Thank God who said: “And if you are killed in the cause of Allah or die — then forgiveness from Allah and mercy are better than whatever they accumulate [in this world].” [Quran 3:157].
In a historical day, Sheikh Abu Abdullah Osama bin Mohammed bin Laden was killed, may God have mercy on him. He was killed in a moment of sincerity where he combined words and actions, with dawah and proof to join the caravan of great leaders, loyal soldiers and honest knights, who refused to let their religion fall to a lower status or be led and humiliated by those, who themselves deserved humiliation and insult, because they have gone astray. He faced weapons with weapons and he accepted the challenge of arrogant forces, who came with machinery, weapons, aircraft, and troops to subjugate the people. He was neither weak before them nor did he capitulate. However, he challenged them face to face, like a towering building that no one can surmount. He kept fighting a battle with which he was familiar, and from which he did not desist. He completed his duty until the bullets of the treacherous infidels took his soul back to Allah. When it finally came to him, he embraced it gladly. It is martyrdom in the path of Allah.
That the Americans have killed Osama is neither shameful nor disgraceful, as men and heroes are only killed on the battlefield, and every soul has an appointed time. Are the Americans able to kill what Sheikh Osama lived and fought for, even with all their soldiers, intelligence and agencies? Never! Never! Sheikh Osama did not build an organisation that would die with him nor would end with him.
Sheikh Osama bin Laden was not a Prophet sent in the twentieth century. He was a Muslim man from the dignified Islamic nation. He was a source of fear for all nations of disbelief, but he feared no one except Allah. The nation that produced Osama is a productive and fertile nation, and from it many more men and heroes like him will come: those who favour sacrifice and patience; and who make it hard for their enemies to live while opening the doors of hell to them. The school of faith, Quran, and jihad, which produced Sheikh, has never closed its doors and never will.
From this, Al-Qaeda makes a pledge to Allah to proceed down the road of jihad, along which our leaders have traversed behind Sheikh Osama. We are neither reluctant nor hesitant to proceed along this path without deviation, until the judgement of Allah prevails between us and our enemies. We will proceed until victory of martyrdom. The blood of the mujahid Sheikh is more precious to us and every Muslim than to simply be spilled in vain. We assure there will be a curse hunting the Americans and their agents, chasing them both outside and inside their countries. Soon, God willing, their joy will turn to sadness and blood will mix with their tears. We will fulfil the oath of Sheikh Osama ‘America and those who live in America will not live in peace until our people in Palestine live in peace. The soldiers of Islam will keep on planning catastrophes that will even make the hair of babies turn grey’. We call for the Muslims in Pakistan on whose soil Sheikh Osama was killed to rise up and revolt, and cleanse this sh ame imposed on them by traitors and thieves who sold everything to the enemies of their nation. They mocked the feelings of the people who are generous and so, we call for a strong uprising to cleanse the country (Pakistan) from the ruinous American parasite. “Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves” [Quran 13:11].The Sheikh did not leave this world before taking part in the joys of the revolution of the Islamic nation, which has challenged injustice. He recorded an audio statement one week before his death, including his advice and instructions, which we will be published soon, God willing. He closed it with this poem: ‘Dignity and glad tidings come to those who speak the word of truth to a tyrant, It is the path to take in this life and it is the path that leads to the afterlife, It is in your hands whether you die as a slave or as a free man.’ We are warning the Americans against humiliating the Sheikh’s corpse or mistreating any of his dignified family members, whether alive or dead. The corpse should be delivered to the families. Any mistreatment will only increase your hell, for which you will only have yourselves to blame. We call for all Muslims to carry on with their duty of upholding rightfulness.
Everything is up to Allah, and those who have caused injustice will soon know their fate.
Excerpts from a statement issued by the Al-Qaeda/General Leadership on May 3 in Al-Fajr media. Translated from the Arabic by S Maher, International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, the US
