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by Ali Osman E
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
I am not in support of deviant groups that are perpetuating crimes here and there but I have some issues with Abu Abdullah Al-Haaj’s /op2/2008/dec/shining_light_on_al_shabab.aspx article. First the Title is erroneously stated as being Shining Light on Al-Shabab while he sheds no light on anything about Al-Shabab. Rather, what I see is clippings from Expedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takfir_wal-Hijra ) and some western media reports about the group he is talking about. It is interesting to note this article about TAKFIIR WAL-HIJRA was in Wikipedia back in 2005, so how is he using against the Islamic Courts?
I believe, we all know there are killings going on in Somalia and no one can say exactly who is doing the killing. Some strong evidence suggests Ethiopia does some of the killings, others mention it is the work of Al-Qaeda; others suggest it is people settling scores that has to do with worldly gains. In summary, there are confusion surrounding these assassinations and who carries out is still a mystery until a professional crime investigators show evidence of who is behind what crimes, I would like to believe accusing of all the crimes and killing that have taken place in Somalia to a specific group is still premature at best.
If Abu Abdullah Al-Haaj does have evidence or has privy to information that is different from what is available on the public media then he should support his allegation with substantive evidence and with facts. It is shameful to just produce article that is based on innuendos and spinning facts from out of context.
Another issue I have with the author is he relies heavily on information gleaned from sources that have an ax to grind so how does he verify whether the news articles are misinformation to discredit the legitimate resistance against the Ethiopian occupying force or something else? The chaos the author mentioned was the situation in Somalia when the warlords were running the country so the people he mentions were with the warlords according to his logic. Also he mentions this group would “hide among the Sufis if that serves their interest” that is completely false as even a non Muslims can easily verify this being impossibility.
I believe the author could argue Islamic courts have two approaches, one being those who want to have dialogue with the Transitional Government and the other insisting on keeping up the pressure on the occupying force until they completely withdraw from Somalia. These two points of views both have their merits and the ICU can debate of how to resolve the difference but to suggest these are TAKFIR requires substantiation and clear proof.
My last issue with Abu Abdullah Al-Haaj is: his name seems to me an anonymous name, first we Somalis do not call our self Abu Abdullah (the father of Abdullah) and the second name Al-Haaj is given to someone who visited the Hajj and Somalis do not give this name alone, it is an addition like for example Haaji X but not Al-haaj. If Abu Abdullah Al-Haaj is real, he needs to prove that he is Somali and if he is not Somali then what does he know about the affairs of Somalia? I would let him defend himself in this civil discourse. If he cannot substantiate his allegations, then he should repent to Allah as we are responsible of what we say and write and further more, he should apologize to those who gave their life to the cause of freeing Somalia from the Ethiopian enslavement.
Ali Osman E
E-mail: [email protected]