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Saturday, January 1, 2011

BALI BOMBERS ARE MARTYRS?


"I am neither afraid of prison nor the death penalty. I am not content with leniency or freedom. And I was not mournful when accused of killing people in the path of Allah and at this moment I'd proclaim: 'In the name of Allah, I have won.'"
The above remorseless words were part of the content of a letter written weeks ago by Mukhlas, 48, one of the three brothers (the other two being Imam Samudra, 38 and Amrozi, 46) sentenced to death five years ago for their roles in the Bali's Kuta strip bombings of October 12, 2002 that killed 202 people.
Before their execution by firing squad on Sunday November 9, 2008, the brothers had repeatedly said they wanted to die as 'martyrs' for their cause; T-shirts praising them went on sale with inscriptions like: "Even if Amrozi and friends are executed, jihad will go on." Hours after the execution, nearly a thousand Muslims marched in East Java on Sunday chanting Allaahu Akbar and vowing revenge as the bodies of the brothers arrived in their hometown of Tenggulun. A similar chaotic scene erupted in the West Java village of Serang, where heavily armed police officers struggled to restrain a raucous crowd as mourners carry the coffin of Imam Samudra with another series of takbeeraat (Allah is Great!). When he heard the news of the executions, Mohammad Chozin, the brother of Mukhlas and Amrozi, prayed: "May our brothers, Allah willing, be invited by green birds to al-Jannah."
My religion does not teach taking the life of innocent soul. This is a grave sin! "…whosoever kills a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind. (Al-Maa'idah, 5:32).
The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, mentioned a special place in Hell reserved for  a woman who imprisoned a cat till it died of starvation – she neither fed the cat nor freed it so that it could feed itself. (Sahih al-Bukhari, vol. 1, Hadeeth 712). This punishment was for killing a cat. Of course there should be a sterner punishment for killing a human being. The teachings of the Prophet taught us that a believer remains within the scope of his religion as long as he doesn't kill another person illegally.
Even in war Muslims are commanded to only fight those who fight them, who take up arms against them. No tree is cut down, no property is destroyed; women, old people, children and even monk in his place of worship and seclusion are not killed. I cannot understand, with all these proofs from the sources of Islam, why one will detonate a devise that will cause the death of many innocent people. It was unfortunate that one of the brothers was quoted as saying that his only regret was that some Muslims died in the blast. All human beings, Muslims and non-Muslims, are honoured by Allah as His vicegerents on earth!
Jakarta merits full marks for successfully holding an open trial, and for allowing the law to take its due course. The brothers confessed to what they did and never for a moment expressed remorse over their actions. They remained defiant till the very end. It is disheartening that they had gone on record saying they carried out the attacks in retaliation for the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
With Obama's win, we hope to see an end to the 'with-us-or-against-us' policies of President Bush's response to 9/11 attacks on the US. We do not subscribe to the attacks or his biased approach on the so-called war on terror; what the three Indonesians did by way of retribution is not acceptable either. Their misunderstanding of the concept of jihad does not reflect or represent the teachings of Islam or the Muslim world. Certainly, their beliefs and ideological convictions had nothing to do with their actions. For their misconception, it is hoped that Allah will forgive them. And attempt by some Indonesian groups to lionize the three brothers as martyrs and Islamic heroes is both unfortunate and unreasonable.
It is necessary for President Obama to examine why many people in faraway places like Indonesia and the rest of the world are so unhappy with America. If America doesn't understand the cause, it can't prevent its effects.

1 comment:

  1. Brilliant and Extraordinary piece of work! You are spot, brother Sadiq.

    Although i have been writing on several issues on Africa's emerging youths and many more, it is such works as yours that has help promote my Youth driven Agenda, well done.

    Also, avail yourself with articles on sensitive Youth and national development issues in my blog at : www.collinsoshodi.blogspot.com

    I hope we keep in touch.


    Dr. Carl Oshodi (PhD)
    President: SOAR African Youths Foundation
    Nigeria, Ghana and Togo.

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