In the name of Allah, the Beneficent the Merciful
Commander of the Believers (Ameer al-Mu’mineen) Al-Mujahid (the Mujahid) Al-Mulla Muhammad ‘Umar, may Allah preserve him and protect him and conceal his errors with the truth:
As-Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh. We ask Allah, the Most High, that this letter of ours reaches you while you are in the fullest of health and wellbeing.
Commander of the believers (Ameer al-Mu’mineen): We – the collective scholars–are honoured to have the likes of you attributed to our nation (Ummah), because you have affirmed, in reality, the supremacy and honour of the believers. You were not satisfied with declaring that you are the dominant, rather you confirmed this great meaning through your noble deeds, as the dominance in the land is not merely the material dominance, rather its most important and its greatest, is the dominance of religion and moral values. As Allah, the Most High, said:
وَلَا تَهِنُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَنتُمُ الْأَعْلَوْنَ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ
And do not become weak (against your enemy), nor grieve, and you will be superior (in victory) if you are indeed (true) believers. [al ‘Imran 3:139]
So this Verse descended upon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and his Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, on the day they were defeated at Uhud. So the real supremacy is the supremacy of moral values and religion. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said, “Islam is dominant and is not dominated.” Al-Bukhari narrated this in his Saheeh as a dangling narration (Mu’allaq) and At-Tahawee narrated it with an authentic chain. So Islam and the People of Islam are dominant, even if they are defeated in battle. And Allah, the Most High, said:
...وَلِلَّـهِ الْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَسُولِهِ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ...
…But honour, power and glory belong to Allah, His Messenger and to the believers... [al-Munafiqun 63:8]
So the supremacy is directly connected to Allah and His Messenger and to every believer who truly adheres to his Religion. So he is supreme with the supremacy (bestowed) by Allah and with his faith (eeman). So whoever adheres to the morals of truth, then he is supreme according to the clear text of the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
Ameer al-Mu’mineen: Verily, the ignorance of many of the Muslims, concerning your right, does not decrease anything from your stature, as you have become a symbol from the symbols of this nation (Ummah) and we will write with our hands, the history of this era and affirm for the future generations, that you were the leaders of this worldly life. Even if you are killed prior to that, then your biographies will be written in ink of gold and we will all bear witness for you, before Allah, the Most High, that you are from the most sincere and truthful slaves to this nation (Ummah). We assume this about you and do not approve anyone except with Allah’s (approval). And we will bear witness that you alone were the ones who raised your heads, in a time when many of the Muslims lowered their heads to the country of kufr and the cross; America. So the Muslims were not honored by a single man who would say, “No! and again, No!” to what America sought in this time, except with you. So congratulations to the Muslims due to the likes of you.
Ameer al-Mu’mineen: In your actions, the meanings of justice, equity, supremacy, nobility, victory, security, allegiance and disavowal have become apparent. You have given the nation (Ummah) a lesson, through actions, in these meanings when you began your blessed journey to Afghanistan and you harvested for the nation (Ummah), the fruits of Jihad against the Soviets. Then, at the time when Afghanistan was on the verge of crumbling into the hands of the secularists and the Communist and the Rafidhah (i.e. Shi’ah) – and just when our hope for the fruits of Jihad was about to cease, you revived the hope of the Ummah, with Afghanistan and it has become, today, the focus of the eyes of all the Muslims and they all seek the supremacy and the victory for your land. And then you took control of Afghanistan and implemented the Sharee’ah, so we said: “Al-Hamdulillah”. Allah has given victory to the Jihad through you on the day that you built upon the ruins of a destroyed, torn and mutilated country, an Islamic state, in statements and actions. So justice and correct religion became the leadership and you waged war against Shirk and the graves and you divided (the wealth) according to equality and were just in matters, to the point where, if someone were to say that the wolf is being herded with the sheep under your emirate, this would not be inconceivable. Next, you challenged the entire world by destroying the statues (Bamiyan Buddhas), acting upon the Sharee’ah of Muhammad (ﷺ) which was sent for this purpose. So we said, “Allah has provided to the Ummah, someone to revive, within it, the legacy of Ibraheem (عليه السلام); the destroyer of statues and the rejecter of idolatry!” And we were pleased with your actions when you revived the meanings of Tawheed, which were absent from the Ummah for centuries, as statues in all their various shapes, types and sizes fill the countries of the Muslims. However, Ameer al-Mu’mineen was not satisfied to live in a country in which, beside him, there were gods who were worshipped besides Allah the Most High. Then you destroyed those objects of worship and humbled its worshippers and our hearts were on the verge of flying out of happiness due to the revival of Tawheed, in this matter. Then you enforced upon the People of Dhimmah [i.e. those disbelievers who live in Islamic states, who pay the Jizyah (tax) to the Muslim authority], subjugation and humiliation, acting upon the Book of Allah, the Glorious, Most High, and upon the Sunnah of His Messenger (ﷺ) just as they were in the origins of Islam, humiliated; paying the Jizyah willingly, while feeling themselves subdued. So we said, “The ‘Umar of his time is in Afghanistan, enforcing humiliation and subjugation upon the disbelievers (Kuffar) in his land!”
And (then) the true criterion came, which confirmed your true, pure metal (-like nature), when the countries of the world turned to reach the Emigrants (Muhajireen) to your land, without any sin that they had committed except that they said, “Our Lord is Allah.” So the East and the West called out from all of the religions of disbelief (Kufr). From them the Christian, the Jew, the idolater, the Communist, the Nationalist, the apostate and the hypocrite, in an effort to form an alliance, including all of the countries of the world, against your supremacy and superiority. Yet you remained firm with the solidarity of mountains. This amassment did not frighten you and the weapons of mass destruction did not horrify you. So you were patient and decided to remain supremacy on the day of the betrayal of all (the people) and the beliefs changed and the nullifications of Islam emerged from many of those who attribute themselves to it. And even then, you remained as a symbol with the glory of mountains. Every Muslim feels supreme because of there is the likes of you in his Ummah. The countries turned against you and the alliances came to you from every uphill slope and every direction with their numbers and their (military) equipment in a way, which history has never witnessed, at all, an alliance like it, against a small, truthful, believing group. So you sacrificed your possessions, selves and wealth. So it was your eeman and your truthfulness, due to the Virtue of Allah the Most High, we assume this about you and do not approve anyone except with Allah’s (approval). Your faith and your reliance upon Allah, the Strong, the Supreme, was greater than their alliance and what it gathered.
Ameer al-Mu’mineen: The war today has not laid down its burdens, but we give you glad tidings of the physical victory, which is coming by the permission of Allah, the Most High, as its ripeness has become apparent. And we give glad tidings to you, as well, of a true victory, which you have already established, because your moral values and your words have attained this victory over the moral values of your enemies. And your enemies lie in every gathering, by claiming that they are the people of “justice” and “human rights” and the people of “freedom and equality”. But in this battle, all of their convincing arguments have fallen from their faces, and it is seen by the individuals as well as the common masses, the reality of the hateful Crusader/Jewish face. And it became truly apparent who kills the innocent ones and we knew who did not remit to any single living thing, any rights at all! And we witnessed how the “freedom” and “superiority” of the laws which they have legislated for themselves would be. And we became to know the meaning of living in “civilization” and the “unification of religions”, which they call to. They desire the “civilization” of the American jungle and they desire the “unification” of the Crusader believers, only! So glad tidings to you regarding this victory, as you have separated the world into two trenches and you have demonstrated the realities to every heedless one, on the day that you brought down – through your solidarity and faith and reliance upon Allah – all of the meanings of the falsehood and the treachery of the Crusaders.
Ameer al-Mumineen: And just as your solidarity disgraced the disbelievers in their claims, it also clarified to the Muslims, important meanings that were absent or were on the verge of being erased.
Your solidarity taught us what the measure of strength was amongst the Muslims. Your solidarity renewed the allegiance and the disavowal (Al-Wala’ Wal-Bara’). Your solidarity renewed the understanding of Jihad and the understanding of victory and defeat. Your solidarity taught us the meaning of sacrificing and striving for Allah, the Most High. It has reached us that you were offered a great deal of wealth to step down from the defense of the Believers and that the hypocrites approached you with a promise of good at times and with the threat of evil, at others, in order for you to show something from stepping down from your moral values. And we became convinced with certainty, that if you desired this worldly life over the Hereafter, then this would have been possible for you by stepping down from some of your moral values. And at that time, you would have become the richest people of the Earth. However, the hearts which are penetrated with eeman, decline that with the firmest of refusals. And (consider) the day when the Arabs took pride in As-Samaw’al Ibn ‘Adiya; the Jew who preserved the trust and (who) the trials befell and whose son was murdered in front of his two eyes, upon the hands of Al-Harith Ibn Jablah al-Ghusanee , the King of Sham (Levant), who came him seeking the money from him– yet he refused to hand over the money except to the guardians of the man of Al-Qays, who left the trust with him. Therefore, his solidarity became an example for the Arabs. So if we were to take pride in your solidarity, which surpassed the solidarity of As-Samaw’al by thousands of times, it would be more befitting. And it is a right for every Muslim today, if he wishes to give an example of solidarity, that he mentions your solidarity!
And the description by Al-A’sha of the condition of As-Samaw’al is not except a description of (only) some of your condition, when he praised him with his saying:
Be like As-Samaw’al, when Al-Hammam approached him *** With a legion, like the black of night, flowing
A neighbor who was hospitable to whoever received his protection, *** He was more fulfilling and more protective than the neighbor of Ibn ‘Ammar,
In Al-Ablaq Al-Fard (This was the name of As-Samawal’s palace), his home in Tayma’, *** A guarded fortress and a faithful neighbor,
When he was afflicted with two destructive plots, so he said to him, *** “No matter what you say, I will listen to my neighbor”,
So he said, “Betrayal or lose your son! You are between these two (choices).” *** “So choose, as there is no (willfully) chosen portion from the two,”
So he hesitated momentarily, then said to him, *** “Slaughter your sacrifice, I will protect my neighbor!”
Ameer al-Mu’mineen: Verily, our astonishment at your deeds and our support for them will never cease and will not end, by the permission of Allah the Most High, as long as you do not change or surrender or turn back. We ask Allah for steadfastness for ourselves and for you, until death. And we reassure you that we, and a great number of the scholars (‘Ulama’) and the propagators and the students of knowledge, are with you, we support you and declare to you, that you should not be made to feel depressed and nothing is removed from your strength or your endurance, due to the statements of some of the betrayers and people of doubt who harshly criticize your solidarity and who criticize your actions. And they claim that you’ve killed yourselves and your people and destroyed your country through your deeds. Verily, these deeds of yours are the essence of correctness and they are what have been indicated by the Sharee’ah based evidences and that which Allah the Most High and His Messenger (ﷺ) have commanded! And everything that befalls you or befalls your people; it is from the decree (Qadr) of Allah the Most High, and it is He who commanded you to rely upon Him and follow His orders and to have allegiance to the believers and disavowal towards the disbelievers and to perform Jihad against them through every method. And He promised you after that the victory and the establishment (in the land). And if the opposite happens to you (i.e. death), then it is the “great success”, which Allah described the Companions of the Trenches (As’hab al-Ukhdud) with His statement:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْكَبِيرُ
Verily, those who believe and do righteous good deeds, for them will be Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise). That is the great success. [al-Buruj 85:11]
And with what did the Companions of the Trenches achieve the decoration of the great success? They achieved it due to their reliance upon Allah and their solidarity upon their Religion and by not compromising their moral values. So they achieved this decoration (i.e. this description), which was not given to anyone else in the Qur’an besides them, despite the fact that every one of them was killed.
Ameer al-Mu’mineen: We ask you and the leaders of the Islamic Emirate, from the likes of your deputy, Al-Mulla Muhammad Hasan and the likes of Al-Mawlawee Jalaluddeen Haqqanee, Al-Mawlawee ‘Abdul-Hannan, Al-Mulla Baradir, Al-Mulla Dadullah, Al-Mulla Reese Abdullah and Al-Mulla Khaskar, the leader of the “Tank Battalion”, and many others, from them of the leaders of the Islamic Emirate – just as we ask the supporting Mujahideen and their leaders to continue their Jihad and their solidarity, because the eyes of the monotheists (Muslims) have been soothed by you, and the soldiers of the Most-Merciful (Ar-Rahman) have been pleased by you. So we are from behind you and we support you with everything that we are able to and we incite the believers to fight in your ranks. So do not change and do not fear and do not become lenient: “…and you will be the highest…” and remain firm upon your moral values and upon your noble deeds. Raise the head of the nation (Ummah) with your Jihad, and by the permission of Allah the Most High, verily our happiness will be forthcoming with the return of the Islamic Emirate; overcoming, established and victorious, by an Order from Allah, He who commanded you with (performing the) deeds and took the responsibility of victory.
And in conclusion, we advise all the Muslims in every land, to support the Islamic Emirate in its Jihad against all the ideologies of disbelief (Kufr). Just as we advise the Afghans specifically to offer themselves for Allah, the Most High, and to support the Islamic Emirate and to stand beneath the banner of Ameer al-Mu’mineen. And we advise the Mujahideen – and at their head being Ameer al-Mu’mineen – to establish the conditions for victory and establishment, which Allah, the Most High, mentioned in His Book and which the Messenger (ﷺ) mentioned in his Sunnah.
And here is some of what was mentioned in the Book of Allah, from the conditions of establishment, such as His, the Most High’s, statement:
وَعَدَ اللَّـهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَىٰ لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُم مِّن بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا ۚ يَعْبُدُونَنِي لَا يُشْرِكُونَ بِي شَيْئًا ۚ وَمَن كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ
Allah has promised those among you who believe, and do righteous good deeds, that He will certainly grant them succession to (the present rulers) in the earth, as He granted it to those before them, and that He will grant them the authority to practice their religion, that which He has chosen for them (i.e. Islam). And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear (provided) they (believers) worship Me and do not associate anything (in worship) with Me. But whoever disbelieved after this, they are the Fasiqun (rebellious, disobedient to Allah). [an-Nur 24:55]
So Belief (eeman) and righteous good deeds and being free from Shirk are from the conditions of victory and establishment. And His statement:
قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِ اسْتَعِينُوا بِاللَّـهِ وَاصْبِرُوا ۖ إِنَّ الْأَرْضَ لِلَّـهِ يُورِثُهَا مَن يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ ۖ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ
Musa said to his people: “Seek help in Allah and be patient. Verily, the earth is Allah’s. He gives it as a heritage to whom He wills of His slaves, and the (blessed) end is for Al-Muttaqeen.” [al-A’raf 7:128]
So seeking help from Allah and patience with His Decree (Qadr) and His Laws and fearing Him, both privately and publicly, are from the conditions of victory and establishment. And His statement:
وَقَالَ مُوسَىٰ يَا قَوْمِ إِن كُنتُمْ آمَنتُم بِاللَّـهِ فَعَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلُوا إِن كُنتُم مُّسْلِمِينَ
And Musa said: “O my people! If you have believed in Allah, then put your trust in Him if you are Muslims (those who submit to Allah’s Will).” [Yunus 10:84]
So the reliance upon Allah, with true reliance, is from the conditions of victory and establishment. And His statement:
وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِي الزَّبُورِ مِن بَعْدِ الذِّكْرِ أَنَّ الْأَرْضَ يَرِثُهَا عِبَادِيَ الصَّالِحُونَ
And indeed We have written in Az-Zabur (Psalms) [i.e. all the revealed Holy Books the Tawrat (Torah), the Injeel (Gospel), the Qur’an] after (We have already written in) Al-Lawh Al-Mahfudh (the Book, that is in the heaven with Allah), that My righteous slaves shall inherit the land (i.e. the land of Paradise). [al-Anbiya’ 21:105]
So the righteousness, outwardly and inwardly, and establishing the meaning of worship, are from the conditions of victory and establishment. And His statement:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّـهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ أَلَّا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي كُنتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ
Verily, those who say: “Our Lord is Allah (Alone),” and then they remain steadfast, on them the Angels will descend (at the time of their death) (saying): “Fear not, nor grieve! But receive the glad tidings of Paradise, which you have been promised! “We have been your allies in the life of this world and are (so) in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have (all) that your inner-selves desire, and therein you shall have (all) for which you ask for. [Fussilat 30:31]
So accepting the Lordship of Allah and His Divinity, while remaining steadfast upon His Sharee’ah, are from the conditions of victory and establishment.
And the Verses, in which Allah mentioned the conditions for victory and establishment far exceeds these, by many.
And from the encompassing legacies of the Prophet (ﷺ); in which have come the conditions of victory and establishment, is what was narrated by At-Tirmidhi and Ahmad, and this is his (i.e. Ahmad’s) phrasing:
From Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, who said, “I was behind the Prophet (ﷺ) so he said, ‘O boy…’ or ‘O young boy, shall I not teach you words, with which Allah will benefit you?’ So I said, ‘Of course.’ So he said,
Be mindful of Allah; and He will be mindful of you. Be mindful of Allah and you will find him before you. Seek Him during ease and He will be present for you during difficult times. And if you ask (for anything), then ask Allah. And if you seek assistance, then seek assistance from Allah. The Pen has dried from that which will occur. So if the entire creation were to gather seeking to benefit you by means of something, which Allah did not write for you, then they would not be able to do it. And if they sought to bring some harm to you, by means of something that Allah did not write upon you, they would not be able to do it. And know that in patience, with what you are displeased with, there is much goodness (for you). And (know) that the victory is with patience and know that the relief is with the trials and that with difficult times, come easy times.
And in the phrasing of At-Tirmidhi,
…be mindful of Allah; you will find Him in front of you…
And know that if you put forth all your efforts in establishing the conditions of victory and establishment, then verily, Allah is your Victor and the Degrader of your enemy; a promise from Him, which shall never be broken. He the Most High, said:
إِنَّا لَنَنصُرُ رُسُلَنَا وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ يَقُومُ الْأَشْهَادُ
Verily, We will indeed make victorious our Messengers and those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah) in this world’s life and on the Day when the witnesses will stand forth, (i.e. Day of Resurrection).[Ghafir 40:51]
And He said:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ لِيَصُدُّوا عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ ۚ فَسَيُنفِقُونَهَا ثُمَّ تَكُونُ عَلَيْهِمْ حَسْرَةً ثُمَّ يُغْلَبُونَ ۗ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِلَىٰ جَهَنَّمَ يُحْشَرُونَ
Verily, those who disbelieve spend their wealth to hinder (men) from the Path of Allah, and so will they continue to spend it; but in the end it will become an anguish for them. Then they will be overcome. And those who disbelieve will be gathered unto Hell. [al-Anfal 8:36]
And He said, in describing the condition of the Muslims, on the Day of Badr:
قَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ آيَةٌ فِي فِئَتَيْنِ الْتَقَتَا ۖ فِئَةٌ تُقَاتِلُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ وَأُخْرَىٰ كَافِرَةٌ يَرَوْنَهُم مِّثْلَيْهِمْ رَأْيَ الْعَيْنِ ۚ وَاللَّـهُ يُؤَيِّدُ بِنَصْرِهِ مَن يَشَاءُ ۗ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَعِبْرَةً لِّأُولِي الْأَبْصَارِ
There has already been a sign for you (O Jews) in the two armies that met (in combat i.e. the Battle of Badr): One was fighting in the Cause of Allah, and as for the other (they) were disbelievers. They (the believers) saw them (the disbelievers) with their own eyes twice their number (although they were thrice their number). And Allah supports with His Victory whom He pleases. Verily, in this is a lesson for those who understand. [al ‘Imran 3:13]
And the Prophet (ﷺ) gave glad tidings of victory and triumph for the Religion and its dominance as he (ﷺ) said,
ليبلغن هذا الأمر ما بلغ الليل والنهار، ولا يترك الله بيت مدر ولا وبر إلا أدخله الله هذا الدين، بِعِز عزيز أو بِذُلِّ ذليل، عِزًا يُعز الله به الإسلام، وذُلاً يُذل الله به الكفر
This matter (i.e. Islam) will reach to wherever night and day reach. And Allah will not leave a clay house nor a house made from hides covered in fur, except that Allah will enter this religion into it with the glory of the noble one or the humiliation of the humiliated one; glory by which Allah gives glory to Islam, or humiliation by which Allah humiliates Kufr.
Narrated by Ahmad from the Hadeeth of Tameem Ad-Daree, with an authentic chain.
And the poet did well as he said:
Whoever looks forward to achieving honour and nobility then he must be patient upon *** Meeting death and storming the unpleasantries.
Because if the days have muddied my drinking area *** And my bounds have been made jagged by hammering calamities
As no test has changed me from my morals *** Nor has any deception changed me from my paths
But I remain upon that which pleases me ***And angers my enemies and pleases my friends
And our final call is to say: Praise be to Allah Lord of the Worlds and there is no transgression except toward the oppressors.
Your brothers:
Hamud Ibn ‘Uqla’ ash-Shu’aybi
‘Ali Ibn Khudhayr al-Khudhayr
Sulayman Ibn Nasir al-‘Alwan
16/10/1422 H.