Global Muslim News - December 1997

[This article was published in the 21st issue of Nida'ul Islam
magazine (http://www.islam.org.au), December-January 1997- 1998]

Global Muslim News - December 1997

Eritrea

The Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement issued two military bulletins, detailing a number of operations and battles between the Mujahideen forces and Christian government troops.

In the town of "Tahra", the Mujahideen forces engaged in a heated battle with government troops, which resulted in the killing of 15 soldiers, including a military commander, whilst a number of Mujahideen were rewarded with Martyrdom Inshaa' Allah.

The town of "Afqeet" witnessed another battle which was sparked by the Christian forces' attempts to overtake Mujahideen positions, resulting in a fierce confrontation which lasted for 7 hours. Heavy artillery and missile launchers were used by the enemy. 19 enemy soldiers were killed, and 11 others were wounded, whereas only one Mujahid gained martyrdom, while another was injured.

Another heated battle took place in "Dabk" situated to the south of "Aghourdat," between a Mujahideen unit and the enemy forces, lasting from 6.00 am till 2.00pm, ending in a decisive victory for the soldiers of Allah and the killing of 17 Christian soldiers and the injury of 13 others. 5 Mujahideen were martyred.

A large number of operations were carried out on different fronts by the forces of Truth against the forces of evil, which aims at striking fear in the rows of the enemy forces, as well as hitting hard at military positions and destroying the places of gambling and prostitution .

Kashmir

The occupying Hindu forces appear to have employed a new strategy, aiming at halting the flow of support from the Muslim population to the Mujahideen fighters, in an attempt to put an end to the courageous Islamic resistance.

This newly-adopted criminal strategy can be summarised as follows:

Bombarding populated areas with heavy artillery.

Burning down and demolishing civilian properties after robbing them.

This has resulted in the martyrdom of 52 innocent civilians in different parts of the region. However, Alhamdulillah, these evil tactics have only caused the determination of the Mujahideen to strengthen, and their operations intensified against the cow-worshipping occupiers.

The previous weeks witnessed a large number of operations, in which the Mujahideen succeeded in killing 47 Hindu soldiers and wounding hundreds of others, while on the other hand 36 of the Mujahideen were martyred.

The following is a brief outlook of the various operations carried out by the Mujahideen against the occupying Hindu army:

In an ambush by the Mujahideen on a Hindu army unit, six soldiers were killed and 12 others were wounded.

The Muslim forces have also carried out an attack on two Hindu militia members in "Sounawari', where eyewitness reports stated that the members of the Hindu militias were so terrified of the attack, that they continued firing long after the Mujahideen retreated. Enemy losses were unknown.

As a retaliation to the criminal mass manslaughter which was committed by the Hindu army against innocent civilians in the province of "Bergham", in which 26 civilians were killed, the Mujahideen carried out a number of successful operations, succeeding in killing 61 of the Hindu army.

Finally, in the city of "Hamethwara", a Hindu army unit accidentally opened fire on another Hindu unit killing four soldiers including an officer. Such incidents illustrate the extent of stress and fear that the Hindu troops are forced to cope with by the courageous and swift military operations carried out by the army of Faith .

Libya

The Fighting Islamic Group (FIG) has issued communiqué number 11, relating to the killing of one of its leaders and founders. The Communiqué stated as follows:

"The (FIG) declares that brother Salah Fathi bin Suleiman, also known as Abu Abdul Rahman Al-Hattab, who is one of its leaders and founders, and who is a member of its Shurah Committee, was killed on Tuesday 21 Jamada Ula 1418 (23 Sept. 1997), along with the following brothers: Munsif Kudnara, Omar Bouzakuba and Abdul Rahman Abu Layl, may Allah bestow mercy on their souls.

These four brothers were killed in the province of "Al-Fataeh" near the city of Darna, on the hands of the soldiers and worshippers of Taghout, who used gas bombs after failing to arrest these Mujahideen or to kill them by direct confrontation. This incident took place after one whole month of constant shelling of the area carried out and led by the criminal military commander 'Khairi Khaled', using heavy tanks, RBG launchers and other heavy weapons. This all came in addition to the siege that has been placed on the city of Darna, where voluntary troops were flowing into the city from all round Libya via sea, fearing to take the land route because of the attacks carried out by the Mujahideen on these routes. The number of Taghout soldiers reaching the city of Darna was estimated at 30 thousand soldiers. The regime forces have also detained the families of these courageous Mujahideen and forced them to move with them and call upon their children through the microphones to give in and surrender. This criminal tactic was failing, until the four brothers were betrayed by one of the hypocrites in the area who led the Taghout forces to the hiding place of the four Mujahideen" .

Iraq

The American congress has continued its dirty policy of humiliating the Muslim Ummah using the Arabic tyrant regimes as their tools, challenging all human morals and human right issues which it supposedly calls by.

Suddenly, the equation is becoming clearer as Iraq is put under two choices, either to co-operate with the conditions of the United States which aims at stripping the Muslim Ummah from its wealth and gradually achieving the so-called peace agreement or otherwise they will continue with their sanctions policy against the country with the help and support of the United Nations.

From the above equation, it is clear that in the end it is the Muslim population who will still have to pay the dear price, being put the oppression of the Ba'ath regime and the criminal policies of the United States.

Tajikistan

In line with the latest peace agreement between An-Nahda Islamic party and the communist government, leaders from the Islamic opposition returned to the Capital Doshanbeh, and an exchange of prisoners of war took place, while some refugees started going back to their homes.

New disagreements emerged concerning the type of ministries to be assigned to the opposition which take up 30% of the total ministries, as per the Agreement. The opposition insists on having ministries of implementation stance, while the government persist on offering more powerless ministries.

This agreement is also under threat from the communist opposition, which is backed by Uzbekistan and the local Mafia, since the Uzbek government fears for its interests, while the Mafia benefits from the chaos caused by the war.

Observers warn that the situation could worsen, especially after the communist opposition groups have received large quantities of weapons, and are organising their ranks in preparation for new armed operations against the newly established government.

IFY">Observers also question the future of this agreement, if the communist opposition was to overpower the current government prior to its mergers with An- Nahda forces, and whether the Islamic opposition should get involved in an internal fight between the communists.

Chechnya

Azzam Publications

With the Grace of Allah, there are now thirty (30) courts all over Chechnya that are implementing Shari'ah in accordance with the Aqeedah of the Salaf-us-Saalih (Pious Predecessors).

The Principal Judge and Ameer of the courts is Sheikh Abu Umar from Buraydah in the Qasseem region of the Arabian Gulf. Sheikh Abu Umar studied Islam in the Arabian Gulf under some of the notable scholars in the region such as Sheikh Muhammad bin Saleh Al-Uthaimeen. In the Islamic university examinations, he secured first position amongst all the candidates.

Sheikh Abu Umar came to Chechnya in 1995 and joined the ranks of the Mujahideen there under the leadership of Ibn-ul-Khattab, the Ameer of the Foreign Mujahideen in Chechnya, also from the Arabian Gulf. He underwent training and at the same time, set about teaching Islam with the correct Aqeedah to the Chechen Mujahideen, many of whom held incorrect and distorted beliefs about Islam.

Soon after the semi-permanent cease-fire deal in the Autumn of 1996, Sheikh Abu Umar, together with the help of a small group of brothers, set about building the structure of implementing Islamic law on the basis of the correct Aqeedah.

Praise be to Allah, in this last year, the brothers there have opened thirty Shari'ah courts all over Chechnya with five in Grozny alone. They are run by a team of thirty Chechen judges, in the daily programme as outlined below:

6am - 9am: the 30 judges sit with Sheikh Abu Umar in the Shari'ah College to discuss any problems or questions they have relating to certain Islamic verdicts (fatawaa). Sheikh Abu Umar has direct telephone contact with some of the notable scholars in the Arabian Gulf whom he can consult if he does not know anything.

9am - Asr: the 30 judges then go away to their courts and listen to all types of cases from alcohol abuse to fornication and adultery, murder, theft, money matters, family affairs etc.

Asr until Isha: for three hours or so after Asr, the 30 judges return to the Shari'ah College and have Islamic lessons with Sheikh Abu Umar.

Each of the courts is equipped with its own office, vehicle etc. Currently computers have been installed in each court to computerise the running of these Shari'ah courts.

The response from the Chechen people to these courts has been outstanding, with many people preferring to go to the Shari'ah courts for justice, rather than the existing Chechen Government courts, which are not entirely based on Shari'ah.

So, may Allah reward Sheikh Abu Umar and all the brothers involved in the work of actually trying to implement Islam after the fighting ceases in a place. Many are the people who criticised and continue to criticise the whole of the Chechen people for being 'Sufis' or having the 'incorrect Aqeedah', but, while most of these people (including some knowledgeable people) were sitting down criticising, some actually went to Chechnya to do something about it.

The Muslim Ummah is not short of scholars but it is short of scholars who are willing to take their knowledge to the Land of Jihad rather than sit back and criticise. May Allah guide all the Muslims to the Truth.

May Allah help all the brothers who are working to establish Islam in Chechnya. Ameen.

	In an ambush by the Mujahideen on a Hindu army unit, six soldiers were killed and 12 others were wounded.
	The Muslim forces have also carried out an attack on two Hindu militia members in "Sounawari', where eyewitness reports stated that the members of the Hindu militias were so terrified of the attack, that they continued firing long after the Mujahideen retreated. Enemy losses were unknown.
	As a retaliation to the criminal mass manslaughter which was committed by the Hindu army against innocent civilians in the province of "Bergham", in which 26 civilians were killed, the Mujahideen carried out a number of successful operations, succeeding in killing 61 of the Hindu army.
	Finally, in the city of "Hamethwara", a Hindu army unit accidentally opened fire on another Hindu unit killing four soldiers including an officer. Such incidents illustrate the extent of stress and fear that the Hindu troops are forced to cope with by the courageous and swift military operations carried out by the army of Faith .