Global Intifada

When I was in College, I once read a book entitled “The Crusades Through Arab Eyes” by Amin Malouf. As the title would indicate, the book relies upon Arab and Muslim historians to develop their perspective on the Crusades. One of the sections of the book that really surprised me was the description of a particular battle where Sunni Muslims allied with Armenian Christians against the “Franks” and Shi’i Muslims (of the Ismaili persuasion). When I first read this, I was shocked at the fact that not only were Sunnis and Shi’is fighting each other, but how Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians were fighting each other as well, to the extent that they allied with the “enemy” in order to so.

This reminded me of the statement of Mu’awiyah (radhi allahu anhu) who responded to a Byzantine Emperor’s proposal to ally against Ali (radhi allahu anhu) by stating that he would immediately end his war with the latter, unite with him, and pummel the former into the dustbins of history. (or something to that extent). Compare the attitude of the Salafus Saleh with the Muslims of the Khalaf. The Salaf recognized that victory comes from Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) whereas the Khalaf forget this important point and think that victory comes from their own man-made actions; they would engage in atrocities and contravene the express prohibitions of the Shari’ah in order to attain victory. Of course, what they were seeking was not victory for Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) but the preservation of their own dynasties.

The world has not changed that much since then.

The original crusades were clearly an imperialist venture under the guise of an “humanitarian mission”: liberating Jerusalem, spreading Christianity, defeating “polytheistic” Islam and “traitorous” Judaism. The present crusade has, unfortunately, taken advantage of the loss of life of 9/11 to justify a clearly pre-planned military operation to preserve American hegemony in the world, just like the previous Crusades attempted to use a moral justification for a brazenly imperial program. Even though the justifications for the war on Iraq were weak and ultimately exposed as fraudulent, the war was prosecuted anyway, just like the previous crusades.

The similarities between this 10th Crusade and previous crusades don’t stop there. Just like the earlier crusades got warped very quickly, this one is not all that different.

The Saudi monarchy has, since its inception, always relied upon the assistance of imperial powers in suppressing and subverting other Muslims. We witnessed this so flagrantly in its decision to house American bases on sacred soil in order to attack another Muslim nation, Iraq. Many Muslims the world on over were shocked about this decision since it openly contradicted the Qur’an, the Sunnah of the Prophet (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) and the Khalifah Rashidun (radhi allahu anhum), and Ijmaa. Some Muslims, including the “Afghans” who had just defeated the Soviet Union with the help of training from the ISI (who got their training and intelligence from the CIA) and funding from the Saudis, volunteered to form an army in order to defend the Saudi Kingdom from Iraqi aggression, but begged the Saudis not to allow military bases to be set up in the same land that housed the sacred cities of Makkah and Madinah. Of course, the Saudis refused their assistance and invited the Americans in. One of the members of this group of Afghans was a man named Osamah Bin Laden who swore to defeat the Saudi monarchy and evict the Americans.

Up to this point, everyone knows the history. Bin Laden leaves the Kingdom for Afghanistan and masterminds the 9/11 attacks, resulting in the American invasion of Afghanistan, the overthrow of the Taliban and replacing it with remnants of the Northern Alliance head by a suave oil baron named Hamid Karzai. The battleground shifted to Iraq based on false charges of terror and using weapons of mass destruction. The atrocities committed by the Allied war machine immediately triggered a major sunni insurgency that gave rise to an actual Al Qaeda army, where none had existed before, and the rise of Shi’a militias.

None of this is shocking news to anyone anymore.

What IS shocking is the fact that the Saudi government has openly vowed to support the Sunni insurgency in order to resist what it perceives to be a rise of Shi’i influence in the region. The Sunni insurgents are a diverse group of resistance movements largely moulded by tribes, but also comprised of former Baath party leaders and, strangely enough, Al Qaeda.

In other words, the Saudi government, a supposed “close Ally” of the US in the region, may very well end up funding Al Qaeda as it dukes it out with Shi’is in Iraq.

Whats even more interesting is that the current prime minister of Iraq, Nur al-Maliki, purportedly has ties to Shia militants that are also avowed enemies of the US.

Thats not all. Even in Lebanon, the country has basically been shut down by strikes against the national government. The Western media has been portraying this as “Hezbullah v. Democracy”. Whats interesting is that Hezbullah is not the only organization participating in the strike but has received the support of many Christians against the national government which is dominated by Sunnis.

Lets not forget that Israel recently transferred over $100 million in tax revenue to Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement over HAMAS in Palestine.

Strange bedfollows indeed.

What a strange world we live in.

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