An English translation of Al-Malahim's audio release:

"How Can We Be Pleased In Staying Behind?"

By the Mujahid Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Rubaish (Hafidhahullah ta'ala)

سم هللا ب رحمن يم ال رح ال

All praise be to Allah. We praise Him, seek His Help and seek His forgiveness. We seek

refuge in Allah from the evil of our selves and the evil results of our actions. Whosoever

Allah guides, there is none can misguide, and whosoever He misguides, there is none who

can guide him. I bear witness that there is no true deity other than Allah, alone without

partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and messenger. May Allah send

peace and blessings upon him, his family and his Companions until the Day of Recompense.

To proceed:

O Allah! We complain to you of our weakness in strength and ability, and in front of other people.

We complain to you of the numerous tragedies we face and the number of wounds we suffer!

The Muslim Ummah is drowning in tragedies, and there is no might nor power except from Allah!

The Ummah is stuck and drowning in a pool of blood, and when you see its position in face of the

enemy, you remember the saying:

[poetry]

If you were to see a slave of the tribe of Taim,,

You would wonder which of them was the slave.

Matters are decided when Taim is not present,

And when they are, none even bother to ask them about the matter.

The situation of the Ummah is such that it can be eulogized. It is under the control of the enemies,

and you may never find another nation which has experienced such humiliation and harm as ours. It

is suffering from many wounds and tragedies. In every part of it you find disaster, wounds, harm

and punishment, and what has made things worse is that our Ummah has divided into parties and

sects. Some of these sects overcome and subjugate others, and it is enough for the enemy to just

stand by and watch. We have enough people in our Ummah to suffice them from doing their job.

How surprising! Is this the same Ummah which has filled the pages of history with its heroes and

great feats?!

Is this the same Ummah which the whole world heard about, filling the hearts of the enemy with

fear and terror?

Is this the same Ummah whose ruler would say to a raincloud, “Send down your rain wherever you

wish, for I will profit from the tax from your yield sooner or later!”

You see that Ummah has turned away from its religion and the reason for their glory, and day by

day it grows weaker and more humiliated. Allah‟s Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) described

this state which the Ummah would fall into. In a hadith narrated by Abu Dawud:

تم إذا » ع ثا نح ت ع ال تم ت ثع اب وت قر أذن ث تم ال ض زرع ور ال تم ت رك جهاد وت هللا ال

كم نزعه ذ ع كم ن ت ع رجعىا ح ت كم إل ن « د

If you deal in Eenah (a type of interest), involve yourself in agriculture and are pleased with it, and

you leave Jihad, Allah will punish you with humiliation and subservience which He will not remove

until you return to your religion.

The Prophet (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) informed us here of the disease and has told us its cure,

which is to return to the religion. Thus, we will never be able to eliminate this humiliation and state

of subservience from our Ummah except through Jihad in Allah‟s Cause, and when we stop busying

ourselves with matters of this worldly life so much that we do not fulfill the duties of our religion.

Thus, in order for the Ummah to break free from its state of weakness, it must return to its religion,

and it must set out on the Path of Jihad in Allah‟s Cause. Doing this will be fulfilling the Command of

Allah and an excuse which we can present. It will also enrage the enemies of Allah, which is the first

means, after Allah, for the Ummah to rescue itself from drowning in the pool of blood and mazes of

humiliation.

My brother! How can we be pleased with staying back, while Allah says:

ا ا) أ ه ىا ال ن ا وا ل ك م إ ذ ا ك م ل ر ث ان ت م ا ر إ ل ا ا ت م ال ه اج أ ر ض ن ا ت ال ر ج ال (ا

“O you who believe! What is the matter with you, that when you are asked to march forth in the

Cause of Allah (i.e. Jihad) you cling heavily to the earth? Are you pleased with the life of this world

rather than the Hereafter?” (Al-Tawbah: 38)

My brother! How can we be pleased with staying back, while Allah says:

وا ) ر وا و ق ا ا ا ان ا ى ال ك و ج ك م م ت ث و أ ن ( ال ه

“March forth, whether you are light (being healthy, young and wealthy) or heavy (being ill, old and

poor), and strive hard with your wealth and your lives in the Cause of Allah” (Al-Tawbah: 41)

How can we be pleased with staying back, while Allah says:

وا إ ) ر ت ك م ت ن ع اتا ت ث أ ل ا ع ر ك م ى ا و ر و و ا ت )

“If you march not forth, He will punish you with a painful torment and will replace you by another

people; and you cannot harm Him at all.” (Al-Tawbah: 39)

How can we be pleased with staying back, while Allah‟s Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)

said:

م اخ » م ز ول ال زو ن ه ث ول اخ ت ثح ع ن اق ع « ال

“Whoever dies without fighting or without making the firm determination to fight, dies on a branch

of hypocrisy.” [Abu Dawud and others]

How can we be pleased with staying back while we see Allah‟s Shariah being rejected, the Shariah

of humans taking its place! We seek help in Allah!

How can we be pleased with staying back when we see our brothers being massacred, their honor

being desecrated, and their homes being demolished, while the Muslims stand by and watch, while

Allah calls them:

ات ى ل ك م و ا ) ث ت ق ال ه ع ت ا و ال ا الر ج ا و الن ىل ى ال و ال ى ل ن ا ر ت ن ا ق ر ج أ

ح ا ال ال م ال ق ر ع أ ه ن ل ن ا و اج ل ا ل ع و ن ل ن ا و اج را ل (ن

“And what is wrong with you that you fight not in the Cause of Allah, and for those weak, ill-treated

and oppressed among men, women, and children, whose cry is: „Our Lord! Rescue us from this town

whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from You one who will protect, and raise for us from

You one who will help‟.” (Al-Tawbah: 39)

How can we be pleased with staying back when we see the lands of Islam being occupied one by

one, falling into enemy hands one after another? The scholars have explicitly stated that Jihad

becomes an individual obligation (fard „ain) in three circumstances, one of them being when the

enemy attacks any Muslim territory. They have explicitly stated that in this scenario, a child must set

out on Jihad without the permission of his parents, a slave without the permission of his master, and

one in debt without the permission of the lender, and that whosoever has the ability to fight must

do so to the best of his abilities. Do those who are aware of the situation of the Muslims have any

doubt that Jihad today has become an obligation on every able individual? After all we see, is there

any room left for doubt or debate?

The worst affliction is that that we see the enemies rampaging across the Muslim world, while we

hold conferences to debate whether Jihad is an individual or communal obligation! Years come and

pass while our lands are usurped and our honor is raped, and we are still on the first page of the

“Chapter of Jihad” debating whether jihad has become an individual obligation or whether it still

remains a communal obligation (fard kifayah)! Do whatever you are able my brother, and defend

your brothers, and then say whatever you wish about the ruling of Jihad!

And what makes this affliction worse is that when we see those who give fatwa that Jihad is a

communal obligation and prevent the Ummah from this duty, we see that he has never even seen

the arenas of Jihad except on television. How does he know the situation so that he can give a

fatwa?!

My brother! Even if it weren‟t an individual obligation, it is still the most beloved of deeds to Allah!

Sheikh-ul-Islam Ibn Taimiyyah said. “Whoever has drowned in sin, one of the best cures is Jihad in

Allah‟s Cause.” Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala) has said:

ا ا) أ ه ىا ال ن ل ك م ار ج ع أ د ك م ت ج اب ت نج م ع ن ى *أ ل ىل ه ت ال ه ت و و ر ا ث و ت ج ال ه

ى ال ك م ك م ت ر ذ ل ك م و أ ن نت م إ ل ك م ى ك ر *ت ع ن ىت ك م ل ك م ك م ذ ن اخ و ر ج ا ت ج ت ه ار ت ا ن ه

اك ن اخ ث ح و ى ذ ل ع ج م ال ر ي*ال ع ا و أ ث ىن ه ر ت ر ر ة و ت ال ه ن ن و ت (ال

“O you who believe! Shall I guide you to a trade that will save you from a painful torment? * That

you believe in Allah and His Messenger and that you strive hard and fight in the Cause of Allah with

your wealth and your lives: that will be better for you, if you but know! * (If you do so) He will

forgive you your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow, and pleasant dwellings in

„Adn (Eden) Paradise; that is indeed the great success. * And also (He will give you) another

(blessing) which you love, – help from Allah (against your enemies) and a near victory. And give

Glad Tidings to the Believers.” (Al-Saff: 10-13)

What is causing you to stay behind my brother?

Are you staying behind because you hate to leave your family and homeland? Why, when Allah has

said:

ك م ك ا إ ) ك م ت ا ت ن ى ان ك م و أ ك م و إ و اج

ر ت ك م و أ ى ا و ع ا و أ ى ت ت ر ار ج ا ى و ت ج ا ت اد اك ك و

ا ن ه ك م أ ح ة ت ر ض ى ىل ه ال ه إ ل اد و ر ه ث ه و ج ت ت ر ت ىا ح ت ر ال ه ال ق ى ه و ال ه ت

ق ( ال ا

“Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your kindred, the wealth that you have

gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you delight are dearer

to you than Allah and His Messenger, and striving hard and fighting in His Cause, then wait until

Allah brings about His Decision (torment). And Allah guides not the people who are Fasiqun (the

rebellious, disobedient to Allah).” (Al-Tawbah: 24)

Nabighah Al-Ja‟di set out on an invasion, and he said the following lines of poetry describing the

condition of him and his wife:

[Poetry]

By Allah, she spent the night sitting, thinking of me,

tears flowing thinking of each other

O the daughter of my uncle, the Book of Allah has taken me out,

forcefully, can I prevent Allah from what He did?

If I return, the Lord of all humans will bring me back,

but if I meet my Lord, then seek another

I am neither lame nor blind so to be excused

nor weak from a disease without ability.

How can you enjoy life with your wife and children while you see the condition of your brothers?

Don‟t you become sad when you see them? Don‟t you love for them what you love for yourself? If

we were in their situation, would you like it if they stayed behind like we are now??

My brother! How long will we stay behind and fail our Ummah while the enemies become more and

more daring? Each time they increase their transgression, we retreat even more, not knowing how

long we continue to doubt the purpose of confronting Satan and his party!?

Maybe it‟s the strength of the enemy against the Mujahideen and the way they have all ganged up

on them which causes you to remain sitting. You see the whole world attacking them at once. There

are even people who claim to be their brothers in Islam who have sided with the enemy, while

others have chosen to stand by and watch. If this is the reason you are holding back, then think: did

Allah‟s Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) gain victory, and did his Companions conquer the

east and the west without severe times of war, to the extent that they would carry their weapons at

all times, even while they slept, experiencing so much fear that they didn‟t even feel safe in their

homes, and feared even going out to relieve themselves?

Maybe it‟s because you see the severe sanctions placed against the Mujahideen and the tight siege

laid on them. If this is the reason you are not setting out, where is your belief that it is Allah who is

the Provider, Owner of Power, the Most Strong? The Prophet (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) ordered

his Companions to make Hijrah while he had no place to shelter them other than the Masjid. People

would see some of them falling to the ground, thinking them to be insane, but in reality it was their

hunger and toil.

Think of how Allah‟s Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) would leave his house for no other

reason than hunger, tying two stones to his stomach due to the intense hunger. Think of how

Allah‟s Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) would dispatch a battalion with no food other than a

sack of dates due to the fact he could find nothing else. If the Mujahideen were to do this today, the

first to oppose them would be people on the pulpits and Television scholars, describing them as

reckless, powerless, and having been hasty in confronting the enemy.

My brother, do you stay behind because you think you are fulfilling some need of the Ummah or

that you are doing some good where you are? We also believe that you are doing some good where

you are, but can you do anything superior to making Jihad in Allah‟s Cause? As mentioned in Saheeh

Al-Bukhari, Allah‟s Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was asked about a good deed equal to

Jihad. He responded that he would not be able to perform it. Then he said:

ع " تط قى أ ال جا رج إذا ت تر و ت "ت طر و وت ى ت

"Can you pray without tiring and fasting without breaking it from the time the Mujahid leaves [until

he returns]?"

ع ت م ) ا ح أ ج ق اج ار ج ال ج و ع ر ا ال ر و ال ى ت ال ه ك ال ا ا ث و ج ت ى و ال ه

ن (ال ال ال ق ى ه و ال ه ال ه ع

“Do you consider the providing of drinking water to the pilgrims and the maintenance of Al-Masjidal-

Haram (at Makkah) equal to the worth of those who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and fight in

the Cause of Allah? They are not equal before Allah. And Allah guides not those people who are the

Dhalimoon (polytheists and wrong-doers) (Al-Tawbah: 19)

Yes brother, you are doing good things, but Allah has made it an obligation upon you to defend the

honor of your sisters and the lands of Islam. Let‟s set out and seek forgiveness from Allah, in hopes

that Allah will forgive our sin of remaining behind.

My brother, is there any good superior to defending the religion and the Muslim lands in a time

when the enemies are many and helpers are few? Is there anything better than setting out with

your wealth and selling your soul for a meager price in order to achieve the Pleasure of Allah,

proving loyal to the deal you made with Allah, about which He said:

ت ر ي ال ه إ " ن ا م ال ه ى ال ه م أ ن م ت و أ ن ح ل ه ات ى الج ق ث ت ى ال ه ت ى ق ق "و

“Verily, Allah has purchased of the Believers their lives and their properties for (the price) that theirs

shall be the Paradise. They fight in Allah‟s Cause, killing (others) and being killed.” (Al-Tawbah:

111)

My brother, maybe what prevents you from making Jihad is that you hear that some Mujahideen

make some mistakes and cross the bounds. Is there any proof in the Quran or the Sunnah that

mistakes are a valid reason not to make Jihad in Allah‟s Cause, or does it actually make two things

an obligation on you, them being Jihad and also advising your brothers?

Tell me my brother, can anything be done without mistakes? Did not the best of armies to set foot

on earth, the army of Muhammad (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), make mistakes? In the battle of

Uhud, Ibn Ubayy retreated with a third of the army, deserting Allah‟s Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi

wa sallam) and those with him in the most difficult of times. Can anyone say that making Jihad with

Allah‟s Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) is not proper because his army was filled with

hypocrites?

In the Battle of Tabouk, a group of hypocrites sought to assassinate Allah‟s Messenger (Sallallahu

alayhi wa sallam). Can anyone say, “How can we make Jihad under a leader whose troops sought to

assassinate?”

Usamah b. Zaid (RadiyAllahu anhu) misunderstood the ruling and killed a person after he had

pronounced the testimony of faith, but Allah‟s Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) did nothing

more than say:

ف" ك نع ال ت ه ت هللا إ إل ى جا خ إذا ا ح ق "ال

“What will you do when [his testimony of] Laa ilaaha ill-Allah is brought forth on the Day of

Resurrection?”

Did he remove him, order him to be removed, cease to fight Jihad with him or give a sermon

exposing his mistake? Rather, once an individual in a battalion, he was later made to be a

commander of an army under the leadership of the first and foremost Companions, may Allah be

pleased with them all!

Once Khalid b. Waleed (RadiyAllahu anhu) launched an invasion against a tribe. [When he called

them to Islam, they accepted,] but said, “Saba‟na (we have become Sabeans)” and could not say

“Aslamna (We have become Muslims” properly. Khalid [did not ascertain what they meant, and so

he] began to kill them and take prisoners. When Allah‟s Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)

heard of this, he did nothing other than raise his hands and say, “O Allah! Indeed I am innocent

from what Khalid did!” This did not prevent Allah‟s Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) from

saying that he was a „Sword from the Swords of Allah‟.

There were people in the army of Allah‟s Messenger who killed themselves, stole from the spoils,

and drank wine. The father of Hudhaifah b. Yaman was even killed by accident in the Battle of

Uhud. Do you seek an army more pure than that of Allah‟s Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)?

The true calamity, my brother in Islam, is that we have searched for every mistake of the

Mujahideen, speaking about them and exposing them in the media, but we haven‟t done a fraction

of what they have for Islam. They have left their wealth, families and homes, while we remain in our

homelands with our wife and children. The face fear, hunger, and severe times while we live

peacefully and comfortably, becoming fat and indulging in the luxuries of life. At the same time, we

expect the Mujahideen to heed our calls we make by remote control, and if they don‟t, then their

Jihad is illegitimate and it is impermissible to support and aid them, or even pray for them! If you

were to ask one of them where they heard about these mistakes, he would say the he read a

statement from the Ministry of Interior or heard some news on television! The best response one of

them can give is that they heard it from a trustworthy person. Amazing! Don‟t you know that Allah‟s

Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was informed of some news by a person he thought as

trustworthy, to which Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala) said:

ا ا ) ىا ال أ ه ن ا ك م إ ىا ت ن ث ا ج ث ىا أ ت ث ن ال ح ى ا ت ه ( ت ج

“O you who believe! If an open sinner comes to you with any news, verify it, lest you should harm

people in ignorance…” (Al-Hujuraat: 6)

Shouldn‟t we visit them and see what‟s really going on, experience it, and then enjoin them with

good and forbid them from evil? If we find that they heed our advice, well and good, and if not,

then we have an excuse in front of Allah.

[Poetry]

Don’t blame them so much, woe be to you!

Or fill the position they are filling

How long? How long will you criticize truthful men for small things incomparable to their

immense sacrifices for Islam, preferring and quoting others who have given no sacrifice

worth mentioning for Islam which you can use as a proof of their truthfulness and

steadfastness. “O people of Kufah! I will not ask you about small sins, making you do

worse!”

What if the Mujahideen did not carry out this Jihad which many of our own people criticize? Would

the Jews restrict themselves to the borders they have made for themselves now? Would America

limit its acts of aggression to Iraq and Afghanistan?

By the Grace of Allah, the Mujahideen are like a strong wall stopping the march of the Zionist-

Christian Crusade, but in spite of this fact, they are still being abused by the slaves of Allah. What

we should have done is to thank them, support them, and stop people from abusing them, and this

is the lowest level of faith (Iman).

What is also amazing is that we see people making mistakes, and they give excuses, or excuses are

made for them saying that making mistakes is human. But as for the Mujahideen, their mistakes are

unforgivable and unforgettable forever! We see the speck on dirt in their glass, but don‟t see the

twigs in other‟s!

( و ط * ل ت ال ىا إ ذ ا ال ت ى ى الن ا ع اك م و إ ذ ا * و ك ال ى م أ ر و و ن ى )

“Woe to Al-Mutaffifun (those who give less in measure and weight). Those who, when they have to

receive by measure from men, demand full measure. And when they have to give by measure or

weight to (other) men, give less than due.” (Al-Mutaffifeen: 103)

But the thing that will certainly lead to destruction is when you see those known as scholars and

preachers accepting partial-solutions, compromising Islam, buttering up to the rulers, and joining

hands with the Rafidites, and leading secularists, seeking to please all sides of the conflict, keeping

to the middle of the tug-of-war. As for the Mujahideen who are their brothers in Islam, they do

nothing other than claim their total innocence from them and reject them, announcing this rejection

with or without reason, as Ibraheem (Alayhi sallam) announced his rejection of his people and

showed them enmity and hatred forever. If you were to think a little about them, you would find

that they are more critical of the Mujahideen than the infidels. What is more astonishing is that you

find some of them calling to plurality and co-existence with the Jews and Christians, and yet never

cease to announce their innocence and rejection of the Mujahideen! Some are even worse, praising

of the Leaders of Infidelity in their efforts against what they call terrorism! O Allah! How amazing

and strange this is! What is even more amazing is that those who are keen to criticize the

Mujahideen in all the three ways [mentioned in a hadith, with their hands, tongues and hearts],

even if there is a legitimate difference of opinion in the legality of what they are criticizing, see the

enemies of Islam swimming in the blood of Muslims and licking up their honor without any response

worth mentioning, even if he was weak. What is the harm in keeping silent and leaving things how

they are? Even though silence [of the scholars and preachers] is a huge problem, it is still favorable

to siding with the enemies in their war with our brothers.

My brother in Islam, it is just to ask those who have remained behind about the people in the

battlefields and their Jihad? You see this cheater praising some and criticizing others, criminalizing

and making impermissible and making false testimonies or at best, judging without seeing with his

own eyes. Not only has he cheated the Mujahideen, but he has opposed the truth which they hold

fast to. You see the envious and those filled with desires applauding this or that person who has

remained behind, as if he has brought them an excuse, selling their religion for them for a

misconception, them believing it due to their desires, in reality being nothing other than a

fabrication, and their hatred is cooled. How true that none recognize men but men, and none know

their true worth except those among them.

Indeed the enemy has made many gains over us and have cause us much devastation, but the thing

that enrages them the most and foils their plans is our adherence to Islam, from which is the

obligation of unity.

The enemies have succeeded in dividing us and devouring us one by one. They have subjugated us

by employing people from ourselves, They stand by and watch, laughing. There is no other solution

than we join ranks and fight them, joining forces to strike them. Otherwise, we will remain in the

same state, if not worse. A united body (Jama‟ah), no matter how limited their capabilities may be,

is a force which the enemy fears, and will make them think a thousand times before doing anything,

that is if the means are fulfilled, making preparations for warfare, as Allah has commanded.

By the Lord of the Ka‟bah, the Jama‟ah, is a strong and lofty structure. Say whatever you wish about

the spiritual and physical and strength which results in Iman. Forming one united body is an act of

worship commanded in the religion for the Ummah. Whatever extent the secessionists succeed, and

whatever they carry out to achieve this goal, the obligation will still not be achieved, yet their

actions will be applauded [by the enemies].

I believe the sincere people of this Ummah have learned from their experiences in recent history.

They now understand that unification is the secret of strength, and its absence is as loss of spirit

and strength. Thus, they have thrown away their personal inclinations and have stopped the

highway robbers who seek secession and to divide. They have come to understand with their keen

acute vision is that this body which is covered with wounds can only be cured by Jihad. Everyone

must try to cure it. They must not stop at the diseased body.The body is diseased if the heart is

diseased, and for this reason they started with the heart, seeking to cure that which supports the

whole body. If the heart is healthy, the whole body is healthy[1]. The disease which has plagued the

Ummah is disunity, division and dispute, which in actuality are the main aspects of the religion of

Satan and his deeds. He has lost hope that those who establish prayer will worship him, so he

resorted to creating differences, dispute, enmity and hatred amongst them. Those who follow their

desires and those who listen to them and follow them obeyed him, and thus people grew apart from

each other and the matter grew even worse. Its cause was nothing other than a desire which its

holder painted with colors of Islam and Truth, using it to snatch the fruits produced by the efforts of

the sincere until he reached his goal, leaving them in the barren desert, without water or plants, but

only a mirage in front of them.

The Ummah will never be free from its enemy except through its unity and standing as one rank in

the face of this falsehood, choosing men who have no concern other than what is in the interest of

Islam and strengthening the defenses of the Muslims.

The fact that there are mistakes does not cancel the obligation to unify, as it is an obligation upon

us to join hands and strive to eradicate evil, obeying the commands of Allah and eradicating evil. We

must forget about those people who merely chant mottos, those who have no experience in warfare

and the plots of the enemies, and others who the enemy has tricked into speaking in their favor in

the name of Islam, or who do so due to their spite, envy, or for money or power. These people are

scum and hollow-hearted, leading the Ummah into pitfalls in order to snatch the fruits of the sincere

so they alone can live without worry.

We must also understand that the infidels success in destroying a nation does not mean that the

united body has failed, that there is no point in striving, or that its people were tried to pick the

fruits too soon, although this may sometimes occur. The young boy in the story of the People of the

Ditch, caused his own death and took along a whole nation who were burned to death. According to

the slaves of money and wealth, this was not a success for them. However, Allah revealed verses

which will be recited till the Day of Resurrection as a proof of their success in this world and the

next. Can one say that the young boy led the Ummah to a lost battle?

If you seek to form a united body which will not be confronted by enemies, then you are seeking to

quench your thirst from a mirage. No united body can reap the desired fruits until the enemy fights

them and they engage in fierce battle. War has its good days and bad ones. Injury and death are

inevitable and necessary consequences. People will die under rubble and others will be captured or

become homeless. We may even see times of hunger, fear, and a lack of medicine. This is the only

way, but then comes the end [which is in our favor]. We want something else, then we want Allah

to give us something He did not give His Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).

[Poetry]

You seek to reach the highest of stations for a cheap price,

in order to retrieve honey you must feel the stings of bees.

[Poetry]

Don’t think that might and glory is a date which you eat,

You will never attain might and glory without tasting medicine.

Whoever wishes for something else can seek excuse with the saying:

[Poetry]

Leave noble things and don’t set out to attain them,

Remain seated, for indeed you are delighted in eating and clothing!

We must understand that the religion of Allah will rein superior, and the army of Allah is

the one which will gain victory. They are the ones who will win in the end, by Allah’s

permission. The true success and pride is for those people who are chosen to attain it.

When Allah wills that his believing servants gain sovereignty and bring victory to His

Religion, those who were involved in this will rejoice, and those who did not will regret. At

that point, we will remember the saying of Allah:

[Poetry]

If you have not planted anything, but see others reaping their harvest,

You will regret that you fell short when it was time to plant seeds.

Indeed the time has come for us to set out in Allah’s Cause and join hands with our

brothers and have patience with them in times of ease and difficulty. If we do this while

relying upon Allah, then and only then will the sun of victory shine its rays over the Muslim

world, illuminating the Believers and blinding the infidels.

[1] In allusion to a well-known hadith of the Prophet (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).

O Allah! Bring victory to the Mujahideen fighting in your Cause everywhere!

O Allah! Unite them upon the Truth!

O Allah! Aid them with the unknown troops of the Heavens and the Earth!

O Allah! Shower them with patience, make them firm and steadfast and give them

victory over the infidels!

Our final prayer is that all praise is for Allah, the Lord of all that exists. May peace and

blessings be upon our prophet, Muhammad, and upon all his family and Companions.

Pray for your Mujahideen Brothers

Your Brothers at

The Global Islamic Media Front

Monitoring Mujahideen News and Inciting the Believers

A Message From The Shaheed

On The Eve Of His Martyrdom Operation

Against A CIA Team In Khost

As-Sahab Media

Rabi’ al-Awwal 1431

All praise is due to Allah, the One, the Most High, and prayers and peace be upon the

Cheerful One, the Slayer, our Chief Muhammad, and upon his family and all his

companions and those who follow their guidance until the Day of Judgement.

I greet you with the greeting of Islam: peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His

blessings.

As for what comes after:

This is a brief letter of motivation to Jihad in Allah‟s path which I leave in the mailbox of a Muslim

who is wavering between the honor of going forth and the humiliation of staying behind.

Know, my brother, that I singled you out for this letter due to my conviction that you are the closest

among all people to the Mujahideen in Allah‟s path. Almost no Mujahid goes forth to the fields of

competition without passing through this stage of indecision and lingering. However, while for some

a few days, hours or minutes suffice, for others this stage goes on and on until even his entire life

isn‟t enough for him to make up his mind.

And don‟t think, my beloved brother, that your brother, this poor slave, isn‟t aware of your

condition. I lived among you for such a long time that it is as if I am wandering around in one of the

impoverished neighborhoods of your emotion, or resting my head on a cold sidewalk in the border

zone between consciousness and unconsciousness where you have hidden the love of Jihad from

sight and exiled it like a stranger without an identity or like a lonely heart searching for company.

So I am calling to you from there, from the depth of your hearts, with words whose letters resemble

pieces of my body which I scatter like severed limbs in the ether, for their echoes to reverberate in

your ears forever, and for me to plant them like seeds in your consciences, in the hope that out of

them will grow Jihad if I water them with my blood tomorrow.

Oh, if only I had something other than these words with which to call on you, then I would have

flown to you without wings, like a breeze which comes before the winds, in order to stand in front of

each one of you, with my eyes looking into your eyes and my hands on your shoulders, to shake

you and recite to you Allah‟s statement, “Unless you go forth, He will punish you with a painful

punishment, and put others in your place. But Him you would not harm in the least.” (9:39)

Oh, if only I had as many souls as there are hairs on my head, so that I could send them to the

minarets of all mosques in the realms of the Muslims, to call out to the people on the day of the

weekly congregation, “O you who have responded to „Come to the prayer,‟ there is no good in you if

you turn your backs on „Come to Jihad!‟”

Until when must love of the Jihad remain confined to daydreams and private thoughts, only coming

into view in slips of the tongue? Until when must this longing remain reduced to an embarrassed

tear you shed when you see the tragedies of the Muslims, or a passing elation you experience when

you hear a Nasheed or read a poem? Until when must love of the Jihad remain just another one of

those hobbies of yours with which you while away your free time?

We‟re neither looking for discerning viewers nor the emotions of sympathizers. We‟re looking for you

in our midst, and if we don‟t find you, we shall continue to look, and look again. We shall target you

with our media productions, laying for you emboldening ambushes and planting motivational mines,

in the hope that they will blow up on you as admonishments and reminders which will fill your souls

with thoughts and inflame your hearts with a desire to join the caravan of champions. And even if it

means having to preoccupy ourselves entirely with you instead of our enemies, we will preoccupy

ourselves with you until you join us.

We shall continue to search for you and search again, sometimes like a beautiful dream which

tempts you, and sometimes like a terrifying shadow which chases you, in order to disturb your

peace and quiet and make your life miserable every time we remind you of your desertion of the

Mujahideen.

We shall send you coded messages whose meaning only you will understand, in newscasts,

newspapers, and websites. Every report which talks about us you will read as if it is talking about

you. Every discussion about us will seem as if it is complaining to Allah about your staying behind

us. You will hear your real names and see your photographs between the lines, among the words

and behind the scenes, as you are now on the Mujahideen‟s most-wanted list. You will sense that

the Mujahideen aren‟t targeting anyone else in this world other than you, and that they aren‟t

inciting anyone to fight except you, until you join us.

You shall be pursued by the meanings of explicit Ayahs and the texts of authentic Hadeeths. You

shall be pursued by the chapters of Ibn Hisham‟s Seerah and the lines of The Lion of the Jungle on

Knowledge of the Sahaabah, until you begin to imagine that „Umair bin al-Humam was killed in the

battle of al-Falujah, or that Anas bin al-Nadr carried out a martyrdom operation in Khost. You shall

never find enjoyment in any of your habits, nor even in your acts of worship, as long as you

continue to refrain from Jihad. We shall continue to search for you, and search again, until you join

us.

My brothers in Allah: Allah has tested the Ummah with idols who have led the people away from

their religion, and thus the Sunnah has been deserted and Bid‟ah has spread, and sound nature has

been corrupted and Jihad has become a reckless venture and gamble in the eyes of many among

the Muslim laity; and human devils sit beside jinni devils on the pathways of the Muslim to turn him

away from Jihad in the path of Allah, by telling him, “Are you going to perform Jihad in the path of

Allah, and get yourself killed, and let your wife remarry and your children become orphans?!” and by

telling him, “To whom are you leaving your pretty wife?! Who will be dutiful to your frail mother?!

Who will take care of your little child and your elderly father?! And how can you abandon your

wonderful work and desert your beautiful house?!”

But if you were to mention in front of them that you are going not to Jihad in Allah‟s path, but to

spend a summer vacation or take a course in some worldly sciences, you would see their faces

brighten, and they would help you with their time, money and counsel, and they would wish they

could accompany you, even if only in your suitcase. “If it had been an immediate gain and a short

journey, they would certainly have followed you, but the long journey seemed too far to them.”

(9:42)

Beware, my brother, of being turned away from the obligation of Jihad by these enemies, who have

concealed themselves in the cloak of family and friends. Beware of letting them deceive and mislead

you. “O you who believe! Among your wives and your children are some who are your enemies, so

beware of them.” (64:14)

Beware, O undecided one, of agreeing to live according to others‟ convictions after seeing the truth

and having its happiness mix with your heart. Don‟t be like Abu Talib, the uncle of Allah‟s Messenger

(peace and prayers of Allah be upon him), who was certain that his nephew was a Prophet sent by

Allah, but who, when death came to him, insisted that his end be in accordance with his enemies‟

wishes, and thus he said in his last breath, “[I die] on the religion of our forefathers from [the tribe

of] Quraysh.”

And you, O you who realized that Jihad is the truth but chose to stay behind: when death comes to

you on your sickbed and you are surrounded by those who claimed once upon a time that Jihad is

annihilation and staying behind is survival, they will exchange glances of sympathy over you in

despondent silence and with an awkward shedding of tears by those of them who loved you the

most; as for the others, their minds will be preoccupied with the procedures of washing and burial

and how to pay the hospital bill, so they will leave on your table a bouquet of flowers on which they

have written the last of their lies to you in this world: “For a speedy recovery,” although they know

for certain that death has come to snatch you from their midst.

And that when death inserts its claws

You find that all amulets are worthless

That‟s when you will remember these words of mine, and you will be overcome with regret, but the

time for regret will have passed. The reel of Shaheeds will pass rapidly before you: Hamza bin Abd

al-Muttalib…Anas bin al-Nadr…Abdullah Azzam…Abu Mus‟ab al-Zarqawi…Abu al-Laith al-Libi…Abu

Jihad al-Misri; and after these Shaheeds, your life will appear. Woe to you that death has taken you

so quickly and in such a short period of time. It is then that you will realize that you are the loser

and that those slackers and deserters around you swindled you. You will realize that you aren‟t the

same as those Mujahideen you used to love, even if you resemble them in your points of view and

your claiming to love going forth in Allah‟s path; whereas they died the way they loved and wished

for, you died the way the slackers around you love. And there is neither power nor strength except

with Allah.

I would like to relate to you a short story, in the hope that it will motivate you to Jihad in Allah‟s

path. It is the story of a disabled man in a wheelchair who decided to go forth in Allah‟s path. His

name is Ahmad, a non-Arab Muslim afflicted with an illness which wrecked his lower legs, and as a

result he can only walk using his hands. However, his defiant spirit insisted that he join his brothers

in the land of Jihad.

As soon as he reached the Mujahideen‟s base, he demanded that the Amir include his name in the

nightly guard duty schedule. When the Amir agreed, in order to placate him, he began to cry out of

delight and happiness that his eyes would spend a night guarding in the path of Allah; and Allah

decreed that I sleep outside, near the guard point, so I could witness what happened that night.

From the time that guard duty began until the first rays of dawn, Ahmad sat, guarding his station in

Allah‟s path, remembering Allah and asking His forgiveness, and crying all the while. I was stunned

by Allah‟s grace towards that man and how He provided his eyes – on a single night – with both the

blessing of guarding in Allah‟s path and the blessing of shedding tears out of fear and awe of Allah.

Sleep would overpower me occasionally, but I would always wake up to find him as he was,

unabated. The rest of the guards would rotate in shifts, while he diligently stationed himself in his

place. I asked myself in amazement: are the Muslims in our countries aware of the existence of

these Jihadi paradigms in our contemporary time, or have they been deceived by the rows of

slackers and columns of deserters they see around them? I swear by Allah, were there nothing else

in Jihad other than the blessing of being near such people and drinking from the spring of their

biographies, it would be enough. So reflect – O hesitant ones – on the good things on which you

have made yourselves miss out.

My brothers in Allah: know that when conviction weakens and faith recedes, and the soul depends

on the senses it receives to construct its beliefs, that is when man takes a step towards materialism

and a step away from faith in the unseen, and becomes at peace with this worldly life and happy

with it, and turns his back on the hereafter and becomes disturbed at its mention, and the life of this

world becomes the sensible reality and the next life the unknown fantasy; and here is where the

creed of man deviates, and he becomes one of the worshippers of the five senses who only believes

in the adornments of the worldly life, which he is able to see, and whose intellect is now totally

incapable of imagining any type of life other than this life which he has seen.

His parable is that of the fetus in his mother‟s womb, sitting in three types of darkness; he can

barely see, hear or speak. He is like someone drowning in a well of water, unable to control

anything around him. He doesn‟t know where he is going nor when nor why. He lies in his mother‟s

womb, stripped of his will and freedom.

This fetus doesn‟t know the truth about life outside the womb. He might consider it to be an

unknown or a form of nothingness, on the basis of the information his limited senses provide him

with. And had Allah given these fetuses, with their immature intellects, the ability to communicate

with each other, they would have written books and composed poems disparaging the moment of

birth and describing its difficulties, labor pains and blood, and how some of them are grabbed by

their heads while others are pulled out by their legs. They would have depicted the first scream

following birth as if it were one of the throes of death. The moment of birth in their literature would

be the equivalent of death in our literature, and they would cling to their life in the womb despite

the loneliness, subordination and darkness found in it. They would sing about its beauty and

perfection, whereas they would fear birth, and wish to escape it, because it will bring them to a

meeting with a new stage which their senses haven‟t before seen.

But the truth is the opposite of what the fetus imagines, because he has only entered the womb in

order to be prepared to enter the flow of life, and the years of his life will only begin after the birth

event which he thought was a sudden death. We know that for certain because we have

experienced the two stages and our senses have seen them both, and that‟s why you don‟t find

anyone who longs to go back to the womb; and this is what death is like in the eyes of the believer,

who has become certain that the life of this world is nothing but his prison; and this is what death is

like in the eyes of the Mujahid in Allah‟s path: he looks at it as nothing more than another birth on

the way to entering the flow of eternal happiness.

True, we haven‟t seen a martyr come back to this world to tell us about what he saw, but it is faith

in Allah, His Book and His Messenger, the faith which makes us wish for death in Allah‟s path and

crave it. I swear by He in whose Hand is my soul that this worldly life is narrower and more

restrictive for the believer than the mother‟s womb is for her fetus, and that the easiest way for him

to free himself from this restriction is martyrdom in Allah‟s path. In fact, the blood, suffering and

pain which the fetus goes through in order to reach the life of this world is a horrible tragedy when

compared with the killing of the martyr, for whom it feels like nothing more than an insect bite. This

is death in the culture of the Mujahid: a transition from one deficient life to another perfect one,

which, although he hasn‟t experienced it, he knows by heart, through Allah‟s description of it. “And

He will bring them in unto the Garden which He has made known to them.” (47:6)

Those who have been killed in Allah‟s path aren‟t dead, even if you have buried their bodies beneath

the earth. They aren‟t dead, even if you ask mercy for them as though they have died. They aren‟t

dead, even if you have shed tears for them and opened your houses for consolations. They are

alive, but you don‟t feel it. They are alive, in a place which your senses haven‟t before seen, but you

aren‟t aware of it. And were Allah to give you the opportunity to look for a moment at their life in

Paradise, the garrisons would be flooded with those who seek that life; and were Allah to give you

the opportunity to listen to one conversation between two martyrs in the breasts of green birds in

Paradise, you would know that they are the ones who are asking Allah to have mercy on you and

grant you resolve.

My undecided brother: allow me to once again speak to the Islam, manhood and chivalry in you, by

telling you this story. Close your eyes for a moment, and give free rein to your imagination to depict

for you the events of this story, which took place in the country of the Afghans. Don‟t listen to these

words, but instead, view them as if they are being shown in front of you on a screen inside your

brain.

One day, the Americans raided an Afghan village in order to capture two Taliban commanders who

had made them taste all types of woes. Following fierce resistance, the two men were martyred. We

reckon them to be so and Allah is their Reckoner. But this didn‟t quench the cross-worshippers‟ thirst

for revenge, so they took the two commanders‟ wives to their helicopter, and then, while circling at

a high altitude, they began to throw the women‟s clothes to the ground, so that the people of the

village could see what was happening to the two commanders‟ wives.

When I recall the details of this story and swallow the bitterness of its scenes moment by moment, I

wish that I had a million lives on the face of this earth so that I could destroy them one after the

other in avenging our chaste Muslim sisters. I wish that the evil scholars, who participated with the

Americans in this crime through their despicable fatwas which prohibit Jihad and legitimize

occupation, could be gathered on a single plateau for the widows and orphans of the Mujahideen to

pelt them with shoes until they are buried alive under the boots.

But don‟t open your eyes yet, my brother, because the scene hasn‟t ended. Imagine that these

sisters in Islam were your mothers, or your sisters, or your wives. Do you dare to imagine that? Do

you dare to think about that? If your answer is “no,” then know that this is what is really happening

on the soil of Afghanistan. This is what the filthy infidels are doing to the chaste and pure Muslim

women. This is just one of the many scenes which the media hide from the people. So what are you

going to do about it, now that you know?

I am amazed at how some of you are able to go back to your lives and lusts after hearing these

words of mine, as if the matter doesn‟t concern you. What I told you, O Muslims, isn‟t a story from

the heritage of the American Indians, nor a scene from the tragedy of the Vietnam War: no, it is

happening on the soil of the Muslims, O Nation of Muhammad (peace and prayers of Allah be upon

him). These women whose private parts were exposed and honors were violated are from the

Nation of the Messenger of Allah (peace and prayers of Allah be upon him). They face the direction

we face in prayer, they fast during the month we fast, and they make the pilgrimage to Allah‟s

Sacred House. So there is no good in you if you don‟t come to their aid, and there is no manhood in

you if you don‟t avenge them.

O you who hesitate to come to Jihad, I won‟t relate to you the heroic stories of men in the country

of the Afghans in order to call you to the fight. Instead, I will tell you about some of the heroics of

the women here, in order to assess your manhood and put it to the test, and in order for you to find

out whether you are a real man from those who have fulfilled the covenant they made with Allah, by

departing for the land of Jihad, or a counterfeit man whose masculinity is only attested to by his

birth certificate.

One of the female martyrdom seekers went to a checkpoint of the apostates, and pretended to cry

so that the largest possible number of troops would gather around her; and as soon as they had all

gathered around her, she shouted “Allahu Akbar” and detonated her belt, for her soft body to turn

into blazing shrapnel which severed the limbs of the enemies of Allah.

Another woman, an elderly one, when some emigrants came to stay at her home, took up her

weapon, a PK machine gun, and stood guard over the brothers. When they asked her to rest, she

told them, “No, by Allah; should the enemies of Allah come, no one other than me will fight them.”

Another young woman advertises her bride-price to everyone: that she is ready to marry any man

who will help her to carry out a martyrdom operation against the unbelievers and apostates.

And prior to this is what happened here in Pakistan, when the female students of Shaykh Abdul

Rasheed Ghazi chose resolve over the exemption they had been given and insisted on staying until

death to help Allah‟s Shari‟ah. Someone whom I don‟t accuse of lying related to me that rivers of

blood flowed from the mosque, and that when the people put their hands in the stream of blood,

they took out eyes and fragments of bone and hair, which were all that remained of some of our

martyred sisters, due to the extent of the massacre committed against them.

This is what was given to Islam by Zainab, „A‟ishah, Khadijah and Ruqiyyah; so what have you given

to this religion, O Harb, and O Dirgham, and O Ja‟far and O Ghalib? What have you given to Islam,

O undecided ones? What will you say to Allah tomorrow, when He gathers you together at the fixed

time of an appointed Day? What excuse will you put forward, when our heroic sisters have

torpedoed all your flimsy arguments?

My undecided brother: I would like to end this talk of mine with a Hadeeth about the virtue of

martyrdom in Allah‟s path. I swear by Allah that I believe it to be one of the most comprehensive

Hadeeths ever reported on this subject. „Aamir bin Sa‟ad narrated that his father (with whom Allah

was pleased) said that a man came to the prayer, while the Prophet (peace and prayers of Allah be

upon him) was leading it, and when he reached the row of worshippers, he said, “O Allah, give me

the best thing You give Your righteous slaves.” When the Prophet (peace and prayers of Allah be

upon him) finished the prayer, he asked, “Who spoke just now?” The man said, “It was me, O

Messenger of Allah.” So the Messenger of Allah told him, “Therefore your steed will be crippled and

you will be martyred in Allah‟s path.”

Allah is the Greatest! Allah is the Greatest! Allah is the Greatest! Martyrdom in Allah‟s path by having

one‟s steed crippled and oneself martyred is the best thing that Allah gives His righteous slavesas

stated by the Messenger of Allah (peace and prayers of Allah be upon him).

So come, brothers! Come to the act of worship which is not equaled by any other act of worship!

Come to the way of being killed which the Chief of Creation (peace and prayers of Allah be upon

him) wished for thrice. Come to the dignity which the martyr never forgets, even after entering

Paradise, and because of which he asks Allah to return him to this world so he can be killed in His

path ten times. Demolish the barriers, cross the borders, defy all the security apparatuses, and burst

out from all directions towards a Paradise as wide as the heavens and the earth which Allah has

prepared for His slaves the martyrs.

“You will soon remember what I say to you. And I entrust my affair to Allah.” (44:40) “And Allah has

full power and control over His affairs; but most among mankind do not know [that].” (12:21)

29 December, 2009. Your brother in Allah, Abu Dujaanah al-Khorasani