Page 86 - Communism in Ambush

COMMUNISM IN AMBUSH
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people grew. The Red Army remained as an occupying force in
Afghanistan for ten years, during which time it used cruel and pitiless
methods in its attempt to destroy opposing groups that rightfully resis-
ted it. One Afghani opponent describes these methods:
T The Soviets attacked every single house, looting and raping the women.
The barbarism was worse than instinctive, and appeared to have been
planned. They knew that in carrying out such acts they were destroying
the very foundation of our society. 59
Against the Afghani Muslims, the Red Army used the basest meth-
ods: They made mines look like toys in order to get Afghani children to
play with them, subjected captive opponents to terrible tortures, and
bombed civilians without hesitation. The end of their ten-year occupa-
tion left tens of thousands of maimed and dead. This is why many
Afghani young people were left without arms or legs, and why since
then, Afghanistan has been one of the countries that consume the most
prosthetic limbs. But the Soviets' withdrawal left a power vacuum, and a
bloody civil war ensued. In short, the savagery begun in the 1970's at
Soviet instigation brought Afghanistan a half century of cruelty and
pain.
As mentioned earlier, Communist Russia saw the gradual spread
of Islam as a danger and inflicted cruelty to prevent this spread. It for-
bad Afghanis to worship, burned Qur'ans and murdered those who
practiced their Islamic faith. But the invaders did not take into account
one important point: Those with no faith at all cannot conceive of a be-
liever's intimate relationship with God. They assume that by destroying
holy books, they can make faith disappear too. But faith lies in the heart.
Those who truly believe know that all the adversities they suffer are
tests from God; therefore, they bear them patiently.
In the Qur'an (2: 155-157), God says to those who believe:
We will test you with a certain amount of fear and hunger and
loss of wealth and life and fruits. But give good news to the stead-
fast: Those who, when disaster strikes them, say, "We belong to
God and to Him we will return." Those are the people who will
have blessings and mercy from their Lord; they are the ones who
are guided.