Bin Laden's Letter to America

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

Permission to fight is given to those (i.e. believers against disbelievers), who are fighting them, (and) because they (believers) have been wronged, and surely, Allah is Able to give them (believers) victory [Qur'an 022.039].

Those who believe, fight in the Cause of Allah, and those who disbelieve, fight in the cause of Tâghût (Satan, etc.). So fight you against the friends of Shaitan; Ever feeble indeed is the plot of Shaitan [Qur'an 004.076].

Some American writers have published articles under the title 'On what basis are we fighting?' These articles have generated a number of responses, some of which adhered to the truth and were based on Islamic Law, and others which have not. Here we wanted to outline the truth - as an explanation and warning - hoping for Allah's reward, seeking success and support from Him.

While seeking Allah's help, we form our reply based on two questions directed at the Americans:

(Q1) Why are we fighting and opposing you?
Q2)What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?

As for the first question: Why are we fighting and opposing you? The answer is very simple:

(1) Because you attacked us and continue to attack us.

a) You attacked us in Palestine:

(i) Palestine, which has sunk under military occupation for more than 80 years. The British handed over Palestine, with your help and your support, to the Jews, who have occupied it for more than 50 years; years overflowing with oppression, tyranny, crimes, killing, expulsion, destruction and devastation. The creation and continuation of Israel is one of the greatest crimes, and you are the leaders of its criminals. And of course there is no need to explain and prove the degree of American support for Israel. The creation of Israel is a crime which must be erased. Each and every person whose hands have become polluted in the contribution towards this crime must pay its price, and pay for it heavily.

We're gonna take a detour now for a moment to correct this nonsense and get to the bottom of what he really means.

First of all, since the destruction of the Second Jewish Commonwealth by the Roman Empire, Palestine has never been it's own sovereign nation-state. Palestine before the end of World War I was part of the Ottoman Empire, during which time it was considered to be part of southern Syria. During WWI the Ottomans fought on the side of the Germans and, being part of the losing side, were forced to deal with the terms of the victors in the Treaty of Sevres, which Sultan Mehmed VI signed in a bid to retain his throne. Much of the Empire was partitioned because of this, and Palestine and the surrounding area came under the control of the British.

This of course was not an attack, nor was it a military occupation. When you fight in a war and lose you are forced to deal with the terms of the victor, and ceding territory is often part of the price that is paid. The British acquired Palestine by treaty and had every right to it.

Pay close attention to this next part, because I'm about to get to the heart of the entire Middle East crisis with regard to Muslims. If you haven't been paying attention, you might have fallen under the impression that Palestine before Israel's independence in 1947 was roughly the same area of land Israel inhabits today. It is not. The Palestinian Charter of 1964 lays out the goals of the Palestine National Council for "liberation" of the Palestinian state. Article 2 of the Charter states:

Palestine, with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit.

The British Mandate of course is the land ceded to Britain by the former Ottoman Empire after WWI. What territory did the British Mandate comprise of, which the PLO's own charter claims is the whole of Palestine? Look for yourself:

To contrast, let's look at a map of the Middle East today:

I don't have to point out to you that the old British-Mandate Palestine is far larger than the area comprising of Israel today. You will also notice that modern Jordan is exactly identical to British-Mandate Palestine minus of course the state of Israel. Are you catching on here? The Palestinians already have a sovereign homeland: it's called Jordan.

Of course, Jordan occupies far more of British-Mandate Palestine than Israel does, yet we don't see buses and pizzarias being blown up by suicide bombers in Amman. Why is that? Why the hostility towards Israel? Because Israel is a Jewish State. The Middle East conflict has nothing to do with justice for the Palestinians. It's all about bigotry and racism, sanctioned by Allah and his messenger.

Further, it is essential to understand where the word Palestine comes from. The name Palestine refers to a region of the eastern Mediterranean coast from the sea to the Jordan valley and from the southern Negev desert to the Galilee lake region in the north. The word itself derives from "Plesheth", a name that appears frequently in the Bible and has come into English as "Philistine". Plesheth, (root palash) was a general term meaning rolling or migratory. This referred to the Philistine's invasion and conquest of the coast from the sea. The Philistines were not Arabs nor even Semites, they were most closely related to the Greeks originating from Asia Minor and Greek localities. They did not speak Arabic. They had no connection, ethnic, linguistic or historical with Arabia or Arabs.

In AD 135, after putting down the Bar Kochba revolt, the second major Jewish revolt against Rome, the Emperor Hadrian wanted to blot out the name of the Roman "Provincia Judaea" and so renamed it "Provincia Syria Palaestina", the Latin version of the Greek name and the first use of the name as an administrative unit. The name "Provincia Syria Palaestina" was later shortened to Palaestina, from which the modern, anglicized "Palestine" is derived. Palestine has never been a sovereign nation-state, nor is there a Palestinian race, ethnic group, or nationality.

With these facts in mind, we continue with Bin Laden's letter, which I've edited out certain portions so as to keep your attention:

(ii) It brings us both laughter and tears to see that you have not yet tired of repeating your fabricated lies that the Jews have a historical right to Palestine, as it was promised to them in the Torah. Anyone who disputes with them on this alleged fact is accused of anti-semitism. This is one of the most fallacious, widely-circulated fabrications in history. The people of Palestine are pure Arabs and original Semites. It is the Muslims who are the inheritors of Moses [Q 003.067] (peace be upon him) and the inheritors of the real Torah that has not been changed [Q 002.089]. Muslims believe in all of the Prophets, including Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon them all. If the followers of Moses have been promised a right to Palestine in the Torah, then the Muslims are the most worthy nation of this.

When the Muslims conquered Palestine and drove out the Romans, Palestine and Jerusalem returned to Islaam, the religion of all the Prophets peace be upon them. Therefore, the call to a historical right to Palestine cannot be raised against the Islamic Ummah that believes in all the Prophets of Allah (peace and blessings be upon them) - and we make no distinction between them.

The above paragraph is key: the Prophet Muhammad, Islam's creator, is said to have died around the year A.D. 632. Jerusalem was not taken by the Caliph Umar until about A.D. 640, almost ten years after Muhammad's death, and yet Bin Laden is saying that when Umar took Jerusalem the city returned to Islam. That is because to Muslims, there was never any such thing as a Jew or a Christian: Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus were all Hanifa--they were Muslims, and so their followers throughout history would have also been Muslims had their scriptures not been corrupted by man [Q 002.087-121]; Judaism and Christianity are nothing but gross perversions of Islam. Continuing:

(Q2) As for the second question that we want to answer: What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?

(1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam.

(a) The religion of the Unification of God; of freedom from associating partners with Him, and rejection of this [Q 004.116]; of complete love of Him, the Exalted; of complete submission to His Laws; and of the discarding of all the opinions, orders, theories and religions which contradict with the religion He sent down to His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Islam is the religion of all the prophets, and makes no distinction between them - peace be upon them all.

It is to this religion that we call you; the seal of all the previous religions. It is the religion of Unification of God, sincerity, the best of manners, righteousness, mercy, honour, purity, and piety. It is the religion of showing kindness to others, establishing justice between them, granting them their rights, and defending the oppressed and the persecuted. It is the religion of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil with the hand, tongue and heart. It is the religion of Jihad in the way of Allah so that Allah's Word and religion reign Supreme [Q 008.039]. And it is the religion of unity and agreement on the obedience to Allah, and total equality between all people, without regarding their colour, sex [Q 004.034], or language.

(b) It is the religion whose book - the Quran - will remained preserved [Q 085.021-022] and unchanged, after the other Divine books and messages have been changed [Q 002.089]. The Quran is the miracle [Q 007.157] until the Day of Judgment. Allah has challenged anyone to bring a book like the Quran or even ten verses like it [Q 011.013].

Now pay close attention to the following paragraphs, and remember them when people try to tell you Muslims don't hate us because of our freedoms:

(2) The second thing we call you to, is to stop your oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery that has spread among you.

(a) We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honour, and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality [007.081], intoxicants, gambling's [005.090], and trading with interest [002.275].

We call you to all of this that you may be freed from that which you have become caught up in; that you may be freed from the deceptive lies that you are a great nation, that your leaders spread amongst you to conceal from you the despicable state to which you have reached.

(b) It is saddening to tell you that you are the worst civilization witnessed by the history of mankind:

(i) You are the nation who, rather than ruling by the Shariah of Allah in its Constitution and Laws, choose to invent your own laws as you will and desire. You separate religion from your policies [017.036], contradicting the pure nature which affirms Absolute Authority to the Lord and your Creator. You flee from the embarrassing question posed to you: How is it possible for Allah the Almighty to create His creation, grant them power over all the creatures and land, grant them all the amenities of life, and then deny them that which they are most in need of: knowledge of the laws which govern their lives?

(ii) You are the nation that permits Usury [002.275], which has been forbidden by all the religions. Yet you build your economy and investments on Usury. As a result of this, in all its different forms and guises, the Jews have taken control of your economy, through which they have then taken control of your media, and now control all aspects of your life making you their servants and achieving their aims at your expense; precisely what Benjamin Franklin warned you against.

If you fail to respond to all these conditions, then prepare for fight with the Islamic Nation. The Nation of Monotheism, that puts complete trust on Allah and fears none other than Him. The Nation which is addressed by its Quran with the words: "Do you fear them? Allah has more right that you should fear Him, if you are believers. Fight against them so that Allah will punish them by your hands and disgrace them and give you victory over them and heal the breasts of a believing people. And remove the anger of their (believers') hearts. Allah accepts the repentance of whom He wills. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise." [Q 9:13-15]

The Nation of honour and respect:

"But honour, power and glory belong to Allah, His Messenger (Muhammad SAW), and to the believers." [Q 063:008]

"So do not become weak (against your enemy), nor be sad, and you will be superior ( in victory ) if you are indeed (true) believers" [Q 003:139]

The Nation of Martyrdom; the Nation that desires death more than you desire life:

"Think not of those who are killed in the Way of Allah as dead. Nay, they are alive, with their Lord, and they have provision. They rejoice in what Allah has bestowed upon them of His Bounty, rejoicing for the sake of those who have not yet joined them, but are left behind (not yet martyred) that on them no fear shall come, nor shall they grieve. They rejoice in a Grace and a Bounty from Allah, and that Allah will not waste the reward of the believers." [Q 3:169-171]

The Nation of victory and success that Allah has promised:

He it is Who has sent His Messenger (Muhammad SAW) with guidance and the religion of truth to make it victorious over all (other) religions even though the Mushrikûn (polytheists, pagans, idolaters, and disbelievers) hate it." [Q 061:009]

"Allah has decreed: 'Verily it is I and My Messengers who shall be victorious.' Verily Allah is All-Powerful, All-Mighty." [Q 058:021]

The Islamic Nation that was able to dismiss and destroy the previous evil Empires like yourself; the Nation that rejects your attacks, wishes to remove your evils, and is prepared to fight you. You are well aware that the Islamic Nation, from the very core of its soul, despises your haughtiness and arrogance.

If the Americans refuse to listen to our advice and the goodness, guidance and righteousness that we call them to, then be aware that you will lose this Crusade Bush began, just like the other previous Crusades in which you were humiliated by the hands of the Mujahideen, fleeing to your home in great silence and disgrace. If the Americans do not respond, then their fate will be that of the Soviets who fled from Afghanistan to deal with their military defeat, political breakup, ideological downfall, and economic bankruptcy.

This is our message to the Americans, as an answer to theirs. Do they now know why we fight them and over which form of ignorance, by the permission of Allah, we shall be victorious?

'We should fully understand our religion'

It is unlikely that the facts as presented here, which are a matter of indisputable historical record, are beyond his capability of learning. If a Muslim from Saudi Arabia is aware of Benjamin Franklin's anti-Semitism two and a quarter centuries ago, how is he not aware of the history of Palestine and how it fell out of the hands of the Muslims?

Perhaps this is the Muslim concepts of taqiya or kithman at work here, in which Bin Laden deflects attention away from his true intentions by lying to us about his supposed fight for "justice".

He does a poor job concealing his intentions when he opens his letter to America by quoting the verse of the sword [009.005], and litters it throughout with talk of Jihad in the way of Allah so that Allah's Word and religion reign Supreme. The challenge, as always, is getting the word out and getting people to accept it.

Perhaps hardest to explain is why so relatively few Muslims take to Bin Laden's cause; why, if this is truly the Will of Allah, so few heed His Word. To respond to this I bring you back to the opening of this report, in which Bin Laden answers this very question essentially by saying that Muslims need to understand their religion; that fighting is a part of Islam and Allah's shari'a.

I for one am grateful that it appears the vast majority of Muslims do not understand their religion (if I may be so arrogant to say so), but it does appear to be true and undeniable that if this very day they did come to grasp the true meaning of their religion, these Muslims would not live their lives the same tomorrow, whether because they abandoned their faith in disgust or left their homes and possessions and families in order to fight in Allah's cause.

Full understanding of Islam for all is of course my goal, and it is my hope that the Muslim reaction will be the former, not the latter.