Human misery comes from human mistakes Interview with Hamas spiritual leader Shaikh Ahmed Yassin

Opinion, August 2003, www.aljazeerah.info

Human misery comes from human mistakes

Interview with Hamas spiritual leader Shaikh Ahmed Yassin

Spiritual leader of hamas shares views on religion, politics

Bitterlemons.org & Daily Star, 8/26/03

The following is an interview with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of the Palestinian group Hamas where he discussed the impact of religion on the situation in the Middle East in solving the region’s problems. Q: How important is religion in providing justice and solving the political problems of the Arab world? Yassin: “The basic difficulty here is a misunderstanding of the true meaning of the word “religion.” In the Islamic belief, religion refers to every system on earth that human beings abide by to run their lives. In general, religion might come from God or be manmade by humans to run their own lives. Life can’t continue without religion to protect and maintain the human existence. “In Islam in particular, religion is made by God to protect and maintain itself as religion and maintain property, thought, humanity, and progeny. Islam is an ideal and practical system that was implemented and applied for hundreds of years through Prophet Mohammed, his caliphs (Prophet Mohammed’s successors), the Umayyad Islamic state, and then the Abbasid Islamic state. History has proven Islam as a successful system at building and maintaining good societies. The system that succeeds once can succeed many more times. Q: How does Islam explain Palestinian misery and unhappiness? Is this the work of God or man? Yassin: First of all, (in the Western world) there is some ignorance toward the true Islamic doctrine. When God sent his messengers and holy books, it was to solve the problems of human beings, but not to end them, because these problems are basic. Periodically, God sent his messengers and holy books to resolve and find solutions for these problems. The misery that occurs in the lives of humans is a result of their behavior and their mistakes. But the welfare that human beings are offered comes from God. Allah said in his Holy Koran, “And whatever affliction befalls you, it is on account of what your hands have wrought.” Therefore, the misery that inflicts human beings is due to their noncommitment to the system that God sketched for them, and the result is a life of misery and unhappiness. Q: Hamas has set its goal as an Islamic state in Palestine. How would that state include ideas often associated with modern statehood: democracy, equal rights and religious freedom? Yassin: Islam gave every human being the right to worship, and rights in matrimony (personal affairs like marriage, divorce, and so on) and this will not be an obstacle in shaping international relationships. Islam also opened all the gates between the various nations and peoples and led them to the way of goodness and human happiness. In other words, in Islam it is forbidden for Muslims to drink alcohol, but non-Muslims (Christians and Jews) were allowed (to drink) so that Islam was not an obstacle in their lives. Also, Islam allowed non-Muslims to make their own internal arrangements according to their own personal status laws so that Islam didn’t interfere in their personal lives. If we have our Islamic state, we will have our own laws to control and standardize our society. I want to ask these modern countries, if the individual breaks the law of the state, would they not punish him or would punishing him be considered a violation of his rights? Accordingly, in our Islamic state there will be Islamic law that will punish anyone who breaks or violates the law as in any country. We, as Muslims, have absolute freedom for all people to be creative and to learn. We also have political, economic, social, and personal freedom, but deriving from Islamic law if the individual is Muslim and from the laws of Christianity or Judaism for Christian and Jewish individuals. Q: What has more effect on the Middle East today, divisions among Sunnis, Shiites, Christians and secular Arabs or political divisions over power and money? Yassin: The real suffering in the Middle East and the problems that the Middle East faces are colonialism and occupation American, Zionist, Jewish and Christian problems. Shiites and Sunnis are both Muslims, but the occupiers and colonizers are those who evoke sectarianism: either between Shiite and Sunni or between Muslim and Christian. The colonizers have adopted a policy to divide and conquer, and accordingly, they are doing their best to separate between the various Arab and Muslim groups to make them easier to control and colonize their countries. Q: What does Islam teach about reconciliation and making peace and what does that mean in the Middle East today? Yassin: Islam’s basic principles are to make peace and reconciliation, not only among human beings but also in the world of animals and plants. But Islam does not teach Muslims to make reconciliation with aggressors or occupiers that kill innocent people and ravage the land. Allah said in his holy Koran, “And there is life for you in (the law of) retaliation, O men of understanding, that you may guard yourselves.” Or there is the verse “And if you take your turn, then retaliate with the like of that with which you were afflicted; but if you are patient, it will certainly be best for those who are patient.” So, you must defend yourself, your land, your dignity, your property, and your country. One cannot simply tolerate that an aggressor stole one’s land and murdered one’s people. To do so is not reconciliation or tolerance but surrender, defeat and a trouncing. These days, the Israeli and American enemies are trying to confuse the terminology of “reconciliation” and “self-defense.” Islam is a world system calling for tolerance and reconciliation with all religions. It deals with them in the spirit of brotherhood, but it also does not accept aggression. God said in the holy Koran, “Allah does not forbid you respecting those who have not made war against you on account of (your) religion, and have not driven you forth from your homes, that you show them kindness and deal with them justly; surely Allah loves the doers of justice.” The aggressors want us, in the name of reconciliation and Islam, to give up and surrender our occupied lands. If we were to apply the true Islamic system in the Middle East and the world, Islam would create a global civilization and produce enlightened thought and build bridges of friendship and cooperation between the various nations in all aspects of life, science, society, and economy. Islam breaks all barriers between countries concerning commerce and trade. But in the current situation, the colonizers and occupiers want to open all the gates of the Middle East on behalf of Israel. These gates haven’t opened yet, and therefore they are doing their best to damage relationships between the Arab countries. This will maintain and support Israeli existence at the expense of the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim nations.

Sheikh Ahmed Yassin is the spiritual leader of the Palestinian group Hamas. He is 65 years old, lives in Gaza City and spent 8 years in Israeli prisons before being released in 1997 in a prisoner exchange. This interview was first published in Bitterlemons.org

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).