On the 12th June, 2014, AMSI issued the following Urgent Messages to Iraq's Rebels and Revolutionaries.
Praise be to God and Blessings be upon the Prophet, his family, companions and allies, followed by God’s peace, mercy and blessings upon you.
Following the impressive victories that God is executing on your hands, defeat following defeat of those who have caused deep suffering to the Iraqi People, as well as well as the loss of their strongholds and power centers we are drawing your attention to matters that ensure the success and continuation of the revolution.
This is summarized as follows:
First: That which God Almighty has made your hands achieve comprises a great victory is a kindness that necessitates you proffer Him thanks as well as humility to his creation.
Second: Remember that your victory is going to infuriate a great many, inside and outside Iraq who were enterprising in their projects that hurt Iraq over the past years, who will unite to commit malice to you by various means; for you have already seen how a great many of the media outlets have colluded, from the first instance of the start of your revolution, and worked on the demonization of the revolution and distorting its image. With all their different places and languages via different media methods they made one speech, as if they were pupils parroting one chant dictated to them by their tutor in a singing lesson so be careful of making a mistake.
Third: The most important steps necessary for the success of the revolution lie in winning over the popular incubator by emphasizing to them, by deed rather than word, that the rebels started the revolution for their sake, for their service, for the sweeping away of injustice. This will be apparent as a result of monitoring of the rebels’ performance, by the masses, especially in the revolution’s early days. Adhere to this and be very careful, making liberated cities a model that tempts residents of other cities to emulate and follow suit. Remember, when the masses turned against those they had been previously hospitable to, because of their mistakes and the occupier’s deceit, how, at that time, everybody was incapable of continuing fighting the Americans, and some military factions that claimed to be the strongest were forced to live for years, far from cities and towns sleeping on the bare earth and covered by the sky so we should not ignore this and forget history.
Fourth: You should realize that liberating nations from their oppressors that are backed by world forces is not easy, but more difficult is administering people’s concerns after liberation, and this is where it is going to be important for the rebels, should the revolution be prolonged, to choose a local council made up of the province’s residents representing all the spectra of society in the position of decision makers and the final authority in planning and general policy. At the same time they should also choose a capable person from the province as governor to run the affairs of the city and the province to reconstruct its civilian and military administrative structures alike. Should you wish to succeed then this person should be chosen for his efficiency and loyalty as well as of good conduct and reputation as well as the fact that he should be independent from any particular faction of the rebel factions to gain their love and co-operation and that he should not be a cause of sedition or cupidity.
Fifth: The rebels should be big hearted, prepared to receive and accommodate people’s cares and problems and not fall into the trap of reacting to provocation without careful thought.
Sixth: Great care should be taken, as much as possible, that people’s livelihoods should not be prejudiced, and that flexibility is shown with regard to merchandise that is a subject of dispute amongst scholars as to its prohibition or otherwise, particularly at this delicate juncture, for this procedure - should it occur – is a fatal mistake. Trade in those articles results in income from which tens of thousands of families live and imposing a ban on this trade means the sudden cutting off of their livelihood without any alternatives, which raises indignation and anger of the people, reflecting negatively on the status of the rebellion and its support.
Seventh: In Mosul City, Sallahudeen and all the liberated areas, the rebels will notice inappropriate appearances regarding people’s habits and dress, and perhaps some rebels would hurry and take the initiative in reforming what they regard as incorrect. We advise that this is postponed, because there are priorities at the top of which is the completion of the revolution’s project throughout Iraq.
Eighth: Dealing with minorities gently is “Sharia’a” policy, and at the same time these manners reflect very well on the rebels in the world, and embarrasses the revolution’s enemies, since it is they who have long used the oppression of minorities as a pretext to target rulers and revolutions, so let’s take great care of our minorities and of their acts of worship, and let’s not interfere in their beliefs, so that the whole world understands that we were and still are a nation that belongs to a civilization refined by Islam and thus deeply rooted.
Ninth: It is a fatal mistake antagonizing the world’s countries, especially neighbouring countries, for the rebellion is still in bud and can be easily nipped, thus an example of a problem facing the rebellion now is that of the detained Turkish Counsel as well as of the Turkish nationals detained with him; for there is no advantage whatsoever for the rebellion or its sons and the Iraqi People in this detention and it is likely that this issue would be exploited as a pretext by the international community to target the rebellion as well as the nation, whence everyone will enter a dark tunnel.
The sons of the revolution must swiftly release the detainees before this case becomes complicated.
Tenth: At this stage all the rebels should be selfless and each party should know that however powerful it is, it will not be able to manage the affairs of the people alone, so by God, by God remain united and do not give the Devil the opportunity to cause provocation amongst you.
In addition it is nobody’s right to make a strategic decision in isolation from the others, for today, the rebels are nothing other than the guardians of 30 million Iraqis’ interests as well as the interests of the whole “Umma”, whose destiny has become tied to that of the situation in Iraq, and as such they are not legally entitled to risk the interests of all by making decisions which are not subject to the principle of “shoura” (consultation).
Let’s be honest, the revolution is the revolution of the People, and not a single faction can claim that the revolution belongs to it, for after years of suffering and persecution Iraqis organized peaceful demonstrations on 25th February, 2011 in 16 out of a total of 18 provinces. After a few months, Maliki suppressed them with the power of fire and brimstone with the complicity of the international community. Protests started again in 6 provinces, and the Iraqis continued with these protests for more than a year; they presented legitimate demands so Maliki treated them with fire and brimstone, attacking their peaceful protest sites with tanks and deadly weapons, leaving hundreds dead and injured, so Iraqis had no other choice but to respond with the same method, since the revolution is the revolution of the People and thus any faction or group that alleges that the revolution belongs to it, is quite mistaken.
The international media, today, is focusing on a specific faction while withholding information about the activities of the rest of the rebels, for obvious reasons at the forefront of which is the antagonization of the world against the revolution so that it would be aborted; an obvious game which does not change any facts on the ground; and that is that it is the Iraqi protestors and demonstrators that are the roots of the rebellion and its main material and its incubator first and last.
However, the revolution’s children absorbed all who stood by them in opposition to oppression and oppressors and will acknowledge everyone who made a stance, as well as every noble act, and every sacrifice while at the same time they will not accept the expropriation of their cause, or the high-jacking of their revolution by any party whatsoever it may be, in addition to the fact that they will not allow anyone to create an internal sedition amongst the rebels, as is happening, today, in Syria – in any case, sedition that only serves the enemies of Iraq and its People.
Eleventh: Let the clear slogan for our rebels be the teachings of the Prophet (PBU), during the conquest of Mecca, Forgiveness and Tolerance.
Thus, from here, our children, the rebels, should not allow any party to call for revenge or retaliation and they should not engage in this practice, for Forgiveness is the entrance into people’s hearts. As for the non-combatant tyrannical oppressors who are arrested criminal courts will be established and they will be taken to a just jurisprudence - at the opportune moment – that in any case will not resemble Maliki’s sectarian and politicized justice; furthermore there is no chaos in killing for this is not the teaching of the Prophet (PBU) nor is it of the manners of the chivalrous and the wise.
Twelfth: Now, the rebels’ stated goal is to get to Baghdad. This is their right because the ruling regime in Baghdad is the source of injustice and crime against the people, and unless this regime ends its cruelty and oppression, there is not another way for the rebels to remove injustice.
At this occasion, we should point out that the calls for the rebels to go to Nejaf, Karbala and others is refused and unacceptable; it is an irresponsible position taken by whatsoever party it was taken; kit is nothing more than a cause for antagonization against the revolution and an introduction for its failure, converting its goal of supporting the oppressed to bringing about discord and sedition amongst the sons of one nation.
We advise the rebels, all the rebels, to avoid any language that would inflame sectarian feelings that is being striven for by known major and minor countries for the sake of the success of their destructive projects for Iraq and the region.
We are the sons of one country, and we are all striving to remove injustice from all Iraqis without any exceptions to any segment of society and we are all striving before and after that for the victory of our religion, the establishment of right and justice, and to bring down falsehood, but we do not differentiate between one person and another, and between one faith and creed and another; because everyone is a partner in this land thus linked in one fate.
These are urgent observations, we hope, receive your attention and that you accept from your brethren. They are the result of experiences fined down by events and whose owners believe that the success of your rebellion to its most extreme goals is of importance.
We will continue to keep in touch advising you as well as making clear what we think is right for the public good until great victory is achieved with God’s will.
God bless you and guide you…. May He bring down your opponents and enemies.
General Secretariat
The Association of Muslim Scholars
14th Sha’aban, 1435H
12th June, 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment