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Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Amir al Mumineen (“commander of the faithful”) of the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban. |
The Taliban called the death of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden a “great tragedy” and said his death will not weaken their will to continue the fight in Afghanistan.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Leadership Council, which is also known as the Quetta Shura, issued an official statement on the al Qaeda leader’s death on their website, Voice of Jihad. In the statement, the Taliban described the slain terror leader as the “Great Martyr Sheikh Osama bin Laden.”
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan extends its deep condolence to the family of the martyr, to his followers and to fighter Mujahideen of the way of Truth and to the Islamic Ummah [nation] on this occasion of the great tragedy,” the statement said. “We pray to the Almighty Allah to accept, in His Sight, the sacrifice of the martyr. May, the Almighty Allah, salvage the Islamic Ummah from the current situation of crisis due to the impact of the blessing of the sacred Jihad and martyrdom of the martyr.”
The Taliban described bin Laden as the leader of the global jihad, and said he led the “legitimate cause” against the Israeli state and the jihad “against the Christian and Jewish aggressions in the Islamic World.”
“The martyr took part in the Jihad against the Soviet invasion with great honesty and bravery shoulder to shoulder with the Afghans. He offered such sacrifices in this way that the history of the Islamic Ummah will for ever remain proud of,” the statement continued. “Sheikh Osama bin Laden was the ardent advocate of the legitimate cause of the first Qibla [direction] of the Muslims, the Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem] and the occupied Palestine . He was an indefatigable fighter against the Christian and Jewish aggressions in the Islamic World and was not sparing any effort in this cause. The life of this Mujahid, who felt the antagonism against Islam, was full of fatigues, sacrifices and hardships. The history of Islam will always keep their memory alive.”
The Taliban dismissed claims by US officials that bin Laden’s death would impact the war in Afghanistan, and said instead that his death would inspire jihadists to fight harder.
“The Islamic Emirate believes, the martyrdom of Sheikh Osama bin Laden will give a new impetus to the current Jihad against the invaders in this critical phase of Jihad,” the statement said. “The tides of Jihad will gain strength and width. The forthcoming time will prove this both for the friends and the foes, if God willing.”
The Taliban’s statement on bin Laden’s death follows days of speculation that the Quetta Shura would seek to distance itself from al Qaeda. The official Taliban statement was released five days after bin Laden’s death during a US raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
The Taliban’s leadership council refrained from announcing it would avenge bin Laden’s death. But local Taliban commanders have come out in support of attacking in bin Laden’s name. One commander, Qari Dawran, who operates in the east, said several units will seek to avenge bin Laden’s death.
The Taliban’s ties with al Qaeda run deep. Years ago, Osama bin Laden swore bayat, or allegiance, to Mullah Omar, the overall leader of the Taliban movement, as the Emir al Munimeen, or the Leader of the Faithful. While some analysts have described bin Laden’s pledge as a cynical ploy to ingratiate himself with his Afghan hosts, the Taliban and al Qaeda have worked closely together before and after the US invasion of Afghanistan. The Taliban also refused to hand bin Laden and his followers over to the US after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and aided in his escape to Pakistan during the Battle of Tora Bora.
26 Comments
For one who preached martyrdom, Osama Bin Laden sure seemed to take great lengths to make sure it wasn’t him who did the dying. Any young Muslim, man or woman, who is being coached into a suicide mission needs to ask themselves, why aren’t the ‘coaches’ (Imans, Sheiks, etc.) leading the charge. Tell them that if they think this is such a great idea, go ahead and do it yourself.
Quetta Shura:
“We pray to the Almighty Allah to accept, in His Sight, the sacrifice of the martyr.”
Answer: No! off to hell with Him!
To the previous poster known as “Allah”:
I know many Muslims, and it is offensive to use such a screen name in the context that you did.
What are you doing, is you are only giving more fuel and ammunition to the propagandists who claim we are at war with them to destroy Islam.
Please, for the love of God, don’t.
A great tragedy.
Awwww.
Soccer, i have to with respect beg to differ.
If anyone, including Muslim, other than fundamentalists, is going to be upset with this, that would be very childish. It’ll be for him to look at himself.
As i see it, the whole issue of Pakistan is that it is unable, and refuses, to take responsibility for itself. Its awfully easy to go pointing fingers and blame others. There is no dearth of targets for that.
On the sane side of the coin, we have to maintain our freedom of speech, sense of humour and not have to constantly walk on eggshells.
As i see it, only one side in this war is fighting in the name of religion.
Back to Pakistan for a second, this is at the heart of paradox they face and therefore their internal conflict and therefore their slow-burning civil war and therefore their path to self-destruction and therefore the US can’t leave AFPAK alone in a hurry, OBL or no OBL.
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Personally i think the Quetta Shura is right. Martyring OBL was a “great tragedy”. He should’ve been taken alive.
@ Allah great post, we should use a little fun !
@ Soccer
Did you ask your many muslim friends if they find offensive to kill a person leaving islam (converting to other religion / becoming secular)?
The belief that all those leaving islam should be killed it’s a key pillar of islamic religion – please be more sensitive to our concerns, rather to police comments using a PC filter – if someone is offended by using a deity name in a humorous context, then REALLY, REALLY is something very wrong with that person religion.
Is there some kind of deal in the works? I don’t think Mullah Omar is sad over OBL’s death. This may be his way back to power. The real problem is Pakistan. Wat do we do now? They better come clean, or the $$$ stops. Or find an alternative route into A-stan. Supply routes are a problem.
Way to go allah you tell em all in plain language. Then maybe will all start growing up and not have to deal with religious extremism that civilizations have endured for thousand of years.
Dear Soccer,
How do you know for sure it wasn’t Allah who wrote that or not? You might be committing an offence worthy of death if it was him. I mean he surely has nothing to do with those monsters who commit murder in his name. So maybe he is really using the intertubes to reach out to muslims about the falsehood acted out under his name. Nobody in their right mind would think the murder of innocents is conducting Holy War. It’s just not a “God Like” thing they are doing, it has Satan’s fingerprints all over it. Seriously, think about it…
I hope the intelligence community is heavily monitoring the city of Quetta for any signs of these shura council meetings and possible location to drop 10 hellfire missiles on simultaneously. Take out the whole freakin shura.
Anonymous,
Of course only one side is fighting for religion in this war, hence the reason why I warned you to be careful. They will take ANYTHING as a reason to attack us! They will claim it is “slandering Islam” – a charge punishable by death or public flogging in Muslim countries. Of course Pakistan is disintegrating, and I really do believe that one day, the country will split up into ethnic mini states. Hell, that would have already happened if not for the U.S. aid we give the. 20 billion and counting.
Rookie,
No, I have not bothered to ask such a questiln, because I can expect what kind of response I would get. I’m not a PC guy myself, and I read reports every day of people being killed for leaving Islam, it’s horrible. All I’m saying, is stop giving fuel to those who are looking for any reason to attack us in the name of “defending” Islam. Such posts offend Muslim groups and the Mujahideen.
DANNY,
Kidding aside, it may sound atrocious, but you are simply speaking from a different perspective. From the perspective of the Taliban and global jihadis, they ARE fighting a justified, god-like holy war to protect and spread Islam. You might believe it is by “Satan” but they believe it is for “Allah”, and they will not stop until they are either annihilated, or they win.
Let me tell you something, they are everywhere, all over the world. Even if you killed OBL and cleared Afghanistan of every last Taliban, the problem would still exist. This is a deep rooted religious and ideological WAR we are in, and unless we realize it NOW, before it’s too late, we might wake up in a different world one of these days.
soccer,
So because they believe it is God directing them even though it is quite clear the devil is, we should kowtow (bow down) to their religion? Sorry but I am “Looking from a different perspective” I will continue to stand up for the truth and they are going to have to cut my head off. I expect them too. And because of their unspeakable thirst for blood I fully support my government to kill as many of them as they can. It will indeed be a long war and I fully expect them to make God weep before it’s over. And yeah they will cut off a lot of our heads even as we are compassionate to them, so I say we fight with truth and bullets…
Well, that is your view. Like I said, we are simply looking at things from a different perspective, and they are too.
The thing is, DANNY, is that this is not just some small “minority” of extremists. These are legions of fighters all over the world that really do believe they are spreading Islam and fighting kufr (disbelief). When you say you wish for your government to kill as many as possible, consider this: There have been more than 17,000 terrorist attacks taking place EVERY DAY since 9/11, and many more before that. If it took this long to kill so many senior jihadi figures, and all this bloodshed has already occurred, what do you think will happen before it’s “over”? They are already getting ready to place new leaders into Al Qaeda, but even without Al Qaeda, the “jihad” will indefinitely continue for a very long time. It’s just the nature of this beast, Danny.
I never said you should bow down to them at all. What I said was that you should stop giving them a reason to attack us. Remember the Prophet Muhammad cartoons? That offended them, and they say it slandered Islam, hence it gave them a reason (in their minds) to attack us.
@ Soccer
Some of what you are saying is true but we cannot be silent in our beliefs for fear of being attacked by fundamentalists.
Satire and humour are an excellent way of demonstrating the ridiculousness of certain ideologies and viewpoints.
What people everywhere must realise is that if we are quiet in our opinions for fear of creating a violent muslim fundamentalist reaction then we have already lost the war, how far would you take your acquiesence to anothers belief systems for fear of creating conflict?
I find religion ridiculous and I intend to ridicule it til my face turns red! If I am killed for it then it only proves my point how ridiculous it is!
Of course it is easy for me to say this from the safety of my desk (thankfully no blood thirsty Jihadis lurking around here!) but we cannot allow are enemies to dictate our actions through fear, I cannot state this strongly enough. Is this not how much of Afghanistan is controlled by the Taliban?
@ Danny
What you have to accept is the plurality of war, Even the Nazis, perhaps the most evil ideology ever created by man, believed they were fighting on the ‘good’ side.
The Evil Scientist never thinks he is ‘evil’. I personally am not religious so I find the concept of people working for ‘satan’ does not quite encapsulate the complexity of the situation. Men have always committed evil acts, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Jews etc religion rarely matters in determining who is evil, it is usually the man.
“They will take ANYTHING as a reason to attack us!”
Soccer or they don’t need any reason at all!
Pray, what was the reason for 9/11 or 26/11 or Bali for example? (Granted, Iraq may have been a reason for London and/or Madrid.)
Point is:
1. I have lived in an Islamic country, one of the more tolerant ones. I reject every organized religion but i don’t wear that on my sleeve either. Yet, i observe that Islam, even in its plain vanilla form, is a cut more aggressive than other organized religions and apparently not only condones violence but encourages at times. The bigger picture is that Islam is going to have to mature and “tone down” to a pragmatically acceptable level of co-existence in this world. You are not going to help that process if you live in the level of psychological fear that you express.
2. I am free to make a joke about any religion i choose whatsoever. That is my freedom in this world and that freedom in this day and age needs to be respected. In particular if it is relative to Islam AND if i am not in an Islamic country. I am well aware that despite being “modern” man we are a Type Zero global civilization, far, very far from moving to Type One. But i refuse to regress and live by someone else’s medieval, even barbaric, standards.
SOCCER: It is time for Islam to weed out their fanaticals. If you remember Christianity had its day when people were put to death for blasphemy and took sometime and a direct approach from within to rid the religion of these barbaric unGodly ways. It is time for all Islamists to stand up against these extremist tyrants and pull them down from their false thrones. Once this is done the world will be a much better place for all.
We (the world) can no longer tolerate or give in. We do not need to devolve they need to evolve
Ask yourself this question. ” What GOD would condone the murder of another based on religious preference? None I know. The Koran is full of paradoxes. The jihadist takes these words literally. Extremism + nukes = Catastrophe. God help us all.
soccer,
I don’t believe 1/10 of those attacks (I doubt your figures anyway) were against non musilms. They are killing their own trying to make us look bad.
I doubt very much we will win this war, but we cannot not fight it. Kowtowing to try to appease them will not work. The whole of islam will gel in the end phases of this war because the moderates will be so afraid of being killed if they don’t “Look” like they are true musims. So yeah all those killings of innocent muslins by radical blood thirsty terrorist types should probably really pay off for them in the long run. Can we protect them? probably not, Can we protect the west? a lot better than anyone can imagine. We know from experience that Nukes end wars. We just won’t use them again. But in the end when it’s all said and done, Evil does not win, and yes God cries. and evil get cast into a lake of fire forever.
DANNY, You doubt my figures? Go look it up on thereligionofpeace.com – they are documented attacks that they add up into a final tally. How can you doubt my sources? Are you suggesting that the figure is LOWER? If so, you really haven’t been paying attention to the world lately.
People are putting words into my mouth here. I never suggested bowing down or kowtowing (word of the day?) to Muslims. All I’m saying is that it gives Islamists fuel to say “Look! They are slandering Islam again!”.
In times of war, you need to make a few concessions. One that I feel we must make, is not letting the enemy become radicalized even more. That way, they are smaller in numbers and easier to defeat.
Anonymous,
I express no psychological fear, only rational concern. Like I said, I don’t want to give them fuel to attack us. Stop assigning false emotions to me.
I never claimed that you could never insult any religion, either. You may not want to live by their standards, but Muslims don’t want to live by our corrupt (in their eyes) standards either. You see the clash, the problem here?
As for everyone else posting here, I don’t really care if you want to insult religion. But when you use crude humor to make your point, especially when it gives the enemy a reason to justify their narrative, you are doing a disservice to the very civilization you claim to admire so much.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/08/2206767/how-bin-laden-changed-this-country.html
Besides, regardless of what you may think, the Islamists have actually won for the most part. People, even though they are mostly ignorant about the true Islamist threat, still live in FEAR of terrorist attacks in the west. When you see the TSA shoving their hands down an 8 year old girl’s pants, I can only think that the terrorists have won.
Terrorism: Actions which create fear, or terror, that in turn are used to achieve political motive or goal.
They have us pinned down in America. While they may not be “winning” completely, they are certainly not losing either.
The world has not done anything to cause muslims to go on their killing spree… You got to be kidding me that someone actually think this horror is some how anyones fault besides the killers and those who teach them it’s OK through their distorted view of religion. Wake up people.
Soccer:
“I express no psychological fear, only rational concern.”
Your concern here is that if one makes a joke about Islam, that will be taken by Islamists as an “insult” and still worse, as “slander”. Such a response by Islamists is irrational, we know that. (Ditto, if the joke were about Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Communists and the rest of it.) Therefore, to pander to the irrational and then claim that to be rational, is also irrational. Its that simple Sir!
Now, if you were saying that look these jihadists are irrational, even insane, arguing with them is like arguing with a drunkard, i would agree with you. But it is not jihadists i’m arguing with, i wouldn’t waste my time, it is you.
It is the RESPONSIBILITY of Islamic people to argue with the jihadists, for it is them that these terrorists claim to represent. We need to hear more of “not in my name”, loudly and clearly.
Meantime, for now, as previously and hereafter, a joke Sir is a joke is a joke.
Well, I’ll take it as somewhat of a compliment that you consider “arguing” with me more worthwhile than Islamists.
As for you claiming my position is “irrational”, well that’s simply your own opinion based off your own preconceptions and nothing more. Of course Islamists are irrational, that’s my point! Therefore, to give them more of a reason to fuel their ideologies, is a mistake and a recipe for disaster. Remember the Prophet Muhammad cartoons?
Attempts to put me over as the incoherent poster have failed so far, and that’s because I simply make a very clear point: Don’t complain about Islamic extremism and then pour some more gasoline into the fire with your words and actions.
Bill didn’t post my link earlier, but basically, I posted an opinion piece detailing how Islamists have changed America. We are still basically living in virtual fear, and we resort to being strip searched and radiated at airports. Who has “won” this war, when we are so paranoid about basically everything in daily life?
yeah the islamist should be so proud, terror, the killing of innocents works, good job! just remember Adam where all this killing leads you… And trust me there is no glory there.
Time to get this cyclops as well. We all know he is in Quetta.