[7:49am, 01/08/2014] +234 803 680 6877: Salaam Its yet another blessful Friday in Which at least 1,000 salatin Nabiy (S ) is recommended. So also Dua Nudba and salat Jaafar Dayyar. Today is also the 7day dua for the three martyed sons of Sayyid Ibraheem Zakzaky (H ) and thirty other members of the Islamic movement. Here is the usual Friday write up QUDS DAY AND ITS AFTERMATH: COMMISSERATING WITH SHEIKH IBRAHEEM AL – ZAKZAKY (H)! Sheikh Muhammad Mahmud Turi — Aug 1, 2014 in leadership.ng/religion In the name of Allah who states “And do not speak of those who are slain in Allah’s way as dead; nay they are alive but you do not perceive” Q2:154 May the everlasting peace and blessings of Allah be upon His noble servant, our master Muhammad and his purified progeny. The International Quds Day was declared by Imam Ruhullah Khomeini (may Allah have mercy on him) in 1979 to express solidarity and unflinching support to the oppressed Palestinians and other oppressed people of the world. Ever since, it was observed, not only by the Muslims who answered the call of this great Islamic personality but all human rights activists and civil liberties organizations including the anti – Zionist Jews! This year’s event preceded last Friday of Ramadan which coincided with 25th July, 2014, -the actual day declared by the late Imam as Protesters stormed the streets of Paris just as they did the same in central London to protest massacre of defenseless Palestinians mostly women and children for over three weeks by the merciless Israeli government. It is imperative to acknowledge this effort for by the people in want of peace to reign and justice to prevail all over the world. l As earlier elaborated, Quds day is global and therefore commemorated by all people with sense of humanity. Attacking The Zaria Peaceful Procession The Quds day procession was observed in most towns in the northern part of this country and some part of south such as Lagos. As the 32nd in 35 years, the commemoration of this day has been absolutely peaceful. In fact, it was successfully concluded before the military arrived and shot live bullets at the calmly dispersing crowd. They shot thirty one brothers and a sister from Kubanni sugarcane farms beside the roads. Among the first shot was Sayyid Mahmoud, son of sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky (H). He was rushed to hospital but because of the military blockade he bled to martyrdom. They also arrested some including three of the sheikh’s children -Ahmad, Hameed and Ali. Some contacts were made for their release but the commandant, one lieutenant colonel Okuh refused and after an intense torture shot Ahmad and others personally. Allah wished that Ali the youngest whose leg was forcefully broken would survive to narrate the merciless action he witnessed on his elders. INNA LILLAHI WA INNA ILAIHI RAAJI’UUN – to Allah we belong and unto Him is our return – was the continued expression of the sheikh over the sad story. Here are the brief profiles of the sheikh Zakzaky’s sons innocently murdered by the military: Shahid Ahmad: Shahid Ahmad is the eldest of the three killed. He was 24, an excellent student of Chemical Engineering in the Chinese Shenyang University of Technology to graduate next April. His moral and academic capacity has been quite impressive and commendable. He was very enthusiastic in terms of worship and religious activities. Of a blessed memory, he spent ten consecutive nights praying hundred raka’ats each night in last year’s Ramadhan! He related very well with friends, elders and the general public with a great dose educational and leadership qualities. Shahid Mahmoud: Shahid Mahmoud, 19 was a student of Islamic studies in the Al-Mustapha International University, Beirut. He was very popular among his fellows who greatly respect him for his very august and considerate habit. During his O level, his mates called him gentleman just as he was simply referred as Shehu at home. His love and attachment to religious teachings and activities were generally acknowledged. Shahid Hameed: Shahid Hameed, 22 was a student of Aeronautical Engineering in the Chinese Xian University. He was extra-intelligent with far greater intellectual ability comparatively related. He was very hardworking and indefatigable with strict observance of religious teachings. On his return from holiday in Ramadhan on the 23rd night, with all the stress, he energetically prayed his hundred raka’ats recommended on the nights of majesty. The Sheikh and their mother Malama Zeenatudden Ibraheem have described them as very obedient children. Their elder brother and sister have also described them as such, so also all that knew or interacted with them. The Sheikh’s Conference In a press interview, the sheikh confirmed unprovoked shooting and killing of brothers after the peaceful QUDS day procession in Zaria. “During the shooting, they have killed and wounded a lot of people including children and women. It was during that shooting that one of my son Mahmud, a student of Al-Mustapha international University in Beirut was shot. He came here for holiday at the beginning of this Ramadhan. He was shot at his abdomen. He was brought here bleeding, they wanted to take him to hospital but the soldiers have blocked the way. He therefore bled to death on the road to the hospital. Sheikh said. He continued “among those arrested were three of my sons; Ahmad, Hameed and Ali. They were taken alive and in good condition. But later on after we made contact with some people specifically the police, they helped us to locate their where about. They were taken to a military hospital in Basawa and when we demanded that they should hand them over to us, they refused but insisted on taking them to Shika hospital (themselves) and that we should collect them there. Later on, we came to know that they have already killed Ahmad and Hameed while Ali was wounded on his leg. He has compound fracture. I don’t think it was bullet wound, they broke his leg. Up to now (then) he could not be brought back because they have blocked the roads” Trooping Of The Sympathiezers: After the spread of the sad news and owing to the good relation of the Islamic movement with all people at both national and international levels, sympathizers began to troop to the sheikh’s Gyallesu residence. Of the International condolences received were those of Ayatollah Uzma Sayyid Ali Khamne’i, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, London – based Islamic Human rights commission and many others. Others include; Centrum Initiative For Development And Human Rights Advocacy: “We therefore condemn in the strongest of terms the shooting and killing of peaceful protesters in Zaria on the 25th of July 2014 and call on for a full independent investigation of the Zaria killing by bodies charged with monitoring and reporting of human rights violations. Governments in Nigeria must know that the dark days of ruling with impunity are over and have no place in democracy. The chief duty of the state is to protect life and not take it away without authorization of the body responsible of snatching away life from citizens. We want to use this opportunity to thank the leader of Shiite in Nigeria malam Al – Zakzaky for his restrain and calm disposition to the great loss of his sons and members. We will walk with him and his organization in their quest to seek for justice on the QUDS procession incidence. And we pray to God to forgive the souls of those killed and grant them Aljanna”. John Danfulani convener. Christian Association Of Nigeria: The Christian association of Nigeria has condemned the killing in Zaria and condoled the leader of the Islamic movement in Nigeria in a statement by its president Ayo Oritsejafor; “I particularly commiserate with the scholar over the loss of his sons and appeal to him to take solace in God who knows all things. The demise of the scholar’s sons is most unfortunate and regrettable particularly at a time when the energy and wise counsel of all in the society is needed to tame insecurity. The president finally commiserated with other families of the deceased. Civil Rights Congress Of Nigeria “It is most unfortunate and sad that our security forces have not learnt their lessons on the grievous implications of cold blood killings of religious leaders or their followers. ….” The unprovoked attack and killing of the members of the Islamic movement is a reprehensible and abominable act capable of triggering a wider bloodletting and endless conflict. The impunity and brigandage of our security forces undermines the peace and stability of our country and by extension the authority and credibility of the government. Security forces established, recognized and funded by constitutional guarantees must operate within the ambit of the law and democratic tenets. It’s apt to state here categorically that Nigerians live in the fear of insurgents and the military’. He finally called on the Federal government to investigate the condemnable killings by the military” –Comrade Shehu Sani Sam Nda- Isaish, Founder, Leadership Holdings After condemning the killing and calling on the movement to go to court, he added “we commend your leadership attribute and the dignity you exemplified. We wonder how many leaders could contain this (loss) and remain calm even when they lose three of their children this way. We are very proud of this attribute. If leaders were like you the world will be a better place to live in”. He said Nigerians should never keep silent in the face of this atrocity saying that it is dangerous to remain silent in this situation. To all those who expressed their condolences personally or by whatever means, the revered sheikh has expressed his gratitude and prayed that Allah the most high should reward them abundantly! While prying for the endless mercy on these innocently murdered servants fasting in the holy month of Ramadhan, we pray to Allah, the omnipotent to give a befitting recompense to all with a key hand in the atrocity! Wassalamu alaikum waramatullah [7:53pm, 01/08/2014] +234 803 680 6877: Brother Adamu Adamu has said a lot. I hope one will go over it. A+AA- QUDS, ISRAEL AND IMPUNITY Category: Friday column Published on Friday, 01 August 2014 05:00 Written by Adamu Adamu adamuadamu@dailytrust Hits: 1630 When soldiers opened fire on Muslims demonstrating on International Quds Day in Zaria on Friday, July 25, 2014, Julius Anyawu, a 68-year-old Igbo man, and his companion, Chibozor Levechi, were standing nearby. Instead of running away, they protested, asking why. They never found out—and Anyawu never will. He was shot dead—and Levechi is right now lying critically ill at Wusasa Hospital in Zaria. International Quds Day, which is fixed for the last Friday of Ramadan, was proclaimed by Imam Khomeini [qss] in 1979 as a day for demonstrating solidarity with the dispossessed, especially the Palestinians whose land has been usurped by Zionists with the help of Western powers. According to the Imam [qss]: “Quds Day is a universal day, not a day exclusively for Quds alone: it is a day for oppressed peoples to rise and stand up against [global] arrogance.” Since 1979, year in, year out, the event has been celebrated in several cities across the world. This year, International Quds Day celebrations took place in 81 countries. In Iran, where the most massive rallies took place, millions demonstrated in more than 770 cities and towns. Across the United States, demonstrations took place in more than 20 cities, including New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Phoenix. In New York’s Times Square, Sunni and Shia Muslims joined militant leftists and anti-Zionist Jews to condemn Israel and call for the liberation of Gaza. As the sun rises in the Far East, Japanese demonstrators were marching on the Israeli embassy in Tokyo. Along with the sun, demons-trations spread eastwards through Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, in all of which demonstrators burned the Israeli flag and condemned the United States for the bloodshed in Gaza. And across several Middle Eastern countries, including parts of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, Algeria and Sudan, demonstrators were able to voice their anger against Israel. In Europe, demonstrations took place in Germany, France, Belgium and Macedonia. And in Canada, Muslims, Christians, Jews and Hindus held pro-Palestinian rallies in Edmonton, Toronto, Halifax, Vancouver, St. John and Calgary. In central London, tens of thousands of British demonstrators, including several political figures such as Diane Abbot, Baroness Jenny Tonge, Andrew Murray and the irrepressible George Galloway, joined the rally on International Quds Day demanding justice against the “killers of Gaza children”. The rally was joined by the Orthodox Jews of the Neturei Karta. And throughout the world, nowhere did the demonstration end in violence except in Nigeria; and, even here, only in Zaria. Demonstration in other cities in Nigeria began and ended peacefully, as they have been doing for the past 22 years in which the Zaria-based Islamic movement, under the leadership of Mallam Ibrahim al-Zakzaky, had organised them. Indeed, there has been no year in which the celebration of International Quds Day would become of such mournful, sorrowful poignancy as the current one. In a most heart-rending show of unprecedented barbarity, Israel unleashed a bombing spree that resulted in an unsightly carnage that was enough to have disgraced the United States and exposed the so-called Israeli Defence Force as perhaps the world’s most immoral army. So unacceptably unpleasant was the assault that even Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser and the inventor of the ‘Arc of Crisis’, himself Jewish and friend of Israel, and former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright, with her 300,000 dead Iraqi children, herself a Jewess and friend of Israel, found it distasteful enough to condemn Israel publicly. Why should the demonstration this year be different? If benefit is a good guide to motive, the Federal Government stands to gain nothing from these murders and from the suppression of International Quds Day celebrations; the Nigerian Army stands to gain nothing from them; and even the commander who ordered this assault is not likely to gain anything from it. The only entity that is alarmed by Quds Day and stands to benefit from its cessation is Israel; and Israelis are advisers to the Nigerian Army. In the circumstance, it will not be unreasonable to assume that they probably gave the order. Only a full, open and independent inquiry will be able to determine whether we have sold our dignity and independence this low—that officers of our army can be subcontractors used to kill their fellow citizens in cold blood on behalf of a foreign power that shouldn’t have been here in the first place. What we are up against is a culture of impunity and a cynical attempt to exploit it, a culture in which soldiers oppress, torture and kill people without consequences. If soldiers cannot do their job without violating the human rights of the people, they do not deserve the uniform on their backs. The nation must be man enough to hold them criminally responsible for the use of excessive, lethal violence and for the abuse of detainees in their custody; and force them to appreciate their responsibilities and obligations toward fellow human beings. Those who are able must rise up in defence of those whose rights are eroded in the name of national security, those imprisoned, tortured or killed for exercising their right to freedom of association and expression. In the end, the government must take appropriate measures to see that soldiers suspected of criminal responsibility are prosecuted, tried and duly punished; provide their victims with effective remedies, including reparation for losses and injuries suffered; and then take all necessary steps to prevent a recurrence. But it is not as if soldiers don’t know how to do it. On May 14, 2014, the newly established 7 Division of the Nigerian Army announced it would institute a military board of inquiry to determine the remote and immediate causes of the mutiny by soldiers in Maimalari Cantonment, Maiduguri, who fired shots as the General Officer Commanding the division addressed them. On July 30, 2014, Maj.-Gen Emmanuel Abejirin, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 2nd Division Nigerian Army, Ibadan, inaugurated a general court martial to try erring personnel within the division who had been accused of stealing, forgery, defilement, rape and murder, disciplinary cases which, by the provisions of military law, could not be tried summarily. Now, the nation—and the Shiites—wait to see what would be done to the soldiers who fired the shots that killed more than 30 peaceful demonstrators, and the commander who reportedly personally killed Mallam Zakzaky’s children. In all this, whose biddings were the soldiers doing? We all know that in all operations, soldiers must understand and adhere to their rules of engagement. First, they have to be called in to quell civil unrest, only when the police confirm in writing that they have indeed failed. And only the president can authorise the use of the military, whenever and wherever it is deployed, and no matter how small the unit. And only after the approval of the president can troops move in—and they must do so with a representative of civil authority the police, a photographer and a diarist to record every aspect of the proceedings. In addition, the military is under obligation to provide medical facilities to attend to the injured. And even at this stage, they must issue warnings and explore all avenues of solving the crisis without resort to arms. But if, finally, they are forced to have to use arms, then they must not shoot to kill; that is, there will be no targeting of the head or any of the body’s vital organs. And after all this, there must be a board of inquiry that will seek to establish what exactly caused the crisis; whether the president has authorised the use of the military force; whether soldiers have obeyed orders given to them, and acted in accordance with their rules of engagement; whether they have accounted for everything given to them; and whether anyone is guilty of criminal negligence? The answers will determine whether there will be a summary trial or a court martial. But all this theoretical background would become an issue only if there was a threat to order; but, in the circumstance of this demonstration, there was none, except perhaps in the afore-discredited declaration of the Director of Defence Information, Major-General Chris Olukolade, who said the Shiites opened fire on the soldiers, a statement that should be given no more credence than the earlier claim by the military to have rescued the girls of Chibok. Like these girls have been forgotten, they are hoping that this also will be. But it is not so much forgetfulness as it is fear. A climate of fear and silence has seized the leadership of the Muslims such that not so much as a whimper could be uttered by, or heard from, the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs or the Jama’atu Nasril Islam, even though it is Muslims who are unjustly gunned down in broad daylight and in cold blood. And whatever happens—whether these people speak up or keep mute—a full inquiry must be instituted into the circumstances that led to this tragedy. Just because they have frightened everyone into silence by creating Boko Haram doesn’t mean that they can just kill Muslims—or anyone for that matter—and think they can escape the consequences of their actions. No, this must be the last time that anyone can do this in this country. The end of impunity must come—and it has. Condolences to Mallam Ibrahim al-Zakzaky and members of the Islamic movement; and, especially, to Mallama Zeenat, the brave mother who lost three children all at the same time, all on the same day, in such tragic circumstances—and in cold blood. Where are the words to console this woman, with a heart so full of the pain and anguish only a mother could feel, lightened only by such expectations as only a believer could nurse. Her only consolation lies in the fact that her children fell—ever mightily so wronged—in the great battle between Islam and Zionism—and in full obedience to the directive of their Imam [qss]. May their souls, along with all the others, rest in perfect peace.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 10:43:00 +0000
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