Author: Daniel Pipes
Publication: New York Sun
Date: June 8, 2004
After an Islamist rampage in the
Saudi town of Khobar on May 29 and 30 that ended in the deaths of 22 people,
survivors of that atrocity have recounted how the terrorists went to great
lengths to ensure that they would kill only non-Muslims. Their actions
raise a delicate but urgent issue: how might non-Muslims best protect themselves
if caught in such a situation?
Even as the massacre was underway,
the terrorists took pains to distinguish Muslims from non-Muslims. Here
are some of the survivors' testimonies:
Hazem Al-Damen, Muslim, Jordanian:
two terrorists knocked on his door and asked him and others hiding whether
they were "Muslims or Christians." On hearing "Muslims," the assailants
told them to stay in the room because their purpose was to rid the country
of Americans and Europeans.
Abu Hashem, 45, Muslim, an Iraqi-American
engineer (also called "Mike" in some accounts): The terrorists demanded
his residency card, which documented his religion (Muslim) and nationality
(American). That combination provoked an argument between two terrorists.
"He's an American, we should shoot him," said one. "We don't shoot Muslims,"
replied the other. The two went back and forth until the latter decided
it: 'Don't be afraid. We won't kill Muslims, even if you are an American."
With this decision, the terrorists turned polite, even apologizing for
breaking into Abu Hashem's home, searching it, and leaving blood stains
on his carpet.
Abdul Salam al-Hakawati, 38, Muslim,
a Lebanese corporate financial officer: He and his family hid upstairs
in their house after hearing gunfire. Downstairs, they heard the terrorists
break in and rummage around before one apparently noticed framed Koranic
verses on the wall and announced to the others, "This is a Muslim house."
When a heavily armed terrorist came upstairs, Mr. Al-Hakawati confirmed
his identity by greeting the assailant with "Assalamu 'Alaykum," the Muslim
greeting.
Nizar Hajazeen, Christian, a Jordanian
software businessmen: He hid with another Jordanian in a room but they
opened the door when two armed young men banged violently on it. The terrorists
asked the identity of the Jordanians, Arab or Westerners. "We're Arab,"
came the response. Each was then asked, "A Christian or a Muslim?" Both
claimed to be Muslims and showed a Koran as proof.
Taking care to kill only non-Muslims
appears to be in response to widespread Saudi criticism of Islamist terrorism
directed against Muslims; Saudis seem to agree that murder is a tool suitably
directed only against non-Muslims, as two quotes suggest:
Abdelaziz Raikhan, a maintenance
man for the Saudi security forces, responded to the suicide bombing of
a police headquarters in Riyadh that killed 5 people and wounded 148 on
April 21, accusing the perpetrators of being "mentally ill. . There's not
one American in this entire area. Not one! What kind of jihad is this?"
Mohsen al-Awaji, a Saudi lawyer,
suggests that terrorists should be encouraged by the authorities to go
to the many "occupied territories that require resistance," such as in
Afghanistan, Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, and Chechnya. "If someone
decides to go, we wish him luck. He's going to die anyway, so let him die
there while achieving something, not die here and kill innocents with him."
Nor is this the first time Islamists
have specifically targeted infidels. In Malaysia in 2000, for example,
jihadists purposefully killed two non-Muslim hostages and spared two others,
both Muslims. In Pakistan in 2002, a police chief noted killers "took a
good fifteen minutes in segregating the Christians and making sure that
each one of their targets gets the most horrific death." The murderers
separated Christians from Muslims by requiring each hostage to recite a
verse from the Koran. Those who could not were shot.
In all these cases, non-Muslims
facing jihadists could have saved themselves by passing as Muslims.
There are several ways they could
have done this. They might have greeted their potential murderers with
Assalamu 'alaykum (which, ironically, means "peace be with you"). They
might have recited in Arabic the Shahada, the Islamic statement of faith.
Or they might have recited in Arabic the first sura (chapter) of the Koran,
the essential prayer of Islam called the Fatiha ("Opening").
In the past, such knowledge would
have saved lives. It could probably do so again in the future.
Shahada and Fatiha
Here is the text of the Shahada,
the Islamic statement of faith, in a Latin-letter transliteration of the
original Arabic and in translation:
Ashadu an la ilaha illa-llah
Wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasul-Ullah
There is no divinity but God
And Muhammad is the prophet of
God
Here is the same for the Fatiha,
the opening sura (chapter) of the Koran
and the essential prayer of Islam:
Bismillah arrahman arraheem
Alhamdulillah, rabb al'alameen
Arrahman arraheem
Malik yawm addeen
Iyyaka na'budu wa'ayyaka nasta'een
Ihdina assirat almustaqeem
Sirat allatheena an'amta 'alayhim
ghayri
almaghdubi 'alayhim waladaalleen
In the name of God, the merciful,
the compassionate.
Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds;
The merciful, the compassionate;
King of the Day of Judgment.
You we worship and Your aid we
seek.
Guide us on the straight path,
The path of those You have blessed,
not those
who incurred wrath, nor those gone
astray.
