Like many, I was horrified when I heard about the children killed at the Ariana Grande concert, followed by the rampage in London. The increasing incessant violence in the name of Islam, the murdering of non-combatant civilians, is WRONG! Generally speaking, it scars the beautiful face of Islam, making it appear ugly to the world’s peoples. Certainly, this is not the first era of historic proportion of man’s cruelty to man, where humanity has put the world on tilt. However, it seems this epoch of carnage supersedes all previous manifestations of evil.

When considering the history of carnage, we can consider the 100 million Afrikans killed during the ravishing of Afrika and 200 years of the transatlantic slave trade. We can further give recognition to the millions of IndigenousAmericans slaughtered and herded into reservations in America. We can think of the 6 million Jews and others killed by the Hitler regime and rise to power during WWII, and the millions of Japanese murdered in the U.S.bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. We can consider the millions killed by Pol Pot in Cambodia, and the more than a million Vietnamese killed by U.S. carpet bombing of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia during that conflict. The most recent government policy of carnage is the U.S, invasion of Iraq, killing millions of Iraqis in a total lie given to the American people.

All of which leads to the current and present danger of Jihadist inspired terrorism whose claimed motivation is based on Islamic exegesis. These terrorist Jihadists proclaim they are fulfilling the prophecy of the Fitan(tribulations) to usher in the advent of the Makdi, Messiah (Jesus) and eventually Allah (SWT), the ending of the world as we know it. While it is true such Islamic prophecies are written, as are Jewish and Christian prophecies of the last days, there seems to be a religious convergence in these beliefs. Although the Holy Qur’an informs that no one knows when the “HOUR” (Last Days) will come. Yet, in terms of the Islamic exegesis and what is written as markers of events to recognize the Fitan, there are some resemblances of what is written to what is being manifested.

Needless to say, in each era in which people believe they are witnessing “signs” of revelation being manifested, more often than not (how many times over the ages has it been said we are in the end times?), people are deluded by false prognosticators and malevolent actors. I am not pointing fingers, but rather, shaking a fist, saying that ISIS is not part of the prophecy. The geo-political reality of U.S. imperialism, we can generally agree, has exacerbated these delusions with its own hegemonic sense of its power in the world (i.e. Sunni/Shia divide, etc.).Furthermore, it has been alleged the leader of ISIS may have been a stooge of the CIA, and has now gone rogue(?). Muslims can certainly agree the tactics of ISIS are not remotely Islamic, and more appropriately reflect the practices of the CIA and other black bag operations of the U.S. government, including the destabilizing of governments.

Being able to weed out the real from the illusion is the struggle both Muslims and non-Muslims must struggle with, and in this regard I urge everyone to study the Fitan online. In so doing, one will be able to recognize the false teaching/preaching, to assist in the challenge to prevent the young from being Jihadist terrorists, that the greater probability is such engagement will lead to hell, not Paradise.

For example, suicide is STRICTLY PROHIBITED in ISLAM; the killing of non-combatant women, children, the disabled and elderly is an abomination. It is believed in Islam the killing of one innocent person is as if killing the world. That is a serious burden to carry subject to one’s ignorance and blind following of the delusional. While it is true the prophecy of Fitan states the tribulations will begin in Khorasan (the ancient name of Afghanistan), it is also held the first major city to fall in control of the Mahdi is Damascus, not Raqqa—Oops!

It should be added that Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) commanded Muslims to not kill one another, and for those who do, they both will end in hell, because they each intended to kill the other. In the same regard, the Holy Qur'an instructs that justice is found in the “Laws of Equality”, a wound equal for equal, more so that “... But if anyone remits the retaliation by the way of charity, it is an act of atonement for himself.” (Sura V/Ayat 48). I raise these concerns because of what I wrote in the essay “Blowback”—“Needless to say, I would hate to see my Mom or children blown up on a bus, train or plane because an Islamic militant sought to avenge the death of his family caused by U.S. hands. The idea of acceptable collateral damage is unacceptable.”

Giving recognition to what Martin L. King, Jr. observed, “America is the greatest progenitor and harbinger of violence in the world,” it is critical we understand this world conflict as part of the overall struggle to end U.S.imperialism abroad, and racist oppression/repression at home.

Having said all the above, I must go on record stating I have absolutely no conflict with oppressed peoples fighting for their liberation and independence from any and all forms of colonialism and neo-colonialism. This is especially important as it pertains to occupations by foreign governments and their military apparatuses. However, in these wars of liberation and independence there is a code of military engagement, something that revolutionaries and progressive militants in my days adhered to, being extremely careful to not injure or kill innocent civilians. If, in fact,the Jihadists are in engaged in a struggle for independence from foreign occupation, then I strenuously encourage them to operate in accordance to the Sunna and Qur’anic injunctions. Stop the suicide bombings and the killing of non-combatant civilians, and end the internecine murdering of Muslims. By no sense of the imagination do I profess to be an Islamic scholar or even learned, but common sense informs that suicide and the killing of innocent civilians do not engender folks to the beauty of Islam.

As Martin L. King, Jr. asked: “The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice, or will we be extremists for the cause of justice?”

I dare say, by Allah (SWT), the killing of noncombatant civilians, especially women, children, the disabled and elderly, is a severe injustice and an affront to all humanity.

This is a cry to STOP the killing of the babies, whether it is regional wars, U.S. government bunker buster bombs, or gang violence in urban streets ... We Must Save the Babies!!!

Mas Salaam – Rev. Love & Unity,

Jalil A. Muntaqim

June 12, 2017

Remember: We Are Our Own Liberators!