(Arrahmah.com) – The Electronic Mujahidin Army of Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) presents the English translation of “Concept 11 – The Closer Enemy” by Sheikh Qasim Ar-Rimi (Hafizhahullah):
The Electronic Mujahidin Army
Presents:
English Translation of:
Al Malahim Media Institute
“Concepts 11 – The Closer Enemy”
Sheikh Qasim Ar-Rimi (Hafizhahullah)
November 2015
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate. Allah the Almighty says “fight the heads of kuffar because their promises are nothing to them, so they will be restrained.” (At Tawba 9:12) Allah the Almighy says: “fight the kuffar who are close to you and let them find harshness in you” (at Tawba 9:123) Who are the heads of disbelief now, which the world agrees on? Who is the one in charge and who directs the people and who, if he stays, his call will remain. If he leaves then his call will end? It is the Americans, and there is no argument about this. In fact no one is able of mobilising and inciting people other than Americans. This is reality and they are implementing themselves. I am not saying this to put honour upon them but this is true. We have the Quraish and the Ghatafan and I am speaking about the Quraish. This is the reality. So who are the heads of disbelief? Because if I want to discuss this topic I have to identify the leaders of disbelief in this area. But when I talk about a battle then the entire land is considered one battle since those who were far became closer together.
Therefore it is one single battle. I should not look for a place in Hadhramaut and focus my work and jihad in this place. This is wrong. Where is the united Ummah – if one section suffers, all the other sections join together, and share the sleeplessness and fever. We are a single Ummah and we are the same people even if we are located in different areas. If I think about myself and believe in borders I isolate myself from the Ummah and the battle.
For example, the people of the Sunnah in Yemen. The Houthi are weak and its leadership is united and this makes them capable of managing conflict in all places. There are lots of people of the Sunnah, and they have lots of resources but they don’t have a united leadership that leads them. So one person works as part of a team and the other works by himself. You find a qabilah fighting the Houthis inside their territory and when the Houthis leave their territory they stop the fighting. If the Houthis leave whatever area then they stop fighting, and this is wrong. However, as the battle continues we see the issue from the point of view of a united Ummah to find who is the real enemy. This is not from the view point of Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, or Somalia. This is from the view of the united Ummah and we see that the true enemy is America.
According to Shariah is it allowed to look at a matter from my viewpoint or from the view of the Ummah? What is Shariah? Is this a policy? No, the matter has a base in Shariah and it is now allowed for me to take a viewpoint on matters based on my own understanding and it should be based on the viewpoint of the Ummah. I have to give this privilege to the right of the Ummah over my personal right. When I choose my right over the Ummah’s then I have overstepped my bounds and committed a sin according to the Shariah.
Now we are talking about the blood of Muslims which is sacrificed on the field of battle. The best of the shabaab are fighting in the battlefields. Let me talk from the viewpoint of the Ummah and not with my narrow view. We will talk about the kuffar who are close to you. Today, to give an example of us in Yemen, like Abd ar Rabuh who launches raids against us. Has Abd ar Rabuh overcome us or we have overcome him? We cannot compare this matter because when Abd ar Rabhu took power he was overwhelmed and everyone targeted him, including the young and the old people because he is weak. Who is making an impact on us? It is the Americans and this is truth. Who is in fact the closest to us, who is not highlighted in newspapers or through words? Where is Abd ar Rabuh? He is in Riyadh. But the Americans? here are they? They are about 40 miles over the sea and about 60 to 70 miles. The air distance between us and them is about 3 to 4 kilometers. So who is the closer enemy? It is the leaders of America.
I am not discussing something hypothetical. I am discussing something real. Who among the disbelievers is more near to us? Even when Abd ar Rabuh was here, when the murtad government and its forces were here, who was able to reach and get us? The most this agent could do was to put a chip or identify the home they wanted to target. This is all he could do or he could run, and this is from a real aspect. Has Abd ar Rabuh stayed without permission? So you find him saying in all his speeches that Americans are supporting us. It is possible that this one is here without permission of the other? It impossible and in the end of things these people are just tools for them.
So when I fight do I need to fight the head or the parts? When I fight an enemy where should I hit him? Do I strike him where he would be killed or hit him in the legs? I can’t. If I want to capture him I would hit him in the hand. But if I want to kill him I would strike him in the neck. Now I have an enemy who has parts and sides so where should I hit? I will hit the spot that causes him to die. So when you ask me who is really closer to us, I don’t mean them because they are just tools. When the Americans and the murtad rule you, all of their laws and policies are based on the main and centre base, because their security is united. There is a security room which directs the main policies of all Arab countries. You have the national security building which is owned by the American Ministry of National Security and the National Security Institute. All this is related to something. The system and the administrative structure is directly related with the strong powers and the United Nations. Society and the economy, the relationships are all related to the same thing.
The scholars of disbelief and the people who are closer to use are the same thing. Let us think about this from a different side and the side of the fighting and ruling side. They ask you, do we fight because we want to fight or rule? What does Allah the Almighty say? He says: “And fight against them until there is no oppression and all worship is for Allah alone.” (al Anfal 8:39) In the end we fight to make sure all Ibaadah is for Allah alone and for us to rule with Shariah. You can’t win unless you fight and obtain your goal. It is not possible for a person to say I want to fight. We will tell him you can’t fool us because fighting happens a little at a time. You have to fight your enemy every day until you can reach the enemy.
Is this clear? This can’t happen quickly. Even when the prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, established the Islamic state in Madina, he didn’t immediately have the suhaba’ go to Mekkah. This is not possible and it took him 8 years. He began by hitting the enemy in the weakest point. Search out for the enemy’s weakest point and then hit him. Don’t search for the points of strength to hit because this is a mistake. The enemy is weak when he is moving around so hit him when he is moving.
The prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said ‘shoot and ride and your shooting is more dear to me than your riding.’ This is your duty especially after you discover a confrontation with the enemy will be dangerous for those with them. The prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said ‘shoot and ride, riding on a horse includes fighting with sword, an arrow, but shooting means shooting from a distance.’ The prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said power is shooting, verily power is shooting. People fight with a normal weapon like the sword which is the personal weapon for each person. You may find that a person is an expert with a sword but not the arrow. But the person who has mastered the arrow has a sword in his hand to fight with. We have a brother with an RPG but he still takes a Kalashnikov with him for fighting. Indeed power is shooting for the importance of the issue.
Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, says in hadith “war is deception and the base for war is deception.” Ulama’ say that in war, in this mentioned hadith that Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, explains that war is deception or confrontation and direct fighting. Why? I hurt my enemy and my enemy hurts me. Okay so let us look at the battle, with this example, for causing damage on the enemy or to rule. Currently we have these names- Afghanistan, Iraq, as Sham, Somalia, the Maghreb, Yemen, Chechnya, lots of names, Pakistan, Sudan, and many areas that established Islamic emirates. They established regions ruled by Shariah. What is the result? We have to examine the matter.
The result is that in Afghanistan the Americans and tens of countries gathered and isolated the Ummah and attacked it. Then they isolated Iraq and Syria and Yemen and Somalia. What is the result? We return to the Quran verse where Allah the Almighty said “and fight them until there is no more oppression” (al Baqara 2:193) We have fitna on disbelief and shirk and just prevails and Imaan in Allah. Here is the deen. Look at the same verse “fight them until”, when there is no longer fitna “and just prevails in Imaan in Allah.” So when strife is finished the deen is immediately established. There is not God but Allah and rejecting evil is better over doing good things.
We established a state here then after that they gathered together and attacked it. Then we established ourselves here then the enemy formed a force to isolate us. Why do we not predict this is going to happen and we feel we are a united body so we all have to face the enemy and nation of disbelief which is the near enemy. All of us face it and strike and that would be the end of it. Iraq is established, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Maghreb, Somalia are all formed. It is for the end of shirk and establishment of Islam. It is necessary to establish Islam “And fight them until there is no more oppression and justice prevails and Imaan in Allah.” (al Baqarah 2: 193).
To understand this concept regarding establishing this we all desire Shariah and we don’t want the enemy to deceive us so they fight in their own ways. They force us out and have mastered the fighting. They have tools and lots of weapons. That is an alert for us and an order to have interest in fighting. They have ways that I don’t depend on but I have two issues. One is to follow the ways, because leaving it behind would be a sin. I should not only depend on it, because this leads to shirk. Now the enemy has mastered this way, the way of confrontation, and I mastered the way of deception. So I make him come close to my region and he does not bring me to him. He does not give me the bait. We fight the enemy only to get to points then withdraw and we ambush here or there. The enemy catches us but it is not withdrawing and this is a type of bait. We have to let the enemy fall for the bait. The enemy focuses on some persons and wants to delay the course of battle by any method because you prayed and your prayer is wrong because you prayed at the wrong time. So we Muslims and the Ulama’ have different views on the establishment of hudud in dar al harb. You established an Islamic state in dar al harb and I am not joking. The conditions have not been fulfilled. Give me the power and protection and not a qadhi who carries out the sentence only to die later. What is the protection of this power? There is none. The power on the land needs to be strong Shariah and not one that is claimed. Allah the Almighty said “and He taught Adam the names of all things.” (al Baqara 2:31)
The word names in the verse is great because it is based on a large issue which should be taken seriously. A person talks about a caliphate and another person says it is emirate, and each person defends their own opinion. But when one side becomes established there will be discussions if the issue is right. When we have a number of sides over a wide region and we think the state of Islam has been established, what will happen? False judgements will be claimed at it. Which side will benefit from the fact that all other sides were removed? Certainly it is the enemy we talked about and agreed on and the other affiliated groups.
However when I know my position, this term is not arbitrary but one that comes from Shariah ruling. So an announcement should be either rewarded or have a burden from this announcement. Making such claims is not as simple as it sounds, but the removal of other groups leads to fighting that does not stop. Today we are in a stage of defensive jihad against this enemy that stands against the establishment of the Islamic state. Each time it comes into an area it fights and destroys it. So it is my duty to remove this obstacle and direct my weapon at it. If any of these groups had directed its weapons and conducted at least one operation against it then it would have stopped. My claim of being active is in fact a waste of the same efforts made for it.
A few Shariah rulings were carried out for a few months or years. Is that what we are required to do? No because we fight against this enemy who stops us from establishing Islam. Some people claim that they are doing what they have to. What is that? There is not anything more obligatory after Imaan than rejecting the aggressive people, as Sheikh al Islam said is it right to implement Shariah rulings in dar al harb? I may agree but what about this enemy? The conclusion is that you are busy with what is important and forgot about what is more important and the main obligation. It was said that not paying attention to an obligatory duty is neglect. You have given up this duty so you have forgotten about it no matter how many other worships you have. To emphasize the topic of enemies, there is not a thing as the internal enemy and an external enemy.
There are near enemies and far enemies. Which of these enemies do we need to face first? It is the enemy that is overpowering us and who is represented by the people without Imaan and followed by this enemy that is between us and establishing our Shariah. I do not support splitting into branches or sides. Ibn al Qayim provided a good example and described a person’s path toward Allah the Almighty. Allah, saying a person who wanted to get to a mountain in front of him but noticed the path was filled with scorpions and snakes. And he argued that being busy killing them would take up too much time to get to the destination. A person is busy with Ibaadah and has the duty to remove the obstacles but a person also has a bigger goal which is more important than spending time killing them. If a snake is in your way and is a direct obstacle then kill it. If you make everyone and everything your enemy, when will you achieve your goal?
In conclusion the Americans make for us numerous enemies to distract us from fighting them straight on. They bring conflict to our lands so conflict stays away from their land in America. This is an issue we have to give attention to. Allah knows best and may Allah’s blessings be on our prophet Muhammad and his family and suhaba’.
Oh Aqsa, we are coming!
Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula
(aliakram/arrahmah.com)
