The Algerian Hostage Crisis And Dr. Aafia Siddiqui

30 January 2013

By El-Hajj Mauri' Saalakhan

Assalaamu Alaikum (Greetings of Peace): 

This message is coming to our readers from New Jersey. I begin with a somber announcement. Yesterday I received a [missed] call from my sister-in-Islam, Dr. Asha A. Samad - she also sent me an e-mail with the following message:

Have you heard that Imam Omar abu Namous died this morning after fajr? Yesterday his qutba was about death... Alhamdulillah for long, motivational, exemplary faithful life during difficult times. 

--- Sis. Asha A. Samad 

Sheikh Omar abu Namous was the imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York (aka, the 96 Street Mosque) and a good man. It was indeed both fitting and instructive that his last jumuah khutbah (Friday sermon) should be on the topic of death.   

Inna lillahi wa inna ilahi rajioon (from ALLAH we come and to Him we must return). May ALLAH forgive the sins of Sheikh Omar, fortify his family in this time of emotional challenge, and bless him with Paradise. Ameen. 

I have been in New Jersey since Friday. I was privileged to deliver the jumuah khutbah at a large Islamic center in Piscataway - the Muslim Center of Middlesex County (MCMC). The message in the afternoon (which centered on the importance of Muslims in America meeting the challenges which lay ahead with the power of faith), and the evening lecture on the plight of our sister, Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, received a warm response (alhamdullilah). 

This was the third Friday in a roll that we've been able to take our core message on the importance of Muslims doing our best to enjoin the good and forbid the evil to a Muslim center, as part of the special three month drive for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. Insha'Allah, next Friday we will visit Masjid Bilal in Richmond, Virginia, for the jumuah khutbah and evening lecture.  

With that said, I want to now touch upon another telephone conversation I had during this trip. The evening before last Br. Abdel Hafid, a brother in New York City with Algerian roots, informed me about a number of reports (in the Arabic media overseas) about the hostage crisis which yesterday came to a tragic end. He stated that according to reports, the hostage takers were demanding the release of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and Sheikh Umar Abdur-Rahman - the blind Egyptian cleric that the U.S. government has had imprisoned under unfortunate conditions, for years now. 

During the conversation he voiced his disagreement with hostage taking, and opined that demands for Aafia's release under such circumstances were not necessarily in her interest; and also, that the demands being made by the hostage takers might make things more difficult for Egyptian President Morsi's efforts to secure the release of Sheikh Omar as well; and I agreed. 

I informed Br. Abdel Hafid about Aafia's courtroom request that was delivered during the offensively unjust sentencing hearing for her in New York City on September 23, 2010. She specifically implored (those who were present, and those who would hear the news of her unjust 86 year sentence later) that there NOT be any violence committed in her name, as a result of the injustice that was being done to her! 

And within days of that request, there was an estimated ONE MILLION people in the streets of Karachi, Pakistan, protesting the U.S. verdict against Aafia Siddiqui; and from what I was told there wasn't one death or serious injury, a truly remarkable occurrence in that part of the world! 

I then informed Br. Abdel Hafid that I would write a short piece of commentary to underscore this fact; and he committed to translating my commentary into Arabic and getting it out to the overseas media. It was my intention to write the commentary early the next day, but unfortunately, things ended as they did. I saw The Washington Post report below, and I said a silent prayer for all of the families affected by this regrettable, man-made tragedy. 

Hostages reportedly killed as Algerian desert standoff ends, By Anthony Faiola and Michael Birnbaum,

Jan 19, 2013 03:05 PM EST - The Washington Post

LONDON — Algerian forces launched a final assault Saturday against Islamist militants holding foreign hostages at a desert energy complex, resulting in the deaths of 11 kidnappers and their seven remaining captives, according to Algerian and French news reports...

To read the full report:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/hostages- reportedly-killed-as-algerian-desert-standoff-ends/ 2013/01/19/e08b2002- 6244-11e2-a389-ee565c81c565_story.html\

I found this reader's response on The Washington Post feedback blog (to the aforementioned report) interesting and insightful: 

Anyone who takes a job at one of the oil compounds in africa gets highly paid to work in a place where this could happen at any time. I'm sure priority number one was to stop it before they blew the expensive equipment up. The oil companies operate like feudal war lords in these regions, with their own mercenary armies to deal with local war lords. Money and power to do what they want are their number one priorities. Algeria did the right thing and I don't care to see any of my tax dollars wasted supporting the agendas of those greedy giants and their employees who decide the money is worth the risk. The oil companies are just as unethical and armed as the other armed gangs running around. The oil companies spout free market capitalism as their religion and the local gang spouts islam. Neither are true to the tenants of either. I fail to see where there are any sides to take here. Algeria responded with a typical police action and kept everyone else out, as is their right as a country. 

What now follows is an even more insightful piece of commentary by my sister-in-Islam (and highly respected British investigative journalist), Yvonne Ridley.

From Consul To Terrorist: The Only Faction Active oOn The Scene Because Everybody Else Has Left The Arena 14 January 2013 By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed As soon as I heard the name Iyad Ag Ghaly in relation to the events in Mali I began to wonder if this could be the same man from the same country? Could it really be him? Iyad Ag Ghaly heads up the military operations of armed terrorist groups in northern Mali; whilst there was a man with the same name who served as Mali's consul in Jeddah. I called some friends and confirmed that Iyad Ag Ghaly is indeed the same man that I met at Jeddah's Hilton hotel less than three years ago. We are facing a truly strange world where those who are legitimate today could be fugitives tomorrow. At the time, I knew-from those who had dealt with Ghaly as a Tuareg tribal chief and diplomatic consul-that he was the best source to find intermediaries to negotiate the release of hostages taken in the Azawad region. Now, he is said to be commander of the Ansar Dine movement fighting the Malian army, as well as international French and African forces. When I read a profile about him in yesterday's Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, I was even more confused, for this stated that he was close to Libyan dictator Muammar Qadhafi who reportedly sent him to fight in Lebanon. Yet, Ghaly only recently displayed extremist tendencies. This kind of confusion and uncertainty has become quite common as shown by the emergence of extremists like Tarek al-Zomor and Mohamed al-Zawahiri on Egypt's political scene. So how did a man like Iyad Ag Ghaly turn from being a moderate Sunni Muslim to an extremist armed fighter? Is it rational to suppose that a man in his fifties, like Ghaly, should suddenly become radicalized? This is truly hard to believe. I sense that this may be some kind of political maneuver where politicians have pretended to adopt extremist ideologies in order to recruit impulsive youths. These politicians provide these youth with funding under the pretext of ?religious duty?, convincing them to sacrifice their lives for a false cause in return for a place in heaven! Since there is a general international lack of will to fight anywhere in the world, the French-alongside a few African states-will fight this war on their own before realizing that desert wars never end and withdraw. What makes matters more complicated is that conflicts that involve religious slogans and tribal powers can last for decades without any side being defeated. Our problem with those who are keen on fighting these extremists, like the French today and the Americans yesterday in Afghanistan and perhaps tomorrow in Syria, is their inability to understand the fundamental nature of the problem. These extremist groups represent the smallest part of the equation; rather the greatest and most important challenge is to confront extremist ideologies. Had the West, as well as the Arab countries involved and other relevant parties invested their money and effort in fighting extremist ideologies, this crisis might have come to an end. Instead they spent billions of dollars on tens of thousands of soldiers, advanced weaponry, and combat drones managing to eliminate a number of Al Qaeda's leaders; however Al Qaeda's ideology remains the same and in fact continues to spread like a disease. Most people find it easier to jump to easy conclusions by laying the blame on one group or another like Sunnis, Shi'ites, clerics, or even religion as a whole; however all these groups were present prior to this and were never a source of trouble. We are living in a different world in which political powers are establishing and nourishing extremist ideologies and generations. These politicians have the project, the expertise, and the will to propagate such extremist ideology and they are practically immune to punishment because the wrong parties are always held accountable. Who could have imagined that Mali would become an international battlefield after Afghanistan? The West is repeating the same mistake in Syria by allowing it to fall prey to extremists who are emotionally manipulate the general public under the pretext that they are their only source of salvation from the tyranny of the Assad regime. In reality, they are the only faction active on the scene because everybody else has left the arena. Al Rashed is the general manager of Al -Arabiya television. He is also the former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al- Awsat, and the leading Arabic weekly magazine, Al Majalla. He is also a senior Columnist in the daily newspapers of Al Madina and Al Bilad. He is a US post-graduate degree in mass communications. He has been a guest on many TV current affairs programs. He is currently based in Dubai.   ©  EsinIslam.Com Add Comments Comments 💬 التعليقات