Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi
In his first appearance on the pulpit during a Friday sermon, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, the leader of the militant movement Islamic State, insisted that he had been weighed down by a heavy burden, having been appointed imam and caliph for Muslims across the world.
Al Baghdadi asked everybody to pledge allegiance to him, citing the speech of Caliph Abu Bakr Al Sidik (May Allah be pleased with him), when he was appointed the first Muslim caliph.
The leader of IS also asked Muslims to migrate to his fledgling state, noting that it was the duty of 120 million Muslims worldwide to do so without exception. Although Al Baghdadi’s speech was full of humour and irony, some people take him seriously, promoting and supporting him with money, arms, equipment, fighters, prayers, and religious sermons. They even support him with the weakest form of faith, namely not speaking the truth.
Nevertheless, will Muslims who decide to migrate to the supposed “new caliphate”, which has been created by the supposed first caliph in the 21st century, be happy?
For example, many American Muslims think they are discriminated against by anti-terrorism policies, whose effects are still being felt.
At the same time, the vast majority of American Muslims say that the communities they live in in the US are very good, and Americans in general are not hostile when dealing with Muslims. American Muslims are better off compared to Muslims in other countries, according to a poll by the well-known American polling institute Pew Research Centre, which is based in Washington DC.
What is the condition of IS’s supposed state? What is the future of this state? It will surely be a fertile soil for killing, bloodshed, destruction, civil wars and sectarian and doctrinal wars.
A story posted on the website of CNN focused on the condition of Muslims — those who are happy and those who are not. The story says that Muslims are not happy in Yemen, Libya, the Gaza Strip, Pakistan, Syria, Indonesia, Algeria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Morocco, Iraq and Lebanon. It says Muslims are not happy in some of the oil-rich Gulf countries either.
So where do the happy Muslims live? They can be found in Australia, Canada, Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, the United State, Norway, the Netherlands and Denmark.
But who do Muslims blame for their unhappiness and their miserable conditions? They blame neither their leaders nor their countries. They do not blame themselves or their way of thinking, either. They instead blame others. Worse still, Muslims seek to turn the place in which they happily and safely live into a miserable and unjust place.
How do Muslims see the Islamic caliphate which IS promotes?
It is said that Umar bin Al Khattab (May Allah be pleased with him), the second caliph of Muslims, travelled to the Levant with some companions.
On the way, Al Khattab came to know that plague had spread in the Levant and killed many people. As a result, he decided to go back home and prevented those accompanying him from entering the Levant.
Abu Ubaida bin Al Jarah, one of Prophet Mohammed’s (Peace be upon him) companions, told Umar: “Are we escaping from Allah’s fate, Emir of believers?”
The Emir of believers responded by saying: “If someone else has said that Abu Ubaida”, meaning that if someone else had said that he would have punished him. Umar Added: “Yes, we escape from Allah’s fate to Allah’s fate”.
In his first appearance on the pulpit during a Friday sermon, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, the leader of the militant movement Islamic State, insisted that he had been weighed down by a heavy burden, having been appointed imam and caliph for Muslims across the world.
Al Baghdadi asked everybody to pledge allegiance to him, citing the speech of Caliph Abu Bakr Al Sidik (May Allah be pleased with him), when he was appointed the first Muslim caliph.
The leader of IS also asked Muslims to migrate to his fledgling state, noting that it was the duty of 120 million Muslims worldwide to do so without exception. Although Al Baghdadi’s speech was full of humour and irony, some people take him seriously, promoting and supporting him with money, arms, equipment, fighters, prayers, and religious sermons. They even support him with the weakest form of faith, namely not speaking the truth.
Nevertheless, will Muslims who decide to migrate to the supposed “new caliphate”, which has been created by the supposed first caliph in the 21st century, be happy?
For example, many American Muslims think they are discriminated against by anti-terrorism policies, whose effects are still being felt.
At the same time, the vast majority of American Muslims say that the communities they live in in the US are very good, and Americans in general are not hostile when dealing with Muslims. American Muslims are better off compared to Muslims in other countries, according to a poll by the well-known American polling institute Pew Research Centre, which is based in Washington DC.
What is the condition of IS’s supposed state? What is the future of this state? It will surely be a fertile soil for killing, bloodshed, destruction, civil wars and sectarian and doctrinal wars.
A story posted on the website of CNN focused on the condition of Muslims — those who are happy and those who are not. The story says that Muslims are not happy in Yemen, Libya, the Gaza Strip, Pakistan, Syria, Indonesia, Algeria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Morocco, Iraq and Lebanon. It says Muslims are not happy in some of the oil-rich Gulf countries either.
So where do the happy Muslims live? They can be found in Australia, Canada, Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, the United State, Norway, the Netherlands and Denmark.
But who do Muslims blame for their unhappiness and their miserable conditions? They blame neither their leaders nor their countries. They do not blame themselves or their way of thinking, either. They instead blame others. Worse still, Muslims seek to turn the place in which they happily and safely live into a miserable and unjust place.
How do Muslims see the Islamic caliphate which IS promotes?
It is said that Umar bin Al Khattab (May Allah be pleased with him), the second caliph of Muslims, travelled to the Levant with some companions.
On the way, Al Khattab came to know that plague had spread in the Levant and killed many people. As a result, he decided to go back home and prevented those accompanying him from entering the Levant.
Abu Ubaida bin Al Jarah, one of Prophet Mohammed’s (Peace be upon him) companions, told Umar: “Are we escaping from Allah’s fate, Emir of believers?”
The Emir of believers responded by saying: “If someone else has said that Abu Ubaida”, meaning that if someone else had said that he would have punished him. Umar Added: “Yes, we escape from Allah’s fate to Allah’s fate”.
