"And there shall be no blame for those who take revenge after they have suffered injustice. The way (of blame) is only for those rebellious ones who oppress others and who insolently walk on the earth: for these there will be a painful torment indeed." (42: 41-42 Interpretation of Meaning).

One of the most memorable things that occurred during my recent travels in Muslim lands was that I got to know the views of Muslims - from all walks of life - concerning Sheikh ul-Mujahideen Usama Bin Muhammad Bin Ladin (hafidhahullah). Not once did any of these Muslims condemn him. Rather, I found them applauding and supporting him, and many, many times they expressed the view that he, being the devout Muslim he is, had given up his wealth, and a life of Western luxury, to fight and live as a Mujahideen. There was, and is, a great admiration for him, for ordinary Muslims understand the hypocrisy of the West, and especially Amerika, just as they support those who actively fight this hypocrisy. 

One incident is worth recalling here. I was sitting in the house of a Muslim brother, and talk among the brothers gathered there, as often, was the state of the Ummah when Al-Jazeera (the TV was on in the corner of the room) showed some incident from kuffar-occupied Iraq. There were images of a heavily-armed Amerikan soldier pushing an elderly Muslim to the ground as, nearby, Muslim demonstrators chanted anti-Amerikan slogan. Then another image showed the Amerikans blindfolding Muslims and forcing them to kneel, the hands of the Muslims tied behind their backs. Such scenes of Muslim humiliation, of Amerikan arrogance and dominance, are now the everyday reality in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

So the conversation among us then turned to Jihad and there was a strong resentment among the Muslims gathered in that room directed at their own government for bowing down before Amerika and doing nothing to aid our brothers and sisters being humiliated by the kuffar. Every Amerikan killed in kuffar-occupied land was the cause of celebration among us - with a prayer of thanks being offered to Allah (SWT). One Muslim - a married man with a daughter not yet one year old - several times expressed a sincere desire to find and kill Bush the infidel just as he, and all those gathered there, understood the Jumaada Al-Thaani attacks as a praiseworthy blow against the arrogance of Amerika. Furthermore, I found some Muslims who believed - or hoped - that Sheikh ul-Mujahideen Usama Bin Muhammad Bin Ladin (hafidhahullah) was in Iraq, directing the campaign against the kuffar invaders, and by his very presence inspiring Muslim resistance.

What I found on my travels was a simmering anger - at Amerika, and at the governments of Muslim lands, their own governments, whom they saw as doing the bidding of the insolent Amerikans to the detriment of our brothers and sisters in Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Chechnya and elsewhere. What I also found - expressed many times - was a desire for someone, like this very humble servant of Allah (SWT), to express in the West, among the Muslims of the West and in the English language of the West, the truth of Islam, the need to support such heroes of the Ummah as Sheikh Usama Bin Muhammad Bin Ladin (hafidhahullah), and to respond to all the kuffar propaganda now being spewed forth in an attempt to corrupt Muslims and have them imitate the kuffar in words, thoughts and deeds.

Everywhere I found the private talk was of the need to change the government of whatever country I was then in:  the need to work toward an Islamic alternative, and that this - as so many Muslims told me - would and must involve a practical revolution.

What was my foremost feeling during these travels? It was of grateful thanks to Allah (SWT) for allowing me to be part of the most civilized, honourable, community on Earth - that of those who humbly bow down before their Creator, who respect and love the Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam), and whose most ardent desire is to follow and do the Will of Allah (SWT) as revealed in Quran and Sunnah and these alone.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As: The Prophet (salla Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam ) said: The warrior gets his reward, and the one who equips him gets his own reward and that of the warrior. (Abu Dawud, 14, 2520)

Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala) knows best.