Message from Shaykh Abu Yahya al Libi to Shaykh Jawlani

 

 

 

A message from Shaykh Abu Yahya Al Libi – may Allah have mercy upon him – to the conqueror Abu Muhammad Al Jawlani – may Allah protect him

In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful

Praise and prayers and peace be upon His chosen one (The Prophet),

To proceed,

From the poor slave, Abdul Haleem to his noble brother Abu Muhammad Al Jawlani -may Allah protect him

May peace, mercy and blessing of Allah be upon you,

I ask Allah that my letter reaches you while you and all the virtuous soldiers with you are in the best of conditions religiously and worldly-wise, and that He make your feet firm and grant you patience and open up ways for you and grant you victory.

We are following with great interest the course of events in Shaam, the land of fortification and hope, with the pace of change accelerating every single day, rather every single moment. And along with the intensity and horrors which are happening there, there are enormous gains and great blessings within its folds which you must be aware of and protect and invest in them and look after them well so that they will not be lost from our hands.

And in this short letter, I wish to state some of the points which due to the circumstances right now is not easy for me to elaborate upon and so I wish to mention them in short until there comes the chance to expand on them. And for intelligent ones like you, it is sufficient to merely point to them.

1. The fuel of war is men and its survival and continuation depends on their survival. And you know without doubt that the battle with its being ferocious is still in its beginning stage and Allah alone knows how long it will continue and remain and so it is necessary for you at this point to:

a) Take utmost care to preserve your military cadre and Shariah and political and other cadres, so that you find Abu Bakr and Umar and Uthmaan, Ali and Khalid during the occurrence of disaster. And I am making an absolute demand from you to not let these brothers in the cadre carry out martyrdom operations, whatever maybe the reasons and motives for that and especially those in the Shariah group.

b) Strive towards gathering, training and educating the largest number of youth. Now the souls are prepared and the hearts are open, and the urge and motivation is present and is standing. And such an opportunity rarely comes or repeats. So train the maximum number of youth from all parts of the country, even if the training is for intermittent periods which occurs during field participation in the operations.

C) Protect the leadership without having them cut off completely from observing its members, rather there should be a specific direction towards its members who are in the field through letters addressed to them whether in writing or through tapes or others.

In short, every individual whom you gain today, you will find him tomorrow. And just think about our battle with the slaves of the cross how it is now and how many men from the Mujahideen and the common public it has consumed and it has not even stopped! So ponder you all also regarding the condition of your patient brothers in Iraq whether at the leadership level or the members. So consider this matter from all its sides and always put it before your eyes throughout the battle and its ferocity, its complications and its requirements.

2) In the battle of Badr, the Prophet prayers and peace of Allah be upon him said to his companions, “If they come close to you then shoot at them and preserve your arrows”. So yes, you must preserve your arrows and not disperse whatever you have in your quiver of actions and operations while you are still at the beginning stage of the battle which will undoubtedly prolong. So pile up, store and secure whatever weapons and ammunitions you can for a miserable day and for the appropriate time of the battle along with paying close attention towards proper storage, so that your weapons don’t end up being lost. And in the same manner, we also request from you emphatically to minimise the martyrdom operations to the maximum extent possible until you may even abstain from them if possible. And I hope, if Allah wills, to write some of the ground rules that are followed by us in order to carry out martyrdom operations so that they may produce results in the best manner.

Of course this point does not mean to cease military operations, or to increase them. But that we do not use all or most of our potential in the beginning of the battle, lest when the decisive time comes we find ourselves to be the poorest of all groups in regards to numbers, equipment and preparation. So then the fruits of the sacrifice would be in the hands of those other than us.

The firmness of the rows of the group is established upon the following:

a) Clarity of the manhaj (methodology) along with closeness in understanding.
b) A leadership which is honest, faithful, merciful, forgiving, soft and who consult (others).
c) Making operations which satisfy the wishes of the individual soldiers and not amass them with no action.

If these three matters are fulfilled as pillars, then – Allah willing – you will find your group well knit and strong on the long path. And if there is a defect in any one of them, then its result will be the group getting engaged with itself and being preoccupied with its own problems. And neither solemn covenants nor pledges that have been taken will avail nor benefit at that time, and they would all be as dust particles. And whoever has decided to split the rows will find or devise for himself a thousand reasons and arguments to get away from it and nothing will convince him no matter whatever arguments have been made to him.

And so because of that, I hope that you do not preoccupy yourselves neither much nor little regarding either the issue of “Have you given bay’ah (pledge) or not?” nor “Which group is the legitimate one in the battlefield” nor that of “You must necessarily give bay’ah” for this has no major benefit behind it neither in the fields nor in the Shareeah. And straightening the rows and making the word one and coordinating the efforts are far too important than to be dealt with this type of activity which has mostly been unsuccessful in many situations and experiences. And do not restrict yourself in that which the Shariah has been lenient and given space.

And you may make a specific standing rule to divide those who work with you dividing it into a number of categories.
First: Those who have pledged allegiance and are the foundation of the group, in understanding, actions and in seriousness.
Second: Those who support and show love and mostly do not differ from those who preceded them in action and understanding and they listen and obey. They can be slowly and gradually chosen for seeking bay’ah from them without forcing them or pressuring them or compelling them.
Third: The supporters from the rest of the Muslims.
So do not lay waste any effort that can be benefited from in our long battle.

And remember that there is an Ijma (consensus) on the permissibility of seeking help from the Munafiq (hypocrite) during Jihad and also from the Faasiq (rebellious), in fact even from the Mushrik (polytheists) as mentioned by the Fuqaha (jurists) as is known. So do not put yourselves in a position where you become harsh in your actions while there is a great space in the matter.

So I repeat and say: “The battle is long”, and this matter will require from you as a “group” to deal with the benevolent groups in the field in a manner like the dealing of an affectionate father and not deal as an opponent who is competing. So if they are in need, then help them and if they do good then thank them and if they come close to you by a hand span, then get near them by an arm’s length. And prevent your members from belittling them or disregarding their sacrifices. And let the paths of dealing with and correcting the mistakes be confined to the leadership level or whom the leadership directly appoints out of the people of intellect, wisdom, insight and consultation.

The Muslim masses are your ocean in which you would swim. So be cautious of Allah and handle them with care. And be the closest of the people to them as a “group” and the most compassionate, and the most gentle towards them and give preference to them over yourselves in all that comforts them and protects them and strive with whatever you can to get them united. By Allah, they have shown such a patience in this tiring trial that which would melt rocks. So if we loose this great treasure due to our mistakes, then we will be responsible in front of Allah Almighty. And do not forget that the people have lived for years, rather for long decades with the instruments of terror and destruction and corruption present in their hearts and their minds. And this requires a lot and a lot of tolerance for what may come from the actions they may do due to the result of years of darkness that they have lived under feet of oppression. In fact you should be stern on those of your members who have transgressed towards the Muslim masses so that there will be no cracks opening up and we be planting thorns with our own hands in our path.

The people must necessarily feel your closeness to them in their suffering, such as by carrying their wounded and facilitating the paths for the Muhajireen from amongst them and goodness in speaking to them kindly so that the people see the truth with their own eyes which will crush the falsehood of the media that will be launched against you in the coming days.

Repel (the evil done to you) with that which is better at least in this stage as you are in the stage of formation, building and laying the foundation. And it is necessary for you to tolerate ” the wrong done by your relatives” to the maximum extent, and to remain silent at the insolence of the foolish ones, especially those who have a voice in the media through satellite channels and internet and others.

Indeed I would pass by the wicked who would abuse me – So I went on and said there, “It does not concern me”. (poetry)

And better than that is:

“And when the foolish address them (with bad words) they reply back with mild words of gentleness.”

Surat Al Furqan 25:63

And know that there is a category of people who are fighting by responding to them and they do not find relief except in that. So let the the banner of your stage be “Be patient over what befalls you” (31:17). And ponder as to how Allah united the hearts under Sheikh Usamah, may Allah have mercy on him and He held back their tongues from him due to his truthfulness, as we reckon him, and due to his tongue abstaining (from unworthy talk) and him not busying himself to defend himself. Rather he was more critical of himself than his enemies, so that he may ascend with his group to the level of completeness and virtue and he would not get engaged in responding to so and so and criticising so and so.

My noble brother, the talk is long and what I have written is a summary intending by it to maintain communication and mutual advice so that we may pick up the fruits of the sacrifices fully. And whatever is good and right in it is by the support of Allah and what is besides that is from myself and the devil.

And my greetings to your righteous and virtuous soldiers. Let Allah see from you what He will love. And indeed this religion is enduring, so delve into it with gentleness and Allah will never deprive you of [the reward of] your deeds.

Concluding with peace
Your brother – Abdul Haleem – Abu Yahya
6th of the sacred month of Rajab 1433