Afghanistan « Penjihad's Blog

Peace Prize, Obama and the Muslim World

First published Dec 21, 2009. It grieves me to acknowledge that Obama is more of a flex-politician and less of a statesman that I had hoped he would be, his speech this evening was certainly the gung-ho type of speech that pushed the audience forward, but no one knew where, for how long or why. I was reminded of the recreation of facts that the Republicans used to do through King George the Worst and his three Knights of Darkness, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Ashcroft/Gonsales. Continue reading →

“War!”; gathering intelligence intelligently

The man who blew himself up and took 7 CIA men with him should help teach us in the US, the same lesson…yet again! But if the lesson learnt is that we should not trust Arabs and Muslims, then all seven CIA lives, all American lives before them and all lives that will be taken in the future, will have been totally wasted.

What should the US have learnt, this time, as they should have, a long time ago? There is no substitute for good intelligence-gathering and good intelligence-gathering does not come through the eye of a satellite, the cross-hairs of a drone or, from a rented stranger, it comes from good friends. But first, let us see how the US deliberately alienates Muslims across the world. Continue reading →

January 6, 2010 Posted by penjihad | Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, At Home in the US, Civil Rights, FBI, Gaza, Hate, Homeland Security, India, Islam, Islamophobia, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Palestine, Terrorism, Torture, US Foreign Policy | Al-Qaeda, America, bigotry, Homeland Security, Islam, Islamophobia, Muslim, religion, Suicide bombing, Terror, Terrorism, US | Leave a comment

Rise of Muslim Extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan

(Originally written on July 16, 2007). At last count, about 100 people had been declared killed in the siege of Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad, Pakistan. Once inside, the Army, which led the attack on the barricaders inside the Mosque, found not just a few pistols and rifles, they found machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, hardly something that qualifies as religious or peaceful. Continue reading →

December 22, 2009 Posted by penjihad | Afghanistan, Hate, Islamophobia, Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism, US Foreign Policy | Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, Foreign Policy, Islam, Islamophobia, Muslim, Muslims, Pakistan, Red Mosque Lahore, religion, Terror, Terrorism | Leave a comment

Pakistan’s conflict in Swat

The way the United States is conducting the pursuit of its policy will only bring more war and destruction to Afghanistan and Pakistan and is also guaranteed to spread into India. Continue reading →

December 21, 2009 Posted by penjihad | Afghanistan, Depleted Uranium, India, Islam, Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism, US Foreign Policy, Weapons of Mass Destruction | 9-11, Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, Foreign Policy, Hate, Homeland Security, Islam, Islamophobia, Middle East, Muslim, Muslims, Pakistan, religion, Suicide bombing, Taliban, Terror, Terrorism | Leave a comment

About

Blogger Jafar “Jeff” Siddiqui is an American Muslim living in WA.. USA.

He grew up in the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (North-West Frontier) Province and has maintained close contacts in Pakistan.

He is a member of American Muslims of Puget Sound and is a human rights activist. He is involved with movements for inter-faith understanding. He has contributed articles for a textbook on terrorism, used by US law-enforcement agencies. He has also presented discussions and written article, on the Indo-Pakistan hostilities and their impact on Afghanistan.; he writes articles and gives lectures on Civil Rights, American Foreign Policy, on Islam, on current affairs including events in the Middle East, South and Central Asia. His works have been published in various print media. He also gives commentaries on radio and TV on these subjects.

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Dare I say “Jihad”?

Occasionally, I use the term “Jihad” in my articles, as the action needed to help make changes to better the ills of society. I often get feedback in which people worry more about my use of the word “Jihad”, than they do about the injustice about which I wrote; some wonder why I would use such a charged word among non-Muslims.

I intentionally use “Jihad”, because I want to jolt Muslims AND non-Muslims; “Jihad” cannot and must not become de-legitimized just because some people do not care to understand the true meaning of a sacred term and decide to associate it with terrible things.

“Jihad” springs from the Arabic “Jhd” which means “struggle”; “Jihad” means the act of struggle, “Mujahid” (Plural, Mujahideen) is someone who is doing “Jihad”.

At the core (the highest level), it is the duty of every Muslim to struggle against the basic negative predispositions we all have as humans…greed, envy, jealousy, rage, deceit, theft, murder etc.

At the next level, it is the duty of every Muslim to fight against the ills that beset Mankind…hunger, disease, homelessness, illiteracy, injustice, lack of water, pollution etc.,

At the least important level, Muslims are required to fight those who attack us AFTER we have exhausted all other efforts towards peaceful resolution. Even then, if peace is at hand, even at mid-battle, one has to stop and accept terms that are just and preserve the dignity of all parties.

I would imagine these are things that every person needs to subscribe to, not just Muslims.

Yet, there is a growing body of opinion in the non-Muslim West, that “Jihad” can ONLY be equated with murder and mayhem and thus, anyone using the word, can be presumed to be associated with supporting murder and mayhem.

I would suggest that supporters of the body of opinion that would like to taint “Jihad”, are people who consider themselves at “War!” with Islam, Muslims and Arabs. They may be a growing number of people, but they are wrong and it would be wrong for Muslims to lend credence to this opinion by shying away from “Jihad” in word, or in action.

Not so long ago, the Jewish organization ADL, launched an attack on some Muslim groups because the Muslims were wearing the Muslim Affirmation… “Shehada” (“There is no God but one God, and Mohammed is His prophet”) on their headbands and the ADL said that the Shehada stood for terrorism.

There are a growing number of bigots who state that Islam’s holy book, the Quran, is a symbol of evil and violence.

What should Muslims do? Abandon the Shehada and the Quran?

Some may say that we should just not use the Shehada on headbands, why not? Either the Affirmation (Shahada) is sacred or it is not; if it is sacred, then wherever it is used, as long as the use is not profane, is also sacred. If the Shehada is used in a profane manner, then the reflection is not upon the Shehada, but on the abuser.

Hitler took the Swastika as his symbol and today, it strikes fear and revulsion in the hearts of many, especially Jews. However, the Swastika is thousands of years old and among Hindus, the “Savas Tika” (“Peace sign”) is a holy symbol, it is used to adorn temples and used by Hindus at almost every occasion…it can be clockwise or counter-clockwise.

Should the Hindus be asked to abandon the Savas tika as a symbol?

If we dared to make such an absurd demand, we would be laughed off the stage.

The Star of David strikes fear and revulsion among millions of Palestinian men, women and children; should the Jews be asked to abandon the Star of David as their symbol?

I am betting millions of Bosnian Muslims shudder a little when they see a Crucifix, or the Christian Orthodox cross, because of the genocide of Bosnian Muslims by the Serbs and the Croats in the name of Christianity in the 1990s; should those symbols be cast aside?

The principle of “use it or lose it” is quite valid here. If we retreat for any reason, we are acknowledging that our sacred and holy terms or symbols are sometimes themselves, evil. Once we give that ground, then we can no longer use our Savas Tikas, our Crucifixes or our terms…THEN, the bad guys have truly won.

I believe that as reasoned and rational people, we cannot allow ourselves to fall victim to populist bigotries. We must look at what the symbol actually stands for, rather than associate it with the negative events that were tied to it by evil people; we must be able to differentiate between Nazi Swastikas on one hand, and symbols and words that are sacred, on the other.

Jihad; it is a sacred duty for every Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu…for every human being of good will.

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Penjihad's Blog

"To comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable"

Peace Prize, Obama and the Muslim World

“War!”; gathering intelligence intelligently

Rise of Muslim Extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan

Pakistan’s conflict in Swat

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Penjihad's Blog

"To comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable"

Peace Prize, Obama and the Muslim World

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“War!”; gathering intelligence intelligently

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Rise of Muslim Extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan

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Pakistan’s conflict in Swat

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