UK Branch of the World Organisation for Al-Azhar Graduates supports the response and condemnation by Al-Azhar Al-Sharif of the recent wave of videos by these enemies of humanity
Despite much murder and mayhem, chaos in social order and ideological viewpoints, extremists and terrorists have not tired and continue to plague our world with their evil thoughts and murderous actions. Last month, in September 2018, marking the 17th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, Al-Qaeda’s Ayman Al-Zawahiri has re-appeared with the release of a thirty minute video attacking Muslim and non-Muslim countries alike. At the same time, the terrorist group Jund Al-Islam has raised its head with a similar video inviting further deviancy in thought and practice.
With its long-standing history of religious clarity and moderation, Al-Azhar Al-Sharif has been at the forefront of providing guidance based upon scholarship and knowledge, with wisdom and context, for over one thousand years. Its scholarly continuance and moderation allows for Al-Azhar Al-Sharif to be the effective moderator as regards orthodoxy and deviancy, moderation and extremism. In its timely manner, Al-Azhar Al-Sharif has come out effectively challenging these recent shenanigans of Ayman Al-Zawahiri and Jund Al-Islam. Al-Azhar Al-Sharif has issued irrefutable statements responding to the statements and comments presented in the videos, and numerous senior scholars of Al-Azhar University have issued video messages in response that are being widely circulated on social media networks.
Al-Azhar Alumni UK, which is the UK Branch of the World Organisation for Al-Azhar Graduates, strongly condemns these extremist videos and joins with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif voicing support for its response and condemnation of these individuals and groups who are enemies of humanity and have no sense of human dignity. They remain in complete contradiction with the teachings of Islam.
Ayman Al-Zawahiri: In his thirty minute video released by Al-Sahab Media Foundation, an affiliate of the Al-Qaeda militant organisation, the group’s current leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri has focussed on America as the common enemy for all Muslims of the world to unite against. He accused a number of Muslim countries of being subservient and siding with the United States and its ally, the state of Israel. Al- Zawahiri praised the nineteen terrorists who committed the September 11th atrocity, labelling their deaths as a means of helping and serving the interests of the Muslim nations. Citing them and his hatred for the West, he called out to the various terrorist factions fighting to unite in their war against America. The decades-old hateful rhetoric of Al-Qaeda towards non-Muslims and Muslims alike can again be seen resurfacing through the labelling of Egypt’s government as one of apostates and its people deserving to be attacked.
Jund Al-Islam: As an affiliate of Al-Qaeda, Jund Al-Islam has accused the Egyptian government of facilitating attacks by Israel upon the Sinai region of Egypt and bowing to its foreign masters. The group has called upon the Muslim youth of the world to accept their ideology and unite with them in propagating their deviant message; it is trying to attract the youth towards participating in their terrorist activities within Muslim countries. The group claims to be correct and superior over all other Muslims who are not engaged in their pursuit of spreading terror. It has called on Muslims to join its murderous campaign, by manipulating the sentiments of Muslims as regards the condition of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Palestine.
Rather than achieving their aims of portraying Al-Qaeda and Jund Al-Islam as strong fighting forces to be reckoned with, Al-Zawahiri and Jund Al-Islam have merely regurgitated old sentiments in the hope of trying to attract new followers. The extremists and terrorists are trying to play with the emotions of Muslims by mentioning the situation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Palestine and the moving of the United States Embassy to Jerusalem. They ignore the fact that it was the army and the people of Egypt – the very people they have declared to be out of the fold of Islam – who stood up time and again in defence of the Palestinian people. A glimpse at Egypt’s recent past will show the unification of the Arab armies in 1948, the War of 1956, 1967, and 1973. Similarly this very year, Al-Azhar Al-Sharif held the Al-Azhar International Conference in Support of Jerusalem in order to pressure the United States against opening its embassy in Jerusalem and calling for the whole of Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel (See: http://www.waag-azhar.org.uk/al-azhar-international-conference-declares-2018-as-the-year-of-jerusalem-al-quds/). These efforts of the Egyptian people and the global institution of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif have continued, whereas Al-Qaeda and Jund Al-Islam have busied themselves in the propagation of terror pursuing the relentless murder of Muslim men, women and children throughout the Muslim lands.
Referring constantly to America and accusing it of being the sole cause of Muslim countries being war ridden and on the verge of collapse again shows the ignorance of these extremists. Any logical person with ability to think can clearly see how the attack of September 11th was the pivotal cause that led to the invasion of Muslim countries beginning with Afghanistan, which as a country to this day is struggling with peace and security, marred by tragedy; its people having spent years not only fearing the invading coalition armies of the West, but also the sporadic suicide bombings and killings perpetrated by Al-Qaeda themselves. How then can Al-Qaeda and its affiliates have the audacity to claim the nineteen terrorists who were responsible for the attack that day as being helpful to the cause of Muslims?
Al-Qaeda and Jund Al-Islam and their like all continue to propagate lies and fabrications against Islam and the Muslims. Astonishingly, it is worth noting that such malicious rumours and ideas about Islam and the Muslims represented by the terrorist groups are transferred from western sources and are common with the far right extremists in the West. Thus, those who can read between the lines should be fully aware that these ideas are not of the people of Islam. In reality, these terrorists accuse the Muslims of treason and continue to spill their blood.
It is worth us questioning these vicious groups as to what they really want. It cannot be the service to Islam and the Muslims, for they have attacked Islam and the Muslims. Their lust for power has resulted in death and destruction across many parts of the Muslim world, such as Libya, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq and others. Ayman Al-Zawahiri should inform the world in his next video release as to who provides his organisations and groups with arms, weapons and equipment, so that people can know that he is an agent in the form of a Muslim, he is a traitor in the form of a jihadist, and a coward in the form of a so-called leader. May Allah protect the Muslims especially the youth from these murderous criminals and enemies of religion and of humanity.
