A Letter to Muslim Leadership

Assalamu Alaikum

As soon as we are born into some Muslim family, our identity is cemented and final – we are Muslim! We may not be practising, we may not be Islamic at all and even may be an atheist or even may nourish an anti-Muslim sentiment, and we may alienate ourselves much away from Islam in our personal lives, yet we cannot get rid of the ‘Muslim’ tag. Even death cannot remove the tag. If we are overpowered with so much inferiority complex, we may curse our birth identity, but cannot get rid of it! This identity determines the treatment we get as a person and as a community from non-Muslims. In the present world context, for just being Muslim we can be dealt with in the most humiliating, demeaning way, we can be discriminated against openly with or without any excuse; we can be blamed for every trouble around.

We may make Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists our friends, and although that may appear mutually beneficial, in the true sense those are always on tests and not to universal friendship standards. For example, all the Middle Eastern Muslim countries may assure the USA ten times more material and political benefit than Israel, but when a clash of interest will arise against Israel, the USA will not hesitate a second to put those unrequited love to waste basket. Although Israel is not a Christian country, and although Christians and Jews were historical enemies until WWII, they will stand for each other against Muslims unequivocally. Let us discuss a few issues:

1.????????????????There is no Muslim country in UN Security Council, and no Muslim country has Veto power – do you think it’s all normal? Anyone aware can sense the deliberate conspiracy in place. If we can feel, there is no use in being eel!

2.????????????????Turkey adopted secularism to the anti-Islamic level, ardently followed the Western lifestyle for a long begging for EU membership but failed to be enlisted for the unuttered reason is their Muslim identity. If the membership is ever granted, it would be with so many terms and conditions that Turkey will hardly be able to derive any actual benefit. Generally, Islamophobic white Christians have a strong allergy to Muslim countries’ capacity building, again take the case of Turkey – Canada had imposed an indefinite arms export ban; the US denied air defence system sale, blocked the export license of engines for attack helicopters and kicked them out from F-35 fighter program. Turkey is way away from acquiring modern avionics technology and severely suffering from sophisticated engine dependency problems. Tukey’s joint venture with UK’s Rolls Royce for developing a jet engine for the TF-X (Kaan) fighter has not seen any substantial development yet. Germany withheld itself from tech transfer for the Altay tank engine. Tech transfer, especially hi-tech transfer has always been very restrictive worldwide and when it comes to a Muslim country, non-Muslim countries thwart its acquiring determinedly and co-ordinately. Turkey and Iran are slowly but resolutely moving towards that achievement, this proves that there is no substitute for strategic determination. Non-Muslims have a standard – as long as Muslims follow their culture and values, they allow ‘limited’ friendship to continue. Nevertheless, as soon as Muslims show their love for their religion and culture, they immediately put the friendship to the test – follow our tenets or go away! For the sake of benefit and convenience, they do sometimes tolerate Muslim culture to some measured extent e.g., they do not object to Thawb or Hijab in the Middle East but will not appreciate those in the West. Western nations/non-Muslims have differences amongst themselves but when the core issue of interest comes, they instinctively are united against Muslims.

3.????????????????Because of self-interest, France opposed the attack on Iraq but later joined the bombing missions in the Middle East. Just recollect the dubious roles of France’s Sarkozy and the UK’s Tony Blair in the killing of Libya’s Gaddafi – Gaddafi bribed them hugely in cash and kind but they silently let the US hunt him down. The lesson is, if non-Muslims cannot agree among themselves, they remain inactive but surely would never work for Muslims.

4.????????????????EU and US intensely promote and instate democracy and human rights around the world, imposing sanctions and instilling regime change. Are sanctions and regime change legal? No. They are the champion human rights violators for many past centuries until date. Do they have the moral right to lecture on human rights violations? No. Have they not started both world wars? Are not they the ones who atom-bombed Japan? Are not it is they the ones who killed millions in Atlantic Slave Trade? Have they not killed millions suppressing their colonies' rebellions and treated locals as animals? Have they not made some of the crazy dictators and despots their best friends and protected them, at least for the times they were benefitting? Do they not protect and support Israel’s state terrorism? Have they not killed millions of innocents by bombing and drone attacks in Afghanistan and the Middle East? Have they not lied about WMD in Iraq and devastated the country? Have any one of them ever refuted anyone of themselves for such heinous crimes? No. Because birds of a feather flock together!

5.????????????????One of the most vivid conspiracies of Western powers against the Muslims is the partitioning of the Osmania Caliphate and establishing the illegal state of Israel. Britain established Israel and the USA took the eternal guardianship of Israel – it happened naturally and instinctively. If the USA would not be there as a protector, if not any individual European country, then the whole of Europe as a whole would be its protector. Just think, how intensely the Trump administration pursued its total foreign policy effort for Israel in the name of the ‘Deal of the Century’, even to the last days defying all the agonies of election defeat – what for if not they found Israel as the factual eternal straw to suck the Muslims in the Middle East and around the world? Well, very theoretically, if we imagine a world without Europe and the USA with China and Russia as the ruling powers of the world, in that scenario, Israel will be their first choice against all Arab/Muslim countries. Not alone for Israel is ahead in technology and military power, it has much more to do with natural latent anti-Muslim instinct. We may determinedly connive at the realization of the greater Israel project, but that is taking its shape and every event in the Middle East has a direct or indirect link to that. We Muslims have no clue that the Greater Israel project is an endless source of military hardware sales for the West, especially for the US and Israel - that tops their GDP income and determines their foreign policy towards the Middle Eastern countries.

6.????????????????There are numerous separatist movements around the world against the oppression of minorities. Kashmiris want their statehood through a referendum – but now they turned out to be second-class citizens clamped down for infinity under trigger-happy military control. The Rohingyas of Myanmar want citizenship rights only but went through genocide and ethnic cleansing and mass exodus to be refugees in Bangladesh. Uighurs in China are undergoing inhuman prosecution in re-education centres and into slavery as forced labours – all lip services the West do are coined from their political rivalry with China and have nothing to do with their love for human rights. Nevertheless, on the other hand, look into the separation and freeing of East Timor from Indonesia and South Sudan from Sudan – how fast and rather easily these Christian countries separated and got independence with vigorous pressure and support from the West.

We may not be realizing how every degrading and dehumanizing label are categorically assigned to Muslims, - terrorists, bigots, uncivilized, ignorant, women oppressor, savage and root of all evil who live in the middle age and cannot live in peace and so on. They deliberately dehumanise Muslims and delegitimise Islam under the pretext of so-called incompatibility. Forcing into any religion is universally condemned throughout the ages, but forcing Muslims into accepting French ‘secular value’ in the 21st century is democratic, the hijab ban in French schools is ‘civilised’, a Muslim travel ban in the US is ‘security’, and forcing Uighur Muslims to eat pork and alcohol in China is ‘re-education’, the infinite clampdown in India’s Kashmir Valley is justified as a ‘democratic act’, the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar can be well waged by a so-called Noble Peace Prize winner.

It seems we Muslims have accepted this to be an unavoidable reality and are in a rat race in grabbing whatsoever favour at the expense of fellow Muslims. But how can that be ever possible when we’re already labelled as Muslim? Well, by betraying fellow Muslims we may be dear to the West and grab some favour of course, but we cannot get rid of the sub-human ‘Muslim’ tag – we can be just better than the other Muslims, may become ‘Moderate Muslim’, but cannot rise to the human level of a Western White! This is a position with constant humiliation and risk of being thrown into the waste basket as soon as deemed no longer of value. Nothing mentioned above is unknown, we surely understand all but yet we understand not!

Allah SWT says in the Quran [Surah Ali 'Imran 3:28],

“Let not believers take disbelievers as allies, rather than believers. And whoever [of you] does that has nothing with Allah, except when taking precaution against them in prudence. And Allah warns you of Himself and to Allah is the [final] destination.” (Translation from Sahih International)

We Muslims know the commandment regarding allying with non-Muslims who seek to harm the Muslim community, yet we defy to gain the worldly benefits knowing fully well that we’ve (1) parted for injustice, (2) betrayed fellow Muslims and above all (3) strayed Allah SWT’s commandment ruining the Hereafter. Going thus far, we cannot truly get rid of the humiliation of sub-human treatment and the risk of being thrown into the garbage bin at any moment. What has been done to Muslims in the past and now is gross injustice. Allah SWT commands us not to fall prey to the tyrants and to fight such injustice in Surah As-Shura [42:39],

“And those who, when tyranny strikes them, they defend themselves.” (Translation from Sahih International)

Do Muslims have something to do? Yes, a lot. We cannot get honour and dignity from others if we do not respect and trust in ourselves first. For the last few centuries, we have lost our dignity, honour and pride and eventually overpowered the inferiority complex so much that we started believing every demeaning narrative the non-Muslims have manufactured for us. Muslims must believe that their misery is not an immutable destiny, it can well be changed with determination and changes in attitude. Muslims must get rid of the defeated psyche and prepare for another ‘Ayn Jalut’ (Muslim counterattack that diminished Mongols’ ‘invincible’ myth and stopped their expansion permanently) – that is the only way. Here comes the unity of Muslim Ummah. The importance of unity is of paramount importance. According to Islamic scholars, unity in Islam is ‘Fard’ ie, an obligation upon all Muslims.

We Muslims are suffering today because we are engrossed in sectarian hatred, creed prejudices, lust for power, intolerance and many other materialistic interests. All these things have combined to confirm falling for Muslims, which deprived us of our honour, dignity and power. On the other hand, the enemies of Muslims are united and they are fully aware that their strength lies in the weakness of Muslims. Hence, they are relentlessly engaged in conspiring to divide Muslims. It is a historical fact that the Jews and Christians had been effectively using sewing terms of disunity and disintegration among Muslims as a very old and effective tool. Allah SWT commands Muslims to observe patience and retain unity among themselves by following the principles of piety and brotherhood. At the same time, it remains the core responsibility of the Muslim rulers and leaders to play their role in this connection.

Is Muslim unity for hereafter only? No. It will have enormous worldly benefits – it will improve overall living standards through economic, diplomatic and technological advancement. It will surely have a great power projection for the Muslims.

We Muslims must be united and increase interaction, cooperation and inter-dependability. We can take a generation of time to prepare ourselves to be self-sufficient and command strong bargaining tools against non-Muslim's discrimination. For example, in 2020, when French President Macron criticized Muslims for their reaction against hanging satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in a government building and started locking up mosques by arresting Muslims, a call for boycotting French products became popular in the Muslim world. Macron paused his anti-Muslim rhetoric for a while and the movement faltered. Soon after Macron avenged banning halal slaughter, without much outcry. If the boycott call would be coordinated by OIC and Muslim countries joined the call officially, France would have apologised to Muslims and been forced to pull back. India’s top-earning sources are the Muslim countries and still they have revoked the special status of Muslim-majority Kashmir, clamped down on them for more than a year, and passed anti-Muslim citizenship laws without any condemnation from Middle Eastern Muslim countries. It is a dismal picture of the Muslims’ disunity! Well, before going for any immediate confrontation, the first thing to do after being united is achieve self-sufficiency and that should be attained in one-generation time. We may cooperate in the following aspects:

1)??????????Ummah Trade and Commerce.??Muslim countries have huge economy and most of our business benefit goes to non-Muslim countries. Let Muslims share the products and resource information amongst themselves and prioritise trading with Muslim countries.

2)??????????Ummah Diplomacy. Ummah does not have their common stand and diplomacy against non-Muslims’ anti-Muslim acts. Muslim platforms like OIC and Arab League are ineffective and rather shockingly subservient to non-Muslim powers. These platforms have to be revised and revived to protect the rights of Muslims.

3)??????????Ummah Science & Technology Programs. There is no alternative to advancement in science & technology at par with non-Muslim counterparts. We must make a timeline plan to achieve that dexterity level in a maximum of 25 years in phases. We have to achieve the highest growth in science & technology with top priority. We must allocate maximum resources and do the highest cooperation. Some Muslim countries have hi-tech abilities in some particular fields which to be shared and tech-transfer from the leading non-Muslim countries to be pursued vigorously in the following sectors:

a)???????????Nuclear energy technology and plants.

b)??????????Nuclear bomb technology and plants.

c)???????????Jet engine technology and industries.

d)??????????Rocket technology and industries.

e)???????????Missile technology and industries.

f)????????????Drone technology and industries.

g)??????????Radar technology and industries.

h)??????????6th generation air superiority stealth fighter technology, avionics and industries.

i)?????????????All top-rated engine technologies and industries.

j)?????????????Telecommunication technology.

k)??????????Computer chip and semiconductor technology.

l)?????????????Artificial intelligence (AI).

m)????????Augmented analytics.

n)??????????Muslim IT enclave.

o)??????????High-yield farming technology.

p)??????????Heavy equipment technology.

q)??????????Fuel technology.

4)??????????Ummah university union and programs (minimum two universities from every Muslim country).

5)??????????Dawah program.

6)??????????Anti-Islamophobia research and unveiling propagation.

7)??????????Introducing Muslim Armed Forces.

8)??????????Intelligence sharing.

As a leader of a Muslim country/community, the Muslim Ummah, I humbly appeal to you to pay due attention to the wretched, humiliating condition of Muslims around the world and to make an urgent joint, coordinated effort to restore the lost glory, honour and dignity of the Ummah. I am a simple Muslim with limited knowledge – much information and logic here might be incorrect. You are in a better position to judge the true situation and plan a holistic strategy.

May Allah SWT accept your leadership in the service of Islam and bless you in the world and the Hereafter.