The Weapons of Tyrants

Praise be to Allah (SWT) and peace and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

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Do not think that Allah is unaware of what the wrongdoers do. He only delays them until a Day when ˹their˺ eyes will stare in horror [Ibrahim, 14:42]

Events in Syria should make the Ummah rejoice, as the world has not only been rid of a regime best known for torture but also of a despot, a tyrant, after 53 years. According to the Prophet (SAW), the khilafah will be formed following the disappearance of oppressors. With each tyrant disappearing, we are approaching the time of the khilafah.

While we wait for the situation to evolve from a geo-strategic point of view, and hope that Allah’s legislation will prevail, as Muslims with a critical mind, we need to draw lessons.

The first lesson is that of al walaa, loyalty.

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O believers! Do not take disbelievers as allies instead of the believers. Would you like to give Allah solid proof against yourselves? [An Nisaa, 4:144]

Misplaced Loyalty

Bashar Al-Assad has learned the lesson at his own expense: his supposed anti-imperialist stand, on one side and his allegiance to Russia, on the other, have not done him any good. According to analysts, Assad has not been overthrown, but rather has been tossed aside, an observation that we will revisit.

The Islamic concept of alliance goes beyond mere cooperation between two powers at the time of conflict. Al walaa is about the relation between individuals or states and a degree of trust therein. This can only be possible between two parties with a common aqeeda (belief), therefore common objectives.

Any believer in deen al Islam has the duty to make each action on of adoration towards Allah (SWT). The objective of the Muslim is to make Allah’s (SWT) deen prevail over the world.

Allah says

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He is the One Who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, making it prevail over all others, even to the dismay of the polytheists. [At Tawbah, 9:33]

Muhammad (SAW) has said:

“Do not look for power from Mushrikeen, and do not look for clarity from the light of the Mushrikeen.”

However, chiefs of Muslim states, including Assad, have completely disregarded the genuine concept of alliance. The discussions and concessions around the normalization of the Zionist regime, interloper of Palestinian territories, have proved that these renegade chiefs of states have preferred an alliance with kuffars over answering the call of Allah (SWT) and His Messenger (SAW). Even worse, Assad took pleasure on eradicating a whole Syrian city to eliminate Palestinian refugees who lived there.

Another noteworthy point is that it is not permissible for those who believe exclusively in Allah (SWT) and His Messenger (SAW) to form alliances with those who are against Allah (SWT) and His Messenger (SAW). Allah (SAW) does not guide the disobedient and the rebels.

Recent events have also shown the extent of the disgraced tyrant’s terror towards his people. He is responsible of genocide that goes well beyond that of Gaza.

As critical minded Muslims, we are revolted by the genocide in Gaza, which has claimed the lives of more than 44,000 people and hurt more than 100,000, while thousands are still beneath rubbles. According to Cage International, Assad’s track record shows more than 610,000 deaths, during the last 13 years of genocide. One might believe that Syria has shown the path to Zionists.

Dehumanisation and Torture

The tyrant’s cruelty is based on destructive elements such as dehumanisation and torture. A look at Syrian prisons serves to confirm this. That of Sednaya has been revealed to be a human slaughterhouse, where people were relentlessly tortured and massacred. 50-100 prisoners were killed daily. Cadavers were found still in ovens during recent discoveries.

According to Amnesty International, in a report published in 2017, “killings, torture, forced disappearances and extermination” were common in prisons since 2011. It considers this acts as crimes against humanity.

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When they are told, “Do not spread corruption in the land,” they reply, “We are only peace-makers! [Al Baqarah, 2:11]

This type of dehumanisation allowed the Baath party to perpetuate its genocide in all impunity. Western media was blind to this, as they were too busy focusing on those they called terrorists.

The erosion of thousands of people’s humanity for the sole crime of opposing a regime of terror set by an individual, equally erodes our collective humanity and capacity for empathy.

To better understand Assad’s motivation, beyond that of power, we need to look at tacit agreements between the USA and the Syrian regime, on one hand, and those with the Jordanian, Egyptian, Libyan and Moroccan regimes, on the other.

The Outsourcing of the Torture Program

According to the NGO Cage International, there are agreements which allow the CIA to outsource its torture program for there are certain odious acts that a tyrannical regime can commit that the USA will not dare commit on its soil. According to Moazzam Beg, senior director at Cage, the CIA has handed numerous people considered as terrorists to Assad, under this outsourcing program.

Cage states that the program of torture applied by Arab tyrants in Syria, Jordan or Egypt, follows a mutually agreed path, which is as follows: if someone requires tough questioning, the CIA sends the person to Jordan, for torture, the CIA sends to Syria and if someone needs to disappear completely, without any trace, the person is sent to Egypt; let’s recall the Khashoggi case.

This leads us to a reminder from Allah (SWT):

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O believers! Do not take disbelievers as allies instead of the believers. Would you like to give Allah solid proof against yourselves? [An Nisaa, 4:144]

Allah (SWT) warns Muslims with firm belief, against forming alliances with the military or political ideologies of the Jews or Christians. It is clear that those who govern Muslim territories are doing the exact opposite of the verse above, through bilateral, multilateral or military agreements allowing the presence of military bases on the Ummah’s territories.

Allah (SWT) declares that those who do so are among them. The ruling class of our states are no longer with us, they are part of the power structure of Allah’s (SWT) enemies.

May Allah (SWT) help and guide us.