By clicking here you can read the transcript of an audio commentary of Amir Sayfullah on some other details on how the declaration of the Caucasus Emirate was prepared.
Rejection of Taghut is the main victory of the Mujahideen in the Caucasus
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, peace and blessings of Allah be upon the seal of Prophets and Messengers, Muhammad, upon his family and all his righteous companions! Whomever Allah guides, cannot be led astray and whomever Allah misguides, none can guide him. I bear witness that none has the right to be worshiped except Allah alone, Who has no associates, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
To proceed...
Allah the Almighty says in the Quran:
Say: "The Truth has arrived, and Falsehood neither creates anything new, nor restores anything."
(Surat Saba, 34:49).
FOREWORD
Amir (Commander) of Mujahideen Abu Usman (AKA Dokka Umarov) has made a statement, in which he rejected any manifestations of idolatry and established for his subordinates the Islamic system of governing. It means that he officially declared that he had nothing to do with the law of Taghut, the CRI (Chechen Republic of Ichkeria) constitution of 1992, the 2nd chapter of which states:
- "The people of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is the only source of all authority in the State. The people exert sovereign authority, belonging to them, directly and through the system of instituions of legislative, executive and judicial authorities created by them, and also by means of self-government institutions".
The statement of our Amir means that he considers Allah, the Most High, who sent down for us the best law and guidance through His Messenger Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, the only source of authority, and not the people. He also renounced terms that contradict Islam, such as: republic, parliament, president etc. His statement is the rejection of the democratic system of governing and pagan beliefs and doctrines associated with it. Mujahideen of the Caucasus have nothing to do any more with all concepts incompatible with our Religion, such as human rights, international law, referendum, freedom of speech, freedom of religion and will of the people.
Today some people are trying to convince us that this decision was made by Amir Dokka spontaneously and unexpectedly. Someone even brought a version about the conspiracy of Russian secret services, who were managed to send to the Amir their hypnotist who forced him to "renounce Chechen statehood". It reminds me of the words of pagans of Mecca, said against our Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Knowing his decency and honesty, they could not accuse him of lies, so they concluded that he was bewitched. They even named the sorcerer who allegedly compelled the Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, to confront his own people.
"And the Unbelievers say of the Truth when it comes to them, "This is nothing but evident magic!"
(Surat Saba', 34:43).
Of course, magic has nothing to do with it. And secret services of kuffar wanted exactly the opposite. They are controlled by Satan, who knows that the main condition for the victory of Muslims is strict, and rigorous observance of the Tawhid (Monotheism). Tawhid is the purpose of our life, we fight for it and are ready to die. The goal of kuffar (infidels) and munafiqun (apostates) is to deprive us of the true Faith and make us infidels.
"They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they)"
(Surat The Women, 4:89).
"Nor will they cease fighting you until they turn you back from your faith if they can."
(Surat The Cow, 2:217).
It is a known fact that the governing system is an inseparable part of our Religion. It is also known that rejection of any part of the Religion means rejection of Islam as a whole. This is exactly what kuffar are trying to achieve today. They are trying to force us to reject the Islamic system of governing and they are propagating their own system, thus forcing us to disbelief. We stood up to defend our Faith, and our Jihad long ago turned from the stage of defending our lives and property into the stage of elevating the word of Allah. We only needed to announce it openly.
"...so that those who were to be destroyed (for their rejecting the Faith) might be destroyed after a clear evidence, and those who were to live (i. e. believers) might live after a clear evidence."
(Surat The Spoils of War, 8:42).
The Mujahideen have been coming to this decision since long ago. Below I will tell how the events have been unraveling and how the author of these lines participated in taking this decision.
A BRIEF PREHISTORY
The war against Russia has been going on for more than 13 years. After the victory in the first war the strife happened, and its fire continues to smoulder up to this day. Few participants of that strife who remained alive are still harboring mutual enmity. Today it is practically impossible to figure out who was right and who was wrong back then. One thing is obvious today: if we do not draw right conclusions from passed events, everything can repeat again.
The question about what the Chechen state should be was raised more than once. Among the ranks of the fighters there were proponents of a secular system of governance (a mixture of Islam and ethnic customs based on democracy) and proponents of the Sharia. The 2002 Majlis (Council) was an attempt to end the disagreements among the Resistance members, but it resulted merely in formal unification of Mujahideen in the Caucasus.
Some brothers admitted their past errors, but failed to come to a common opinion on many important issues. We found ourselves in a situation when we had only two choices, with each leading to an imminent disaster. The first was to cut the knot of disagreements at once, without waiting till the end of the war. Nobody dared to make such a decision, because it was clear that it would lead to a split within the ranks of the Mujahideen and could become a cause for defeat.
Another alternative was to postpone the solution of the conflicting issues until the end of the war or until an armistice is reached. But everyone understood that if even the war and the common enemy could not unify the Mujahideen, then it would be virtually impossible to make it in peaceful conditions. The situation was aggravated by the absence of a person, among the participants of Jihad, who would be recognized as an unbiased judge by all Mujahideen, because all more or less authoritative Amirs (Commanders) and Muta‘allimun (experts in Sharia) participated in the post-war Fitnah.
As a result, the proponents of democracy and the proponents of Sharia came to the agreement on recognizing the authority of CRI President and introduced so-called Sharia amendments to the Constitution of the Republic. Everybody realized that the agreement was formal and forced. Democrats, majority of whom resided abroad, claimed that the Sharia amendments did not have any legal validity, because the Constitution was adopted at the referendum, and thus, could be changed only through a public voting. They also said that although Majlis was given the right to re-elect the president, an "elected representative of the people" could only be a legitimate head of state after the war is over.
Also, proponents of the Sharia did not consider CRI President as a legitimate Islamic ruler of the State. He was considered merely a general coordinator of military operations. Many people hoped for negotiations with Russia and thought that in was necessary to preserve the presidential post for concluding an armistice. The fact that each group or Jamaah had its own independent sources of financing was the indication that the unity was only formal. Some Amirs (Commanders) would explain it by military necessity, but the real reason was mutual distrust and lack of trust for the central government. Even after Sheikh Abdul-Halim came to power, not all Mujahideen swore him an oath as an Islamic leader.
The question of authority in Ichkeria was raised again after the Mujahideen of the Caucasus united in 2005 and the Caucasus Front was opened. I personally was present at the Military Council (Majlis) in Nalchik in the summer of 2005. Amir Abu Idris Abdullah Basayev (may Allah have mercy on him), Hanif Iless Gorchkhanov (may Allah have mercy on him) and Abu Muhammad Musa Mukozhev were dealing with the issue of merging Jamaah of Ingushetia and Jamaah of Kabardino-Balkaria with the Caucasian Front. Commander Abu Idris announced that the strife ended and the threat of a split was gone. Much has been cleared up over the recent years.
Many parties of the strife showed their real faces after going over to the enemy. Only the proponents of the Sharia were left among the Mujahideen, but nothing but terminology and titles were left from the democracy. The threat of a split was gone and the decision about final transition to the Sharia system of governance was just a matter of time. Abdullah Basayev appealed to us to become citizens of the Islamic State of Ichkeria and form part of the Military Majlis of the Mujahideen in the Caucasus, where a decision was going to be made about full rejection of the heathen attributes in the State system.
We became subordinates of Abdul-Halim with the condition that the issue of Sharia legitimacy of the state government in Ichkeria would be solved in the near future.
Due to the serious condition on the fronts of Jihad the Majlis did not take place. After Abdul-Halim Sadullayev and Abu Idris Basayev (may Allah be merciful to them) were gone, we lost touch with the leadership for a long time.
CORRESPONDENCE WITH AMIR DOKKA UMAROV
On the first occasion I wrote a letter to Amir Abu Usman, calling him to renounce the democracy and the law of Taghut (Polytheism), to raise purely Islamic banner, free from additions of Shirk. I also wrote him that making such decision does not require summoning the Majlis, because it is fully his sole responsibility. First of all he is responsible for his own soul and its salvation on the Judgment Day, and only after that he is responsible for the lives of his subordinates and the military planning. He will have to answer for it before Allah, the Most High.
Fundamentals of the Religion of Allah are easily understood by any human. The Quran was sent to people who were not able to read or write. Therefore if we see clear proofs from the Quran and the Sunnah, we have no right to cite scholars who are trying to conceal the truth, manipulating with the Sharia texts and misinterpreting their meaning for an imaginary benefit. In the Judgment Day, an Amir will not be able to justify himself, saying: "O my Lord, I wanted to rule by Your rules, but Alims (Islamic religious leaders) would not let me to do it".
Sure, we respect the people of knowledge, whose deeds match their words, but in the fundamental issues of the Aqidah (Usul al-Din) Taqlid (following an opinion) of scholars is not allowed. Before accepting and believing somebody's statement in the matters of the Creed, we must demand a clear Dalil (proof from authentic Sharia sources). Concerning Furu (branches, details) of the Sharia, then in this case we follow opinions of those who possess knowledge and we are not obligated to ask a Dalil on every issue.
It was also pointed out in the letter, that voting on this subject is inadmissible, even if there is certainty that everybody will vote for the Sharia.
Allah, the Most High, says:
"It is not fitting for a Believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger to have any option about their decision: if any one disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he is indeed on a clearly wrong Path."
(The Clans, 33:36).
Besides, I drew Amir's attention to the fact that the principle of "Amir having one vote in the Shura", which was in the basis of our statehood back in 2002, contradicted Islam and was an innovation borrowed from Kafirs (infidels). If we will not put and end to this or to other serious deviation, Allah, the Most High, will not give us victory over the enemy in this life, and He can deprive us of the reward and subject us to punishment. Yes, there is a danger that such move can lead to a strife, but Allah, the Most High, will surely cause us to fall into strife and split, if we will be afraid of humans, transgressing boundaries of the lawful things set in the Sharia.
The Holy Quran says:
"And let those beware who withstand the Messenger's order, lest some trial befall them, or a grievous penalty be inflicted on them."
(The Light, 24:63).
Abdullah Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Messenger of Allah, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
- "...and if people will violate a command of Allah and command of His Messenger, then Allah will surely place them under the authority of external enemies, who will take away from them part of what they possess. And if their a'immah (rulers) will not rule in accordance with the Book of Allah and will choose [only what they like] from what Allah sent down, then He will surely cause them to fall into internal strife"
(an excerpt from a good hadith, transmitted by Ibn Majah. See also: al-Albani, "al-Silsilah al-Sahihah" #106).
Abu Usman answered in a letter, that this issue was clear to him and that he did not have any doubts regarding what our state system should be. In previous letters he also emphasized that he fought for the sake of Allah, for Islam and only for the Sharia only. Commander Dokka said that he already took a decision and was going to make a statement on this issue. He said that he was only expecting arrival of one of the old Mujahideen who should help him to compose the text of the statement.
THE BANNER ISSUE
Despite Amir Abu Usman's determination to completely establish the Sharia, some Mujahideen still had doubts about necessity and timeliness of such move. In the beginning of October 2007 I received a letter from Amir Muhannad, naib (deputy) of Abu Usman. Muhannad wanted to know my opinion on the issue of fighting under a non-Islamic banner. The point was that in one of my articles he read that it was not allowed to fight under a non-Islamic (indistinct) banner. He said that there is a fatwa by Sheikh Ibn Uthaymin, according to which it was allowed to fight under jahalia (non-Islamic) banners in defensive Jihad. Under such banners the war was waged in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and all scholars acknowledged that the fighting on the side of the Bosnian Muslims was Jihad for the sake of Allah.
I answered that, indeed, until now Jihad in Chechnya was waged under the banners of democracy and war of national liberation. Nevertheless, scholars all over the world considered this war as Jihad, whose goal was protection of the Chechen people from genocide.
There is an indisputable moment in this issue: indeed, during defensive Jihad it is allowed to fight under national banners and even as a member of a gang of bandits. But there are also doubtful moments. For example, is it allowed to fight under banners of kufr (disbelief)? Some scholars think that it is allowed if there is a necessity when there is no other option to save Muslims from extermination.
Others think that getting under a kafir banner means falling into disbelief through committing kufr wala, i. e. becoming a disbeliever through displaying of loyalty to kufr. Part of the Mujahideen accepted the first opinion and fought against the Serbs under Croatian banners, which had crosses on them. They also fought under Bosnian democratic banners and were subordinates of president Alija Izetbegovic.
There was another group of Mujahideen in Bosnia, who did not submit to the Bosnian government and fought only under the Islamic banner.
However, in our case it does not matter, which of the two opinions we accept, because this dispute has nothing to do with us. The point is that the scholars who talked about permissibility or inadmissibility of Jihad under banners of kufr, meant only those cases when leader of an army or a state, whether be he a president of a democratic republic or a Christian democrat, does not want to accept the truth and persists in his disbelief. Or if there is no possibility to call him to the true path. But here we were talking about our brother! How could we say to ommander Dokka: "Brother, you must become a kafir (infidel) for some period of time. Or else it will be hard for us to defeat the enemy"!?
Somebody can raise an objection and say that we are forced to do it, pressured by circumstances and a need to deceive kuffar. I will answer: Don't play with Allah's Religion! If everybody will justify kufr by a military or a political necessity, then nothing will be left of our Religion. All scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah are unanimous that anyone who deliberately utters words of kufr while not being under duress, becomes a kafir, even if he hates that kufr in his heart (refer to al-Qahtani, "al-Wala wa-al-Bara", vol. 1, p. 60). It is also a known fact, that not every threat is considered ikrah (duress) in the Sharia. Imam Ibn Hajar stated four conditions that are necessary for a threat to be considered duress:
- A threatening person, who is forcing to commit a forbidden thing, must be able to carry out his threat. And a threatened person must not be able to protect himself or escape.
- The threatened person must be sure that if he refuses to comply, the threat will be carried out.
- The threat's implementation must be immediate or bound to the very near future. For example, if a person was threatened: "If you will not do it, tomorrow you will be beaten", then it is not considered a duress.
- The person under duress must not show by his behavior that he does it on his own free will (Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, "Fath al-Bari", vol. 12, pp. 311-312).
These conditions apply to any kind of coercion, including, for example, coercion to conclude a trade deal. Regarding coercion to disbelief, the scholars say that a person can utter word of kufr only if he can't bear sufferings. For example, if enemies are going to kill him, beat him hard or cause severe pain with fire or anything similar. There exists ijma (unanimous opinion) among the scholars, that a person who is forced to utter words of kufr must evade words of clear kufr, trying to use expressions with ambiguous meaning (refer to: al-Khazin, Tafsir "Lubab al-Ta'wil", vol. 4, p. 117).
It is also a known fact that a spy (an intelligence gatherer) is considered to be under duress, he conceals his Islam and acts behind enemy lines appointed on a mission by a military Commander. His circumstances are similar to someone under duress, because if he gets exposed, he will surely be killed or tortured.
Nowhere it is said that an Amir (Commander), as an exception, has a right to commit deeds putting him out of the fold of Islam, for a common benefit.
PLANS OF OUR ENEMIES
At first glance, the proclamation of the Caucasus Emirate seems to benefit Russia. But in reality our enemies stopped worrying about resurfacing of democratic institutions in the Chechen Republic and (re)emergence of an independent Ichkeria long ago. After Aslan Maskhadov, may Allah have mercy on him, was killed, the issue of international recognition of CRI (Chechen Republic of Ichkeria) was closed. The West voiced some indignation and lapsed into silence. So there were only two issues that the Russian kuffar (infidels) were worried about, and the solution of these issues was supposed to decide the outcome of the war in their favor: to completely deprive Jihad of funding and undermine its ideological base.
Kuffar knew that donations of Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula were the main source of financing the Jihad in Chechnya. Our enemies thought that it would be enough to arrange an agreement with the authorities of the Kingdom about disrupting the cashflow of assistance, and the Chechen problem would be solved. First Russia concluded a treaty with the US about a joint fight on terrorism. Then, King Abdullah arrived to Moscow (at the time he was Crown Prince, but in fact he was the one running the country) and signed an agreement with Russia. Abdullah promised Putin to cut off channels used to finance the Chechen Jihad. But lack of help from abroad did not stop the Mujahideen. Many units found their own sources of financing and became independent from any foreign donations.
Kuffar realized that they could not defeat Muslims by using their force alone, and similarly to what they did during the times of the Crusades, they began to undermine the ideological base of the Mujahideen. They understood that the main supporters of Jihad were the believers among the youth, whose number increases every day despite repressions. Orientalists and other experts of Islam analyzed the information that they had and took notice that leaders of Jihad in their statements and appeals often cite the opinions of famous Muslim scholars.
It is them who the Mujahideen ask them for Fatawa, and their opinion has decisive importance. Russian authorities could not directly influence foreign scholars, so they enlisted support of countries of the Islamic world, with the US assistance. This is where the show had started where Russia pretended to be a defender of the Islamic world. Russia condemned the Western coalition's invasion of Iraq and expressed its desire to become a member of OIC (Organization of the Islamic Conference).
The Kremlin's authorities even invited Hamas leaders to Moscow. Changes were also introduced in the domestic policies, in order to create favorable conditions for deceiving the Muslims. Prior to that, the main instruments in the fight against Islam were "religious authorities" and terror, and now it is allowed to establish so-called peaceful Jamaah acting under joint control of Russian intelligence agencies. The whole world was shown pictures of peaceful life in Chechnya, where an ex-Mujahid and ex-Mufti became a leader.
After aggravation of the situation in Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria (KBR) kuffar had to go easier on the Muslims in those regions. Up until this day they have been trying to suggest to the people that repressions in Dagestan and KBR were conducted exclusively on initiative of former leadership of those republics, allegedly without Moscow's knowledge.
In fact, persecutions of the believers were a result of the pressure on local authorities from the Kremlin administration. The Putin administration used to accuse ex-presidents of arranging the agreements with the Mujahideen. Mosques in Nalchik were closed under pressure from Moscow. Minister Shogenov was just an executor of his bosses' will. According to the plan of Russian secret services, he had to play a "bad cop" role, and the new Russian chief, who came "to help" Muslims of Kabarda and Balkaria became, accordingly, a "good cop".
New presidents of the Caucasus republics, appointed by Russian masters, opened the mosques and declared themselves as defenders of Muslim interests. A delegation of Ulama (scholars) from the Middle East was invited to Nalchik, and they instantly issued a fatwa according to which the local president was Amir of Muslims in Kabarda and Balkaria. I don't know whether similar measures were taken in Dagestan, but I think that the same scenario was used there.
Of course all of these steps taken by Russia had a certain effect, but it was not enough to deprive the Mujahideen of the religious motivation. It was necessary to substantiate the stopping of Jihad by means of Sharia arguments. And those arguments should not be said by pro-government Ulama and muftis, but by respected scholars. They should be convinced that further resistance is pointless, that it only harms Muslims.
Russian orientalists and analysts took notice that despite Jihad going on in Iraq, many Muslim scholars forbid to conduct military actions in territories neighboring Iraq, despite the fact that there are military bases of the Western coalition in those territories. So the similar option is possible in Russia as well. It means that it is possible to localize the war on the territory of Chechnya and foil the plans of the Mujahideen leadership aimed at creating the war fronts in the Caucasus as well as in a number of other regions.
It is a known fact that with growing ambitions of the US, the Islamic world is hoping for the restoration of Russia's former might. The main problem of the Islamic world is Palestine, and many Muslims naively hope for Russia's help in solving the Palestinian problem. Most of the well-known scholars in Arabia are hostile towards Israel and America. They are calling for providing help to the Mujahideen in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan. But many of them think that the Chechen problem hinders the solution of the Palestinian problem. They are, at least, advocates of localizing the Jihad on the territory of Ichkeria.
Two times during Hajj, on the initiative of students enrolled in educational institutions of Saudi Arabia, scholars gathered pilgrims from different regions of the Caucasus and Russia. Both times they tried to inspire the believers arrived for Hajj, that conducting military operations against Russia in those regions was illegitimate. Through the pilgrims the scholars appealed to the Muslims living in Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, Tatarstan and other regions, to give up opening fronts in those regions, while at the same time they said that they worried about the brothers waging Jihad in Chechnya.
They also said that "you should help Chechens, but with a condition that it would not harm the process of the peaceful call to Islam in Muslim republics of Russia". In fact, it meant a complete refusal of helping the Mujahideen, because any of such help is viewed as complicity in terrorism.
The problem with those Ulama is that they believe Tawaghit who have authority in their countries, instead of renouncing them as it was already done by many righteous scholars. The Tawaghit are assuring the Ulama that they are engaged in secret negotiations with Russia, which will soon be powerful and become a counterbalance to America. Below we will quote a dialog that will make clear what in fact some scholars are guided by when making decisions concerning Jihad against Russia. Modern history knows a similar precedent: fatawa regarding Jihad in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They have roughly the same approach to our situation.
- Question: What happened in Chechnya? What was the reason for the Jihad? Or, more exactly, why was the war in Chechnya recognized as Jihad?
Answer: Chechnya was a democratic state, a republic that wished to separate from Russia. Russia did not agree with it and attempted to topple Ichkeria's government. When that attempt was not successful, Russia brought its troops and started to kill and rob Muslims of Chechnya. Muslims stood to protect their lives and their property. That was Jihad.
Question: What is the situation in Chechnya today?
Answer: The threat of a physical extermination of the nation is gone. The new government established by Russia is consisting mostly of Chechens, among whom there are many former Mujahideen. Muslims can freely visit mosques, grow beards and travel for Hajj. Call to Islam is as free as in Saudi Arabia. But there still are people fighting against the present government of Chechnya. They are a few Mujahideen in the mountains and former Chechen politicians who found refuge in European countries.
Question: What is the Chechen resistance seeking and fighting for? Which political forces are behind them?
Answer: The Chechen resistance is seeking international recognition of the democratic republic (Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, CRI), which was proclaimed during General Dudayev. They are supported in the West and in Russia by the forces that want to topple Putin and place Russia under the Western rule again. Conclusion (fatwa): The situation in Chechnya has changed for the better. Lives of most Muslims are not threatened any more. The religion in Chechnya can be practiced openly. In such conditions Jihad should be stopped. But we can't forbid the Mujahideen who are hiding in forests, to fight because they have no other choice. There is no any sense or benefit in separating Chechnya from Russia in order to establish a democratic state there, which in fact will be under full influence by our main enemy, the US. We will persist in recommending the Mujahideen not to carry out military operations in Muslim republics of Russia, in order not to provoke the authorities to oppress the believers.
Question: We have received disturbing news from the Caucasus republics and Tatarstan about emergence of field commanders there, who declared those republics as military fronts. They are subordinates of the president of the unrecognized Chechen republic. In their articles posted on the internet they are appealing to all Muslims living in the Caucasus, Tatarstan and Russia to take up arms and go underground or join the Mujahideen units in the mountains. Amirs of those fronts are claiming that Muslims refusing to join the ranks of the guerillas are impious and sinners (fussaq). They are basing it on the opinion that the war against Russia is a mandatory (fardayn) Jihad, and the fronts are established on the order of Chechnya's president, whom they consider their Amir. What is the hukm (status) of these fronts?
Answer: Muslim republics (except Chechnya) are not a war zone. They are a zone of a peace treaty and co-existence. Earlier, local authorities in some of these regions were oppressing Muslims. It was caused by the tense situation in Chechnya. Today, when the situation in Chechnya has stabilized, Russian authorities considerably softened their policies towards the Muslims living in these republics. Destabilizing the situation in these regions may greatly harm the call for peace. Of course, Muslims living in Russia must help Chechen Mujahideen, but not in such a form as it is suggested by some brothers.
If there will not be enough men (Mujahideen) in Chechnya to confront Russians, then it will be mandatory for each Muslim to travel there and fight. But, as far as we know, there are enough volunteers in Chechnya, and they lack only weapons and money. Yes, they can experience hardships, but our Chechen brothers don't have the right to demand from Muslims living in Russia to open fronts there, because it can lead to repressions against weak Muslims. Concerning the orders by the president of Chechnya, here it must be explained that it is not obligatory for brothers living outside Chechnya to obey these orders, for two reasons.
Firstly: his authority is not considered legitimate according to the Sharia, because he is a democratic leader and can't be considered Wali al-Amr. Secondly: he can be considered a military leader who coordinates military actions, but his authority is limited by a given territory. He can be obeyed on the given territory, where the Jihad is being waged, in order to achieve a military advantage, even though he is fighting under a banner that is not purely Islamic. Proceeding from the aforementioned, we think that it is not allowed to open any fronts outside Chechnya.
So this is the interesting position that some of our Ulama have. Sure, those people don't have a final say. There are other, not less knowledgeable men with the right Aqidah, and who are not suffer the illness of defeatism. They are not playing politics by the rules of kuffar and they don't consider it a victory of Islam when a democratic regime is restored in Chechnya or Hamas wins in an election. They are strictly adhering to the Tawhid and don't sell their Religion for imaginary political gains.
We must follow those who bring clear proofs from the Quran and the Sunnah, those who rely only on Allah and follow the path of the saved community and the victorious group. Then schemes of kuffar will fail and their plans will not be realized.
OUR CHOICE
Thus, we have understood that we are facing a choice: either to stop the Jihad following the fatwa of some Ulama or declare the true goal of our Jihad. If our goal in the war were to save the Chechen people from extermination, that goal has already been achieved. And if our goal is to protect the people against disbelief and deprive kuffar of their power, then let everybody know it. Every Mujahid must know what he is fighting for. Then the kuffar' plan aimed at destroying what they call "ideological basis" or "religious motivation" of Jihad, will lose any sense.
I will bring up an example from the Afghan Jihad. When America and Britain attacked Afghanistan, they met fierce resistance from the Mujahideen. Afghans fortified one of the important sections of the front line, through which kuffar could not break even using their most advanced weapons. Generals of the enemy army arrived to the positions.
They could not understand what was happening, because according to all rules of the military science, their enemy should already be dead or run away. The commanders started to inquire what was the Afghans' motive, what were they fighting for? Experts answered that those people had the religious motive. Islam prescribes to protect your own life, lives of your loved ones and to protect your property.
This self-defense is a sacred duty of Muslims. The generals inquired whether people defending this section of the front had any other motives. And they were answered "no", this section was occupied by residents of several Afghan villages, defending their homes. The Americans gave the Afghans an ultimatum: "You are fighting for your homes and your families. If you stop your resistance, we will not harm you and your villages. Otherwise, we will deprive you of what you are fighting for".
The Afghans responded that they would fight till the end. Then kuffar bombed one of the villages and again asked the Muslims to surrender. But it only made the Afghans angrier. Then the kuffar wiped another village off the face of the earth, and said that they would not fight against the Mujahideen, but would only kill their women and children. Afghans are very courageous people, but now they realized that their resistance had no sense. Because their goal was to defend their homes, but exactly the opposite result was turning out.
Kuffar are doing exactly the same in Chechnya too. At first they were simply killing everyone, and today they are trying to blackmail the Mujahideen, abducting and killing their relatives. Those who fought for the homeland and salvation of the nation gave in to this blackmail and went over to the enemy. Because the family was more precious than the clan or the nation. For those who are fighting for the sake of Allah, in order to elevate His word above everything else, saving the Iman (Faith) is more important than saving their own lives and lives of their loved ones.
Rejection of Taghut has put an end to the uncertainty that we had in all things: in strategy, in policy, in who we really were, and in what we were trying to achieve. Many kuffar in the West were ready to help the Chechen resistance, but they also demanded that we, after all, determine our position, whose side we were on in the global confrontation of disbelief and Islam. Those who aimed just at the material well-being of the people, suggested to the Amir Abu Usman to submit to Western kuffar and to renounce the display of devotion to Islam and Muslims. The Council of Caucasus Ulama presented to the Amir its own conception titled "The Plan and the Program of Work by the CRI Leadership". Here is the choice that the authors of this conception offered to the Head of the State:
- "Thus, we have approached a situation, when we need to finally find our strategic goal, after finding which we can turn to the strategic planning. Taking into account all necessary features, we have deduced the final formulation of our goal at this stage:
We want to build an independent Chechen state with its cultures, traditions and religion. Before proceeding, let's try to answer a single question once and for all: "Should the Chechen and Caucasian nations have their statehood, and if yes, then should we preserve the statehood declared by the Chechen people and its structures?"
For reasonable people and those thinking soberly the answer is clear: YES without doubt!".
Here are some means that the Council of Ulama is suggesting to use in the fight against the invaders:
- "...the state with all its attributes (flag, anthem, constitution, president, parliament, cabinet of ministers, court etc.); the legitimacy of state institutions and their meeting the requirements of the international law; documentary recognition of our state's legitimacy by international legal organizations and by Russia; keeping abroad CRI statesmen experienced in military operations and state-building".
The Ulama naively think that the Jihad spread through entire Caucasus because Muslim people were dissatisfied with the Kremlin authority. Here is a quote from the conception:
- "Nations of the Caucasus themselves are under conditions of the most cruel terror, oppression and violence. Any manifestations of the religion that are not approved by a puppet clergy are suppressed".
I would like to inform the authors of the conception that the people on the whole do feel neither terror nor oppression or violence. The puppet clergy approves any forms of the religion provided that there are no calls for Jihad against Russia.
Calling for Jihad against America or Britain is not forbidden. Even the deputy of the Mufti in Nalchik calls the youth on Fridays for Jihad against American invaders. The people think that in October 2005 the Mujahideen attacked a peaceful city. When we say that we are in solidarity with our brothers in Chechnya and we fight for the common goal, the people get confused: "What does Chechnya have to do with it? How are we connected to what is happening there? It is not our concern. Nobody is oppressing and killing us, and those Wahhabis want to unleash a war here. It is beneficial for America".
Many people are afraid that we will ban alcohol and debauchery and will deprive them of pleasures. As far as the Caucasus Diaspora goes, they are satisfied with the current state of affairs in their historical homeland. At least this is what the national leaders are claiming. They called us again and again to stop the war in the Western Caucasus and not prevent local puppet presidents from working for the well-being of Adyghean (Circassian) and Alanian (Karachay and Balkar) nations.
Today we are supported only by those who are convinced in the necessity of fight against disbelief and its fruits. Intelligent people can see what permissiveness and Western mass culture lead to. Freedom of religion, to which kuffar are calling, is a freedom of disbelief. From earliest childhood, fornication and shamelessness are inculcated into our children. Democracy, Christianity, Darwinism and other pernicious teachings are propagated in schools. The least thing they are trying to teach Muslims to is the tolerance to evil and to disbelief. What will the Ulama do if majority of people would vote for legalizing the sale of alcohol, prostitution, and drug addiction? Many people in Europe don't like debauchery and alcohol drinking either, but they are forced to submit to the majority.
The Ulama can claim that they are supporting a gradual introduction of the Sharia, but they are forgetting that the Sharia is the Tawhid first of all, and only after that it is hudud (lit.: boundaries; the system of punishments for crimes), mu‘amalat (interrelation: marriage, divorce, trade etc.) etc. There is no sense in implementing a gradual transition to the system of Sharia punishments, while it is allowed (in accordance with the declaration of human rights) in the country to call to disbelief and mock the Religion of Allah.
While the country is ruled by a democratic regime, which gives the crowd the right to make laws and makes kuffar and Muslims equal in their rights, giving them equal voting rights, it is useless to talk about a gradual introduction of the Sharia. First we must say "no" to kuffar, and only then "yes" to the Sharia.
WHAT WE HAVE LOST AND WHAT WE HAVE GAINED
Some people claim that by openly proclaiming about the creation of the Emirate of Caucasus, we have lost much. (Saying "we", I mean the Mujahideen fighting for the sake of Allah, in order to elevate His Word above everything else. As far as the supporters of democracy, everything is clear about them, they have lost everything). At first glance, by making such a decision, we have put ourselves into a difficult position. But if putting into practice the words "None has the right to be worshiped except Allah alone" would be as easy as uttering them, most of the people would have entered the Paradise. But we know that the majority will enter Hell, may Allah protect us from the punishment in the Fire.
Tawhid is a great responsibility and a heavy burden, about which Allah, the Most High, says in the Koran:
"We did indeed offer the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth and the Mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof: but man undertook it;- He was indeed unjust and foolish."
(The Clans, 33:72)
This is the purpose of our life and it is our test. In a well-known Hadith related by al-Hakim and Ibn Hibban, the Messenger of Allah, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, told us the story of Prophet Musa (Moses), may peace be upon him.
- Musa said: "O my Lord! Teach me how to remember You and supplicate to You".
Allah, the Most High, said: "O Musa! Say: "La ilaha illa Allah"["There is no deity but Allah"].
Musa said: "O my Lord! But all Your slaves say that".
Allah, the Omnipotent, said: "O Musa! Even if the seven skies and all what they contain except Me, and the seven earths also, would be placed on a scale, and the words "La ilaha illa Allah" would be placed on another scale, then this phrase would outweigh".
We think that we have gained the most important thing: Tawhid and help from Allah, the Most High. With His help we will get over all difficulties, we serve only Him and rely only on Him alone.
First, let us consider what we have lost:
- Support of the West
A number of questions arise in this regard. First: Did that support exist in the first place? If it did, then it was very insignificant and formal. Second: If the West is in fact at odds with Russia and wants to put pressure on it, then our statement about the declaration of the Emirate of Caucasus should not prevent the West from supporting the Mujahideen. Even if we were to threaten America and Europe every day, it would have been clear to anyone versed in politics that we do not have a real clash of interests.
The White House knows perfectly well that now we could care less about America. And if Western politicians, for example, get really interested in overthrowing Putin, they would use all means available, including "anti-democratic" forces. The whole world is talking about the policy of double standards, used by the US and a number of European nations. The US, for example, almost makes no secret about its support for Mujahideen in Eastern Turkestan against China.
When American instructors at the Guantanamo Bay recruited Uighur brothers captured in Afghanistan, they told that they were not going to keep them in prison. On the contrary, they offered them to undergo special training and return to their homeland to wage Jihad against China. The Americans told that they did not care what banner the Uyghurs will choose for the fight: "Build a Caliphate over there, the Sharia, or whatever, if you wish, just fight against the Chinese, and we will help you".
The same US is maintaining friendly relations with Saudi Arabia, despite the absence of semblance of democracy there (no elections, criminals are punished by the Sharia law, for example, hands of thieves are publicly cut off). In fact, the West does not care about democracy. They care mainly about installing their puppet regime in a country, deploy their military bases there and seize natural resources.
And, finally, whose support is important for us, support of the West or support of Allah? I think the answer is obvious.
- Statehood and legitimacy in the eyes of the international community and from the standpoint of the international law. It will deprive us of an opportunity to stop the war and to negotiate with the mediation of international organizations like the UN and OSCE.
Firstly: we did not have much to choose from: either legitimacy according to a law of Taghut called "the international law", or legitimacy according to the law of Allah, the Sharia. We chose the second.
Secondly: we did not lose our statehood, but quite the contrary, we re-gained it and restored the legitimate Islamic authority. The statehood, loss of which is regretted by the democrats, was based on the law of Taghut, the CRI constitution of 1992. None of the Muslims who have faith in Allah Alone, will ever regret the loss of such statehood.
Thirdly: any sensible person understands that all these talks about statehood and legitimacy is just a question of Russian and Western interests. They play their politics and want us to play along with them by their rules. And the only difference between Ichkerian democrats living in Europe and present-day puppets of Kremlin in Chechnya is that the former ones want to live under the protection of the West, and the latter ones want to live under the protection of Russia. Both are actively trying to exploit the so-called Islamic factor.
In other words, they are trying to use Muslims in their dirty game. Both are claiming to care for the people's well-being, though in fact they care only for their own welfare.
- Support of some representatives abroad
We lost their support, to say the least. Rather, we acquired new enemies in them. They openly rebelled against the legitimate Amir (Commander-In-Chief) and declared their desire to remove him from power.
Allah says:
They say, "If we return to Medina, surely the more honourable (element) will expel therefrom the meaner." But honour belongs to Allah and His Messenger, and to the Believers; but the Hypocrites know not."
(Surat The Hypocrites, 63:8).
In fact we did not lose those people, we got rid of them. Few of them are participating in the war today. And if they were to participate, they would just cause more problems.
Allah says:
"If they had come out with you, they would not have added to your (strength) but only (made for) disorder, hurrying to and fro in your midst and sowing sedition among you, and there would have been some among you who would have listened to them. But Allah knoweth well those who do wrong. Indeed they had plotted sedition before, and upset matters for thee, until,- the Truth arrived, and the Decree of Allah became manifest much to their disgust."
(Surat The Repentance, 9:47-48).
And if a truce be declared between us and kuffar, they will quickly arrive and start talking about their achievements.
Allah says:
"(These are) the ones who wait and watch about you: if ye do gain a victory from Allah, they say: "Were we not with you?"- but if the unbelievers gain a success, they say (to them): "Did we not gain an advantage over you, and did we not guard you from the believers?" but Allah will judge betwixt you on the Day of Judgment. And never will Allah grant to the unbelievers a way (to triumphs) over the believers".
(Surat The Women, 4:141).
They will deliver beautiful speeches and show off their knowledge of international laws and world politics. They will bring to the Caucasus their European and American friends and will boast about their connections with "powerful patrons in the West". And they will say to the Mujahideen: "You don't understand anything about politics! It is a very complicated thing. We did not interfere in your military operations when you were fighting. You have good knowledge of warfare, and we have knowledge about politics, and everyone must be of benefit in an area where he is competent".
They will quickly establish ties with scholars in Arab countries, and those will issue fatwas that are politically beneficial for Muslims. Similar to the one they issued for the Muslims in America, calling them to vote for Bush, in order to "prevent Gore, a Jew, from coming to power".
But praise be to Allah, who has rid us of those munafiqun.
This is what we have lost, and now let's see what we have gained.
- The Sharia legitimacy of our actions
We already talked about it earlier and there is no need to repeat.
- A clear and well-defined goal
Even if we will think only logically, without taking into account the factor of miracle from Allah, we should understand that the war is impossible without such things as motivation and discipline.
Games in democracy almost led to stopping of the Jihad in the Caucasus. We just did not have an answer for ordinary Mujahideen. We just promised them that the issue of the banner of Jihad would be solved soon. But it could not last forever.
If we did not care about what banner to fight under, we would have not accepted Abdul-Khalim's proposition, but would rather have accepted a proposition from other people, who offered us big money and international support, if we raise the people under the banners of an orange democratic revolution with elements of Adygean patriotism. But we do not put our Religion for sale.
We did not have any discipline either. Up until now many Mujahideen were saying: "Who is this president? I know only Amir of my group (Jamaah)". There was no respect for rulers and no discipline whatsoever. Now, when the Amir's authority has become completely legitimate, we have a right to hold responsible anyone who disobeys an order.
CONCLUSION
The topic that we have raised is very important and requires a deeper study. One of our brothers, who was martyred this year, prepared a good article on this topic. We are planning to publish it with some additions.
All brothers, who are working for the sake of Allah on the territory of our Wilayah (Province), were very glad when they heard the statement by Amir (Commander-In-Chief) Abu Usman (Dokka Umarov). We have been waiting for this event for a long time, and Allah, the Most High, granted us this victory.
I thank Allah, who gave our Amir steadfastness, made him firm and inspired him with confidence in this crucial decision.
Amir Sayfullah, city of Nalchik, 2 Dhul-Qa'dah 1428 (11 November 2007)
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