Rohingya Crisis: Special Message

With the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar (Burma) under conditions of intense distress occasioned by the brutal military crackdown in the country, a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in South and South-East Asia. The UN agencies estimate that close to half a million Rohingyas have become refugees in the last three weeks alone, with the pass over of the people fleeing violence in Myanmar to Bangladesh and India, and also seeking to reach to Malaysia and Indonesia through the sea. The crisis is a direct consequence of the disproportionate and wanton use of force by the military in the so-called "counter-terror operations" in the Rakhine State where the majority of the Muslim people live and face acute discrimination over the decades. 

In a special discourse/Message issued on 12 September 2017 against the backdrop of the ongoing persecution of the Rohingya Muslims, Imam Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius reminds us of certain important considerations at the heart of the humanitarian problem engulfing the international community. Anyone who is interested in world peace and believe in our common humanity and shared future in a multi-cultural world (of different nations and diverse religions in co-existence) can only applaud the spirit of the Message of Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba). 

As Hadhrat Saheb (atba) notes, the humanitarian crisis is happening against a backdrop of "Islamophobia" (fear of Islam and the Muslims) in the contemporary world. The international backlash against the horrendous  9/11 terror attacks in the United States- executed by people avenging the US onslaught on the Muslim world- has created political conditions in different nations that de-legitimize the liberation struggles of oppressed peoples. Hence, post 9/11,  robust political struggles are under intense pressure from the politics of framing and media- creation of negative perception: most political struggles taking the garb of "Jihad" in the cultural language of the Muslims, have been negatively branded and media-framed as "terror" operations. Mindless violence targeting innocent civilians also contribute to the stereotyping of Muslim resistance groups as cults of violence and mayhem, providing the perfect excuse for the governments to suppress legitimate political struggles in the pretext of 'national security' and "war on terror".

The failure of religious and political leaderships in guiding the people to the right course of action is apparent in all the 'fires' that are simmering around the world. Just as the Muslim Ulema have abandoned the Qur'an and distorted the Islamic teachings in our times; the Buddhist clergy and political leaders in Myanmar are also guilty of destroying the fair legacy of the Buddha and his teachings on peace and human relations. There is an urgent need for the priests and chiefs (of the different religions and their nations) to return to the foundational values of their respective cultures: protection of the innocent and helping the indigent is a religious and political duty- an obligation of our common humanity. 

Directly addressing the Myanmar leadership responsible for the 'ethnic cleansing'/genocidal crimes against the Rohingya people, Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) delivers a note of caution and warning: Governments and leaders who preside over the egregious violation of fundamental human rights and oppress the poor in God's earth shall be condemned and pursued by the long arm of Divine Justice. 

Read the Text of the Speech Below:
 

My dear brothers, sisters & children,

May the peace and blessings of the Almighty (Allah) be upon you.

SEPTEMBER 11: THE START OF THE NIGHTMARE

It is indeed true that the attacks which transpired in the United States of America on that fateful 11^th day of September 2001 was nightmarish and condemnable. To the innocent eye, they were terrorist attacks orchestrated by Muslims as a warning for the American Government and the people of America. According to the widespread belief in the occidental world, it was fiery Jihad (Holy War) which Muslims took upon themselves to do.

So, we reach the question: Who is a Muslim? Times and times again, the very notion of being Muslims, of belonging to the religion of Islam, of being spiritually related to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has been condemned as a major crime in the eyes of the non-Muslims, be it in the USA or elsewhere in the world. A Muslim literally means him who submits wholeheartedly to the will of God, with inner peace and tranquillity.

So this brings us to the fundamental questions: Can a Muslim believer - without the absolute permission or command of God (without forgetting, in every rule, there are exceptions of course!) - ever harm his fellow citizens of the earth, people like himself who are also the creatures of God? Can he take upon himself to shed the blood of others and cause violence and havoc on earth? Never! If he does so, without any valid reason like stipulated in the Holy Quran, then he is acting against the very principles of Islam, and thus cannot truly be called Muslim.

The well-planned plot orchestrated against the Muslims and Islam with the terror attacks of September 11 in the USA has till this day been the signature-line for humanity to condemn Muslims and Islam and to propagate an uneasy feeling and fierce hatred for Islam, which is Islamophobia.

Thus, sixteen years later, the Muslims are still suffering. They are being targeted and persecuted. Because of some extremist so-called “Muslims” and their association with the West, Islam is being sullied today. Muslims from all over the world are being harassed in every way. Muslim women are being banned from wearing their veils, and in poor countries where Muslims are in minority, they are being persecuted to the extreme due to their identity as Muslims. They are being denied their basic human rights. Such is the case for the Royingya Muslims in Burma (Myanmar), a Muslim minority who are victims of uncalled persecutions/ crimes by the Buddhist majority and the Government in Myanmar.

FEEL FOR THE ROYINGYAS, OH HUMANITY!

The Royingyas live predominately in Rakhine state of Myanmar, where they have co-existed uneasily and with fear alongside Buddhists for decades.

Rohingya people voiced out that they are descendants of Muslims, perhaps Persian and Arab traders, who came to Myanmar long ago. Unlike the Buddhist community, they have another language, such as is similar to the Bengali dialect of Chittagong in Bangladesh.

The Rohingya are reviled by many in Myanmar as illegal immigrants and they suffer from systematic discrimination. The Myanmar government treats them as stateless people, denying them citizenship. Severe restrictions have been placed on the Rohingya people’s freedom of movement, access to medical assistance, education and other basic services. Like God Almighty says in the Holy Quran:

“Those who believed and those who suffered exile and fought (and strove and struggled) in the path of Allah; they have the hope of the Mercy of Allah. And Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.” (2: 219).

“… those who emigrated or were evicted from their homes or were harmed in My cause or fought or were killed - I will surely remove from them their misdeeds, and I will surely admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow as reward from Allah, and Allah has with Him the best reward.” (3: 196).

So, it is indeed really painful what is transpiring today in Burma, a Buddhist-centred country, where they are persecuting to the extreme the minority Royingya Muslims so that they either flee the country or convert to their ideology, which is million miles away from the real teachings of Gautama, the Buddha.

Recently (Since August 25^th, 2017), close to 4000 people have been killed after a military counteroffensive have been done against Muslim insurgents in the troubled Rakhine state of Myanmar (Burma). Their agenda is to do an ethnic cleansing which would guarantee them riddance of the presence of Muslims in the state of Rakhine and consequently Burma as a whole. Corpses believed to be the bodies of Rohingya women and children have washed up on a Bangladeshi riverbank as fears grow concerning the atrocities committed by Myanmar forces against the Muslim minority across the border.

In the deadliest violence after decades of ethnic tensions, that is, since before the year 1978, this time around the government of Myanmar with the collaboration of the heartless Buddhist clergy (the Sangha) ordained a counterattack on the Royingya Muslims who came forward to attack - due to the persecution they were subjected to. Security forces and the military responded with a huge counter-offensive. Due to this alarming situation, close to 38,000 Rohingya have fled their villages and attempted to cross into Bangladesh and other states. In the Holy Quran, God Almighty says:

“To Allah (alone) belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth.” (2: 285).

If all the world belongs to God Almighty, who are these people to deny humans like themselves a place of security in the land, i.e. Myanmar?

Let us see what Gautama Buddha has taught its followers and see for yourselves how the Buddhists of today have stooped so low as to deny the very teachings of their Holy founder.

THE TRUE TEACHINGS OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA (AS)

The Buddha said:

“All tremble at violence; all fear death. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.” (Sayings of Buddha (as) - Dhammapada, Verse 129).

“One is not called noble who harms living beings. By not harming living beings one is called noble.” (Sayings of Buddha (as) - Dhammapada, Verse 270).

Like you may know, Siddhartha Gautama  (i.e. The Buddha - the enlightened one) and Jesus were both holy prophets of God who appeared in their own times for the spiritual rejuvenation of the people to whom they were sent. The Buddha appeared in India about six hundred years before Jesus. In both were found a purity of life, sanctity of character and patient endurance under fierce persecution.

I am here before you today to show you that Gautama Buddha, the great founder of Buddhism was not only a believer in the existence of God, but he was the prophet of God of his time and not God and as such, he did teach about the existence of God, about His worship and about the nature of the relations between man and God, his Creator and about peace and submission to the Almighty (i.e. Islam).

We, the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam do not doubt the claims to prophethood of prophets that were raised among nations. We hold the belief that the various prophets that have appeared among the different nations of the world were the true prophets of God for the very reason that millions of people have bowed down to them and held them in high esteem and respect for centuries together.

The love, devotion and esteem in which followers of the Buddha hold him even to this day, is in itself, a strong argument to show that Gautama was the Messenger of God for it is sheer impossibility that a false prophet with all his tall pretentions to prophethood should succeed in commanding the love and respect of his followers for generations together.

But like it is the tale of all God's chosen Messengers and their religions, despite their master's teachings, today's Buddhists have drifted away from the very fundamental teachings of the Buddha, whom they have raised to the station of God. This is also true for the ancient religions such as Hinduism etc. The reality that Gautama was a prophet of God is never to be questioned. Like he prophesised, soon after his death, his followers fell out among themselves and the true spirit of his teachings was lost on them. Gautama said that after his death five precious gems would be lost - one of them being his teachings. He said: “A time will come when this Buddhist Raja will declare whoever remembers even four lines about Buddha may come forth and get Rs. 1000 in reward. But none will get it even after the repeated beat of drum in the city.”

This is the reason why we, the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam believe that Gautama, Rama, Krishna and Jesus were the prophets of God, and as such the Buddha cannot be supposed to be an atheist or propagator of evil and disorder; on the contrary he was a humble servant of God, a prophet of peace who was sent to teach the unity of God and draw the Indian people to His worship.

WARNING TO GOVERNMENT OF MYANMAR (BURMA)

Thus, after watching the multiples videos about the inhuman way that the army and Buddhists people are treating the Muslims in Burma, as the Caliph of God (Khalifatullah) of this era, I warn the Government of Myanmar and all Buddhists involve in this pitiable massacre and persecutions, that if you do not cease to persecute innocent Muslims and innocent human beings in general and if you continue to deny them their basic human rights as citizens of Myanmar and you continue in your agenda to cleanse Myanmar of Muslims and all those who are not Buddhists like you, then mind you, the time is not far where the wrath of God Almighty (Allah) shall strike you in ways that you do not expect. I warn Aung San Suu Kyi and her government to mend their ways and to act humane and not like animals lest the time comes when it is them who shall be treated worst than animals.

As the Caliph of God and Worldwide Spiritual Leader of the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam, I warn you to stop killing innocent civilians. Beware the wrath of God Almighty on you, your Government and the country as a whole. Never ill-treat the people in your country, especially the minority. If you are true Buddhists and follow the precepts of the Buddha, then you need to know first of all about all his teachings. You need to study these teachings and see for yourselves how far from the philosophy and teachings of the Buddha you have gone.

Gautama Buddha was a man, a prophet of peace. Are you acting peacefully? Buddha hated to see poverty and ill-treatment of innocents. Why then are you ill-treating your fellow citizens even though they do not follow your own ideology but they are those who have upgraded their faith to become truly submissive to God Almighty as being Muslims.

In essence, Buddha's teachings are that all men are brothers, that charity ought to be extended to all, even to enemies; that men ought to love truth and hate lies; that good work ought not be done openly, but rather in secret; that the dangers of riches are to be avoided; that man's highest aim ought to be purity in thought, word and deed. Since the higher things are pure, then it is your duty to act in a pure way, devoid of evils which misguide you from the right path.

Heed this warning and reform your conduct before it is too late for you. May the peace, blessings and help of God Almighty (Allah) be upon the Muslim minority in Myanmar and all countries where the Muslims are being persecuted for being Muslims and belonging to the religion of Islam. Peace be upon those who follow the right guidance of God Almighty and do good so as to reap good in return. All praise be to Allah (God Almighty), Lord of the Worlds. Ameen/ Amen.

Thank you for you your kind attention.