[wvns] Aafia Tossed from Courtroom

THE PEACE AND JUSTICE FOUNDATION

URGENT ALERT!


Assalaamu Alaikum (Greetings of Peace):

Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend today's court proceedings involving our sister, Aafia Siddiqui, due to an unexpected family emergency. For however many days I am compelled to be absent from these kangaroo proceedings, due to circumstances beyond my control, I intend to stay connected, insha'Allah.

What I witnessed in yesterday's proceeding was a TRAVESTY! Midway into the morning's proceedings Aafia was removed from the courtroom due to her inability to remain quiet while being assaulted from the witness stand, by what she asserts are a battery of "lies." The sister is not trusting of these proceedings, nor anyone connected to them; and this is understandable given all that she has already been forced to endure.

Yesterday's real travesty, however, centered around the physical manipulation of the courtroom itself, and the shameful treatment accorded certain media representatives (esp. foreign media) who were denied the usual protocol normally afforded media personnel; simply because they failed to secure a special media pass during the pretrial hearings - a requirement they had no knowledge of.

Another appalling manipulation at yesterday's proceeding revolved around TWO OVERFLOW COURTROOMS PACKED WITH AAFIA SUPPORTERS and non-favored media reps (esp. Pakistani journalists), while EMPTY SEATS REMAINED IN THE MAIN COURTROOM! I was in one of the overflow courtrooms in the morning, and in the main courtroom in the afternoon. I noted that in the main courtroom the whole left side of the room had rows of empty seats marked "reserved," while folks outside the door were still being directed to one of the overflow courtrooms with the stated lie "There's no room left!" (More on why I believe this is being done, later.)

What follows are five reports generated from the first day of the trial. The captions (alone) from the first two reports graphically reveal how difficult it will be for Aafia to receive a fair trial in this federal court house. It also underscores why a CONTINUAL MASS PRESENCE OF SUPPORT is so important as a mechanism for helping to counter-produce positive pressure!

Before closing, I urge you to take a moment to reflect, to really reflect, over the photographs below (because a picture does often speak louder than a thousand words). The first photograph I believe was taken of Aafia BEFORE her tortuous ordeal in Afghanistan; the second, AFTER. And the final picture below is a photo of Aafia (and her son) on the day that she was mysteriously released from Bagram and then re-arrested.

After you've read and reflected over these information briefs, ask yourself (and be honest): 'What can I do, what should I DO, to help make a difference!

In the struggle for peace thru justice
(Aluta Continua)

El-Hajj Mauri' Saalakhan
(1/20/10)

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Aafia Siddiqui, Accused Terrorist, Tossed from Courtroom
January 19, 2010
source: http://www.dnainfo.com/20100119/manhattan/aafia-siddiqui-accused-terrorist-tossed-from-courtroom

Accused terrorist Aafia Siddiqui is charged with attempted murder and armed assault. (AP Photo/FBI, file)
By Nicole Bode and Mariel S. Clark
DNAinfo Reporter/Producers

MANHATTAN FEDERAL COURT — A female neuroscientist accused of terrorism and a wild shootout with U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan was tossed from a federal courtroom Tuesday after she interrupted a witness during opening arguments.

"Give me a little credit. This is no list of targets against New York," Aafia Siddiqui, 37, yelled to the courtroom. "I never was planning to bomb it. You are lying."

Siddiqui, who was educated at MIT, is charged with seven felony counts, including attempted murder and armed assault, after prosecutors said she tried to shoot a group of soldiers and federal agents in Afghanistan. Authorities had detained her after she was allegedly found with documents referencing "mass casualty attacks" against U.S. and New York City targets.

For the first part of opening statements Tuesday, Siddiqui, wearing a cream-colored hijaab, kept her head down on a table in the crowded courtroom.

But when U.S. Army Capt. Robert Snyder, a witness for the prosecution, testified, she broke into a non-sensical monologue.

"Since I'll never get a chance to speak, if you are at a secret prison where children were tortured…given a magazine to copy from," Siddiqui said.

Judge Richard Berman ordered Siddiqui be removed from the courtroom.
Siddiqui was allegedly found in Afghanistan in July 2008, with documents in many languages, including English, which referred to "mass casualty attacks" against New York City targets including the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street and Brooklyn Bridge, according to U.S. Attorneys.

She also carried diagrams of the supposed targets, descriptions of chemical and biological weapons and a vial of chemicals, prosecutors said.

"On the document it says, 'Dirty bombs. Need 30 ounces of radioactive material. Wrap cobalt 60 around a bomb. Shower a city. Deadly fallout," Capt. Snyder testified Tuesday.

After authorities discovered the documents, Siddiqui was taken to a military headquarters in Afghanistan to be questioned, according to prosecutors. She was held in an office, which was separated by a curtain. When the group of soldiers and federal agents arrived to question her they did not realize she was on the other side of the curtain, and one soldier set his M-4 assault rifle on the floor, prosecutors said.

Siddiqui allegedly grabbed the rifle and pointed it at the group firing twice, according to prosecutors. The officer who initially set down his rifle grabbed his 9mm pistol and shot Siddiqui in the abdomen, prosecutors said.

"As she struggled, the defendant shouted, 'I hate Americans. You will die by my blood.' And, 'I hate America,' " said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenna Dabbs.

Siddiqui's defense attorney Charles Swift argued there were "divergent versions of the story" from the dozen people in the headquarters room.

"This case is going to come down to a single question, 'Does the evidence prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Aafia Siddiqui gained control of an assault rifle and fired?'" Swift said.

Swift argued there were plenty of 9mm cartridges in the room but none from the M-4 rifle Siddiqui allegedly shot.

Prosecutors did not recover Siddiqui's prints from the rifle.

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Aafia Siddiqui, aka 'Lady Al Qaeda,' thrown out of court after ranting at jurors again
BY Alison Gendar and Larry Mcshane
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Tuesday, January 19th 2010
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/01/19/2010-01-19_aafia_.html

Mug shot of Aafia Siddiqui that was used by the government during the jury selection process.

The M-4 rifle that Aafia Siddiqui is accused of grabbing and firing at the American team sent to Afghaniztan to interview her.
The erratic terror suspect dubbed "Lady Al Qaeda" was tossed from her own trial Tuesday after a courtroom rant declaring she never plotted to blow up New York landmarks.

Aafia Siddiqui's diatribe came as a U.S. Army captain described the savage look on her face when she opened fire on a roomful of military personnel in Afghanistan.

"She was very determined, very agitated," Capt. Robert Snyder testified. "It was clear in my mind what her intent was. A vision of hatred ... shooting at us. Shooting at me."

Siddiqui, 37, interrupted Snyder to declare her innocence "since I'll never get a chance to speak."

Although she was arrested carrying a list of potential terror targets including the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, Siddiqui insisted she was not planning any attacks.

"Give me a little credit, this is not a list of targets of New York," she said. "I was never planning to bomb it. You're lying."

The outburst, in front of a Manhattan Federal Court jury, led Judge Richard Berman to order Siddiqui's removal by court officers about 11:15 a.m.

The MIT-educated neuroscientist watched the rest of her trial's first day via closed-circuit television.

Siddiqui is charged with attempted murder for grabbing an M-4 Army rifle left carelessly on the floor of an Afghan police station.

Siddiqui screamed something about "blood on the soldiers' hands, or heads, and it was pure chaos" when she started firing on July 18, 2008, Snyder said.

Snyder testified the Special Forces officer whose rifle was stolen wound up shooting Siddiqui. The wounded woman continued fighting, screaming, "I hate Americans! Death to America!"

The officer who lost his weapon later angled for a Silver Star - awarded for gallantry in action, Snyder testified. But the disgusted captain refused to back the move.

"Absolutely not," Snyder said.

agendar@nydailynews.com

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Neuroscientist tells NY trial held in secret prison
Edith Honan
Tue, Jan 19, 2010
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60I4PZ20100119

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S.-trained Pakistani neuroscientist charged with shooting at her U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan yelled at jurors during the first day of her trial in New York on Tuesday, saying she had been held in a secret prison.

Aafia Siddiqui, 37, had to be led out of the courtroom after disrupting the testimony of one of the witnesses.

She is charged with grabbing a U.S. warrant officer's rifle while she was detained for questioning in July in Afghanistan's Ghazni province and firing it at FBI agents and military personnel.

None of them were injured but Siddiqui, who the U.S. government has accused of links with al Qaeda, was shot. She is charged with attempted murder, assault and other crimes and faces life in prison if convicted.

The U.S. government has previously linked Siddiqui to al Qaeda but the charges against her do not mention the group and prosecutors did not mention terrorism or al Qaeda during opening statements.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenna Dabbs told jurors Siddiqui was taken into custody by Afghan police in July because she was carrying containers of unidentified chemicals and notes referring to mass-casualty attacks and New York landmarks such as the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Siddiqui, who is charged only with the shooting incident, wore a white veil and sat slumped with her head in her arms throughout most of the proceeding in federal court. She interrupted and suggested that she had been "given magazines to copy" to write the notes.

"Since I'll never get a chance to speak, if you were in a secret prison ... where children were tortured," Siddiqui yelled before being led from the courtroom. "This is no list of targets against New York. I was never planning to bomb it."

Human rights groups and previous lawyers for Siddiqui have said she may have been secretly held at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan during the time leading up to the shooting incident, when her whereabouts were unknown.

Family members in Pakistan have said they believe Siddiqui, who lived in the United States between 1991 and 2002, was raped and tortured at Bagram. But there was no mention of secret prisons by Siddiqui's defense lawyers on Tuesday.

After Siddiqui's arrest by Afghan police, U.S. soldiers were called in to question her. They were taken into a room that was partitioned by a heavy curtain and were unaware she also was in the room, Dabbs said.

Dabbs said Siddiqui grabbed a rifle when it was put down on the floor by a U.S. warrant officer.

As an interpreter for the U.S. military tackled Siddiqui and sought to restrain her, she called out, "You will die by my blood" and "death to America," Dabbs told the court.

In the defense's opening statement, attorney Charles Swift offered a different version of events, saying the only bullets and gun residue found on the scene came from the shots fired at Siddiqui and that she had never open fire.

The trial is expected to last several weeks.

(Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by Michelle Nichols and Bill Trott)

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Outburst From Defendant in Afghan Shooting Trial
By C. J. HUGHES
January 19, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/nyregion/20siddiqui.html

A Pakistani neuroscientist facing trial on charges that she tried to kill military officers and F.B.I. agents in Afghanistan erupted in a Manhattan courtroom and accused a witness of lying on Tuesday, as testimony began in her federal trial.

The neuroscientist, Aafia Siddiqui, 37, was ushered out of the courtroom after her outburst, in which she also said that she had been locked in a secret prison since her arrest. She is charged with shooting at Army officers and F.B.I. agents while being detained in Afghanistan in July 2008.

Ms. Siddiqui, who is said by intelligence officers to have ties to Al Qaeda, was taken into custody in the city of Ghazni after she was found loitering outside a provincial governor's compound with suspicious items in her handbag, including a book called "Anarchist Arsenal," according to an indictment.

Her remarks on Tuesday came within minutes after the first witness, Capt. Robert Snyder Jr. of the Army, was called to the stand in Federal District Court. He said Ms. Siddiqui's purse contained handwritten notes about a "few ounces of radiation material" and a list of New York landmarks — the Empire State Building, Wall Street,

the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty.

"I was never planning to bomb it!" Ms. Siddiqui shouted before being led away, her voice piercing the hushed courtroom. "You're lying!"

While she was being detained, prosecutors say, Ms. Siddiqui, who has biology and neuroscience degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University, grabbed an M4 rifle that an interpreter had left leaning against a wall and fired at least two shots toward the agents and officers who were there to question her.
No one was hit, and a soldier returned fire, hitting Ms. Siddiqui in the torso. She has recovered from that wound.

During the shooting, Ms. Siddiqui "looked determined, very agitated, maybe a bit tired," Captain Snyder said in response to questions from David Rody, a prosecutor. And the look on her face, Captain Snyder said, was "a vision of hatred."

But defense lawyers said there was so much confusion that night in the room where she was being questioned that it was hard to tell for sure what took place.

"What we expect to show is that there are very different versions of this story," said Charles Swift, a defense lawyer, in his opening arguments. The items from Ms. Siddiqui's purse were not credible as evidence, defense lawyers suggested, because they were sloppily handled.

Another prosecution witness, John Threadcraft, said under cross-examination, "I would say at least three people touched the items," which were later left unattended in a truck.

Mr. Threadcraft, who was then a liaison officer with the Army, testified that the contents included papers with words like "dirty bomb," "bioweapons" and "Ebola." "I remember something that looked like a fuse, a cigarette on a cord," he said.

Ms. Siddiqui has had several outbursts in previous court appearances, raising questions about her competency to stand trial. But the judge presiding over her case, Richard M. Berman, ruled in July that Ms. Siddiqui "has a rational as well as a factual understanding of the proceedings against her" and could assist with her defense.

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Suspect in Afghanistan Shooting Is Removed From N.Y. Courtroom After Outburst
Mark Hamblett
New York Law Journal
January 20, 2010

For more than a year, Southern District of New York Judge Richard Berman has walked a fine line between maintaining order and allowing Aafia Siddiqui to stay in the courtroom despite her repeated outbursts -- even though prosecutors and her own lawyers wanted her excluded.

Tuesday morning, however, Berman ordered the Pakistani-born Siddiqui removed after she rose and shouted, "You're lying!" at the government's first witness in her trial for allegedly grabbing a rifle and attempting to shoot U.S. military and FBI agents in an Afghani police compound in 2008.

Siddiqui loudly challenged the legitimacy of the court throughout extended pretrial proceedings over her competency to stand trial, her attempts to fire her lawyers and her vows to boycott the trial.

Minutes before a jury was to hear opening statements Tuesday, Berman once again asked Siddiqui to choose between being present in the courtroom or being taken to an adjoining cell to watch her own trial on television.

The judge asked Siddiqui if she understood she had a right to be present.

The 37-year-old graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wearing a white head scarf that obscured all but her eyes, answered, "There's a difference between a right and being forced, and I am being forced."

Later, when Berman asked, "Do you understand you do not have the right to disrupt these proceedings by speaking out of turn?" Siddiqui replied, "I never get a turn."

Berman's problem is that Siddiqui has never signed a complete waiver of her right to appear at trial prepared by a legal team with whom she refuses to cooperate -- Dawn M. Cardi, Linda Moreno, Elaine Whitfield Sharp and Charles D. Swift.

Cardi of Dawn M. Cardi & Associates is appointed counsel. The other attorneys -- Moreno, a solo practitioner; Sharp of Whitfield Sharp & Sharp in Marblehead, Mass.; and Swift of Swift & McDonald in Seattle, Wash. -- are being compensated by the Pakistani government.

Berman is no stranger to dealing with courtroom outbursts and the need to calm litigants to keep proceedings moving forward. He spent the four years before his elevation to the federal bench in 1998 serving as a Family Court judge in Queens.

But Siddiqui has presented an altogether tougher challenge, as she has exhibited bizarre behavior during pretrial hearings -- going off on extended rants about her treatment.

Although Berman ruled she was competent to stand trial in 2009, last week he had her removed from a pretrial hearing because she would not stop disrupting the proceedings.

Before the trial began Tuesday, Siddiqui turned to the audience and said, "I have information about 30" terror attacks pending against the United States. "Don't take this lightly, they are a domestic terror group," she said. "They are not Muslims."

She then added that she would only speak to the U.S. president, because "I can't deal with agencies."

Following Berman's attempt to obtain a waiver from Siddiqui, she again turned to the audience and said, "I am not anti-Semitic" but the "United States is being used as a tool" to fight wars for others, including "India and Israel."

At this point, Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Rody, who is prosecuting the case with Jenna M. Dabbs and Christopher L. LaVigne, rose and said emphatically, "Your honor, she should be excluded right away."

"Got it," Berman said, forging ahead. "I get the point. I get the picture. I don't see a problem."

The jury was then brought into the room to hear opening statements, and but for some brief mumbling that Berman waved to a halt, Siddiqui listened to the statements slumped over the defense table, her head resting over folded arms.

ALLEGED ASSAULT

Dabbs, one of the prosecutors, described how Siddiqui was arrested by Afghan police on July 17, 2008, in possession of documents referring to attacks and explosives, including a note referencing "mass casualties," recipes for chemical explosives, some chemicals and a list of New York targets, including the Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building.

The next day, a U.S. Army captain, a special forces chief warrant officer, an Army medic, two FBI agents and two translators climbed the stairs to a second-floor room in the police compound to question Siddiqui.

The 14-by-26-foot room was divided by a yellow curtain. According to Dabbs, one of the military personnel (later testimony indicated it was the chief warrant officer) sat down at a table near the curtain and placed his M-4 rifle on the ground.

Dabbs said the group was unaware Siddiqui was behind the curtain. She said Siddiqui allegedly picked up the weapon, "said something about blood being on the soldiers' hands or head" and set off chaos as she fired the weapon twice.

"The chief warrant office grabbed a 9-millimeter pistol and returned fire," hitting Siddiqui in the abdomen, Dabbs said. One of the interpreters then moved in to subdue Siddiqui.

Although wounded, Siddiqui allegedly continued to struggle, shouting at the officers, "I hate Americans! You will die by my blood! Death to Americans!"

Siddiqui faces up to 20 years in prison on the top counts in the indictment charging her with two counts of attempted murder, three counts of assaulting U.S. officers and employees, and single counts of armed assault and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
Swift, one of the defense attorneys, took the jury through a slide show during his opening statement, showing them diagrams and pictures of the room where the alleged assault occurred.

He said the defense would present testimony, possibly by deposition, of an Afghani police detective who, before the Americans came, both joked with Siddiqui and "beat her with his cane."

The detective, he said, would dispute that the Americans were unaware of Siddiqui's presence behind the curtain and would tell the jury that the warrant officer actually walked through the curtain. The detective will testify that he heard a struggle and shots fired from behind the curtain but he never saw the defendant fire shots, the defense attorney said.

Swift argued that, while investigators recovered a 9-millimeter cartridge from the room, no bullet fragments were recovered from the M-4 rifle.

"You will have ample evidence the 9-millimeter pistol was fired," Swift said. "When it comes to M-4, you're not going to have any physical evidence it was fired."

U.S. Army Captain Robert L. Snyder was the first witness for the prosecution.

As Snyder described the materials Siddiqui was carrying when arrested, she jumped up and shouted that she was never planning a bombing, that she was not carrying a list of terror targets and that she had been held in a secret prison.

"You're lying!" she shouted at the captain.

Berman had had enough. He ordered Siddiqui taken from the room and then denied the defense's request for a mistrial. Siddiqui remained out of the courtroom for the rest of the day's proceedings.

Following her removal, Snyder told the jury that he was shocked to find himself staring down the barrel of the rifle being held by Siddiqui. He described the chaos that followed as she was shot and the rifle was removed from her hands.

Snyder said the diminutive Siddiqui struggled mightily -- kicking and biting -- as he and other personnel carried her down a narrow flight of stairs and outdoors to a stretcher and a military vehicle.

source: http://www.law.com

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To My Muslim Brothers: After what you've just read (above), this final piece of thought-provoking commentary should resonate deeply for those of us who have even a spark of izza still remaining in our hearts! - MS

Who will free Aafia Siddiqui?
Sunday, 17 January 2010
Abdul-Kareem

Aafia and her 12 year old son Ahmad, being questioned in front of the media by Afghan officials. Ghazni, Afghanistan, July 17th 2008

In March 2009 two female US Journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling were seized by North Korean border guards while reporting for California-based Current TV. They were subsequently tried and sentenced to 12 years in prison for "hostile acts" and illegal entry into North Korea. After their imprisonment America worked tirelessly to get the women released and in August 2009 dispatched former US President Bill Clinton to speak with North Korea's Kim Jong Il. The meeting was productive and the two women were later released.

In March 2003 a women was also seized and imprisoned. Her name was Aafia Siddiqui. Like the US Journalists she was a women, she studied and worked in America and her three children were American citizens. But unlike the US Journalists captured six years later she was a Muslim and she had no leader to take care of her affairs.

This is her story.

Dr Aafia Siddiqui was born in Karachi, Pakistan, on March 2, 1972. She was one of three children of Mohammad Siddiqui, a doctor trained in England, and Ismet. She is a mother of three and also a Hafiz-e-Quraan. Aafia and her three children were seized by Pakistani intelligence agents in March 2003 and handed over to the Americans in Afghanistan where she was imprisoned in Bagram and repeatedly raped, tortured and abused for years. A report in the Pakistani Urdu press at the time said that Aafia and her three children were seen being picked up by Pakistani authorities and taken into custody.

Moazzam Begg, and several other former captives of the Americans reported that a female prisoner, "prisoner 650", was held at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan. Yvonne Ridley of Cageprisoners.com wrote about "Prisoner 650" (Aafia) her ordeal of torture and repeatedly being raped for over four years.

"The cries of (this) helpless woman echoed (with such torment) in the jail that (it) prompted prisoners to go on hunger strike." Yvonne called her a "gray lady (because) she (was) almost a ghost, a spectre whose cries and screams continue to haunt those who heard her. This would never happen to a Western woman."

Both the Pakistan government as well as US officials in Washington denied any knowledge of Aafia's imprisonment until her plight was brought out in to the open and started to receive media attention. Trumped up allegations were then brought against her that she was involved in terrorism and a ludicrous claim that she managed to wrestle a gun off a US soldier and shoot at US officers.

On 4th August 2008, federal prosecutors in the US confirmed that Aafia Siddiqui was extradited to the US from Afghanistan where they allege she had been detained since mid-July 2008. The US administration claimed that she was arrested by Afghani forces outside Ghazni governor's compound with manuals on explosives and `dangerous substances in sealed jars' on her person. They further allege that whilst in custody she shot at US officers (none being injured) and was herself injured in the process.

On 7th August 2008 an article in the The News exposed some of the treatment Aafia had been subjected to whilst in American custody.

one of her kidneys had been removed
her teeth had been removed
her nose had been broken, and improperly reset
her recent gunshot wound had been incompetently dressed, was oozing blood, leaving her clothes soaked with blood.

An August 11, 2008, a Reuters report stated that she had appeared at her court hearing in a wheelchair, and that her lawyers pleaded with the judge to make sure she received medical care. Elizabeth Fink, one of her lawyers, told the Judge:

"She has been here, judge, for one week and she has not seen a doctor, even though they (U.S. authorities) know she has been shot."

Aafia's Lawyer Elizabeth Fink told a federal judge in New York that Aafia shows signs of having been imprisoned and treated inhumanely for a long period of time. According to documents described in court by Fink, Aafia told prison staff that she feared her son was being starved and tortured, and asked them to take food off her tray and send it to her son in Afghanistan.

Another of her lawyers, Elaine Whitfield Sharp, "We do know she was at Bagram for a long time. It was a long time. According to my client she was there for years and she was held in American custody; her treatment was horrendous."

Aafia remains in a US detention facility in New York, in poor health, subjected to degrading and humiliating strip searches and cavity searches whenever she receives a legal visit or appears in court. She has subsequently refused to meet with counsel. It has been reported that she may suffer from brain damage and that a part of her intestine may have been removed. Her lawyers say her symptoms are consistent with a sufferer of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The trial of Aafia Siddiqui will start this week.

In the absence of the Khilafah she along with every other Muslim in the world is effectively stateless and as prophesised by the Messenger Õáì Çááå Úáíå æÓáã we are like froth and scum that is carried down by a torrent of water.

"The People will soon summon one another to attack you as people when eating invite others to share their food." Someone asked, "Will that be because of our small numbers at that time?" He Õáì Çááå Úáíå æÓáã replied, "No, you will be numerous at that time: but you will be froth and scum like that carried down by a torrent (of water), and Allah will take the fear of you from the breasts (hearts) of your enemy and cast al-wahn into your hearts." Someone asked, "O Messenger of Allah, what is al-wahn?" He Õáì Çááå Úáíå æÓáã replied, "Love of the world and dislike of death." [Abu Dawud and Ahmad]

It's wahn that led the Pakistani authorities to kidnap and handover a Muslim women to the Americans even though the Messenger of Allah Õáì Çááå Úáíå æÓáã said, "A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim, so he should not oppress him, nor should he hand him over to an oppressor. [Bukhari]

It's wahn that prevented any ruler in the Muslim world lifting a finger to help protect the honour of a Muslim women and free not just Aafia but the thousands of Muslims incarcerated in Guantanamo, Bagram, and secret CIA detention centres even though the Messenger of Allah Õáì Çááå Úáíå æÓáã said: "Indeed it is obligatory upon the Muslims to free their captives or to pay their ransoms."

It's wahn that leads the rulers in the Muslim world to imprison, torture and abuse hundreds of thousands of sincere Muslims in their dungeons even though Hisham bin Hakeem said; "I bear witness that I heard the Messenger of Allah Õáì Çááå Úáíå æÓáã say; 'Allah will punish those who punish the people in the Dunya.'" [Muslim]

We must remember that we were not always stateless. When the Islamic State existed in the past the honour of Muslim women was protected and the Muslim prisoners were freed.

During the time of the Prophet Õáì Çááå Úáíå æÓáã a Jewish goldsmith of Banu Qaynuqa abused the honour of a Muslim woman by tying the edge of her garment causing her private parts to become uncovered. A Muslim man happened to be there and killed the man. The Jews then retaliated by killing that Muslim. The man's family called the Muslims for help and the Prophet Õáì Çááå Úáíå æÓáã sent an army against them and after a 15-day siege expelled the entire tribe from Madinah.

Imam ibn Athir records in `Kamil' the famous story of a Muslim woman who was captured by the Romans and held in a place named `Amuriyyah. Not content with only capturing her they tried to dishonour her as well. Frightened and alone she called out the name of the Khaleefah, "[Ya Mu'tasim] Oh Mu'tasim." A man witnessed this incident and rushed to the Khaleefah informing him of what had happened. When he heard the plight of this woman he responded bravely, "Labbaik [I am here at your call]." He prepared a large army and set off for battle and to rescue the woman. Mu'tasim's army conquered the enemy and entered `Amuriyyah. After destroying the enemy stronghold, they came to the woman and freed her.

Khaleefah Umar bin Abdul-Aziz sent a letter to the Muslim POWs in Constantinople. He told them:

"You consider yourselves to be POWS. You are not. You are locked in the cause of Allah. I would like you to know that whenever I give something to the Muslims I give more to your families and I am sending so and so with 5 dinars for each one of you and if it wasn't that I fear the Roman dictator would take it from you I would have sent more. I have also sent so-and-so to secure the release of every single one of you regardless of what the cost would be. So rejoice! Assalamu Alaykum."

Oh America and its allies!

Today you murder our men, women and children, torture and imprison us and steal our resources. But you must realise this is only a temporary situation. The Islamic revival is gathering pace and the wahn is slowly melting away through the interaction with the strong Islamic thoughts. You know this which is why you launched the war on terror and why you spend $billions occupying our lands.

When the victory of Allah ÓÈÍÇäå æÊÚÇáì arrives and the Muslim lands unite under one Khaleefah, be under no illusion that the Khilafah will utilise all its political, economic and military might to free the Muslim prisoners and protect the honour of our women.

By the soul in the body (al-nafs) and what has balanced it (given it form) and inspired [both] its licentiousness and its intimate sense of God (its piety). He who purifies it will certainly be happy and he who corrupts it will certainly be lost (crushed). Qur'an (Surah 91, Ayahs7-10)

Increase ourselves in the good and allowing it to penetrate into our hearts as we know, whatever is in the heart will eventually manifest upon the tongue and the limbs. And if the heart is corrupt then your deeds will be corrupt and if your heart is sound then your deeds will be sound.

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