In this series of articles, ICIT director Zafar Bangash offers his personal reflections on Hajj. These are not related to the performance of the manasik of Hajj but the Bani Saud’s mismanagement of this vital Islamic obligation.
At every step of the way in performing Hajj, Bani Saud incompetence is the greatest impediment. Despite their decades-long illegal occupation of the Haramayn, they do not seem to have learned anything. Perhaps, they do not care.
If a mishap happens—and this is a common occurrence during Hajj—the Bani Saud’s default reaction is to close the roads around the area. They do not tell bus drivers where to go, they simply cannot go forward. It creates unnecessary problems and adds to endless confusion.
Struggling for hotel accommodation in Makkah and then being checked out of it a full 15 hours before our departure from Jeddah was a deliberate fraud. The Saudi operators wanted to save an day’s hotel costs without caring for our comfort or well-being even though we had paid the full cost.
Donald Trump’s Beijing visit was a desperate attempt to seek Chinese help in salvaging America’s declining influence. He came away empty-handed and humiliated. It also signaled the end of US hegemony and the unipolar world order.
Dr Kalim Siddiqui was a strong supporter of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. He saw it as the first break Muslims had achieved in contemporary history after a long period of colonial subjugation. He urged Muslims to rise above their sectarian differences and support the Islamic Republic.
Trump is caught in a trap. Goaded into war against Iran by the indicted war criminal Netanyahu and falsely told that it would be over in a matter of days but it hasn’t. The US economy is tanking. Republicans will likely lose both houses of congress leading to Trump’s impeachment.
While the US-zionist-Arabian led war on Iran has failed militarily, it has inflicted immense suffering on ordinary civilians and destroyed much infrastructure in Iran. These constitute war crimes. The perpetrators must be held accountable for these crimes.
Before confronting the Crusaders who had occupied the Holy Land and Al-Quds, Salahuddin Ayubi had to defeat the Crusaders’ puppet Muslim rulers and unite others behind his effort. Islamic Iran will have to pursue a similar strategy to liberate Al-Quds.
The US-zionist military defeat is already forcing Arabian potentates to adjust their policies. They are left with no choice but to end their hostility toward the Islamic Republic of Iran otherwise they may end up losing their thrones.
Zionist Israel’s new death penalty law is aimed at one and only one group of people: the Palestinians. Like most other laws in the illegitimate zionist entity, it is discriminatory and violates all international norms.
Al-Masjid al-Aqsa has always been the target of zionist occupiers. They want to destroy it in order to build their mythical third temple. In recent months, the zionists’ encroachment campaign has intensified. Muslims cannot overlook this imminent threat to Islam’s third holiest site.
For decades, the west maintained its hegemony through the dollar as global reserve currency but more importantly, its economic model as guarantor of prosperity and stability. This is no longer the case. The western economic model is failing to deliver to its own people much less to others globally.
Iran’s control of the vital Strait of Hormuz and its geography give it an advantage that its enemies—the US and zionist Israel—cannot neutralize. Today, Tehran controls the global energy supply and can significantly damage the economies of Europe and US allies.
The US has dozens of military bases in West Asia from where it has launched attacks against the Islamic Republic of Iran. In self-defence, Islamic Iran has carried out retaliatory strikes and caused significant damage to bases built with trillions of dollars in investment.
By allowing military bases of the enemies of Islam on their lands to attack Muslims is a betrayal of the fundamental principle of Islam. If the Arabian potentates thought they were buying security, they now know better. It is time to shut down these bases and expel all Americans.
The US-zionist war on Islamic Iran must be viewed through the Qur’anic, Sirah, and Islamic movement frameworks to understand the deeper systems of power (mustakbirīn vs. mustaḍʿafīn). The war represents the global hegemonic order rooted in domination and deception.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has stood all alone against the forces of darkness and barbarism. By making enormous sacrifices, it is defending the entire Muslim world yet the response of Muslim governments and the ulama to US-zionist aggression has been appalling.
The US-zionist war on Islamic Iran cannot be isolated from the broader war on the Ummah, be it Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq or Yemen. The Islamic Revolution of 1979 posed an ideological challenge to western hegemony. The west is waging war to destroy the power of Islam.
The Islamic Revolution should not be viewed as a local affair confined to Iran. Its impact is global and has to be emulated by struggling Muslims everywhere to bring about meaningful change in their societies against tyrannical regimes.
