In the interest of free speech, this is the English translation of bin Laden’s statement which was released by Al-Jazeera network on the 27th of December, 2001, but never reported by the mainstream media. Care has been taken to preserve the original meaning while not translating Arabic idiom word-for-word. This is a link to his previous statement.
Usama bin Laden started off with a traditional prayer before a speech:
“Surely, all praise is for Allah; we praise Him and ask Him for help and forgiveness; and ask His protection from the mischief of our souls and the bad results of our deeds (figuratively, to ward off sin, both in intention and deed); whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide; and whom He declares misguided, none can guide to the right path; and I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah — He is Alone, without partner.
After the passage of three months since the blessed attacks on world-wide evil — against the head of evil, America; and approximately two months since the ferocious Crusader attack on Islam, it is our pleasure to go into the details of what these events denote.
These events have clarified a great number of important matters for Muslims. It has become crystal clear that the West in general, and the U.S. in particular, harbour an implacable Crusader hatred against Islam. It is impossible to describe the depth of this grudge. And those who have lived these months under the attacks of various types of U.S. warplanes know this fact as a self-evident truth.
How many villages have been wiped out for no sin of theirs? How many — if we start counting — how many millions have been turned out into the severe cold. These are the weak and oppressed from among men, women and children (reference to Quranic phrase 4:75) who are today seeking refuge in tents in Pakistan. They did not do any wrong. Just a suspicion — and America attacked them so ferociously!
Even if the U.S. had incontrovertible evidence that the perpetrators of this act were Europeans — for example, the IRA — they would have found many avenues to solve the issue. But, when even a suspicion points at the Islamic world, the true ugly face of America is revealed, and the Crusader hatred of the Islamic world comes out into the open.
In the course of this statement, I will like to present the facts of the conflict between us and America, for not only is it very important and consequential for Muslims, it affects the whole world. America has no proof of what it accuses this emigrant group that strives in the way of Allah (referring to al-Qaida), but rather, it relies on oppression, injustice and aggression.
The history of Arab mujahideen (in Afghanistan), by the grace of God, is clearly written on a snow-white sheet. They set out 20 years ago in the face of the Soviet Union’s real and culpable terrorism against these children and other innocent civilians of Afghanistan. These Arab mujahids left their work, their schools, their families and friends — all for seeking the pleasure of Allah, and in support of the faith, and moreover, to help the weak and oppressed progeny of Muslims.
It does not make sense that those who set out to protect the weak and the oppressed would now start killing innocents — as they are being blamed. It is recorded in American history that they helped all those who fought against Russia. And then, when Allah gave Arab mujahids the opportunity to help the weak and oppressed of Palestine — the same innocent children — American flew into a rage and turned around its obsession on all those who fought in Afghanistan.
What is happening in Palestine today is clear to all and is a point of the greatest consensus among all humanity since the prophet Adam. It is human nature to conflict and disagree on many matters, but there are some instinctive issues that God Almighty has preserved from disagreement (except of course for those who have led their souls astray and continue pushing the envelope of injustice and aggression). One of these things that all humans agree on is that they do not kill innocent children.
What has happened in Palestine, and what is going on in Palestine today is the deliberate murder of children. This is utterly revolting, unjust and oppressive and threatens all humanity.
And through the ages, history rarely finds the deliberate killing of children. One such instance was during the reign of Pharaoh, and God Almighty was benevolent to the Israelites in that situation and saved them from Pharaoh. As the Quran says, (2:49) And remember the time when WE delivered you from Pharaoh’s people who afflicted you with grievous torment, slaying your sons and sparing your women. Thus, the slaughter of children is well-known to be the height of injustice, evil and aggression of Pharaoh, but these same Israelites now use the same style against our sons in Palestine and the whole world watched Israeli troops kill Muhammad al-Durra and many others like him.
The whole world — east and west and despite the differences of religions — unanimously condemned this act. But America, under the influence of its obsession, continues to aid and abet this injustice — these attackers of our sons in Palestine. Almighty God clarifies that matter thus — when a person rebels and attacks and reaches the limit where he takes a life without justification, it is a hideous act, but even more revolting is him that kills innocent children. Allah says, (5:32) that whosoever killed a person – unless it be for killing a person or for creating disorder in the land – it shall be as if he killed all mankind; and whoso saved a life, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind.
Thus, Israel — and behind it, America — killed all the children of the world. And who is to stop Israel from the murder of our sons tomorrow in Tabook or in Jauf or in the surrounding areas of Palestine? And what will the rulers do if Israel starts to expand its unfair, unjust and false settlements — which the leaders do declare as such — beyond its currently known boundaries, and says, ‘Our borders extend to Medina’? What will the rulers do but yield and succumb to the American Zionist lobby.
And as always, rational people awaken and realize that what happened to Muhammad al-Durra will happen to their own sons and women tomorrow — and there is no power and force except from Allah.
Thus, the grave fact is this vicious terrorism that America practices, and which showed its most revolting form in Palestine and in Iraq. Bush the Father is the ill-fated man who was the cause of the deaths of over a million Iraqi children, not counting other men and women also killed.
The events of September 11 are but a reaction to the continuous injustice and oppression being practised against our sons in Palestine, Iraq, Somalia, Southern Sudan and in other places like Kashmir and Assam. It is incumbent on the whole Islamic nation (ummah) to awaken people from their sleep and rush to devise a solution to this disastrous problem that faces mankind today.
Those who condemned these operations looked at them in isolation and failed to connect them to past events, and did not look at the causes that produced this result. And some did look at them, but did not analyze and approach it from a legal and rational perspective — they saw America and the media criticizing these events, and they stood up with them in criticism.
Their example is like the story of the wolf that saw a newborn lamb, ‘are you the one who dirtied the water last year?’. The lamb replies,’it was not me.’ ‘It WAS you’, the wolf said. The lamb replied, ‘I was only born this year.’ The wolf said, ‘it must have been your mother,’ and ate the lamb! And what could the poor mother do, when she saw her son between the teeth of the wolf, but in the passion of motherhood, butted the wolf. The wolf was not much affected, and shouted out,”look at this terrorist!” The parrots joined in, repeating what the wolf said, and saying, ‘we say the ewe butt the wolf.’ Where were you when the wolf ate the son of this sheep?
These blessed and successful strikes are but in reaction to what happened in our lands — in Palestine, and in Iraq, and in other places. America is continuing these policies with the arrival of George Bush the Son, who started off his administration with a round of violent blitzes on Iraq, and also subscribes to the same policies of injustice and oppression, and Muslim blood is cheap for him.
This response was with the grace of Allah Almighty. These laudable strikes are a great testament to the point that they have made so clear — that although America is an arrogannt and haughty power – the Habl of the Age — based on great economic strength, it is very fragile and that is what will hurried its fall.
Those that carried out this action were not nineteen Arab countries — no armies were mobilized — nor were these the government departments of Arab countries that like submission and the injustice against us in Palestine and in other areas — they were but 19 post-secondary students (may Allah accept their sacrifice). They shook the throne of American power and hit the American economy in the centre of its heart and penetrated to the heart of the greatest military force on earth. All with the grace of Allah Almighty.
Another clear testament: the blow was against the global interest-based economy that America supports with its military force — that it uses to impose kufr(here used in the sense of evil, atheism and disbelief and immorality) and humiliation on weaker nations — that will accelerate its fall. These blessed hits have inflicted on America, by their own admission, in the markets of New York and elsewhere , a loss of upwards of a trillion dollars, by the grace of Allah Almighty. It was brought out by a simple streak of possibilities — using the enemy’s planes and studying in the enemy’s schools — they did not need any ‘training camps’. Allah asserted Himself on them, and taught a hard lesson to these arrogant nations who do not know the meaning of ‘freedom’ unless it applies to the white race. And other nations see that they have reached submissiveness and slavery, yet they do not move a finger, but rather applaud, through their leaders, whenever we are attacked — just as it happened in Iraq.
I say, the American military, and its recent show-of-force in Afghanistan — where it poured its extreme anger on these weak and oppressed people — has made us great and important lessons in the methods of resistance against this arrogant force, by the Grace of Allah Almighty .
For example, if the front line with the enemy is 100 kilometres lont, it should also be deep. Do not be satisfied with a depth of 100, 200 or even 300 metres. This depth should be many kilometres and dig trenches along the length and the breadth. In this way, the bulk of the American bombardment is consumes before it arrives at the other limit of the frontline. Deploy light and fast forces in these areas, so that they can move from line to line from from one bunker to another.
We learnt this after the dense American bombardment in the front lines of the north and of Kabul. By using such methods, years will pass and America will not be able to, with the permission of Almighty Allah, to break the front lines of the mujahideen.
On the other hand, as is well-known, war cannot escape from the two basic constituent elements: the lives of the soldiers and the money to buy weapons. This is emphasized in the Book of Allah Almighty. There are many verses in the Quran with this meaning, among them: (9:111) Surely Allah has bought of the believers their persons and their property for this, that they shall have the garden;
With money and lives; though the gap between us and the American military establishment is very wide and our weapons do not reach their warplanes — one possibility is the use of these wide defensive lines to absorb the aristrikes. The other way is to strike at the economic base that forms the foundation of the military establishment. When their financial reserves run out, they will be bickering among themselves and refrain from the enslavement of weak nations.
I say, it is very important to concentrate on striking the American economy by every possible means. We have seen here, with our own eyes, the true crimes of those who preach ‘humanity’ and ‘freedom’. A sliver (of munitions) is more than enough to kill a man — a sliver weighing 7 grams is more than enough! America, out of its hatred for the Taliban here and Muslims at large, rained down on our brothers on the front lines bombs weighing 7 tons each. Go and calculate — it is 7,000 kilos which is 7 million grams between them — and 7 grams is more than enough for a man.
And when the youths in Nairobi (we beseech Allah to accept their martyrdom) exploded a bomb weighing less than 2 tons, America declared it a terrorist strike. And when America uses these weapons of mass-destruction — bombs each of them weighing more than 7 million grams, there is no harm in it!
And the Secretary of Defense says, after they attacked whole villages without a cause, ‘it is to save people from terrorism and to make them afraid of being hosts to the Arabs or even to approach them; and the Defense Secretary said, ‘it is our right to do so.’ Is it their right that they exterminate nations that do not submit or are not American? These are exactly the clear crimes (of which we accuse them). And whatever they say about ‘mistakes’ is clear and self-evident lying.
A few days ago, by their own claim, they attacked ‘Al-Qaida locations’ in Khost and directed a precision bomb at a mosque, and then said, ‘it happened by mistake.’ After investigating, it was clear that Islamic scholars of Khost were offering the nightly prayer of Ramadan, and they held a post-prayer meeting with the champion Mujahid, Shaykh Jalaluddin Haqqani, one of the most prominent leaders of the jihad against the Soviet Union — and one of those who condemn this American occupation of the land of Afghanistan. They hit the mosque and the praying Muslims and killed 150 of them. There is no power and no force except Allah. The Shaykh was all right, and we beseech Allah to bless him in his life.
This is the hatred and grudge of the Crusaders. They keep repeating the same things outside of their context and say that ‘we are after the terrorists.’ Our terrorism against America is a praiseworthy terrorism — to repel the injustice of the oppressor — so that America withdraws from its support of Israel who kills our sons. The matter is so clear, why do you not understand?
The leaders of America and the West repeatedly declare Hamas, Al-Jihad in Palestine and other such militias, and elsewhere, to be terrorist organizations. If self-defence is terrorism, then what IS legal? Our self-defence is no different from theirs, and our battle is not different from the battle of our brothers in Palestine like Hamas. We fight for the sake of the Muslim creed, ‘there is no God but Allah’, and that the word of Allah is supreme (9:40)and the word of the disbelievers is abased — and so that we can lift off the injustice on the weak and oppressed in Palestine and elsewhere.
The matter is very clear – and it does not behoove a rational Muslim to sit on the fence (idiomatic) under the guise that ‘it is one of many interpretations of the situation.’ This is the most dangerous, severe and freocious of the Crusades waged against Islam. With the permission of Allah, the end of America is near, and its end is not contingent on the existence of this poor slave (of God). Even if Usama is killed or he lives, by the grace of Allah the awakening has begun and this is one of the fruits of these operations. We beseech Almighty Allah to accept the youths as martyrs and bring them to the company of the prophets and the truthful and the martyrs and the good, and the best of company are they!(4:69)
These are the youth who carried out a very great operation — a gracious operation — may Allah reward them with the best of rewards and we beseech Allah that He make it resource (of peace, tranquility and success) for their fathers and mothers. They have caused the heads of the Muslims to be raised high and have taught America a lesson that it will not forget, if Allah Almighty wills.
I did warn, in a previous interview with ABC TV Channel that America has picked a fight with the sons of the Two Holy Places and it will forget the woes of Vietnam. And this happened by the grace of Allah Almighty, and what is yet hidden will be even greater, by His permission.
From the lands of the Two Holy Places emerged fifteen youth — we beseech Allah to accept them as martyrs. From the land of faith — the greatest treasure of Muslims — where faith sprouted and was perfected by our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) as he went towards Medina. (They came out) as a cobra from its burrow. And also, two came out from the East of the Arabian peninsula — from the Emirates — and another from Shaam (Syria-Lebanon) – Ziyad Al-Jarrah – we beseech Allah to accept him among the martyrs. And the last emerged from the land of Canaan — from Egypt — Muhammad Ataa. We beseech Allah to accept them all as martyrs.
They, in their management of this operation, gave out great testaments — immense indications — and made it very clear that it was this faith in their hearts that made them execute many requirements and inspired them to the cause of (the Muslim creed) — ‘there is no god but Allah’. They opened the floodgate towards
good and truth. Those that say that these sacrificial martyrdom operations are not warranted are those that find their voices from the media and all they do is repeat the desired words of tyranny, the desires of America and the clients of America.
Each day, the nation of 1200 million Muslims, from the East to the West, experiences slaughter — in Palestine and in Iraq and in Somalia and in Southern Sudan and in Kashmir and in the Philippines and in Bosnia and in Chechnya and in Assam — and we do not hear a sound. And when the victim stands up — when the oppressed stands up and presents himself for the sake of his faith, they raise their voices. They do not feel the slaughter of 1.2 billion Muslims and when a man stands up to defend them, they start repeating the desired phrases of the tyrants, do slaughters no feeling to them then if a man stands so that he defends these, these stand that repeat what the tyrants demand — they have no intelligence and no law.
There is a clear indication in the story of the boy, the king, a magician and a monk — of giving priority to faith (‘there is no god but Allah’) over one’s life. Now, there is another meaning — this help should not be only interpreted as the obvious success that is on everyone’s mind these days, but rather the support of the underlying principles.
The people of Ukhdood (the Pit), whom Allah Almighty has mentioned — and immortalized in the Quran 85:4-11 by praising them — becaused they persevered in their faith. They were forced to choose between faith and being thrown into a pit of fire, and they refused to disbelieve in Allah Almighty and were put into the fire. Towards the end of the story — the story of the boy — when the unjust king ordered that they be thrown into the Pit of Fire, a weak mother came
carrying a baby. When she saw the fire, she feared for her son and became hesitant. It was then that the baby boy said (as the Prophet, peace be on him, relates), ‘be steadfast, Mother – for you are right’.
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