In the Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful
From Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad, to Imam Anwar Awlaki
Assalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh. In a recent videotaped statement attributed to you, you posed a very serious question to American Muslims, and in addition you suggested that we as American Muslims are obligated to embark upon the unconscionable act of waging war against our own land and countrymen. You asked; “To the Muslims in America, I have this to say: How can your conscience allow you to live in peaceful coexistence with a nation that is responsible for the tyranny and crimes committed against your own brothers and sisters?”
Well, now that you’ve posed the question, I’ll tell you why, and may Allah grant us His mercy. First of all, peaceful coexistence is not a crime; it is a mercy from the Almighty God be He Exalted and Glorified. As American Muslims, we peacefully coexist with our country because we are not under attack because of our faith and we are not driven from our homes; “Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for (your) Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for Allah loveth those who are just.” 60:8 Quran. We live here because some of us were born and raised here, and it is the only home that we know. My forefathers came here as slaves, and have helped build this country with their bare hands. Millions of other Muslims have sought and received refuge and safe passage through this vast land of ours, and have made it their home. As American Muslims, we are of different origins; nevertheless we are here now, and it is the result of God’s divine Providence, and we are connected to this soil.
We live here because we are free men, women and children. We have the right to live here and this is our country. We live here because Millions of American Muslims attend this nations masaajid every week without being accosted, bombed while in prayer, or hindered in any way from worshipping our Lord. Many Muslim Imams and scholars have branded our country as evil, even calling her the ‘Great Satan’. I say that the Lord that we worship favors not the east or the west; He favors the righteous wherever they dwell. “Say: To Allah belong both East and West: He guideth whom He will to a Way that is straight.” Quran, 2:142. So to answer your question about our conscience as we peacefully coexist in The United States of America, my conscience, and the conscience of many Muslim Americans who live in this great land, is clear. As for those Muslims whose conscience and belief compels them to leave this country for another land, then the door is open for them to leave.
As for your call for American Muslims to wage jihad against our country and homeland; the land that you are urging us to wage war against, is the land of our homes that we are obligated to protect. In a prophetic narration by Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-‘As, he said: When we were around the Apostle of Allah (SAWS), he mentioned the period of commotion (fitnah) saying: “When you see the people that their covenants have been impaired, (the fulfilling of) the guarantees becomes rare, and they become thus (interwining his fingers). I then got up and said: What should I do at that time, may Allah make me ransom for you? He replied: “Keep to your house, control your tongue, accept what you approve, and abandon what you disapprove, attend to your own affairs, and leave alone the affairs of the generality.”[1] Therefore as Muslim Americans we are obligated by faith to protect our homes, and our homeland upon which they stand, as our homes are our refuge.
The people whom you claim we are obligated to take up arms against are our neighbors whom we live next to and share neighborhoods with, and our Prophet (SAWS) informs us to honor our neighbors by his words in the hadith reported by Abu Shuraih; “By Allah, he does not believe! By Allah, he does not believe! By Allah, he does not believe!” It was said, “Who is that, O Allah’s Apostle?” He said, “That person whose neighbor does not feel safe from his evil.“[2] Furthermore, in the hadith of Aisha, she mentioned that the Prophet (SAWS) said “Gabriel continued to recommend me about treating the neighbors kindly and politely so much so that I thought he would order me to make them as my heirs.”[3] They are our co-workers whom we work alongside them, our students who we teach, and our teachers who we learn from. The people whom you incite us to violence against are our firefighters who defend our homes and our property from ruin, our law enforcement officers who patrol our streets at night, and municipal workers who restore power after the storms, and remove injurious objects from the road. The individuals whom you suggest we wage jihad against are our physicians, nurses and medical professionals who care for our sick and mend the broken bones of our children. They are university professors that you yourself have benefitted from and under whose instruction you obtained your engineering degree. So in summary, my dear Imam and may Allah guide us, we must categorically reject your petition that we wage jihad against the United States of America as in doing so we would be in disobedience to Allah subhaanahu wa ta’ala and His Prophet (SAWS).
Innocent blood is shed all over the globe by Muslims and non-Muslims alike, and that should be a concern for us all. This great nation of ours has indeed committed its wrongs just like every other nation on earth and I am confident that the Almighty God Allah, in His Infinite Power and Wisdom will render unto each his due for its good and for its evil. However in the meantime, I shall not lift a finger in jihad against the only country that I can call home. This is the United States of America, and I do not have a home to go back to. My family is here, my tribe is here, and when I bow my head in my duty to my Lord, I prostrate upon American soil. She is a blessed land, crafted and designed by God Himself.
Our faith is a faith of reason, not rampage, and while we recognize that there have been people of all faiths who have, and will continue to shed innocent blood without just cause. We as American Muslims should take the higher ground of faith and godliness and forgive those who transgress against us, and set our sights upon the nobler ideals of Islam. My conscience is clear, and your call for American Muslims to engage in jihad against America is rejected. As an imam and as a Muslim, I pray for your salvation and the salvation of us all. May the Almighty God Allah, Glorified be His Holy Name, guide us all to righteousness, and may He bless the United States of America.
Assalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakaatuh,
Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
[1] Collected by Abu Dawood in the Sunan
[2] Collected by Bukhaari
[3] Collected by Bukhaari
Imam Luqman Ahmad Mosque Without Borders 
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