A Muslim man is seeking answers from federal law enforcement agencies about what he describes as their harassment of him and his family since his return to Oklahoma from the Middle East.
Saadiq Long, a U.S. Air Force veteran and McAlester native, said Thursday he and his sister have been followed by the FBI and have had several unexpected and unwanted encounters with agents of the federal agency since he arrived in Oklahoma from Qatar on Nov. 19.
Adam Soltani, executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the Muslim civil rights group sent a letter Thursday to the federal Justice Department asking the government agency to investigate the recent treatment of Long and his family.
The letter, written by Gadeir Abbas, an attorney for the civil rights group, requested that the justice department "investigate and hold accountable those responsible for the dangerous and illegal cowboy antics" of the FBI's field office in Oklahoma City.
Soltani, Long and Long's sister Ava Anderson, of Oklahoma City, spoke at a news conference held by CAIR's Oklahoma chapter Thursday at its office at 1112 NW 23.
Islam is a monotheistic religion; its followers, or Muslims, believe in one god, Allah and a series of Messengers from Prophet Adam (Peace be upon him) to Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him). Islamic beliefs are based upon the Qur’an, the Holy Book of Muslims revealed to Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), which is the word of God. Distinguished Scholar Dr. Zakir Naik has summarized the basis of the Islamic beliefs and the following argument has been derived from his works. Muslims prefer calling the Creator of the universe and everything in it, Allah, instead of ‘God’. The Arabic word, ‘Allah’, is untainted and distinctive, unlike ‘God’, which can be used in various situations. By adding an S it becomes gods, by adding -mother or –father it becomes godmother or godfather, et cetera. The Qur’an provides us with ninety-nine (99) different names of Allah e.g. Ar-Rahman (Most Gracious), Ar-Raheem (Most Merciful) and Al-Hakeem (All Wise) among several more. Not only does God possess unique attributes, but each attribute of Almighty God is sufficient to identify Him, e.g. a famous personality, say Neil Armstrong. Neil Armstrong was an astronaut. Stating that being an astronaut was an attribute of Neil Armstrong is correct but it is not solely an attribute Neil Armstrong for there are hundreds of people in the world who are astronauts. Neil Armstrong was also an American. The attribute of being American is possessed by Neil Armstrong but it is inadequate, for there are millions of people who are American. To identify the person uniquely we must look for a unique attribute possessed by none except that single person. For example, Neil Armstrong was the first human to set foot on the moon. So when one asks, who was the first man to set foot on the moon? The answer is only one, i.e. Neil Armstrong.
Intellectual Inquiry and Islam
Similarly every attribute of Almighty God should be unique. Saying that God is the constructor of buildings, it is possible and true, but not unique. Thousands of people can construct a building. But each attribute of Allah is unique and points to none but Allah. For example, God is the creator of the universe. If someone asks who the creator of the universe is, the answer is only one, i.e. Almighty God is the Ultimate Creator. Similarly, following are some of the many unique attributes possessed by none other than the Creator of the universe, Almighty Allah: ”Ar-Raheem”, the Most Merciful ”Ar-Rahman”, the Most Gracious ”Al-Hakeem”, the Most Wise So when one asks, “Who is ‘Ar-Raheem’, (the Most Merciful)?” there can only be one answer: ”Almighty Allah”. Moreover, the scriptures of all major religions of the world urge mankind to pursue that which is good and shun that which is evil. All scriptures promise mankind that good will not go unrewarded and evil will not go unpunished. What we need to know is, which of these scriptures provides us with the correct ‘instruction manual’ that we need to regulate our individual and collective lives? Thus the only answer is the Qur’an, the only unadulterated Holy Scripture, a source of guidance for all matters of life.
It is altogether an issue to have a short write-up on what Islam envisages as a social order. It will be described on some other occasion. Confining to Jihad only, I should say Islam is not merely a creed that has worship system and want to annihilate evil and tyranny. It encompasses to the entire humanity in bringing a justice civil society. It calls upon all the classes and kings and nobles to espouse the spirit of Islam that is based on justice and shun hypocrisy and tyranny. It does not harbor any animosity against any class as it is clear from the life of the holy Prophet who did not kill even a single animal throughout his life [Steven has no reference that Muhammad [PBUH] killed 600 people. This is libelous and slander]. The enmity in Islam is only directed to tyranny, strife and immorality and that is too to be stopped by peaceful means through the rule of law. Hence, the people who acts upon the fiats of God and work to stop oppression and tyranny and abide the laws as propounded by God in the holy Koran are called the party of God or Islamic fraternity. As soon as this party comes into being, it becomes its religious obligation to stop all this and this tis the very rationale of its formation. The holy Koran has said about such people and party, “You are the best people, raised for mankind, exhorting good and warding off evil and believing in Allah.” [3: 110]. Again, the clerics that the West call are not preachers or missionaries in Islam. It is their duty to wipe out oppression, strife and torture through force or through peaceful means. It is also their duty to end the myth of demi-gods and false deities that is a cause of strife on this earth. That is why the holy Koran says, “And fight them until there is no persecution and religion is professed for Allah.” [2: 193. Again it says at another place, "If you do not do [that you are enjoined] there will be mischief on the earth tremendous disorder”[ 8: 73] and at another place, ”He is Who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, he may make it dominant over all religions, even if the polytheists resent it”[ 9: 33]. This is the point where this party of Islam has no choice but to capture the state authority if it has one and enforce this system to root out evil [if these fellows understand what is evil]. The reason for this state authority is quite obvious and they [atheists and agnostics] are enjoying the freedom of expression because they are in the United States having full state authority to legislate and enforce the laws. What they are trying to stop with secular or manmade laws have been given in the holy Koran revealed around 1400 years earlier. Just see what the Koran says in this connection. ”May Allah forgive you [O Muhammad] Why didst you permitted them [to remain behind] till had become manifest to you those who were truthful and who were liars. Those who believe in Allah and the Last Day, will not seek permission [for exemption] from striving with their riches and their lives. And Allah knows the righteous Only those will seek permission from you [to be exempted] who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day and whose hearts are full of doubts and in their doubts they waver.” [9: 43-45] What I would suggest the persons having wrong notions about Jihad and Islamic concept about it should read first three articles and wait for the fourth one that is going to be published here shortly.
In any case, this is a part of political polemics and has been so since lone. However, when we analyze the causes due to which the reality of this Jihad is posting difficulty in understanding for the people like Stevens, we discover two major and basic misconceptions.
The first misunderstanding is that they consider Islam to be a religion in the conventional sense of the term. The second misconception is that they take Muslims a nation in the technical sense as they have read in the books of political science.
These two misunderstandings have not only mixed up the concept of Jihad, but also have changed very picture and meanings of Islam as a whole.
In everyday language, religion means nothing more than a mixture of beliefs, prayers and rituals. If this is what means by religion, it should, indeed, be a private affair then. You should be free to accept any belief and do any worship to any deity you want and wish. There is no reason why you should take up a sword? Do you wish to convert people to your faith by killing them?
Hence, I stress this point here that if you regard Islam a religion in the conventional meaning of the term and if, indeed, Islam is a religion like other religions, then there is no justification of Jihad.
In the same way, the political term nation means a homogeneous group of men who have joined themselves in a distinct entity on the basis of fundamental and shared characteristics. A group of people who attain to nationhood according to this definition, rises or can rise up to fight under two circumstances: when some other group attack them or when they themselves wishing to usurp other people’s rights launch an attack on them. There is a moral justification for taking up arms in the first case. However, launching an armed attack on the people with the purpose of snatching away their lawful rights can be justified.
That is why if Islam is religion and Muslims are a nation in conventional sense of term, Jihad becomes a useless term. But the problem is that Islam in not such a religion and the Muslims are not such a nation. Islam, in fact, is an ideology and a way of life and it seeks to change the very social order and build a new society as it did in the early part of its history. Muslims is also a title for a party that Islam builds. Here Jihad refers to the struggle waged by this party to reform the society either by peaceful means and if not possible then by force. Hence, in English Jihad can be defined as, “To exert one’s utmost endeavor in promoting a cause”. It means Jihad is just a struggle that is for a cause justified and is in accordance with the teachings of Islam. I hope it will help you in understand what Jihad actually is. Next article will detail how Stevens understood or misunderstood it.
