News & Comment
Turkey's Anti-Terrorism Rally Draws 100,000 People Supporting Erdoğan's Fight Against PKK – But Fails in Uniting the Ummah!

News

Thousands of people turned out Sunday in Istanbul for an antiterrorism rally held under the banner "Millions of Breaths. One Voice Against Terror" - in response to the latest wave of terrorist attacks. (Agencies)

Comment

PKK terrorists have killed more than 120 military and police officers, as well as innocent civilians including children in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast since the collapse of a two-year ceasefire in July. Over 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up arms in 1984 demanding an independent state for Kurds. What is left behind are thousands of mothers, fathers, wives and children in grief over their loss for the rest of their lives. Without doubt, the Ummah in Turkey desires an urgent end of these terrorist attacks. This is the main reason why thousands have joined the call.

However, the rally announced as "Millions of breaths:

One voice against terror", was turned to an electoral campaign for the AKP calling for "a historic effort for the Nov. 1 [election]" for the AKP. While President Erdogan and Prime Minister Davutoglu expressed that "Turks and Kurds are brothers", there was made use of a plenty of nationalistic ideas and terms that are not going to unite the Turkish and Kurdish Muslims in this country, and surely not the rest of this Ummah: "We will not allow any reverse of the process of national unity and brotherhood," or "We are determined to strengthen democracy and protect rights and freedoms."

Was it not the rotten idea of nationality induced insidiously to this Ummah that finally led to the abolishment of the uniting power of Islam and thus the installing of more than 50 countries across the Islamic world and thus filled these lands with all the illnesses and mischiefs of the Kufr system's oppressing dominance?

And is it not this system of democracy and capitalist rights and freedoms that encouraged and nourished the PKK to lead a war of independence from Turkey? Is it not this capitalist democratic system, imposed on the leaders and thus the people of this country that vaporizes the idea of Islamic bonds, and prevents us from becoming a single power against the true enemies?

And the leaders of this country – in spite of seeking to blur the truth behind speeches of democracy and freedoms – are well aware of the true enemies who secretly support rebelling nationalist minorities in Turkey and elsewhere in the Muslim lands. This is evident from President Erdogan's speech when he compared the current enemies in Turkey with the enemies of the "Battle of Manzikert" and Salahuddin al-Ayyubi, and the enemies at the "Battle of Gallipoli", and the "Turkish War of Independence", adding that "the time has changed, names and methods have changed, but the aim has never changed.

Their aim is [...] to destroy our unity, solidarity, brotherhood..." At the same time, this comparison put himself and the AKP into the position of those glorious heroes of Islam, who fought and became martyrs for the sake of rising high the banner of Allah and His Messenger - in diametrical contradiction to the values and the flag which the leaders of the AKP promote today.

Yes, this is true! Names and methods have changed, but the character remains the same: The enemy is Western induced nationalism, squirt at this Ummah with the aim of preventing it from regaining its past strength and power through its unity under the banner of Islam which was a then-threat to the Kafir West and will be a threat in future too. These speeches might bring new votes for the AKP, but will keep Turkey and all the other Islamic lands under the control of the West who leads not only a visible war of terror against Islam and the Muslims, but also a subtle ideological war - and not only in Turkey, but across the entire Islamic world. Furthermore, nationalism is a destructive concept and is prohibited by Islam.

Rasulallah (saw) said,

« فلَيْسَ مِنِّي وَمَنْ قَاتَلَ تَحْتَ رَايَةٍ عُمِّيَّةٍ يَدْعُو إِلَى عَصَبِيَّةٍ »

"He is not one of us who calls for 'asabiyyah, (nationalism) or who fights for 'asabiyyah or who dies for 'asabiyyah." [Abu Dawood]

In fact, there is only a single call that rulers of Turkey should embrace and should shout out loudly in order to succeed against the enemies of this Ummah. And this is:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ * وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا وَاذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنْتُمْ أَعْدَاءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُمْ بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَانًا وَكُنْتُمْ عَلَى شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِنَ النَّارِ فَأَنْقَذَكُمْ مِنْهَا كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ آَيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ

"Oh you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared and die not except in a state of Islam And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah, and be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allah's Favour on you, for you were enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace, you became brethren, and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes His Ayat clear to you, that you may be guided." [Al-i Imran 102-103]

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Zehra Malik