Page 174 - The Winter of Islam and the Spring to Come

THE WINTER OF ISLAM AND THE SPRING TO COME
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both sides, both allies of Israel, formed a profitable market for U.S. and
Israeli arms manufacturers and were able to distract the world's atten-
tion from their oppression of Muslims by turning it in the direction of
the war instead.
The violence continues even today. Muslims in Eritrea are still ar-
rested for no reason, sentenced to death by unjust courts, murdered by
death squads, and all forms of opposition are prohibited. Muslims are
thus unable to live freely according to their religion, their freedom of
worship is restricted, the losses among the population grow day by day
and policies of oppression, fear and intimidation continue unabated.
Schools that might teach Muslim children about their religion are
closed down, and mosques where people might pray are demolished.
Tens of thousands of Muslims are forced to migrate, and the million or
so refugees who have fled the persecution of the regime are trying to
survive in conditions of hunger and famine.
These cruel practices call to mind the unfair and unjust measures
that have been inflicted on Muslims throughout history. In the Qur'an
Allah reveals that the character of cruel rulers has been the same down
the ages. These, their wicked natures, and their persecution of women,
children and the elderly have never changed. As Allah says in the
Qur'an, "How many generations before them We destroyed who had
greater force than them ...?" (Surah Qaf: 36), generally speaking those
of the past were even worse then those of the present when it comes to
cruelty. One of the cruel rulers referred to in the Qur'an is the ancient
Egyptian Pharoah:
Pharaoh exalted himself arrogantly in the land and divided its peo-
ple into camps, oppressing one group of them by slaughtering their
sons and letting their women live. He was one of the corrupters.
(Surat al-Qasas: 4)

As Allah informs us in the verse, Pharaoh oppressed and inflicted
severe torments on his people. We must not forget, however, that it is
revealed in the Qur'an that those who grow arrogant, who commit cru-
elties, will be despised in this world and face terrible suffering in the
next. In the same way that they received their just deserts for their cru-