In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful'And fear the Fitnah (affliction and trial) which affects not in particular (only) those of you who do wrong'' (Quran 8: 25),'THERE will be in my Community a dissent and a faction, a people with excellent words and vile deeds. They will read Qur'an, but their faith does not go past their throats. They will pass through religion the way an arrow passes through its quarry. They will no more come back to the religion than the arrow will come back to its original course'They summon to the book of Allah but they have nothing to do with it'' Prophet MuhammadTen years ago, the world witnessed what it never knew before: the invasion of America from within America. Ten years ago, over three thousand lives and properties worth millions, if not billions of dollars were lost in New York and Washington D.C. Ten years ago, an event, whose tenth anniversary would be marked this weekend, and otherwise known as 9/11 took place. The event became known as the Real New World Order. For the first time in its modern history, America became a victim of its evil; the world beheld the terrorization of the terrorist. 9/11 catalyzed the birth of anti-terrorism campaign led by the US in Arab and Asian countries; it led to the other terrorism: the terrorism of anti-terrorism: the terrorism of the terror-free countries in the name of terrorism. 9/11 produced the discourse of anti-terrorism as evidenced in President Bush's declaration just before he invaded Iraq. Then he gave the world just two options: 'It's either you are with us or you are with the terrorists'. But his discourse, the discourse of anti-terrorism, equally produced its own anti-thesis. President Ahmadinejad of Iran sent a riposte to the White House: 'we are neither with America, nor with the terrorists'.Since ten years ago, however, the space and politics of terrorism and its anti-thesis, anti-terrorism have widened beyond America. From Indonesia to India, from Pakistan to Somalia, the new threat to human security and existence now appears to be terrorism. Whereas much efforts have been put into answering the question: how might the world go about combating the scourge of terrorism, the other question is conveniently being ignored by those in power: why do the world continue to produce terrorists'Two Fridays ago, Nigeria enjoyed media patronage and, as is usually the case, for the negative reason. There was an incident of bombing of the United Nations in Abuja. A group, now known as Boko Haram later claimed responsibility. The image of the UN building in Abuja, which was brought home to viewers by the electronic media after the incident was simply horrific: of death, destruction and despoliation. The sight of Muslims sisters who were mourning Rahmah Abdullah who met her death during the incident was simply vexatious to behold: of grief, agony, despair and melancholy. Rahmah was violently plucked at the prime of her youth; she was killed, together with other innocent Nigerians and foreigners by the bomber.But when I beheld the sight of the wailing Muslim sisters in Abuja in the papers, I became attentive to the tribulation which had equally visited the family of the Norwegian who died in the incident, I remember the woe which had since become the companions of the family of the other woman, of the other victim. Her husband looked up to the skies as if in search of the 'eyes' of the divine; his sister held strongly to her head as if the grief is restricted only to that part of her physiology. Thus the victims and their families became one: Christians, Muslims, animists; the event of the bombing of the United Nations office in Abuja brought to the fore, one more time, the universality of our humanity; that without grief humans, and ironically too, hardly exist; that, in line with Arthur Schopenhauer, 'the deep pain that is felt at the death of every friendly soul arises from the feeling that there is in every individual something which is inexpressible, peculiar to him or her alone, and is, therefore, absolutely and irretrievably lost at his death; that there are things that we do not want to happen but which we have to accept, things we do not want to know but which we have to learn, and people we cannot live without but, in circumstances like this, have to let go.'One reason could probably have led to the destruction of the United Nations house in Abuja that Friday the same way only one reason catalyzed the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York ten years ago: the need to express the existence of an injustice. But my reading of Islamic history compels the conclusion that there is virtually no warrant that could have validated the act.Then the other question arose: could the bombing have occurred because of the necessity or the urge to balance terror with terror' Again Islamic law would take exception to wanton destruction of life. The day Hamza, the Uncle of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was killed by Wahshi, the grief became so much on the Prophet's heart that he said: 'I would kill thirty people in vengeance'. But Allah soon revealed a verse, which forbid the Prophet from carrying out his threat. The verse reads: 'If you have to retaliate, let your retaliation be commensurate with the wrong which was done to you; but if you endure with patience, the best reward indeed is for those who endure with patience'. Our Prophet eventually pardoned Washshi; the latter eventually accepted Islam.Yet another question: Could these attacks have taken place in defense of Islam' I say fal-iyadhbiLLAH. Brethren how could the destruction of innocent souls confer acceptability on our religion' This is strange to our religion.Brethren, it was not only Rahmah Abdullah who died in the bombing of that day; Rahmah Abdullah was not the only victim of that incident. Rather, we are all victims. It is the Muslim Ummah who shall have to carry the bier; it is every conscious Muslim who shall continually be weighed down by the mere knowledge of the fact that Muslims were involved in that act. Or how do you feel each time you hear the mention of 'Islamic' terrorists' Do you not wonder 'what for Allah's sake is Islamic in wanton destruction of lives and properties'' Do you not feel burdened by the disconnect between your Islam and the 'Islam' of that brother who thought the demolition of the Twin Towers could bring down American hegemony and imperialism' Would you not wonder how banal the assumption can be that the destruction of a building and some souls can lead to radical reconstruction of the world order in which might is right' In other words, would you not ask the question: aside from costing the destruction of lives and properties, what other impact has the event of 9/11 been on America'While we mourn Rahmah and other innocent souls, I pray that she meets with the eternal Rahmah of Her creator. I pray her circumstance becomes like that of those who, while they are being mourned by their friends, angels are rejoicing to meet them behind the veil.(guardianfridayworship@gmail.com)
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