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Archive for 12. January 2010

Somalian Islamic Pirates & Lessons from History

12. January 2010 by admin.

Somalian Islamic Pirates & Lessons from History

The dramatic rescue of the American cargo-ship captain Richard Phillips from the hands of Somalian Islamic pirates by the U.S. Navy—killing three pirates, holding him hostage at gun-point, through precision-targeting—warrants a review of the U.S. struggle with piracy and hostage-taking in North Africa, which ended two centuries ago.

Raiding trade-caravans and hostage-taking for extracting ransom in Islam was started by Prophet Muhammad. Having become powerful and secure after his relocation to Medina from Mecca in 622, Muhammad initiated Jihad or holy war in the form of raids of trade-caravans for earning livelihood for his community. In the first successful raid of a Meccan caravan at Nakhla in December 623, his brigands killed one of the attendants, took two of them captive, and acquired the caravan as “sacred” booty. The captives were ransomed to generate further revenue. Muhammad, later on, expanded this mode of Jihad to raiding non-Muslim communities around Arabia—for capturing their homes, properties and livestock, capturing their women and children as slaves often for ransoming and selling, and imposing extortional taxes—which sometimes involved mass-slaughter of the attacked victims.

This ideal model of Jihad—initiated by Muhammad, whose actions are of eternal relevance and must be emulated by individual Muslims at all time—continued throughout the ages of Islamic domination. The Prophet’s attack of trade-caravans disrupting trades and taking hostage for ransoming or selling as slaves also remained in force until Western powers put an end to it in the 19th century.

Over three centuries starting in the 1530s, Barbary Islamic pirates—on the ground of their Jihadi right and patronized by Islamic regimes of Tripoli, Algiers and Morocco—kept attacking Western trade-ships in the Mediterranean water off North Africa. Thousands of ships were captured and plundered and their crews taken captive, who were sold as highly-priced slaves. Between one and one-and-a-half million white Westerners were enslaved between 1530s and 1820s. These captives, who generally suffered harrowing treatment and brutalities, were sometimes released by Europeans government by paying exorbitant ransoms, detailed in my book: Islamic Jihad: A Legacy of Forced Conversion, Imperialism and Slavery.

While Europeans, particularly the Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italians and the British became the worst victims, American ships started falling victim to corsair depredations beginning in 1646. American victims were negotiated by the British until 1776; after the independence, America had to handle the problem on her own. In 1784, Barbary corsairs in Morocco and Algiers captured three American ships and enslaved the crew. After protracted negotiations, a $60,000 ransom was paid to release the Moroccan hostages, while those, captured in Algeria, were not released but were sold into slavery.

Exasperated by this dehumanizing activities and crippling disruption of trade, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams held a meeting with Tripoli’s Ambassador to London Abd al-Rahman in 1785. Ambassador al-Rahman demanded tribute for the protection of U.S. ships from attack and asked for his own commission, justifying the illegal acts as thus:

“…it was written in the Quran that all Nations who should not have acknowledged their (Islamic) authority were sinners; that it was their right and duty to make war upon whoever they could find and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners; and that every Mussulman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.”

Shocked and enraged, Jefferson sought to put an end to this barbaric practice for making the sea-ways secure for trade through military actions. In 1784, he had already proposed to Congressman James Monroe (U.S. President 1817–25):

“Would it not be better to offer then an equal treaty? If they refuse, why not go to war with them… We ought to begin a naval power if we mean to carry on our own commerce.”

While on diplomatic duty in Paris, he unsuccessfully tried to build a coalition of American-European naval powers for military actions against Barbary piracy. But most politicians at home, even John Adams, opposed his idea. Adams, worried of losing a military confrontation with a doggedly warrior people, wrote in response to Jefferson’s “bold and wholly honorable” proposal that “We ought not to fight them at all unless we determine to fight them forever.”

Through the subsequent period, including Adam’s presidency (17947–1801), America settled for the payment of ignominious tribute to North African Islamic regimes, which gradually increased to as high as 10 percent of the national budget.

When Thomas Jefferson became the President in 1801, the Pasha of Tripoli, Yusuf Qaramanli, citing late payment of tribute declared war on the United States, seizing two American brigs, and demanded additional tributes. This followed demands for larger tributes from other BarbaryStates as well.

Jefferson—always against the humiliating tribute payment and, undoubtedly, not forgotten his encounter with the Tripolian ambassador—sent forth a naval fleet to North Africa for military actions without informing the Congress. In retaliation, Tripoli declared war on the United States in May 1801 and Morocco the next year. America soon suffered a setback when Tripoli captured the U.S. frigate Philadelphia, but Edward Preble and Stephen Decatur soon mounted a heroic raid on the Tripolian harbor, destroying the captured ship and inflicting heavy damage on the city’s defences. This news created great excitement in the U.S. and Europe: a new power has arrived on the world-stage to stand up to the savage terror in North Africa. Nonetheless, the crisis remained unsolved.

Meanwhile, American consul to Tunis, William Eaton, defying disapproval at home, allied with Hamid—the exiled brother Tripolian pasha, offering him to make the American nominee for Tripoli’s crown—for land-attack on Tripoli. In 1805, he made a daring journey with a small detachment of marines and a force of irregulars across the desert from Egypt to Tripoli and made a surprise attack on the garrison-city of Darna, which surrendered. While Eaton was engaging pasha’s forces, Jefferson and Karamanli reached a truce for ending the war. The terms of truce included the release of the Philadelphia crew upon payment of a tribute, but America would pay no more tributes in future. In this, stressed Jefferson, Eaton’s derring-do had played a part. Daring and uncompromising, Eaton denounced the deal as a sellout.

Exploiting the new Anglo-American hostility that started 1812, Algiers’ new pasha, Hajji Ali, demanding higher tribute, let the corsairs resumed attack on American ships. Once the Anglo-American war ended, President James Madison, with approval of the Congress, declared war on Algiers on 3 March 1815 and dispatched the battle-hardened naval force, again commanded by Stephen Decatur to North Africa, to put a complete end to the piracy problem.

The U.S. navy destroyed the fleets of reigning Dey Omar Pasha, filled his grand harbor with heavily armed American ships and took hundreds prisoner. The Dey capitulated and reluctantly accepted the treaty dictated by Decatur, pledging never to capture trade-ships and demand tribute. Decatur sailed to Tunis and Tripoli to force the rulers to signing of similar treaties.

President Madison’s words on this occasion, which inaugurated a new U.S. foreign policy paradigm, were: “It is a settled policy of America, that as peace is better than war, war is better than tribute; the United States, while they wish for war with no nation, will buy peace with none.”

Encouraged by the U.S. actions, European powers, led by Britain, initiated similar military actions soon afterward, while the French initiated a full-scale invasion of Morocco, not only to put a complete end to the disruption of trades by Jihadi Islamic corsairs, but also to free the degraded Christian subjects of North Africa.

The dramatic and successful rescue of Captain Phillips without paying ransom proves that the U.S. foreign policy, declared by President Madison two centuries ago, still holds.

However, there are increasing depredations of trade-ships by Somalian pirates in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean; that the French recently lost a hostage, owner of a seized yatch, in a rescue bid by commandos lately; and that the pirates have vowed to retaliate by especially targeting the U.S. and French ships. Indeed, they have hit back by cpaturing six more ships and made a failed attempt to capture another U.S. ship over the next two days. Moreover, the increasing payment of ransom by various governments in recent has obviously been emboldening these illegal activities. Hostage taking for extracting ransom by Jihadi groups is also increasing around the world.

Under these circumstances, a detailed review of the past European and American struggle against the same problem in North Africa lasting three centuries may be instructive for governments and international organizations in devising effective countermeasures to put an end to this unacceptable illegal and uncivilized activity.

SourceLink:http://islammonitor.org/index.phpoption=com_content&view=article&id=2293&catid=212&Itemid=63

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Islamization of India by Sufis (Concluding Part)

12. January 2010 by admin.

Muinuddin Chishti of Ajmer

Muinuddin Chishti of Ajmer is a hallowed name amongst Sufi saints of India. He is generally known as Gharib Nawaz, the friend of the poor beseechers. Akbar-the Great made several visits to his shrine many times starting and ending the journey on foot. This must have added greatly to his status. He is projected as an example of Sufi saintiliness and secularism who tended to all needy persons irrespective of their faith. However, little is known about the major role that he played in the Islamization of India and which he continues to play even today after 800 years of his death. We give below his life sketch from ‘Siya-al-aqtab’ compiled in the mid-seventeenth century as quoted in P.M. Curie’s book ‘’The Shrine and cult of Muinuddin Chishti of Ajmer.’’ (Oxford)

‘’Muinuddin Hasan al-Husaini al-Sijzi Chishti was well known for his miracles and asceticism and was endowed with all the merits of perfection. He had high status and was a great healer. He was a Saiyid by true descent. There is no doubt about his genealogy. He wore the cloak of poverty (faqr) and discipleship from Imam al-Awliya Usman Harwani. Through his coming to Hindustan, the way (tariqa) of Islam was estabished there. He destroyed the
darkness of unbelief and ‘shirk’ which had prevailed there since time immemorial through revealing clear reasons and arguments. For this reason Muinuddin is called Nabi-ul-Hind (the prophet of India). For seventy years his ablution was not broken without him washing before prayer. On whomsoever his propitious glance fell, that man was immediately brought to Allah. Whenver a sinner came into his illuminated presence, he immediately repented. (accepted the true faith of Islam). ‘’Each time he finished reading the Quran, a voice came from the unseen world saying, O Muinuddin ! your recitation has been accepted.”

‘’Although it has been stated that Muinuddin could produce any amount of gold through his miracles, it is certain that he had no dearth of money. It is related that in the kitchen of Muinuddin so many meals were cooked every day that all the impoverished people of the whole city could eat their fill. The servant in charge of this used to go every day before the saint for the expenses. He used to stand with his hands joined in respect. Muinuddin used to take a corner of his prayer rug aside and reveal sufficent treaure. He used
to tell the servant to take enough gold from this treasure to cover the kitchen
expenses for that day.”

‘’It is told that once when he went to perform the pilgrimage to the holy tomb of the Prophet Muhammad, one day from the inside of the pure and blessed tomb a cry came : ‘’Send for Muinuddin.’’ When Muinuddin came to the door he stood there and he saw that presence speak to him. ‘’Muinuddin, you are the essence of my faith; but must go to Hindustan. There is a place called Ajmer, to which one of my sons (descendants) went for a holy war, and now he has become a martyr, and the place has passed again into the hands of infidels. By the grace of your footsteps there, once more shall Islam be made
manifest, and the Kafirs be punished by God’s wrath.’’

Accordingly Muinuddin reached Ajmer in Hindustan. There he said :

‘’Praise be to God, May He be exalted, for I have gained possession of the property of my brother. Although, at that time there were many temples of idols around the lake, when the Khwaja saw them, he said : ‘’If God and His Prophet so will, it will not be long before I raze to the ground these idol temples.’’

Then follow many stories of the Khwaja over coming those Hindu deities and teachers who were strongly opposed to his settling down there. Amongst such people was a disgruntled employee of Rai Pithaura (Prithvi Raj Chauhan). The Khwaja recomended his case to Rai Pithaura who turned down the request.

It appears that shorn of miracles the story simply is that the Khwaja came to India determined to eradicate idolatry and paganism and establish Islam in its place. He met a lot of resistance from the local governor of Rai Pithaura and even by Rai Pithaura himself. With the help of the immense treasure at his disposal and having converted many gullible Hindus to his faith, he became strong enough to invite Rai Pithaura to convert to Islam. Having
failed to persuade him the Khwaja went to Ghazni or sent a message inviting Sultan Shihabuddin Ghori to attack India. Shihabuddin made unsuccessful invasions. Rai Pithaura always allowed him to go back unmolested after his defeat. Ultimately, however, he defeated Prithvi Raj Chauhan and killed him. Muinuddin has a unique position as pioneer of Islam in India in spite of strong opposition of the Hindus. This theme appears throughout in the Siyar al-Awliya where Muinuddin is credited with the Islamic conquest of India.

Having settled his opposition and converted Jogi Ajaipal to Islam, Muinuddin moved into the formers temple which was later converted into his Dargah. There is evidence in the Siyar al-Aqtab, to suggest it. Sculpted stones, apparently from a Hindu temple, are incorporated in the Buland Darwaza of Muinuddin’s shrine. Tradition says that inside the cellar is an image of Mahadeva in a temple on which sandal used to be placed every day by a
Brahman. The shrine still employs a Hindu family to prepare the sandal which is now presented on the grave of Muinuddin. At the least, it serves as a useful explanation to his followers of why Muinuddin, elsewhere portrayed as a powerful evangelist (Missionary of Islam), is buried on ground sacred to the Hindus.

The ‘Siyar al-Arifin’ sums up the life work of this prince of saints, the refuge of the poor and a fore runner of Hindu-Muslim unity. ‘’Through his (Muinuddin) coming to Hindustan the ‘way of Islam’ was established here. He destroyed the darkness of unbelief. Because of his coming….the darkness of unbelief in this land was illumined by the light of Islam.’’ Amir Khurd includes two verses which contrast the situation in India before and after Muinuddin’s arrival :
Before, entire India was ignorant of the orders of religion and law.
“All were ignorant of Allah and His Prophet. None had seen the Kaba. None had heard of the greatness of Allah’’ After Muinuddin arrived in India, ‘’Because of his sword, instead of idols and temples, there are Mosques, Mimbars and Mihrabs in the land of unbelief. ‘’In the land where the sayings of the idolaters were heard, there is now the sound of Allah-Akbar.’’

Yet, almost every Prime Minister and President of India has humbled himself at the Mazar of this slaughterer of Hindus and destroyer of their temples. Recently Sushma Swaraj, M. P. disclosed in the Parliament that Mr. Ram Bilas Paswan, Railway Minister who professes to be an atheist has also been to this Mazar to seek its blessings. Is it igorance, blind faith or political exhibitionism? Who can say?

Conversions Galore
The daily average of votaries staying at the Khanqah of Syed Adam Bannuri (d. 1643) as one thousand. They took their meals at the Khanqah. A great throng of men, including hundreds of theological doctors, followed the saint wherever he went. It is stated in Tazkira-i-Adamiya that 10,000 (ten thousand) persons formed his entourage during his visit to Lahore in 1642.

Seeing the phenomenal popularity of Syed Bannuri, Emperor Shah-Jehan became so apprehensive that he thought of a plan to send him out of India. He sent to him a large sum of money and then suggested that as possession of money made the Haj pilgrimage obligatory for a Muslim he should waste no time in proceeding to the Hejaz to discharge the duty. The saint, thereupon, migrated from India.24

Hazrat Mujadid’s celebrated son and spiritual deputy, Khwaja Mohammad Masoom (d. 1668) had as many as 9,00,000 (nine lakhs) disciples who did the Bai-at and repentance at his hand. Of them, 7,000 rose to be his Khalifas. It is recorded about Shah Ghulam Ali in Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s ‘Asar-ul-Sanadeed’ that ‘’not less than 500 destitute persons used to live in his Khanqah. All of whom were fed and clothed by him.

25‘’Unprecedented scenes of popular enthusiasm were witnessed during the missionary tours of the famous divine and spiritual leader of the 19th century, Syed Ahmad Shaheed, as also during his journey to Calcutta, while on his way to Arabia for the Haj. In many of the towns that fell on Syed Saheb’s route few persons were left who did not offer baiat and repentance at his hand. At Allahabad, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Ghazipur, Azimabad, (Patna) and Calcutta, specially, his disciples must have run into lakhs. The limit was that at Varanasi, the indoor patients of the Sadar Hospital sent to him a petition begging that since they were unable to move out he might condescend to visit them in the hospital so that they could take the baiat. About a thousand persons became his disciples every day during his two months stay at Calcutta. From morning till late at night a stream of men and women would pour in where he was staying. There was hardly any time left for Syed Saheb to attend to his personal needs. When it became impossible to administer the vow to
everyone individually, it was arranged for the aspirants to collect in a large house where Syed Saheb went and initiated them into the fold. Seven or eight turbans were unrolled on the ground when he went there, and the apirants were told to hold them at different places, while one end of them was held by Syed Saheb himself. He then taught them the fundamentals of the faith and read out the oath in a loud voice like Azan which they repeated, and thus, the ritual was completed. This was done seventeen or eighteen times each day.

Islamization of Kashmir
Kashmir is a typical example of Islamization, both by sword and by the Sufis. Amongst the Sultans who used force to Islamize Kashmir the most notorious is Sikandar-but-Shikan (Iconoclast).” About this Sultan (1389-1431) Kalhan in his “Rajtarangini” says : ‘’The Sultan forgeting all his royal duties took pleasure day and night in destroying idols. He destroyed the idols of Martand, Vishnu, Ishan, Chakravarty and Tripureshwar. Not a forest, a village or a town or a city escaped where the Turushk and his Minister Suha left any temple undestroyed.’’

But the real credit of Islamizing Kashmir goes to the Sufis. Sikandar was a passing phase having lived only 42 years. Conversion by Sufis was a continuous process almost imperceptible which lasted centuries. Sikandar’s conversions were caused by utter terror. Sufis created conditions where Hindus voluntarily came to them and got converted.
Amongst the Sufis who played a major role in converting Hindu Kashmir to Muslim Kashmir, Shaikh Nuruddin popularly known as “Rishi Nur” holds a high place.

Burning Down of Charare Sharif
On the night of 10-11 May, 1995 his mausoleum known as “Charar-e-Sharif” was burnt down by the Muslim terrorists. The Indian press, as usual, described it as ‘’the sacred Dargah of Sufi Saint Nuruddin Nurani’’ (India Today), ‘’Symbol of secularism, a most valuable symbol of cultural identity’’ (Front Line), ‘’Abode of Rishis’’ (The Economic Times), without going into the antecedents of this secular symbol of cultural identity. The communist leader Indrajeet Gupta described him as ‘’the symbol of communal unity.’’ As a
senior communist leader he should have known about the role of these Sufi saints who de-stablished Russia. Bennigsen considered an expert on Soviet Islam says ‘’These Sufi orders are among the most intractable and dangerous adversaries of the Sovet regime because (they) the only authentic anti-Soviet mass organisation movement in the Muslim reforms of U.S.S.R…… nucleus for communal and even national movements in the Muslim regimes.27
‘’In the Caucasus, Sufi orders had organised most of the Muslim resistance to Russian rule, before disappearing after 1928. They turned up after World War-II in a less political form, concentrating their energies on mystical pursuits…..This is the appropriate posture for periods when Islam is recouping its forces for another round against infidels.’’ 28 The final result of Sufi activites was a break up of the U. S. S. R., liberating the Central Asian Muslim States, the revolt spreading from Azarbejan-a Muslim state of U. S. S. R. Shaikh Nuruddin was initated into the order by Ali Hamdani. In order to know Shaikh Nuruddin, it is therefore necessary to know his pir Syed Ali Hamdani.

As the name suggests, Ali Hamdani belonged to Hamdan in west Iran. In order to contribute to the Islamization of infidel India, Syed Ali Hamdani sent one of his disciples Syd Tazuddin to Kashmir to find out the conditions there. Syed Tazuddin was well received by the then Sultan Shahabuddin (1354-73). The Sultan gave him facilities for making his Khanquah at a place 9 miles north-west of Shrinagar. It is now known as Shahabuddin Pura. Having received a favourable report regarding the possibilities of proselytization in Kashmir, Hamdani reached there in 1381 A.D. alongwith a force of seven hundred disciples.
Mir Saiyed Ali Hamdani was imbued with the searing missionary zeal……took the form of temple demolition and the forced conversion of many Kashmiris.

The first conversion that he affected was of the Brahman priest of Kali Mandir Shrinagar. The then Sultan Qutubuddin on persuasion by Hamdani destroyed the temple and allowed Hamdani to build his Khanquah on that site. The seven hundred disciples of Hamdani spread over the whole of Kashmir, constructed their Khanquahs in different places and made them
centres of converting Hindus to Islam. In this work, they were convertly and overtly helped by the Muslim Sultans.

Hamdani lived in Kashmir for 3 years, after which he died on his way to Mecca. Nuruddin belonged to the Silsila of Syed Ali Hamdani. The destruction of temples and building of Khanquahs by Hamdani and his disciples had created some sort of a reaction in the Hindu public against the Sufis. Shaikh Nuruddin, therefore, chalked out a different course. At that time, a Shiv devotee lady of the name of Lal Didi or Lal-Ded was roaming about in Kashmir singing devotional songs. She had earned great fame, love and respect of the Kashmiri people. Shaikh Nuruddin projected himself as a similar mendicant. In Brahmin Kashmir, Rishi was the highest appellation used for Hindu seers who had reached the final stage of communion with God. Nuruddin styled himself and his disciples as Rishis to take advantage of this Hindu psyche. The Rishis of old used to clad themselves in striped tiger skins. This school of Rishis adopted a similar dress made of sriped woollen cloth.

The principal disciples of Nuruddin were Bamuddin, Jainuddin, and Latifuddin. All these three were Brahmins by birth and had been converted to Islam by Shaikh Nuruddin. Brahmins were the natural teachers of the Hindu society and enjoyed great respect. A converted Brahmin was, therefore a very great force on converting his erstwhile Hindu followers to Islam which was projected as a divine faith. The credit of converting Hindu Kashmir to Muslim Kashmir of today is shared equally by Sultans like Sikander-But-Shikan and Sufis like Hamdani and Rishi Nuruddin whose mausoleum was burnt down by the terrorists to embarass the government of secular India and which the government of India promised to restore at a cost of crores of rupees collected as revenue, mainly from the Hindus.

(Concluded)

Reference
1. S.Athar Abbas Rizvi : A History of Sufism in India Vol.II, p-425.
2. K.S.Lal : The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India, p-120.
3. Ibid., p-119.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. S.Athar Abbas Rizvi Ibid, Vol.I, p-110.
7. Ibid, p-109.
8. Ibid
9. Ibid
10. Ibid
11. Elliot and dowson : History of India by its own Historians Vol. II; p-534.
12. Ibid
13. Ibid
14. S. aTHAR aBBAS rIZVI : iBID, P-314
15. S. aTHAR aBBAS rIZVI : iBID, P-427
16. Ibid, vol.-II, p-426
17. Ibid, p-427
18. Ibid, p-426
19. Ibid
20. K.S.Lal : Ibid, p-202
21. Ibid, p-234
22. Ibid, p-236
23. Ibid, p-237
24. S.Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi : Muslims in India, p-52-53
25. Ibid, p-53
26. Ibid, p-43-54
27. Daniel Pipes : In the Path of God, p-269
28. Ibid.

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