging the existence
of their state over the dismembered limbs of their own people.
(v) The removal of these governments
is an obligation upon us, and a necessary step to free the Ummah, to make
the Shariah the supreme law and to regain Palestine. And our fight against
these governments is not separate from out fight against you.
(d) You steal our wealth and oil
at paltry prices because of you international influence and military threats.
This theft is indeed the biggest theft ever witnessed by mankind in the
history of the world.
(e) Your forces occupy our countries;
you spread your military bases throughout them; you corrupt our lands,
and you besiege our sanctities, to protect the security of the Jews and
to ensure the continuity of your pillage of our treasures.
(f) You have starved the Muslims
of Iraq, where children die every day. It is a wonder that more than 1.5
million Iraqi children have died as a result of your sanctions, and you
did not show concern. Yet when 3000 of your people died, the entire world
rises and has not yet sat down.
(g) You have supported the Jews
in their idea that Jerusalem is their eternal capital, and agreed to move
your embassy there. With your help and under your protection, the Israelis
are planning to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque. Under the protection of your
weapons, Sharon entered the Al-Aqsa mosque, to pollute it as a preparation
to capture and destroy it.
(2) These tragedies and calamities
are only a few examples of your oppression and aggression against us. It
is commanded by our religion and intellect that the oppressed have a right
to return the aggression. Do not await anything from us but Jihad, resistance
and revenge. Is it in any way rational to expect that after America has
attacked us for more than half a century, that we will then leave her to
live in security and peace?!!
(3) You may then dispute that all
the above does not justify aggression against civilians, for crimes they
did not commit and offenses in which they did not partake:
(a) This argument contradicts your
continuous repetition that America is the land of freedom, and its leaders
in this world. Therefore, the American people are the ones who choose their
government by way of their own free will; a choice which stems from their
agreement to its policies. Thus the American people have chosen, consented
to, and affirmed their support for the Israeli oppression of the Palestinians,
the occupation and usurpation of their land, and its continuous killing,
torture, punishment and expulsion of the Palestinians. The American people
have the ability and choice to refuse the policies of their Government
and even to change it if they want.
(b) The American people are the
ones who pay the taxes which fund the planes that bomb us in Afghanistan,
the tanks that strike and destroy our homes in Palestine, the armies which
occupy our lands in the Arabian Gulf, and the fleets which ensure the blockade
of Iraq. These tax dollars are given to Israel for it to continue to attack
us and penetrate our lands. So the American people are the ones who fund
the attacks against us, and they are the ones who oversee the expenditure
of these monies in the way they wish, through their elected candidates.
(c) Also the American army is part
of the American people. It is this very same people who are shamelessly
helping the Jews fight against us.
(d) The American people are the
ones who employ both their men and their women in the American Forces which
attack us.
(e) This is why the American people
cannot be not innocent of all the crimes committed by the Americans and
Jews against us.
(f) Allah, the Almighty, legislated
the permission and the option to take revenge. Thus, if we are attacked,
then we have the right to attack back. Whoever has destroyed our villages
and towns, then we have the right to destroy their villages and towns.
Whoever has stolen our wealth, then we have the right to destroy their
economy. And whoever has killed our civilians, then we have the right to
kill theirs.
The American Government and press
still refuses to answer the question:
Why did they attack us in New York
and Washington?
If Sharon is a man of peace in the
eyes of Bush, then we are also men of peace!!! America does not understand
the language of manners and principles, so we are addressing it using the
language it understands.
(Q2) As for the second question
that we want to answer: What are we calling you to, and what do we want
from you?
(1) The first thing that we are
calling you to is Islam.
(a) The religion of the Unification
of God; of freedom from associating partners with Him, and rejection of
this; of complete love of Him, the Exalted; of complete submission to His
Laws; and of the discarding of all the opinions, orders, theories and religions
which contradict with the religion He sent down to His Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him). Islam is the religion of all the prophets, and makes
no distinction between them - peace be upon them all.
It is to this religion that we call
you; the seal of all the previous religions. It is the religion of Unification
of God, sincerity, the best of manners, righteousness, mercy, honour, purity,
and piety. It is the religion of showing kindness to others, establishing
justice between them, granting them their rights, and defending the oppressed
and the persecuted. It is the religion of enjoining the good and forbidding
the evil with the hand, tongue and heart. It is the religion of Jihad in
the way of Allah so that Allah's Word and religion reign Supreme. And it
is the religion of unity and agreement on the obedience to Allah, and total
equality between all people, without regarding their colour, sex, or language.
(b) It is the religion whose book
- the Quran - will remained preserved and unchanged, after the other Divine
books and messages have been changed. The Quran is the miracle until the
Day of Judgment. Allah has challenged anyone to bring a book like the Quran
or even ten verses like it.
(2) The second thing we call you
to, is to stop your oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery that has
spread among you.
(a) We call you to be a people of
manners, principles, honour, and purity; to reject the immoral acts of
fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling's, and trading with interest.
We call you to all of this that
you may be freed from that which you have become caught up in; that you
may be freed from the deceptive lies that you are a great nation, that
your leaders spread amongst you to conceal from you the despicable state
to which you have reached.
(b) It is saddening to tell you
that you are the worst civilization witnessed by the history of mankind:
(i) You are the nation who, rather
than ruling by the Shariah of Allah in its Constitution and Laws, choose
to invent your own laws as you will and desire. You separate religion from
your policies, contradicting the pure nature which affirms Absolute Authority
to the Lord and your Creator. You flee from the embarrassing question posed
to you: How is it possible for Allah the Almighty to create His creation,
grant them power over all the creatures and land, grant them all the amenities
of life, and then deny them that which they are most in need of: knowledge
of the laws which govern their lives?
(ii) You are the nation that permits
Usury, which has been forbidden by all the religions. Yet you build your
economy and investments on Usury. As a result of this, in all its different
forms and guises, the Jews have taken control of your economy, through
which they have then taken control of your media, and now control all aspects
of your life making you their servants and achieving their aims at your
expense; precisely what Benjamin Franklin warned you against.
(iii) You are a nation that permits
the production, trading and usage of intoxicants. You also permit drugs,
and only forbid the trade of them, even though your nation is the largest
consumer of them.
(iv) You are a nation that permits
acts of immorality, and you consider them to be pillars of personal freedom.
You have continued to sink down this abyss from level to level until incest
has spread amongst you, in the face of which neither your sense of honour
nor your laws object.
Who can forget your President Clinton's
immoral acts committed in the official Oval office? After that you did
not even bring him to account, other than that he 'made a mistake', after
which everything passed with no punishment. Is there a worse kind of event
for which your name will go down in history and remembered by nations?
(v) You are a nation that permits
gambling in its all forms. The companies practice this as well, resulting
in the investments becoming active and the criminals becoming rich.
(vi) You are a nation that exploits
women like consumer products or advertising tools calling upon customers
to purchase them. You use women to serve passengers, visitors, and strangers
to increase your profit margins. You then rant that you support the liberation
of women.
(vii) You are a nation that practices
the trade of sex in all its forms, directly and indirectly. Giant corporations
and establishments are established on this, under the name of art, entertainment,
tourism and freedom, and other deceptive names you attribute to it.
(viii) And because of all this,
you have been described in history as a nation that spreads diseases that
were unknown to man in the past. Go ahead and boast to the nations of man,
that you brought them AIDS as a Satanic American Invention.
(xi) You have destroyed nature with
your industrial waste and gases more than any other nation in history.
Despite this, you refuse to sign the Kyoto agreement so that you can secure
the profit of your greedy companies and*industries.
(x) Your law is the law of the rich
and wealthy people, who hold sway in their political parties, and fund
their election campaigns with their gifts. Behind them stand the Jews,
who control your policies, media and economy.
(xi) That which you are singled
out for in the history of mankind, is that you have used your force to
destroy mankind more than any other nation in history; not to defend principles
and values, but to hasten to secure your interests and profits. You who
dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan, even though Japan was ready to negotiate
an end to the war. How many acts of oppression, tyranny and injustice have
you carried out, O callers to freedom?
(xii) Let us not forget one of your
major characteristics: your duality in both manners and values; your hypocrisy
in manners and principles. All*manners, principles and values have two
scales: one for you and one for the others.
(a)The freedom and democracy that
you call to is for yourselves and for white race only; as for the rest
of the world, you impose upon them your monstrous, destructive policies
and Governments, which you call the 'American friends'. Yet you prevent
them from establishing democracies. When the Islamic party in Algeria wanted
to practice democracy and they won the election, you unleashed your agents
in the Algerian army onto them, and to attack them with tanks and guns,
to imprison them and torture them - a new lesson from the 'American book
of democracy'!!!
(b)Your policy on prohibiting and
forcibly removing weapons of mass destruction to ensure world peace: it
only applies to those countries which you do not permit to possess such
weapons. As for the countries you consent to, such as Israel, then they
are allowed to keep and use such weapons to defend their security. Anyone
else who you suspect might be manufacturing or keeping these kinds of weapons,
you call them criminals and you take military action against them.
(c)You are the last ones to respect
the resolutions and policies of International Law, yet you claim to want
to selectively punish anyone else who does the same. Israel has for more
than 50 years been pushing UN resolutions and rules against the wall with
the full support of America.
(d)As for the war criminals which
you censure and form criminal courts for - you shamelessly ask that your
own are granted immunity!! However, history will not forget the war crimes
that you committed against the Muslims and the rest of the world; those
you have killed in Japan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Lebanon and Iraq will remain
a shame that you will never be able to escape. It will suffice to remind
you of your latest war crimes in Afghanistan, in which densely populated
innocent civilian villages were destroyed, bombs were dropped on mosques
causing the roof of the mosque to come crashing down on the heads of the
Muslims praying inside. You are the ones who broke the agreement with the
Mujahideen when they left Qunduz, bombing them in Jangi fort, and killing
more than 1,000 of your prisoners through suffocation and thirst. Allah
alone knows how many people have died by torture at the hands of you and
your agents. Your planes remain in the Afghan skies, looking for anyone
remotely suspicious.
(e)You have claimed to be the vanguards
of Human Rights, and your Ministry of Foreign affairs issues annual reports
containing statistics of those countries that violate any Human Rights.
However, all these things vanished when the Mujahideen hit you, and you
then implemented the methods of the same documented governments that you
used to curse. In America, you captured thousands the Muslims and Arabs,
took them into custody with neither reason, court trial, nor even disclosing
their names. You issued newer, harsher laws.
What happens in Guatanamo is a historical
embarrassment to America and its values, and it screams into your faces
- you hypocrites, "What is the value of your signature on any agreement
or treaty?"
(3) What we call you to thirdly
is to take an honest stance with yourselves - and I doubt you will do so
- to discover that you are a nation without principles or manners, and
that the values and principles to you are something which you merely demand
from others, not that which you yourself must adhere to.
(4) We also advise you to stop supporting
Israel, and to end your support of the Indians in Kashmir, the Russians
against the Chechens and to also cease supporting the Manila Government
against the Muslims in Southern Philippines.
(5) We also advise you to pack your
luggage and get out of our lands. We desire for your goodness, guidance,
and righteousness, so do not force us to send you back as cargo in coffins.
(6) Sixthly, we call upon you to
end your support of the corrupt leaders in our countries. Do not interfere
in our politics and method of education. Leave us alone, or else expect
us in New York and Washington.
(7) We also call you to deal with
us and interact with us on the basis of mutual interests and benefits,
rather than the policies of sub dual, theft and occupation, and not to
continue your policy of supporting the Jews because this will result in
more disasters for you.
If you fail to respond to all these
conditions, then prepare for fight with the Islamic Nation. The Nation
of Monotheism, that puts complete trust on Allah and fears none other than
Him. The Nation which is addressed by its Quran with the words: "Do you
fear them? Allah has more right that you should fear Him if you are believers.
Fight against them so that Allah will punish them by your hands and disgrace
them and give you victory over them and heal the breasts of believing people.
And remove the anger of their (believers') hearts. Allah accepts the repentance
of whom He wills. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise." [Quran9:13-1]
The Nation of honour and respect:
"But honour, power and glory belong
to Allah, and to His Messenger (Muhammad- peace be upon him) and to the
believers." [Quran 63:8]
"So do not become weak (against
your enemy), nor be sad, and you will be*superior ( in victory )if you
are indeed (true) believers" [Quran 3:139]
The Nation of Martyrdom; the Nation
that desires death more than you desire life:
"Think not of those who are killed
in the way of Allah as dead. Nay, they are alive with their Lord, and they
are being provided for. They rejoice in what Allah has bestowed upon them
from His bounty and rejoice for the sake of those who have not yet joined
them, but are left behind (not yet martyred) that on them no fear shall
come, nor shall they grieve. They rejoice in a grace and a bounty from
Allah, and that Allah will not waste the reward of the believers." [Quran
3:169-171]
The Nation of victory and success
that Allah has promised:
"It is He Who has sent His Messenger
(Muhammad peace be upon him) with guidance and the religion of truth (Islam),
to make it victorious over all other religions even though the Polytheists
hate it." [Quran 61:9]
"Allah has decreed that 'Verily
it is I and My Messengers who shall be victorious.' Verily Allah is All-Powerful,
All-Mighty." [Quran 58:21]
The Islamic Nation that was able
to dismiss and destroy the previous evil Empires like yourself; the Nation
that rejects your attacks, wishes to remove your evils, and is prepared
to fight you. You are well aware that the Islamic Nation, from the very
core of its soul, despises your haughtiness and arrogance.
If the Americans refuse to listen
to our advice and the goodness, guidance and righteousness that we call
them to, then be aware that you will lose this Crusade Bush began, just
like the other previous Crusades in which you were humiliated by the hands
of the Mujahideen, fleeing to your home in great silence and disgrace.
If the Americans do not respond, then their fate will be that of the Soviets
who fled from Afghanistan to deal with their military defeat, political
breakup, ideological downfall, and economic bankruptcy.
This is our message to the Americans,
as an answer to theirs. Do they now know why we fight them and over which
form of ignorance, by the permission of Allah, we shall be victorious?
