Sextuple Whammies in the “Eyes” of the Great Shaitan
Blog Post 16
January 28, 2019
Even if all the United States government has done is exterminate, corral and repress the Native Peoples and kidnap, transport and enslave the Black Peoples, that’s enough reason to despise it. But as we know, that’s not all it has done and are doing up to this very day. And the US isn’t the only oppressive government in the world.
“And fight in Allah’s cause against those who wage war against you,
but do not commit aggression,
for verily Allah does not love aggressors.
And slay them wherever you may come upon them
and drive them away from wherever they drove you away
- for oppression is even worse than killing.
And fight not against them near the Inviolable Masjid [of ibadah]
unless they fight against you there first,
but if they fight against you, slay them;
such shall be the recompense for those who deny the Truth [of Allah’s Power].
But if they desist – behold, Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.
So fight against them until there is no more oppression
and all the deen is devoted to Allah Alone.
But if they desist, then all hostility shall cease,
save against those who [willfully] do wrong.”
- The Qur’an: 2:190-193
The agenda of the enemies of Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala is to displace Muslims from their homelands, making them refugees, carving up their lands, installing puppet regimes, stealing their resources and imprisoning, torturing and massacring them wherever and whenever they can. The oppression they inflict on Muslims is committed in order to take away their freedom to worship Allah and practise the deen of Islam, whether through dictatorship and authoritarian rule or through undermining Islamic ideas and principles making an intimate working relationship with Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala meaningless. The US and other oppressors effectively crush this by force or marginalize those who wish to live according to Allah’s deen because commitment to Allah, the Most High, is repulsive and anathema to the oppressors’ objectives. (Al-Asi, pp. 298-307, 2009)
Basically, they’re scared of Islam’s Power.
The recent cowardly aggression in the never-ending list of atrocities against committed Muslims and innocent peoples around the world is the January 13, 2019 kidnapping and imprisonment of Sister Marzieh Hashemi by the US government. While waiting to board a connecting flight from St. Louis, Missouri, to Denver, Colorado to visit her family there, Sister Marzieh heard her name called over the St. Louis Lambert International Airport intercom. She and her youngest son Reza proceeded to the check-in counter and were told they were randomly selected to pre-board. But as they walked down the corridor toward the plane and turned the corner, she was accosted by two FBI agents who kidnapped her, also took Reza, held them in separate hotel rooms overnight, flew them separately to Washington, D.C., she on a private plane while all the while handcuffed and not allowed to go to the washroom, carted her off to FBI headquarters in iron shackles and handcuffs, fingerprinted her, took her dna against her will, transferred her to a jail, took more fingerprints and mugshots without her hijab and confined her, first in a city jail with a toilet in the middle visible to others, hauled her off to court the next day and then she was taken to prison, strip-searched, dressed in short-sleeved orange prison clothes, not allowed to wear her hijab, fingerprinted again, mugshots again, handed a t-shirt to cover her head and held there in solitary confinement for another eight days. (Spreaker.com, Jan. 26, 2019)
What was Sister Marzieh’s crime?
Her violation is nothing other than her Islamic faith, her hijab, her outspokenness against oppression and injustice, her journalism work with and anchor of Press TV, an Iranian news organization, and her place of residence. The “FREE MARZIEH HASHEMI - American Citizen - Journalist” petition on Change.org, which garnered over 16,000 signatures, stated: “Sister Marzieh Hashemi is a political prisoner who is being punished by [sic] for her advocacy for the AFRICAN AMERICAN Community. She has used her position as a journalist to continuously highly (sic) the racial disparity and discrimination against black Americans. She was instrumental in organizing The New Horizon conference in Iran on the status of African Americans.” (Change.org, Jan. 16, 2019)
It made no matter that Sister Marzieh is an American citizen, born and brought up in Louisiana, where many of her family members still reside, and that Americans are “free” to choose where they want to live and work, what they want to talk about, what they want to read, what they want to listen to, what they want to believe and how they want to worship God. Rather, all these are her crime.
Plus, she’s a Black American woman,
a Muslim convert,
a journalist and brave
– sextuple whammies
in the “eyes” of the Great Shaitan.
Sister Marzieh, an internationally known and respected journalist, produces stories which are intentionally left out of the mainstream media, giving “voice to the voiceless.” And she is always subjected to harassment and agitation whenever travelling to, in and out of the US.
Sister Marzieh was informed she was being held as a material witness in a closed jury case, but not exactly what it was about. Although she was never charged with a crime, the lackeys of the system shackled and handcuffed her, removed her hijab and took mug shots and paraded her around without it, provided non-halal food with no other choices for over two days and denied her the right to notify anyone of her kidnapping until the third day. If Reza had not been at the airport with her, she could have simply disappeared into the tunnels of the dungeons of the US criminals, like so many thousands of people have, and even been murdered there. Sister Marzieh told Press TV on January 24, 2019 there were guards sitting outside her cell that inmates later on said had her under a “suicide watch.” “When I heard that… [I said] I know that I’m not going to kill myself, so there could be something else up here,” Sister Marzieh related. That’s when she asked one of the prisoners who was getting out to inform her daughter that “if anything happens to me she knows it’s not from suicide.” (Press TV, Jan. 24, 2019)
International outrage ensued over Sister Marzieh’s kidnapping, with petitions, twitter storms, calls to government representatives and the justice department, social media videos, posters, posts and statements, emails and protests and demonstrations. Although a few media outlets wrote a piece about or mentioned Sister Marzieh’s “arrest,” the overwhelming majority of support came from ordinary, committed and revolutionary-minded Muslims, including US$53,661 raised on gofundme.com for lawyers’ fees and court and travel costs for her and her three children who were also subpoenaed to testify. But many Muslim organizations and masjids were silent, absent, awol on this humiliating travesty. For example, CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) was nowhere to be seen at the Washington, D.C. protest on January 25, although their office is less than two miles away. All over America, leaders and directors of organizations and masjids and groups against human and civil rights violations were speechless, many ulama not even mentioning the case during the two Jumahs while it was happening. Are they afraid? Each one of us certainly has a heavy responsibility.
Sister Marzieh’s three children and other justice-seeking individuals kept the public informed and thousands of committed Muslims came forth to inform the world about what was happening. A statement on January 19, by Sister Marzieh’s children set forth the following:
“Alhamdulillah our mother has access and exposure, but there are unfortunately many Muslims in American prisons who need similar accommodations that are never arranged for them. Many Muslims in American prisons who do not, and cannot afford the most qualified legal teams. Our main worry should be with them. They are invisible, and may go years without their religious requests taken seriously by anyone. Perhaps our mother’s imprisonment will bring exposure to these less known members of our community, and encourage on the ground activism to ensure the rights of these brothers and sisters. We are all responsible for their wellbeing. These are the people that our mother speaks to us about most often, and tells us not to forget them, not to ignore them.
“For us; Hossein, Sarah, and Reza Hashemi, this is not just about our mother. Her case highlights a larger constitutionally legitimized process by way of which people who have not committed a crime can be put in prison through legal means. They can be kept in prison for an indefinite period of time, and all of this is deemed legal and legitimate under U.S. law. This is highly problematic and can effect any one of us at any time. We believe that it is imperative, especially for marginalized people in the United States of America to understand these controversial laws pertaining to being a ‘material witness’ and other laws that can lead to our detention even if we have done nothing wrong. We echo the voice of many legal and rights advocacy groups in the United States that find the constitutionality of these laws highly problematic, and, moving forward, we intend to assist organizations that are challenging this legal loophole.” (Change.org., Jan. 19, 2019)
Muslims are annihilated, imprisoned, threatened or coopted whenever they seek self-determination by those who do not want to be reminded of Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala, truth and justice. (Al-Asi, p. 309-310) Allah says:
“Among people [you will find] a type of person whose eloquence [and intonation] impresses you in this life
and [the more so as] he summons Allah as witness to what is in his heart,
while [in fact] his [inherent complex of] attitudes are contemptuous.
And whenever he dominates, he goes through the world to cause corruption and to kill life,
and Allah does not like corruption. And whenever he is told, ‘Be conscious of Allah[’s Power],’
his egocentricity propels him into [deeper] sins, for which reason hell will be his allotted portion
- and how ghastly a final port [that he prepared for himself].”
- The Qur’an: 2:204-206
If Muslims do not have the freedom to practise Islam freely, then we become the living dead. We must be aware of Allah’s Words and recognize the maliciousness in those who quote scripture, swear by God, appear logical and reasonable, are charismatic and talk about human rights, truth and justice, when their actions belie their words. We must look at their policies and the consequences, such as:
population control (really depopulation)
genetic engineering (really controlling the food supply and intentional food shortage)
chemical weapons (really gruesome violence and murder)
theft of natural resources (really greed, control and plunder run amok)
imprisonment and mass incarceration (really silencing, inability to procreate and disappearance)
institutional racism, classism and genderism (really exclusion, othering, ethnic monitoring and forced poverty)
war and massacres
These governments and policy makers hate life. And their state of mind leads them to greedy and destructive and inhumane actions and behaviours. Their unresponsiveness to Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala results in the seven deadly sins, mental instability, sensual and sexual self-gratification, inflated egos, fear and self-destruction. And certainly all of these are the machinations of Shaitan. (Al-Asi, p. 343-354)
Muslims must be politically mature, aware, active and courageous.
We must obtain power, use it and pursue it even though
Allah’s Subhanhu wa ta’ala enemies hate it.
Islam is not personal. It is public.
(Al-Asi, p. 308, 357-358, 406-408)
Sister Marzieh, after thanking Allah Subhanhu wa ta’ala and the supporters, spoke at the demonstration in the capital of the Great Shaitan in front of the US district court on Friday, January 25, part of a worldwide day of protest:
“This is not about Marzieh Hashemi. This is about the US government thinking that they can do this to anyone at any time without facing any ramifications. This is because I want them to know and I think all of you also that we cannot be intimidated! That
“WE WILL NOT BACK OFF FROM THE TRUTH,
NO MATTER THE PRICE!
NO MATTER THE PRICE!
“I was kidnapped! Make no mistake. It can be called whatever they want to call it, but I was kidnapped from St. Louis airport. That fortunately my son Reza was with me, otherwise who knows what could have happened. You can disappear, you can be made to disappear very easily and then the case can be sealed. And so there’s no way that you can be found out because of 'national security.' I don’t know how long we’re going to tolerate this kind of injustice.
“They can say that it is legal, but I know all freedom loving people from around the world know that illegally detaining, or I will say kidnapping, transferring, shackling, imprisoning, taking off my hijab and so many other things; they can call it legal, but we know that it is not legal.
“What I want everyone to understand, what they’re trying to do is to intimidate, intimidate, to instill fear in each and every one of us. That don’t stand up for your rights. That they can do whatever they want at any time. But I’m telling you that, believe me I have seen it and I have felt it and I have gone through it, that
“TRUE POWER, TRUE POWER
comes first and foremost from Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala
and having that belief and knowing that ultimately Allah is in control.
“I have one life to give, we have one life to live, so make it count. You want to take my life? Take it. But before you do, I’m going to give it all I have. I will give it all I have. At the end of the day, we all will die, we all will die, so make sure that your life counts for something.
“STAND UP FOR THE OPPRESSED!
DO NOT SIT DOWN,
TAKING WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN DOING
AGAINST SO MANY OF THE OPPRESSED PEOPLE!
“Why is it that in the jails here that 98.5%, if not more, the people I saw were Black Americans? Why? Why? Why is it? Why is it that these type of detentions, as they call, since 2001 have been 98% Muslim? Why? Are we people who do not abide by the law? Well, I would say that they are. (points behind her back at the courthouse) Because instead of coming to me with a subpoena, as they say, that I was supposed to be a witness, well, come and tell me. Come and ask me. Give me a subpoena. Don’t put me in shackles! Don’t put me in shackles and say, ‘Oh, but you’re not being charged with a crime.’ Don’t take me down to FBI headquarters and take my dna and say, ‘But you’re not being charged’...What are you talking about when you talk about human rights?! Where are the human rights?! Where are the human rights?!...The American government continues to trample that constitution on a regular basis. You have religious freedom, allegedly. But they made me take off my scarf, my hijab. I told them this is illegal…So if I’m not charged with a crime, God help those who are charged with a crime here...
“They told me time and time again, ‘Make sure this doesn’t get out. National security! National security!’…
“I SAID, ‘TAKE IT TO THE WORLD!
TAKE IT TO THE MEDIA SO EVERYONE KNOWS
WHAT’S GOING ON!’
“Too many times, too many times things are swept very quietly and neatly under the rug. Brothers and Sisters, the reason why I wanted these demonstrations to continue today is because what happens if it’s the average Joe, Eileen, on the street who doesn’t have money, he’s not connected to any situations of power, not in the media, and he’s taken? He’s picked up? He’s not with anyone? He’s made to disappear? Who’s gonna know? Who’s gonna know?
“You know how they say, ‘And then they came for me’? Well, they already came for all of us!
“There’s been an attack.
There’s an attack on Islam
for a long time now,
Brothers and Sisters.
“So you can either, you can either deal with that and resist that or you can acquiesce and give in because of fear. But I’m gonna tell you something, at the end of the day, if you fear them, if you don’t speak out, if you don’t do anything about it, it will get worse and worse and worse. They will not back down. They will not back down. But I’m here to tell them - you know I was actually told also that I shouldn’t be talking - well, I’m here to tell them that I won’t back down. You can come and pick me up. The FBI can come and pick me up again right now and take me to jail. Someone can take me out. But I am telling you and I promise them and all of you that to my last breath
“I will speak the truth
and I will always stand
against oppression!...
“Yes, I work for Press TV. Yes, I live in the Islamic Republic of Iran. And last time I checked I didn’t think that that was a crime. But mainstream media immediately when they say, ‘Marzieh Hashemi, Iranian journalist,’ they don’t say, ‘American journalist,’ so ‘Iranian journalist connected with state-owned Press TV,’ well you know what, last time I checked, BBC is state-owned and last time I checked all these over here are owned by just a few corporations only that owns all of them! So don’t talk to me! Don’t lie! Don’t use this narrative that everything is controlled because this is controlled media…” (Press TV, Jan. 25, 2019)
Brother Salahuddeen Abdul-Kareem writes on his facebook page: “The illegal, abusive government practice of kidnapping, arresting and jailing innocent people is a human and civil rights violation by all moral and ethical standards. This practice - government recklessness and abuse - must come to an end! The government - no government or individual - has the right to take away an innocent person’s freedom and liberty. [Sister] Marzieh was a mistreated, violated victim - 11 days in prison - of this savage, government practice. She was never charged with a crime and the government never had an intention to charge her with a crime because they knew [Sister] Marzieh hadn’t violated any law, not even spitting on a sidewalk. Their, the government’s, primary goal, was simply to harass and intimidate an African-American Muslim journalist who is unafraid to give life, breath and exposure to suffering, painful, hidden realities; government corruption; police brutality; illegal wars; colonization and occupation in the Holy Land and much more. They put our sister behind bars inside a dark, cold, isolated cell for 11 days…” (Abdul-Kareem, Jan. 26, 2019)
Shaykh Usama Abdulghani released a video regarding Sister Marzieh’s imprisonment on January 17, saying, “Allah is testing us…If we fail in this test…the subsequent test will be harder and the consequences will be more severe…
“Sister Marzieh Hashim is a Muslim
and Islam has taught her
she has to be with the oppressed
and against the oppressors...
“It doesn’t matter who the oppressed are. It doesn’t matter who the oppressor is, whether the oppressor be from our families, whether it be Muslims, whether it be non-Muslims, whether it be the US government. It is for this reason that we Muslims rally on the Day of Quds and stand with Palestinian brothers and sisters. It is for this reason that we Muslims stand against police brutality. It is because of these teachings that we Muslims were against the North Dakota pipeline. It is because of these teachings that we Muslims are opposed to the US policies supporting Saudi aggression against the Yemeni people. The list goes on and on, but you get the point.
“Standing with the oppressed and against the oppressor is something that Islam taught Sister Marzieh Hashemi. Because of her religious convictions, she’s opposed to many of the domestic and foreign policies of the US government. She was critical of many of their wrong policies. The thing is Sister Marzieh is very articulate, she is thoughtful and she expressed the views of many Muslims and non-Muslims. In addition to that, she helped awaken many Muslims and non-Muslims to the naked aggression of the current and former US administrations. So the reality is that Sister Marzieh is being taught a lesson. But if you look a little bit more deeper, a little bit more deeply, it’s not Sister Marzieh Hashemi who’s on trial.
“It’s Islam that’s on trial.
“She is a visible high-profile symbol of Islam. Because the authorities are angry at Islam, they are punishing her. They are insulting her by forcibly removing her hijab, by forcing her to walk around in a t-shirt and wear a t-shirt on her head as a headscarf. They are degrading her by offering her pork products knowing she cannot eat those as a Muslim…So the real problem is with Islam.
“The other question is what is the intent of doing something this wrong? One intent is intimidation and the other intent is setting a precedent. Some believe that
“if they can put fear in the hearts of Muslims,
they will stop using their freedom
to express their views and their freedom
to choose their religion out of fear.
“They think that if Muslims are intimidated, they can go after other Muslims who are practising mainstream Islam, but this time they’ll have set a precedent.” (Abdulghani, Jan. 17, 2019)
“Permission [to fight] is given to those who have been aggressed upon,
verily, Allah indeed has the Power to support them –
those who have been driven from their homelands against all right
for no reason but their saying, ‘Our Sustainer is Allah!’
For, if Allah had not enabled people to defend themselves against one another,
[all] monasteries and churches and synagogues and masjids –
in [all of] which Allah’s Name is abundantly extolled –
would surely have been destroyed [by now].
And Allah will most surely support them who supports His Cause,
for, verily, Allah is Most Powerful, Almighty, [Well Aware of] those who,
[even] if We entrench them on Earth, remain observant of Us in their salah
and in their zakah (distribution of wealth). They enforce al-ma`ruf [the common good]
and they stem al-munkar [the common wrong],
but with Allah rests the outcome of all events.”
- The Qur’an: 22:39-41
Sister Marzieh is an American, a widow, mother, grandmother and an active dedicated Muslim, not a criminal nor terrorist. She deserved the support of all Muslims and peoples of conscience, all freedom-loving organizations and those who value free speech, press and religion. But we know those who didn’t speak up, who instead take money from wherever and whomever, keep their mouths shut like they’re told to, and either only preach what they don’t do or don’t say anything at all. In Iraq, the criminals of Saddam announced they had killed Shaheed Ayatullah Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and when the people were silent, then they killed Shaheed al-Sadr on April 9, 1980. (Abdulghani) We won’t let that happen to us, inshallah.
We are not scared!
We are not voiceless!
We won’t be put in our place!
We won’t watch and say and do nothing!
We will act!
We will hold the line!
Ayatullah Ali Khamenei instructed us on Jan. 9, 2019, “Some U.S. politicians pretend they are mad - which, of course, I do not agree with; however,
“they are first-rate idiots…
“[It is the] lining up [of] two systems of calculations and two ideologies against one another. One of them is the failed fraudulent liberal democracy of the west and the other one is the monotheist Islamic ideology…The animosity of the arrogant system of the west and the US against the newly emerged phenomenon of the Islamic Revolution is typical. It’s been forty years now that this young revolution has been continuing to grow and becoming powerful. So with the emergence of this new and vigorous spiritual power, the power of the front of arrogance has cracked and the crack is deepening.
“When the Truth is present the falsehood trembles.
“They see they have come to a dead end; whereas, Islam and religious democracy is growing day after day…The reason behind their animosity is that the Islamic Revolution is preparing the grounds for an Islamic civilization, which will - in case it becomes fruitful - by the grace of Allah, put an end to the arrogance, oppression, and colonization, which feed on the blood of other nations. The nations across the world - even the western nations - bear no hostility against the message and the ideal of the Islamic Revolution. They might try to create Iranophobia and Islamophobia, but they won’t succeed…Those who are opposed to the Islamic Revolution are the world’s pharaohs. Based on the Qur’an, Pharaoh knew that Prophet Musa (a.s.) was right.
“Allah has said He is with you.
Every one Allah is with will be victorious.
If we rely on Allah’s promise,
our victory is certain and absolute.
“Wherever we retreated and acted weakly, we did not win…Just as Saddam was sent to hell, our enemies will also be sent to hell.” (Khamenei.ir, Jan. 9, 2019)
Al-Hamdulillah, Sister Marzieh Hashemi was released
from the Great Shaitan's prison on January 23, 2019.
Informing the public is just the initial step, inshallah.
“Are these people, perchance, waiting for Allah to reveal Himself to them
in the shadows of the clouds together with the angels,
although [by then] all will have been decided,
and unto Allah all things will have been brought back.”
- The Qur’an: 2:110
References
Abdulghani, Shaykh Usama. (Jan. 17, 2019). “Shaykh Usama Abdulghani addresses African-American Journalist, Marzieh Hashemi who has been detained.” Ahl al-Bayt Assembly of America. Facebook. Retrieved from www.facebook.com/LikeShareInspire/videos/344319522833173/.
Al-Asi, Muhammad H. (2009). The Ascendant Qur’an: Realigning Man to the Divine Power Culture, Vol. 2, Al-Baqarah: 142-214. pp. 255-258, 293-294, 298-310, 308, 339-409. Toronto: The Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought. Retrieved from https://archive.org/stream/the-ascendant-qur-an-realigning-man-to-the-divine-power-culture-volume-4_full/the-ascendant-qur-an-realigning-man-to-the-divine-power-culture-volume-2_full#page/n429/mode/2up.
Ayatollah Khamenei. “U.S. officials aren’t mad, they’re first-rate idiots: Ayatollah Khamenei.” (Jan. 9, 2019). Khamenei.ir. Retrieved from http://english.khamenei.ir/news/6232/U-S-officials-aren-t-mad-they-re-first-rate-idiots-Ayatollah.
FREE MARZIEH HASHEMI - American Citizen- Journalist. (Jan. 16, 2019). Change.org. Retrieved from www.change.org/p/department-of-justice-homeland-security-free-marzieh-hashemi-american-citizen-journalist.
FREE MARZIEH HASHEMI - American Citizen- Journalist. (Jan. 19, 2019). “From the Children of Marzieh Hashemi.” Change.org. Retrieved from https://www.change.org/p/department-of-justice-homeland-security-free-marzieh-hashemi-american-citizen-journalist/u/23903487.
#FreeMarziehHashemi. (Jan. 16, 2019). Gofundme.com. Retrieved from https://ca.gofundme.com/rsnb3k-freemarziehhashemi.
Hamza, Mohammad. Artwork of the Intifada Street. Retrieved from www.instagram.com/hanz_revo/.
“Hashemi detention shows US violating black people's rights: Iran FM.” (Jan. 21, 2019). Press TV. Retrieved from www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/01/21/586419/Marzieh-Hashemi-Zarif-Amoli-Larijani-USfbclid=IwAR0XSERx7xNYeK8_4Cg7C23dyqd.
Hashemi, Marzieh. (Jan. 24, 2019). “Press TV's Hashemi vows to speak out against US injustice until her last breath.” Press TV. Retrieved from www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/01/24/586709/Hashemi-Iran-US-detention-live.
Hashemi, Marzieh. (Jan. 25, 2019). “Global rallies slam US legal system in wake of Press TV anchor detention.” Press TV. January 25, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/01/25/586777/Marzieh-Hashemi-legal-system.
Hashemi, Marzieh. (Jan. 26, 2019). “Marzieh Hashemi Speaks Out After Release Part 1.” Loud and Clear. Spreaker.com. Retrieved from www.spreaker.com/user/radiosputnik/marzieh-hashemi-speaks-out-after-release?fbclid=IwAR1cmY6F0DEPWbjzmGsgaaa0AbuFI5OPhJm N5CDH4.
Kareem, Salahuddeen A. (Jan. 26, 2019). Facebook. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/salahuddeen.a.kareem.