Page 52 - The Winter of Islam and the Spring to Come

THE WINTER OF ISLAM AND THE SPRING TO COME
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Prophet Muhammad (saas) always defended the rights of civilians,
even during the fiercest fighting, and ordered all Muslims to be moder-
ate and to avoid all forms of fanaticism. That is what the morality of the
Qur'an that Allah requires. In the Qur'an, Allah has commanded
Muslims to be forgiving and compassionate and to behave justly, even
in war. A Muslim must be someone who first feeds his prisoner even if
he himself is hungry, always behaves with moderation even in the mid-
dle of a war, defends the rights of the oppressed and never deviates
from the path of honesty and justice. For that reason, the Chechen peo-
ple must never forget Our Lord's stricture "You who believe! Show in-
tegrity for the sake of Allah, bearing witness with justice. Do not let
hatred for a people incite you into not being just. Be just. That is
closer to heedfulness. Allah is aware of what you do." (Surat Al-
Ma'ida: 8), even when fighting the oppression that they have been sub-
jected to, and must never, ever target the guiltless and defenceless
public.
Our hope is to see a search for a solution to the differences between
the Chechens and the Russian administration based on a moderate and
peaceful framework, as should also be the case in other regions of the
Islamic world.

Moscow's Concerns Over a "United Caucasus"

Chechnya, which has been on the world's agenda for the last
decade, is a very small country of some 16,000 square kilometers.
Within the Russian Federation, there are presently 19 autonomous re-
publics in the same position as Chechnya. These republics make up 28
percent, over one-fourth, of Russian territory. Moscow still has a very
strong influence on them, and is very keen that that influence should
never be diminished. The loss of Chechnya would mean breaking the
stranglehold of Russian power over the other republics, and would re-
sult in this nation setting an example to them. If the Chechens, whose
total numbers are only that of the troops in the Russian army, break
away from Russia, that could spark off independence movements in the