Jihad Vault, Part I

The Battlefield:  The Safest Place on Earth

I've been asked many times to offer a list of essential works in the Salafist-Jihadist literature, or to compile a "Norton Anthology" of jihad.  It's a great idea, but it's easier said than done.  There's a lot that could be added to such an anthology.  The collection could change depending on the goal of the reading.  Should I focus on the military arts?  Strategy and doctrine? Intellectual foundations?  Historical documents?  Also, what about the softer, fluffier radicalism of the Ikhwan?  Do they have a place in the "Norton Anthology of Radical Islamic Literature"? What about multi-media?  Should the book include a CD? 

Rather than rack my brain over something that is clearly above my pay grade, I decided to dedicate a few posts to Salafist-jihadi texts that emphasize the movement's spiritualism.  It is, after all, a religious movement, and much of its media contains the elements of religion.  Sadly, this aspect of the movement is rarely discussed.  First, because the Western analysts who study the movement have never been trained to think with religion. Second, it is difficult to accurately discuss a religious practice that is not your own.  You run the risk of being inaccurate, or worse, insensitive.  And third, I think that secular analysis simply rejects religious justifications for actions.  Instead it prefers to base assumptions and conclusions on the conceit of objectivity allegedly found in more scientific approaches -- the much beloved "models" of Sageman or Pape.  And so a good 80 % of the Salafist-jihadi media is ignored as so much irrational gobbledygook. 

The first spiritual work I decided to share is The Battlefield:  The Safest Place on Earth.  Written by one Amir Sulaymaan, Battlefield was distributed through the At-Tibyan network in 2004-2005.  I know nothing about this personality, besides his name and few texts I've seen on the internet.  However, in a little less than 8 pages, Battlefield makes the common argument that violent jihad offers its practitioners multiple, spiritual benefits that regular life simply can't provide. Sulaymaan's work is essentially an argument for leading a liminal life of self-sacrifice and poverty for a greater good. 

Here is an excerpt:

The reason why Jihad of the battlefield is greater is because it contains the Jihad of self as well of the Jihad of the battlefield and they must be fought simultaneously. The Mujahid will have to fight his desires while he also fights his physical enemies. The Mujahid will sleep little and eat less. His meals will be the plainer than the meals of our domestic animals. He will pray where he can be shot and rest where he can be slain. He will trust in Allah, rely on his brothers and find safety in fear. He will fight the shaytan whose whisper will instructs the Mujahid to flee from the battlefield and to return home to the temporal, deceptive, and measely luxuries of this life. He will remember Allah most often because he will become acquainted with death like an owl is acquainted with night. He will look down at any portion of the Earth and see his grave. He will call on Allah until there is no more breath to call with and the angel of Death escorts him to the gates of Paradise. Anyone with even a vague shadow of understanding will see that the Jihad of the battlefield includes the Jihad of self and its difficulty is compounded. Allah says (what has been translated as)


"Those who believed (in the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism) and emigrated and strove hard and fought in Allah's Cause with their wealth and their lives are far higher in degree with Allah. They are the successful." (9:20)


The Jihad of the Battlefield is an essential part of our deen. There must always be men of our Ummah who will enjoin the right and forbid the wrong. There are six things sacred for the Muslims that must be protected at all cost


1) their blood (life)


2) their wealth


3) their honor


4) their intellect


5) their lineage


6) their deen.

Rather than host it here, I decided to have some online jihadis do the work for me.  You can find the full text  here:
http://www.lightuponlight.com/islam/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=466
Here:
http://m.esnips.com/nsdoc/19fe9d26-c1f0-4e7a-aa91-25b77ce70c6d/The%20Battlefield%20-%20the%20Safest%20place%20on%20earth.pdf
And is linked here:
http://digg.com/educational/The_Battlefield_The_safest_place_on_Earth

This UK-based online bookstore offers the full text of another Sulaymaan work, "An Offer to those who Hate Death":
http://www.maktabah.net/store/Products/ViewProductDetails.aspx?CategoryID=2&ProductID=28473&ID=0

Similarly, this UK-based online bookstore purports to supply copies of other Sulaymaan works, but I don't see any listed: http://www.as-sabeel.net