بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Protection of the Ummah: Today's Leader and Leader of the Past
The Human Rights Watch published on 18th May 2018 that the Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani, apologized to the families of civilians which were killed and injured through the attack on 2th April in Dasht-e Archi Kunduz province, where Afghan Air Force helicopters fired heavy machineguns and launched unguided rockets at an outdoor religious ceremony, attended by hundreds of people. A United Nations investigation found that the Airstrike killed and wounded at least 107 people, including 81 children. The U.N. was able to verify that 30 children were killed and 51 injured.
After several weeks have passed, the Afghan government in general and the Afghan Defense Ministry in particular apologized to the families of the victims of the attack on 2nd April 2018. President Ashraf Ghani said. “The key difference between the government and insurgents is that a legitimate government will always seek forgiveness for mistakes.”
The United Nations Assistant Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) report found that this attack raised questions as to the Government’s respect of the rules of precaution and proportionality under the laws of war. UNAMA concluded that even if the government had a legitimate military target, the timing and place of the attack were contrary to the government’s obligations to take all feasible measures to spare civilians from harm, including under its Civilian Casualty Mitigation Policy.
This is a further evidence of the treachery and failure of the corrupt Afghan government against Muslims in Afghanistan, which cannot be overlooked. Not only that the president does not protect the Ummah, but he also belittles their blood so low that he calms his conscience with a mere apology, although he is involved in the murder of innumerable innocent people, especially children. The main questions are: Is that even a mistake that can be excused? Is that a right action for a ruler?
Are rulers like him the right shield and protector of the Ummah in our nowadays reality? Will this rulers bring us near to Allah (swt) and help us to fulfill our obligations as an Islamic Ummah on this earth. Certainly NO! A leader who uttered a mere apology and has no sense of how the parents and siblings of a child who was bombarded and killed only because of a governments mistake feel; , this person cannot really be the protector of Muslims let alone to bring them neat to their only creator Allah (swt)!
- Once the Muslims had a great Leader like Abu Bakr al-Siddiq who said to his army:
"Do not be deserters, nor be guilty of disobedience. Do not kill an old man, a woman or a child. Do not injure date palms and do not cut down fruit trees. Do not slaughter any sheep or cows or camels except for food. You will encounter persons who spend their lives in monasteries. Leave them alone and do not molest them." He cares not just about protecting of old people, women and children but also about animals and trees.
- Once the Muslims had a great Leader like Umar ibn Al-Khattab who said to his governors: “Remember, I have not appointed you as commanders and tyrants over the people. I have sent you as leaders instead, so that the people may follow your example. Give the Muslims their rights and do not beat them lest they become abused. Do not praise them unduly, lest they fall into the error of conceit. Do not keep your doors shut in their faces, lest the more powerful of them eat up the weaker ones. And do not behave as if you were superior to them, for that is tyranny over them.” He was a man who was so worried of displaying the smallest injustice, the smallest suspicion, the smallest oppression all because he was preparing himself to answer the question “What will you say to your Lord later?”
- Once the Muslims had a great Leader like Othman ibn Affan who said: “I have found the sweetness of worship in four things. The first is in performing the obligatory acts of worship enjoined by Allah; the second is in avoiding the things forbidden by Allah; the third is enjoining that which is good, seeking the reward of Allah; and the fourth is forbidding that which is evil, fearing the wrath of Allah.” This are the words of a ruler who brings his Ummah near to Allah (swt) and gives them the opportunity for a good life in this world and hereafter.
- Once the Muslims had a Leader like Ali ibn Abi-Talib who said: “I advise you O slaves of Allah to fear Allah, for god-fearing is the best advice Allah’s slaves might give to one another. It is also the closest deed to His pleasure, and the most yielding of the best results in His sight. No doubt, you are ordered to fear Allah and you have been created to be faithful. So you should beware of Allah as the Almighty has warned you of Himself. Indeed, He has warned you of a strong violence if you do not comply to his order. Furthermore, you should fear Allah so much. You should do the good deeds without the intention of showing off or gaining good reputation. Whoever does the good deeds for anything other than for the sake of Allah, surely Allah would make him suffer from the evil consequences of what he has done. Whoever does good deeds sincerely for the sake of Allah, certainly Allah would be his supporter and He would give him the goodness of his intention. You should fear of Allah’s punishment, for He has never created you vainly nor has He left anything of your affairs to no purpose. He made you, learnt your secrets, recorded your deeds, and then decreed your terms. So let not the world deceive you with its vain hopes, for no doubt, it is to beguile its people, and how haughty he is, who is deceived by it. The hereafter is the abode of eternal stay.”
- Once the Muslims had a great Leader like Umar bin Abdul Aziz who said: "I have been made the ruler over the Muslims and I was thinking of the poor who are starving, and the sick who are destitute, and the naked who are in distress, and the oppressed that are stricken, and the stranger that is in prison, and the venerable elder, and the one who has a large family and small means, and the like of them in countries of the earth and the distant provinces, and I felt that my Lord would ask me about them on the Day of Resurrection, and I feared that no defense would avail me (at that time), and I wept."
The Ummah needs again leaders who work hard day and night to protect our children, to bring us near to Allah (swt) and make Islam the victor over the whole world!
Oh Muslim Ummah in Afghanistan and everywhere in the world! These are all our innocent children who are bombed just as in Afghanistan, also in Palestine, Iraq, Myanmar, etc. and the heartless corrupt regents only apologize for their mistakes. How can we be satisfied with such regents and continue to vote them through parliamentary elections? Do we not hear the suffering and cry for help of the Ummah? Are we only waking up when our children are affected by the bombs? But are the murdered children not the children of our brothers and sisters? Is their suffering not our grief?
We have no time to sit idle because the longer we wait, the more blood of the Ummah is shed. We must devote ourselves to the work of rebuilding the second Khilafah upon the Method of the Prophethood, so that we have soon InshaAllah leaders such as Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, Omar ibn al-Khattab, Othman bin Affan, Ali bin Abi-Talib and Umar bin Abdul Aziz who protect every single drop of the blood of the Muslims!
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Amanah Abed