Get To know Usamah bin Laden Through His Risaalah

Jamadi-ul-Thani 08, 1432 A.H, Thursday, May 12, 2011

“Do not see the truth from the person, but look at the truth, you will surely know the person standing thereon (the truth)”

The above kalimah is a popular phrase which is often ascribed to Ali bin Abi Thalib. The meaning of the sentence is likely to be already agreed upon in its truth. When we look at the deeds and 'ilm of someone, it is also in that instant that we can judge who the person is. In the case of the field (of operations), there are many prominent figures whose qualities are acknowledged because of their works and sacrifices. One of the cases that can be observed is the case of Usamah bin Laden.

Usamah bin Laden is an icon of the global jihad movement whose actions are assessed by many as highly controversial. He was much feared and hated, but not a few others admire and love him. This man who was born in the late decades of the 50's has a long history in the world “terrorism” movement, at least since the end of the 80's. But it's not rarely as well that he is seen as a fictitious figure or an icon made by America itself. In fact, there are so many from among the Islamic activists themselves who think this way.

How many of those who are highly respected in the world of Islamic movement, often launch statements that seem to support the view that Usamah and Al-Qaidah are the results of the Western conspiracy. Such as the following statements:

“Not a few of the groups, labelled as terrorists by America today, are actually the creation of America. What happened to the Mujahideen group in Afghanistan is a good example of this, often associated with Al-Qaidah and Osama bin Laden. In the era of the cold war against Russia, the CIA made use of the Islamic groups to fight and stem the influence of the communist Russia.” [“Tracing The Roots Of International Violence (transl.)”] : Ustadz Farid Wajdi ; Journal Al-Waie No. 38 Year IV, 1-31 October 2003/Sha'ban 1424 H )

“The professor of language highlighted how the government of America constantly supported the development of the terrorists groups, when the CIA aided the birth of Osama bin Laden's network in 1979, under the approval of President Carter's security adviser, Zbigniew Brzenzki.” [“When Will Terrorism Stop? (transl.)”] : M. Iwan Januar, hayatulislam.net, 17 November 2005 )

It's true that those statements do not necessarily indicate the agreement of the authors on the theory that Usamah is a CIA agent. But oftentimes other people misinterpreted this kind of statement as a legitimization that Usamah dan Al-Qaidah are the product of the American conspiracy. In fact, there is one Ustadz, AM Waskito (the author of the book “The Da'wah Of Salafiyah, The Wise Da'wah”) who is known to be soft-hearted and likes to reconcile the friction between harakahs, who also turned out to dare say that Usamah bin Laden is satan:

“But Usamah indeed is a SATAN, yes. This cannot be doubted anymore. He is a SATAN, it's just that it is in the human form having the face of a Mujahideen leader. A’udzubillah minas shaitanirrajiim wa asabihi ajma’in. That man is not the perpetrator, but why he still keeps on claiming? This is terrible. By Allah, supposing Usamah was asked to formulate the mechanism for the WTC's destruction, he certainly would not know anything.”

[as taken from a comment on the blog: http://abisyakir.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/wajah-partai-sekuler/ and there are still many other articles which deny and discredit the existence of Usamah bin Laden.] Little do these “sheeps” know that they have actually been tailing behind the enemies and are herded into the trap of the kuffar intelligence. America wants us to believe that Usamah is an agent because he has ignited the explosives for world wide jihad and the kuffar want the rest of the Muslims to stop in their tracks of reclaiming the glory for Islam through Jihad Qital!!

The existence of Usamah bin Laden in this world indeed is something that is quite unusual. Other than that, the kind of jama'ah that he led does not allow him to behave naturally as well as the da'wah jama'ahs where the presence of their personnels could easily be sensed by untrained or unconcerned parties. The Jama'ah of Al-Qaidah itself is a jama'ah that is based on Jihad Qital, where certain strategies and tactics are required for its members to be able to withstand the threat of the enemies, in the form of America and its allies.

Actually, it is not difficult to get to know the existence of Sheikh Usamah in the real world. Because, besides being a Mujahid, he is also an 'alim. The procedures of jihad which he struggled for are not just empty propagandas with low intellectual values. The writings by Usamah bin Ladin are actually strong enough to match the works of Sayyid Quthb or Hasan al-Banna, of course the quantity will not be able to match these two men due to the intense activity of Usamah bin Laden's Jihad.

In the same manner as the literary works of Usamah's mentor, i.e Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, the writings that are ascribed to Sheikh Usamah are most likely the outcome of the lectures he had conducted in his lifetime, which were then written by his audiences. The important works ascribed to Sheikh Usamah bin Laden, among others are:

1. Taujihat Manhajiyyah

This is a risaalah (treatise) which invites us to do jihad fie sabilillah to establish the jama'ah with the system of sammu wa tha’ah (we hear and we obey).

2. Sharh Kaab bin Malik

Sharh Kaab bin Malik is the lecture by Usamah bin Laden which highlights the humiliation which the Islamic ummah undergoes in this age, when they are abandoning jihad. Whereas, jihad today is fardhu 'ain.

Both the risaalah and lecture above are important materials to understand the mindset of Sheikh Usamah bin Laden, besides referring to the work of his mentor, Sheikh Abdullah Azzam.

So to know well the existence of Usamah bin Laden and Al-Qaidah, of course it is not enough to only look at the Jihad operations they have conducted. Dozens of statements and risaalahs have been issued by them as shar’ie verifications on what should be done in this age. So it's good to go back to the words of Ali bin Abi Thalib : “Do not see the truth from the person, but look at the truth, you will surely know the person standing thereon (upon truth).”

“Have you made the providing of water for the pilgrim and the maintenance of al-Masjid al-Haram equal to [the deeds of] one who believes in Allah and the Last Day and strives in the cause of Allah (jihad)? They are not equal in the sight of Allah. And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.” (at-Tawbah : 19)

Original article by: Kaab as-Sidani, Student of ITB/Program Engineering Physics Study