The reason this video is so important to me--beyond the fact that it may be part of a signal to the mujahideen to initiate operations--is because it exemplifies the power of Islam and it honestly portrays what Islam is about. Muslim apologists and Western useful idiots can dissemble and spin as it pleases them, but anyone who has done some objective study of Islam knows that what these mujahideen spout off about, and the violence they do in the name of their God--this is nothing more than devout adherence to basic Islamic priniciples as prescribed by the Qur'an and sunnah.

This Azzam guy is the worst case scenario of America's kaffiyeh kids. Zealous to the core. He is in full-blown disaffected, good-sense-out-the-window, angry, mujahid proselyte form. And he's not coming back--no way. I like to think that most young, American goofballs who hop on the trendy jihad train when they're forging their identity are bright enough to jump off when the jumpin' off is still good. Sure, put your spankin' new kaffiyeh on, go down to Market Street with your buddies and some weed to protest the Evil Zionist Entity and the Great Satan--whatever--but ultimately you know it's a dead end. You grow up and acknowledge, if only to yourself, that living in America is awesome, and we're pretty good people too. Not Azzam al-Amriki, though! He's gone, folks. Long gone. I would note, however, that he appears to be pretty intelligent.

But, this tape is so valuable for the glimpse into the true, insane logic of Islam and Islam's jihad. Islam is the most totalitarian ideology ever to part ways with man's formidable imagination. It consumes all that you are and, as our enthusiastic Azzam so amply demonstrates, it demands precedence over anything else in life. Sadly, the end result is the most inimical human phenomenon there is--a thorough cheapening of life's value.

In this clip from the FBI's site, the interviewer asks: You are an American who has joined a movement for waging war on America and killing large numbers of Americans. Don't you in any way feel you are betraying your people and country?

First of all, the allegiance and loyalty of a Muslim is to Allah, his Messenger, his religion and his fellow believers before anyone and anything else. So, if there is a conflict between his religion and his nation and family, then he must choose the religion every time. In fact, to side with the unbelievers against Islam and Muslims is one of the acts that nullifies one's Islamic faith and there's a verse in the Qur'an (recites a verse from the Qur'an in Arabic) you will not find any people who believe in Allah in the last day loving, loving those who resist Allah and his Messenger.

Even if they were their fathers or their sons, or their brothers, or their kindred or their clan. As such he has written faith in their hearts and strengthens them with spirit from himself. So, some of the early Muslims fought and killed their closest relatives during battle, prompting the revelation of this verse. And, even our Prophet Mohammed, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, er, fought, uh, and after a lot of defeat the Quraish tribe, to which he belonged. when it fought to impede Islam's propagation, sought to impede the message of Islam, rejected the message of Islam, and sought to impede its propagation. And some of the staunchest enemies of Islam were from among his closest cousins like Abu Jahl. Thus, Allah's religion takes precedence over all else: Wealth, status, family and nationality.

Next, Azzam is asked: OK, how do you respond to the Muslim clerics and governments around the world who say that you are a small fringe group of extremists, unrepresentative of Islam and the majority of peace-loving Muslims?

Well, they would say that, wouldn't they? These Crusader pawns are the ones who don't represent Islam and Muslims, despite their claims to the contrary. And they know very well that the Mujahidin stature has increased substantially among the Muslims after September 11, and the events that followed, which poses a direct threat to their continuing hold on power. This argument of theirs is especially well liked by their masters in the White House and 10 Downing Street, who apply it not just to us, but to all Muslims who reject Crusader domination. Uh, but the truth in evidence is on our side. Open the Qur'an, open the books of Sirah, the prophetic biography, and Ahadith, the prophetic teachings. Open the books of Fiqh, jurisprudence, both modern and ancient and you will find our position well supported. Jihad isn't something that al-Qa’ida made up. Ruling by Islam law wasn't started by the Taliban. Hamas didn't invent the concept of martyrdom. Uh, where we differ from these defeatists and hypocrites is that we don't believe that these divine orders and principles are open to negotiation and compromise.

This is nothing but the simple truth about Islam. This is Clarity & Resolve's raison d'etre. This young man is only explaining in plain English (well, his dumb fake Arabic accent notwithstanding) what any good Muslim knows and what more kuffar need to start learning about. The information is available to anyone who wants it. Continuing:

“I'd like to tell these people, this is our religion. If you don't like it, that's your problem. But don't tell me that you're the true Muslim and I'm the extremist. You know, the same clerics and people who call us violent extremists and outcasts and endlessly repeat that Islam is a peaceful faith, permit or even encourage their followers to join the American and European militaries and intelligence agencies and the armies of the idle kings in the Muslim world and take part in the killing of thousands of Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. So in effect, they're saying that for the Muslim to kill unbelievers in defense of Islam and Muslims is unacceptable, and if he does so, he's an extremist. While for the same Muslim to kill fellow Muslims in the name of America and so-called freedom and the supposedly civilized world is just fine and dandy and he will be practicing moderation.

The scorn that Junior Jihad here is pouring upon Islam's Western apologists is the acrid, indignant revulsion of the true believer who is outraged at the watered down depiction of his incontestable convictions. It's the righteous disgust of the purist who can't appreciate the methodology of his more subtle and conniving brethren (or at least that's how he acts). You know, one thing--the only thing--I truly appreciate about the mujahideen is this: They tell the truth about Islam, outside of the tactical hudna, instead of hiding behind the average infidel's ignorance of plain and simple Islamic precepts. Again, the information is there for free to anyone who is interested in learning what CAIR, MSA, and ICNA work day and night to convince you is not true.

This Azzam al-Amriki character is dead-on in his plain (if slightly bumbling and melodramatic) explication of what Islam means to the Muslim. It's really quite simple: Islam is the perfect, unquestionable, and immutable word of God; Islam is supreme and is destined to reign over all the world; and it is a Muslim's duty to do what he or she can to help make this happen whether it means killing infidels or spreading Islam peacefully--it's all the same goal: khilafah. That is Islam, friends. Christianity and Judaism might well have been the same if they hadn't been reformed. They were reformed, though, and they are now compatible with the twenty-first century world. They bring hope, fellowship, justice, and a deep appreciation of life to their devout instead of hatred, fear, intolerance, and death.

All right, al-Amriki, let's bring it on home, you traitorous reprobate:

Look at this logic. These are evil, uneducated, ignorant, backwards people who should not be speaking on behalf of Muslims, much less talking about what is true Islam and what is not and accusing others. We are defending those who have no defender. We are holding fast to genuine Islam at a time when it's under siege from all sides. And we're standing up to confront an enemy that has intimidated governments and international organizations with fear. It's only natural that the governments and individuals who stand the most to lose from the defeat of the crusaders and Zionists will seek to hide our true nature and goals from the Muslim majority that is desperately looking for a way out of the nightmare that these traitors have imposed upon them for decades.

“We have strong support from within all sectors of Muslim society and from within all Islamic groups. This is what terrifies the enemies of truth and causes them to resort to this sort of accusation. It's wishful thinking on their part. It's like they're telling themselves, ‘Maybe if we repeat the lie often enough, it will come true."

Okay kuffar and mushrikeen, apart from the near-laughable juvenile bluster and narcissistic self-assuredness typical of any mujahideen media production (or writing, speech, etc.), this is serious stuff. It is exemplary of my assertion that Al-Qaeda isn't so much an organization as it is an ideology and a way of life. It is the ordinary and natural, yet sacred, duty of Muslims to wage jihad, both offensive and defensive. A group like Al-Qaeda may be more apocalyptic and dramatic in their methodology and vision, but it is jihad all the same.

I think everyone needs to listen to what this American Soldier of God creep has to say, even though it's scripted and sounds like an effusive Islamic robot. It's the real deal. It's a rare look at the true, unmasked face of jihad (even though his face is masked in a kaffiyeh in this video). And jihad is so very central to Islam.

Whatever clues to whereabouts of Osama and Azzam, coded messages or other signals which may be found on these tapes are matters for men and women far more bright and highly trained than I am. However, having studied Islam for some time now, I feel I can correctly say that the video from Azzam al-Amriki is the one that everyday Americans should pause to view and think about. It's been swept aside in the sensationalism of OBL's Islamic Michael Moore imitation, but I strongly encourage all to check it out.

This is the Islam that apologists, be they university professors, uninformed young people who mean well, clerics, or front groups like CAIR, refuse to acknowledge. But it is Islam. It is the real Islam, as it has always been since it was first taken out of the Arabian Peninsula to new places fourteen hundred years ago on the edge of a ruthlessly wielded sword.

Those who say that Islamic Jihad was merely for the defense of the "homeland of Islam" diminish the greatness of the Islamic way of life and consider it less important than their "homeland." This is not the Islamic point of view, and their view is a creation of a modern age and is completely alien to Islamic consciousness. What is acceptable to Islamic consciousness is its belief, the way of life which this belief prescribes, and the society which lives according to this way of life. The soil of the homeland has, in itself, no value or weight. From the Islamic point of view, the only value which the soil can achieve is because on that soil Allah's authority is established and Allah's guidance is followed; and thus it becomes a fortress for the belief, a place for its way of life to be entitled the "homeland of Islam," a center for the movement for the total freedom of man.

Of course, in that case the defense of the "homeland of Islam" is the defense of the Islamic beliefs, the Islamic way of life, and the Islamic community. However, its defense is not the ultimate objective of the Islamic movement of Jihad but it is a mean of establishing the Divine authority within it so that it becomes the headquarters for the movement of Islam, which is then to be carried throughout the earth to the whole of mankind, as the object of this religion is all humanity and its sphere of action is the whole earth.

--Sayyid Qutb, Paving the Way

originally posted at Clarity & Resolve
copyright 2004 Patrick D. O'Brien cannot be copied, published, or otherwise used (except for brief quotes) without express permission of author