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Masha’Allah, that was an awesome response and analysis brother Fadel Soliman. However I have a question: Why do we continue to call this man a ‘sheikh’? I think that at the most we can call him imam, or ustadh but not sheikh. I believe that’s a noble title that’s being tossed around too frequently these days.
Assalamualaikum wa Rahmatullah,
Out of respect to the knowledge ‘this man’ possesses we call ‘him’ sheikh. Its out of adab for knowledge one respects the people of knowledge whether they teach you one line of ‘ilm or a thousand.
May Allah help our respected sheikh and brother in Islam, and if he is on the wrong path guide him towards the truth.
Don’t be too confident. Its called arrogance. We’re all in need and we’re all miskeen.
Alhamdulillah;
I totally agree with you dear brother/sister
We are all in need of knowledge since it is given that in these times knowledge will be raised up so let us put aside our ego and try to learn as much as possible from each other for the sake of Allah (swa)
wa salaam
I, for one, refuse to listen to or respect a person with such vile and unIslamic views. If you want to gain knowledge from him then go ahead. InshaAllah you know have enough knowledge yourself or you have access to a real sheikh so that you don’t go astray because of him.
Ameen to the duas.
Who is Fadel Soliman?
The guy who is in the video. or do you want his full history?
This was fantastic mash’allah. May Allah guide us and sheikh anwar. ameen.
If you notice the video the interviewer’s face was hidden from us. We don’t actually know what the comment or question was- by the speaker, and so we don’t know what the Sheikh was answering to. For example, he could have been giving a quote of someone else. And if you note something else why was there not a translation?
I believe Sheikh Anwar Awlaki is Awesome and I am fed up of people slagging him off. Until he comes in front of us and says yes this is what I said and I believe, then we shouldn’t believe all hoo ha designed purely to slander a sincere person. I have studied multi media and film and know that it is very easy to manufacture videos to make anything appear as the film maker wants.
Remember Dajjal will make a lie to be a truth and a truth to be a lie……..
Assalamu Alaikum,
I actually liked this response by Br. Fadel more than anybody else’s response.
But i do have few questions.
What is more of a sin? to neglect the Muslims who are being butchered everyday or the idea and the work of an extremist?
Did not Muhammad SA say, ” the blood of a Muslim is more precious than the Kabah.”
Another thing, i dis agree with the approach of Imam Anwar al Awlaqi but I do see where he is coming from. He actually wants to fight back in the war agaisnt Islam.
If war is not declared agaisnt the enemy of Islam, then what is the alternative?
Peace negotiations are fruitless and very harmful to the Muslims because thn the terms would mostly be made by the enemy and Muslims will have no choice but to accept it. It is either you accept or there will be more than 5000 nuclear warheads pointing at you.
If the enemy is threatening to kill the populations of the Muslims, (as you know nuclear will kill much more than the target) then how can we defend the Muslims around the world from such a tyranny?
Why doesn’t anybdoy condemn innocent slaughter of Muslims around the world, Not just Palestine? For palestine, even non-muslims condemn the innocent killings but what about the nations around the world that are dying because a “suspected” terrorist has bombed us.
Bro, what is condemning going to do?
Scholars are too busy seeking knowledge, that they forget to find practical solutions for the common people, leaving people to take matters into their own hands.
As-Salaamu Alaykum,
All the followers of Anwar Awlaki should take heed of the warnings in this video.
Anwar Awlaki is a supporter of Al-Qaeda. He is a supporter of Kharajite inspired rebellion. He calls people to overthrowing governments before he calls to Tawheed. He has no objective qualifications to have any authority in Islam whatsoever. In fact, all the authorities of Islam (i.e al-Azhar, al-Madinah) have rejected his dangerous terrorist fantasies. I am shocked how impoverished our community is for knowledge when someone like Awlaki can read Ibn Taymiyyah and then so many think he is Sheikh, Imam, Mujahid. Awlaki is a textbook example of what Muhammad al-Ghazali calls the “Hadith Hurlers” (i.e. those who cite Hadith selectively and aggressively). Many people are fooled by his eloquent speech, but those of us who have basic knowledge of Islamic sciences can see past the smoke and mirrors of Al-Qaeda inspired murder.
Furthermore, Awlaki himself has become the poster child of the neocon war machine. He has provided more than enough excuses such that the “war on terror” will continue for another decade at least and Yemen and Afghanistan will continue to be pounded by retaliatory air strikes. He is the key villain on so many Islamophobic websites. As the shuyookh from Saudi have said, Awlaki (and al-Qaeda) have opened the door for all the enemies of Islam to come slander Islam and take revenge on Muslims. Thanks for nothing, Mr. Awlaki.
May Allah guide Mr. Awlaki to reject terrorism. Ameen.
Indeed, Muhammad SAW did say the blood of a single Muslim is more holy than the Kabbah. For that reason, I believe it is completely unacceptable to allow suicide bombings for convenient “political” reasons.
We need to understand that Imperialism and Terrorism are two sides of the same coin. Awlaki and his al-Qaeda friends do not care at all about regular Muslims. They just use legitimate grievances to advance their own agenda (which is to overthrow King Abdullah and install themselves as rulers). In their mind, most of us Muslims are Kuffar anyway (especially if we think voting is Halal). Al-Qaeda isn’t too upset when they kill masses of Shi’ites and provoke civil war in Iraq. Al-Qaeda is just villain in the Imperialist order. The Imperialist order cannot continue without a villain like Awlaki.
The real Mujahideen are the peace activists who challenged Israel’s illegal blockade. What those people have done is truly courageous and is infinitely more valuable to us than a thousand Anwar Awlaki terrorists.
Well said, Justin.
I’m from Yemen and it saddens me how many gullible masses here glorify Anwar and his likes. I can’t help but blame our useless government for bringing into existence a social vacuum that al-Qaeda expediently filled.
“Those who could have been killed in that plane are a drop in the sea,” Mr. Awlaki said. “And we should treat them the same way they treat us and attack them the same way they attack us.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/world/middleeast/24awlaki.html?src=mv
Compare this statement from Awlaki with the Prophetic Guidance.
Prophet Muhammad SAW said, “Whoever kills a person having a treaty with the Muslims will not smell the fragarance of Paradise.” [Bukhari]
Prophet Muhammad SAW said, “Whoever harms a protected person, I myself will argue against him on the Day of Ressurection.” [Al-Khateeb]
Prophet Muhammad SAW said, “The most self-restraining of the people regarding killing are the people of Faith” [Abu Dawud]
Thanks for the post ImamSuhaib
@peacerose:
The person doing the interview clearly states the question at the start, and does infact ask about those so called “civilians”, and what Awliki thinks about them. Also, the rest of what Awliki says is translated by the response, and I can vouch for it being pretty accurate. Also, there are a number of interviews from the last year, conducted by AlJazeera, where he is explicitly asked about plane hijackings for instance, and he explicitly gives his approval using some of the same methodology he gives in this video.
Alhumdillilah, this is another of the clearest responses I have seen to Al-Awliki.
We are Muslims, we are better than any one else, so we should be behaving better than them too.
Prophet Muhammad SAW said, “Whoever kills a person having a treaty with the Muslims will not smell the fragarance of Paradise.” [Bukhari]- and what treaty was that ,JUSTIN?
Just dont understand, why among the non muslims and the muslims want his head? nobody gives 1 excuse for anwar, much alone 70 excuses.
have we forgotten the muslim brothers and sisters who are innocently killed by drone attacks? Or we feel more towards the innocent lives of the non muslims?
everyone wants a piece of heaven,nobody wants to die.
The whole world runs on treaties and agreements. Here are some fatwa from real trained scholars who explain that a Muslim must respect the laws and treaties that exist between Muslims and non-Muslims.
http://www.amjaonline.com/en_f_details.php?fid=2598
http://en.islamtoday.net/node/604
Every scholarly authority in Islam today has said that it is obligatory for Muslims to respect the laws of non-Muslim countries and to uphold treaties regarding visas, oaths of protection, and other issues. No scholarly authority has supported what Anwar Awlaki and al-Qaeda have said.
We have not forgotten our Muslim brothers and sisters who are suffering all over the world. What we are saying is that terrorism and intentionally attacking civilians is Haram no matter what and that it even increases the plight of Muslims around the world. If we really care about our brothers and sisters, then we need to spread awareness of their situation and to advocate for them using all legal methods of protest.
The passengers in the airplane that Anwar Awlaki has intentionally targeted are protected civilians whose lives are made safe according to American visa laws, to international law, under the Geneva Conventions, under the UDHR, under the United Nations charter, under the state of Michigan, under the city of Detroit, but most importantly because Allah Almighty said, “whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land – it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one – it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.” (Surah al-Maidah 5:32)
You may think attacking civilians will end the occupation of Muslim lands but it absolutely will not. False-jihadist terrorism is based on hatred and revenge, not on the values of Islam. The occupations will continue until Muslims are able to resist (i.e. jihad) with patience and wisdom, using all legal and non-violent methods to affect social change. On the contrary, those people who make lawful the killing of protected people have left Islam. Hence, they are Khawaarij (literally, those who go out of the religion).
Prophet Muhammad said, “Beware of hatred because it is a razor. It strips you from your Deen.” [Bukhari, al-Adab al-Mufrad]
And you know what? Imam Malik narrated this hadith in his Muwatta, the chapter on the Khawaarij.
@Umar
No the interviewer clearly does not ask the question- what you hear is a question, without seeing who is asking it. My point was that it could have been over dubbed because you don’t see the face actually speaking the words. I dont speak arabic so I cannot understand what The sheikh is saying.
Secondly @ Justine. What is Al Qaeeda but a CIA manufactured group, the name of which was only bandied around after world trade centre disaster? I think people are too quick to judge and too slow to examine carefully what they are being fed by the media. There seems to be a strong drive to attack people in the YEMEN ( recent US bombings) and people need to look at what is behind this.
Before anyone starts to attack me, I am a peace Artist and activist, and condemn such so called terrorist action. If we concentrated on acts of terrorism on the Afghani, Palestinian, and Iraqi people ( under the guise of a WAR on Terror- really ironic) as well as the owners of UNION Carbide ( Bhopal disaster India), where four employees have got away with light sentences for killing 100’s of thousands of people, we might find that our collective voice would be better spent in educating the masses, and may go in some way to help those people.
You are absolutely right that al-Qaeda has its origin as a CIA client. My question is: why has Anwar Awlaki decided to adopt the rhetoric and Fiqh of Al-Qaeda? Like I said, what Awlaki is doing is harming the Muslim Ummah much more than any non-Muslim could do.
I am not quick to judge Awlaki. I have listened to many of his lectures. If you listen to “State of the Ummah” you will see clearly that he is a recruiter for Al-Qaeda. Normally I would not criticize any Muslim but Awlaki has crossed the line: he has made lawful what the Muslim Ummah has unanimously agreed is unlawful, i.e. the intentional killing of civilians and non-combatants. So Awlaki has become a Khawaarij deviant who must be warned against. He has left Jamaat Ahl Sunnah. I understand this is a hard pill to swallow for so many of Awlaki’s fans, but the truth is in Awlaki’s own words. We cannot ignore his false Fiqh which he took from the murderers Yusuf Uyayree and Osama Bin Laden.
Salaam to all,
I mean no offence, but really some of our brothers and sisters need to WAKE UP.
Yes, we make 70 or more excuses, but we don’t excuse perversion of Islam.
Yes, we stand in defence of the oppressed Muslims worldwide, but the right intention doesn’t make just any statement or action justified.
Yes, we maintain scepticism in what is attributed to someone we knew as a person of knowledge, but come on — by now, I wouldn’t believe these things were fabricated, unless Sh. Awlaki came in front of me and swore by Allah that he didn’t say these things.
Below is an excerpt of an interview between police investigators and a young muslim student named Roshonara Choudhry who has admitted guilt and been convicted of attempted murder in the stabbing of British MP Stephen Timms. Her claim of being inspired by Anwar al-Awlaki to commit this crime perfectly illustrates that Anwar al-Awlaki is not a valid religious scholar, role model, hero or a “sheik”. Through his actions and words (as a protected coward living in Yemen) he continues to destroy the lives of innocents as well as the lives of young muslims who showed great promise in life. Choudhry for her actions has been sentenced to a life term (must serve no less than 15 years for the assassination attempt). Those that knew her said she was a woman of intellect and high academic achievement. Anwar al-Awlaki’s lectures of death have effectively ruined her life. I am beyond disgusted by the continued statements of support made by the deluded followers of Anwar al-Awlaki.
Question: Tell me what happened today.
Choudhry: I stabbed Stephen Timms.
Question: You stabbed Stephen Timms?
Choudhry: Yep. I’ve been learning more about Islam.
Question: Where have you been learning that?
Choudhry: Internet.
Question: What websites you been looking at?
Choudhry: I’ve been listening to lectures by Anwar al-Awlaki.
Question: Who’s he?
Choudhry: He’s an Islamic scholar. He lives in Yemen.
Question: And where have you been listening to these lectures?
Choudhry: I downloaded it off of the internet … explaining stories from the Koran and explaining about jihad.
Question: Has that contributed to your decision to leave King’s?
Choudhry: Yes.
Question: And where was the link there then?
Choudhry: I thought that I should have loyalty to my Muslim brothers and sisters in Palestine and so I should leave King’s and that would show my loyalty to them.
Question: So when did you decide: ‘From what I’ve learnt, I’m now gonna go and stab Stephen Timms?’
Choudhry: A couple of weeks ago. It’s three weeks ago, four weeks ago.
Question: How do you feel now about what you’ve done today?
Choudhry: I feel like I did what I’d planned to do.
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