Sayed Jamal al-Din Afghani
This is a story from two and a half decades ago, when in September, two towers in America collapsed after being hit by airplanes and, according to American officials, thousands of people were burned and reduced to ashes inside. Who was, or is, responsible for this incident? This is a knot that, despite the passage of more than two decades, has still not been untied. But back then, the American president, a man who claimed dominion over the world and was drunk on the arrogance of power, blindly pinned the blame on Afghanistan, along with his whole administration, and accused Afghanistan’s newly established Islamic government.
The American president spoke in the most arrogant tone, saying whatever came into his head in front of the media without hesitation. In a threatening tone, he warned the government that had saved Afghanistan from destruction and ruin: hand over that Arab prince you’ve taken in as your guest to us as soon as possible, or I’ll level you brick by brick, and you’ll have nothing left.
Going by the plan he’d laid out in his own arrogance, no one really would have been left with anything. His claim was that the event was this Arab guest’s doing, that it came straight out of his own mind, and that for this reason his handover was absolutely necessary.
In response, the government ruling over Afghan soil, headed by the leader of the Islamic system in power, asked for evidence to support this claim, and sent back a message in the most respectful tone: the Arab man we’ve taken in as our guest holds the status of a brother to us, and if he’s truly done something, the responsibility would indeed fall on our own shoulders, but first let it be proven that he’s actually done something, or whether this is simply intimidation and deception, and a whole different plan is being carried through to completion under cover of his name, through an organized scheme.
Addressing the governments of the whole world in the most respectful manner, he proposed: if our honored guest has truly done such an act, and American officials have proof of it, we’re ready to hand him over to a court in the presence of American officials’ representatives, and let our own Islamic sharia court settle the case according to Islamic principles. And if anyone doubts our own court, then we also propose this: let the court of any Islamic country settle this case instead. But this much we cannot accept, that we be forced under pressure and have someone else’s arbitrary wishes imposed on us.
We are Muslims, we carry the distinction of a lofty Islamic history, and we belong to a land whose every vein is filled with faith-driven honor, and whose every inch is perfumed with the blood of martyrs. He made clear: to protect one Muslim, we can sacrifice our own government and our own rule, but we cannot even think of bargaining away our principles. But this reasonable, logical proposal only made the American officials angrier. And there was a reason for their anger, because at that time nearly half the world bowed its head before America. Whatever decree America issued, the world would raise its voice in obedient agreement. Far from reason and logic, the world would nod along to everything like Akhfash’s goat, setting new examples of blind imitation one after another.
For this reason, the American president put all these proposals aside and chose only the language of force. He issued one threat after another and said: this is the final ultimatum. If you do not hand over your guest to us, then something will happen that no one has ever seen before. It was as if he was saying through his actions that the flames of Nimrod’s fire would be lit and the Abrahamic being would certainly be thrown into it.
That’s why the American president set these proposals aside entirely and reached only for the language of force, threat after threat, saying this is my final ultimatum, and if you don’t hand over your guest to us, then what follows will be something no one has ever seen before. It was as if he was saying through his actions that the flames of Nimrod’s fire would be lit and the Abrahamic being would certainly be thrown into it.
So first all the tools of pressure were tried. Every economic sanction in the world was imposed. All diplomatic relations with other countries were forcibly cut off. The whole world was informed: we’re about to march on Afghanistan. You have only two choices, choose us, or get ready to burn in the fire of revenge yourselves.
Finally, that dark day arrived, October 7, 2001, when all the technology of the developed world came together and mobilized to strike oppressed Afghanistan, and the very technology that, since the industrial revolution, the world had been told would bring progress, moved forward instead to show the world, in practice, its power to cause destruction and ruin. The thing meant to bring about a revolution in human settlement was instead tasked with driving people to the edge of annihilation.
Tanks and planes, loaded with countless explosives, set off toward Afghanistan. The world of disbelief and the Muslim world alike welcomed this effort beyond all limits, and strengthened its back with their own troops and every kind of material power. Very soon this convoy reached Afghanistan, and within moments filled this land’s sky and ground with the smoke and pollution of gunpowder.
With the same royal grandeur it had begun with, and the same Pharaonic tone driving it from behind, this chain of events continued, and for twenty straight years bombing was carried out against Afghanistan’s helpless people, in which everything from government structures to ordinary homes and tents, from military installations to schools and all public-welfare infrastructure, was targeted and reduced to ash.
No distinction was made among human beings, men and women, young and old, children, not even animals were spared, and every one of them was made to taste this Pharaonic torment. Separate kinds of prisons were built to torture living human beings. They were made to live in a world set apart from the world, where they were openly deprived of all human rights and basic human needs, so that somehow they could be forced to bow.
The greatest construction, really the masterwork, carried out on Afghan soil was this: a prison was built at every crossroads and intersection, so that whatever living human being could be found would be held there, subjected to torment after torment. In short, amid this frenzied scene of bloodshed, thousands, and beyond thousands, into the millions, of people martyred, and half the population tasted the torture chambers and was left deprived of every pleasure of life. But despite all of this, no one spoke the word of submission, and no word of complaint ever crossed their lips.
To keep Islam’s honor and banner raised high, each person did whatever was within their power. When life itself was needed, they offered it. When the time came to sacrifice their children, they revived the memory of the Prophet’s companions. When migration, poverty, hunger, and hardship had to be endured, they bore up under that calamity. When the call came to fill the prisons, they gave up their most precious youth and life itself.
The struggle continued without pause. Every layer of life stood in battle against the colonial horde. Facing tanks and planes with empty hands, or at most stones, resistance never once fell silent, not even for a moment.
For two decades, the process of fulfilling one Pharaonic ambition continued. Behind the fulfillment of that ambition lay a mountain of material wealth and an abundance of resources. But facing it stood resistance. What was this resistance? What resources was it rich in?
When this question was put to Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, Afghanistan’s former ambassador to Pakistan and later a prisoner in the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison, his answer was this: we have, to stand against this Pharaonic ambition, a strong kind of faith and a mountain-climber’s resolve, which no power on earth can defeat.
And in answer to this same question, Amir al-Mu’minin Mullah Muhammad Omar Mujahid (RH) spoke that historic sentence that became history-making for generations to come and became a saying on everyone’s tongue. He said: Allah (SWT) has promised us success, and Bush is warning us of disgrace. We have complete certainty in Allah’s promise, and in any case, Allah’s promise will come to pass.
And then the eye of the sky witnessed this spectacle: those who had been intoxicated and drunk on the arrogance of power began begging for negotiations. Those who, playing the Nimrod and Pharaoh of their age, had proudly set the flames ablaze, were so badly burned in their own fire that they began pleading for a safe path back home.
Over the course of twenty long years, they poured out wealth and force without limit, and whatever energy they had, they emptied the whole of it into this basin. But it had no effect on these resolute men, instead it became the cause of their own weakness. It kept forcing them to flee, and finally, in the dead of night, they ran with their tails between their legs in such a way that the world watched in astonishment, biting its own fingers.
This is where reason itself breaks into a smile, wondering why on earth this happened. And reason’s mourning isn’t without cause either, because on one side was a mountain of material wealth, an abundance of resources, an onslaught of technology and modern tools and weapons, limitless spending of wealth and force, and an endless campaign of scheming and propaganda moving forward. While on the other side stood a handful of unequipped, reckless men, lacking every kind of material power, living out their days in a sky and land turned hostile against them, yet standing firm, chest forward, against every scheme, becoming an unbreakable wall.
But this, too, isn’t so surprising, because they had the iron strength of faith, firm resolve, were filled with Islamic love for their own soil, and brimming with Islam’s fierce passion. That’s why, whoever comes against them, and however grandly they come, it’s no problem for them, because they live even in death, while their opponent is disgraced even while alive.
The only difference is, when they speak, they speak in the most reasonable manner and in the light of evidence, while the opposing side, intoxicated by material pride, sets reason and logic aside and struts about, showing off its arrogance. It’s a separate matter that this same arrogance then becomes the cause of its own downfall, and that very pride throws it into the pit of its own death. Today, as we mark the dark day of October 7, it’s also worth noting that Afghanistan still speaks the language of reason and logic even now. It hasn’t let go of polished speech and civil conversation. But some shortsighted people still carry the same arrogance of power today, and have started showing off that same swagger.
On the occasion of this dark day, they too should open their eyes and take a fresh look at this long tale of oppression and coercion spanning two decades, and the vigorous resistance and magnificent sacrifices made against it, so that their own arrogance doesn’t once again get ground into the dust.
