WE HAVE GOT TO DO IT!

Halil Necatioğlu

Islam, September 1994

Praise to Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) that we are an ummah, a nation that follows the path of Prophet Muhammad, the chosen and the most beloved servant of Allah. Our purpose in this life is to gain the pleasure of Allah. We wish well for everybody; we have no ill intentions for anybody. We pay utmost attention not to harm even an ant.

Our beloved Prophet was very merciful, very soft-hearted, very generous, giving and very forgiving, yet the pagans inflicted an unbearable harm on him, plotted to kill him. They forced him into fights and left him no choice but to defend himself. He was very brave, very courageous, so he never run away from fights and hardship. He taught the unbelievers the lesson they deserved. He won victories over them. Despite all the fights he was obliged into, the number of battles and their casualties were amazingly low -- not more than 150-200 dead.

Our forefathers , too, had inflicted no oppression on anybody. Most of the wars that they were in were in defence or in response to the attacks from the infidels. On the other hand, the atrocities of the Christian armies during various civil wars and countless crusades against Muslims, Jews, and even Christians, mount to a high number. That means, the spread and sustainment of Christianity despite its corrupt beliefs, are based on aggression, inquisition, terror, oppression, organization, colonialism and imperialism just as it is in Yugoslavia, Caucasia, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Despite this fact, they put the blame on those who are oppressed, weak and innocent, and underdeveloped nations, believers, and Muslims. They try to desecrate Islam, Sufism, piety, purity and to erase them from the face of the earth.

Because of this, they keep a grudge against us, create new enmities towards us in spite of the fact that we desire peace, tranquility, brotherhood, humaneness, gentleness, unity and solidarity, and that we are willing and ready to forgive the countless oppressions, harms, and losses inflected on us. What can we say? It is their nature, their character, their way of life, their habits to make them behave this way. Well, it is time for us to wake-up from the sleep of unawareness, to abandon the unnecessary and senseless good intentions, naiveness, to pull ourselves together, and to take precautions. No matter how well meaning we are, they maintain their enmity because of our beliefs and history, because they want to seize our fertile land which also has high geopolitic importance, because they fear our young and dynamic population as well as our efforts towards industrialization and development, because they are afraid we may prevent them from imperialism and awaken and enlighten the oppressed nations in the world.

They could try all possibilities to beat us or to inflict harm on us, such as guerilla wars, sabotages, forest fires, economical traps, bombing touristic places, polluting the oceans, spreading diseases on crops, paralyzing the exports, creation of disagreement in domestic politics, encouragement of enmities and negative competition, racism, provocation of fight among various denominations, degeneration of the administration, destruction of the judicial system, bribery, taking sides, looting, misuse of government resources, stealing, dissemination of sexual perversion, degeneration of moral system, spreading venereal diseases, corrupting the youth, destroying the family, destroying the national values and customs, cultural imperialism, shaking the beliefs of people by missionary works, weakening everything that supports and provides strength for us, dividing the country, and destroying our characters.

These are the murderous, merciless, heartless, bloodthirsty and barbaric enemies. They do not fear the judgement in the hereafter or God, nor do they heed the other nations. They lack civilization, conscience, mercy, and love of nature. They are strange and primitive creatures. They burn, destroy and kill without feeling a tinge of regret.

Then, we must be very alert, very swift, very zealous, and very careful. We must hurry to take very harsh, very effective and deterring precautions and find solutions; we must establish heavy punishments and apply them with no negligence. "There is no shame in punishing the guilty." No one should feel sorry for the punishment of the guilty. What a pity that the wealth, the national treasure which cannot be accumulated in 100-150 years is turned into ashes, the beautiful landscape is destroyed.

An arsonist has confessed that he was trained in Greece; a magazine published statements of a terrorist on that. It also published quotes from a book written by a priest which encourages the forest fires in Muslim countries.

We have to confront them with anger and strength; we must prepare harsh punishments for such murderers so that it would set an example for the rest of the world and deter those who have such desires. We must enlighten our people about their plots and ill intentions. We must locate and destroy the headquarters of organizations such terrorists. If necessary, we must use our right of "eye for an eye." We must break the plans and plots of the enemies against our country and inflict equal harms.

We must at once declare "state of emergency" in order to compensate the losses resulting from the recent forest fires.

We have had various activities for the environment for several years. We must speed up and spread these activities. I have a request from my dear brothers in every province, every county, every town and every village: establish an association for cultural and environmental activities if you do not have one. If possible, rent some forest land from the government, protect it and operate it. Buy inexpensive lands in your region as your personal property and plant trees on them. Channel some of your savings to purchasing a piece of land, as individuals, families, associations, foundations or as a group, and cultivate it as a pasture, plant poplar trees, grow various types of trees, arrange it for various kinds of sports, make it a park or an area for social activities. Do not be discouraged if it is a wetland, a barren land, a desert, a mountain top, a rocky field, or a steep land. If it has ground water, drill a well. If it does not have water, bring it with tracks or with buckets. If it does not have enough soil, bring it from other places in baskets. Plant trees of hundreds and thousands. (Especially the pistachio is encouraged, the walnut is valuable.) Think about your grand children in 10, 20 or 100 years from now. Work with all your might as a family, and spend your vacations, holidays and spare times for this purpose.

The enemies are trying to turn our country into ghost towns and ruins; you must try the opposite. Try making it a beautiful, green, pleasant world. Never forget the importance of planting trees that our religion emphasizes, and the rewards that will continue even after death.

As you see, when a person is devoid of Islam, he loses his human properties and becomes a monster, creates chaos in the world. Please support our efforts and work in spreading the message of Islam.

May Allah keep His guidance with you all; may He increase your efforts, zeal and power. Amen!