Urgent letter to security officials

Urgent letter to security officials  (1994)  by Osama bin Laden

Written September 16, 1994 while bin Laden was living in the Sudan as an open letter to Saudi forces. Translated by the CTC at West Point Military Academy; minor errors that resulted in poor English, at the fault of the translators themselves, have been corrected to prevent giving an unfairly skewered view of the author.

We have been deprived of sleep. Our nights were made sleepless by this grievous misfortune and evil crime, when the Saudi regime threw into the depths of prison a group of the best of the Ummah, its Mullahs, and active preachers. This is part of the Saudi regime's insane campaign to strike at the Islamic awakening and its scholarly and popular symbols. It is truly disgraceful and distressing that the regime employs a band of Muslims from our oppressed people and makes them vulgar rebels, by which it strikes every voice of truth and extinguishes every true word that the Ulema and the preachers, guides of the Ummah, cry out.

This compels us, in accordance with the Shari'ah, to reveal the truth to those Muslims who give assistance to the oppressors, but are unaware. Perhaps they will repent at what has taken place, and avoid what is to come. They, God willing, will do this.

Our brother Muslims in the security apparatus, may God help you all do his desires and prevent you from disobeying him. Know that you were trained to defend the interests of your people and protect their rights. You are their representatives in this great matter, as vigilant guardians intent on preserving their religion, and their lives and property of individuals. Your rulers today want to take this great and honourable position away from you and reduce you to a law and submissive rank. God will not allow this to be done to his most pre-eminent worshippers and hismost honoured followers of Islam. They want to turn you into slaves as if they had purchased your freedom with their money. They want to make you spears with which they will pierce the chests of the Ulema, and barricades with which they will stop the spread of Islamic Dawah.

In this way, you are destroying the noble edifice of your religion, and you are piercing yourselves, your brothers and cousins, and indeed your Ulema and the best of you.

What sin have these innocent Ulema committed?! Did they rob the nation of its money and distribute it to their families?! Did they confiscate tribal land and grant it to their relatives?! Did they monopolise trade of every kind among themselves and shut out everyone else?! Did they build palaces with your blood and money, and dwell in them on the best plots of land in your country?! Did they squander the country's money and and resources on their appetites until the dangers of need and poverty knocked upon the doors, and services in public utilities and facilities declined?! Have they waged war upon God, filling the land of the peninsula with banks that charge interest, or have the Ulema scattered corruption in the Houses of the Haramayn?! Have they seized the people's money and subjugated them until the people began thinking that the Ulema owned the land, the money and the people?! Whenever they perform a tenth of their religious obligations, do they add to the blessing an insult and call it donations and noble deeds? ?! Have they planned for the rest of the army to be weak, despising it and its abilities, then insulted the army by seeking the help of enemies to protect their thrones?! Have they degraded the media into mouthpieces of hypocrisy, cheats and deceivers, only caring to glorify and praise with false claims?! These are the Ulema they ordered to be attacked and arrested to prevent them from speaking of the religion of God. The Ulema are the ones who reprove all these violations and crimes and demand that all of God's law be enforced. The Ulema call for the delivery of the country from political, economic and health decline, as in the advisory memorandum.

Arise, our brothers! Do not call on the dajjals of the Saud family. They will drive you to God's wrath and punishment. You will dwell in shame in this world, andtorment in the next. The Book of God bears witness to the punishment of those who stand by the tyrant, helping him until the command of God arrives, at which time he will take the tyrant and his soldiers, falsity will perish and truth and its adherents will emerge victorious. You remember what God did with the Pharaoh and how he took him and his soldiers (for Pharoah and Haman and their hosts were wrongdoers). "So we seized him and his hosts, and we flung them into the sea. Now behold what was the end of those who did wrong?" Or are you satisfied that the infidels and the people of depravity and debauchery are honoured and powerful, while our Ulema are shackled in dark prisons?

It is a great wrong to slander the Ulema, for they are the heirs of the prophets. What can be said about those who commit aggression against them, or help in this? Where do you stand with regards to his, may God bless him and grant him peace, warning? "Every Muslim's blood, wealth and food are forbidden to other Muslims." Muslim related it. Not one of you can have the audacity to commit such aggression and say, "I am a servant of the one in charge". By God, this is a terrible thing to say and a danger to the one who says it. It contradicts the assertion of greatness. You are sernts of God, you are not servants of the Saudi rulers. God's command is greater than the command of your rulers. This you confirm when you say "Allahu Akbar" by which you begin your prayers. You are servants of God, obedient to him, and compliant to his commands. "You we worship and your aid we seek".

Our brothers, oh sons of our people, oh those possessed of dignity and honour, oh those who do not turn their faces to anyone but God - the Ulema, the preachers, the reformers and their followers only see you as brothers, the beloved of the people, the most faithful soldiers of the Ummah, devoted to the religion of Islam and to the protection of the rights of Muslims. The belief and supposition of the tyrannical Saudi regime that you are its servants and slaves will be disappointed. Let the Ummah see that you are slaves of God alone. Let the people know that you are their beloved, their guards and their helpers. Let the Ulema and preachers rejoice that you have promised God to travel the road to Heaven, and that you will not sell your religion and your life in the hereafter for the world of others. You should resolve to do the following:

1. To repent evil, desiring the forgiveness of God, who said "Only if one repents, believes and works righteous deeds, will God change the evils of such persons into good, and God is forgiving and merciful".
2. To not obey the tyrants when they command you to commit aggression against the Ulema and your Muslim people. These orders are against the way of God and wage war on the religion of God, and they are a great obedience to his saying, may God bless him and grant him peace, saying "There is no piety in disobedience of God." Agreed upon.
3. To urge the rest of your brothers working with you to not respond to the commands of the tyrants, according to his, may God bless him and grant him peace, saying "By him who holds my soul in his hand, you must command good and forbid evil, or God will send a punishment upon you. Then you will call on him and he will not respond.". Hasan as related by al-Tamridhi.
4. To not delay in helping your people and removing tyranny from them. This is according to his, may God bless him and grant him peace, saying "The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim, he does not wrong him,. nor deceive him, nor forsake him." Agreed upon.
5. To wash your hands of all crimes of the regime and to not trust the regime. As the Almighty said, "and incline not to those who do wrong or the fire will touch you".

Finally, we in the Advice and Reform Committee call on all security officials to do penance for arrests of Shaykhs that they have carried out, and to strive to release them. We call on our Muslim people to not rest until they see the Ulema leave the prisons of the tyrants. "Help you one another in righteousness and piety, but help you not another in sin and rancor".

11/4/1415AH

On their behalf

Usamah bin Muhammad bin Ladin

Footnotes

This is a translation and has a separate copyright status from the original text. The license for the translation applies to this edition only.
Original:	This text was published by, or on behalf of, a "designated terror organization" subject to U.S. sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA, 50 U.S.C. Chapter 35). As such, any corresponding copyright is "blocked property" in the United States. The text is used on English-language Wikisource (hosted on servers in the United States by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation) as "information or an informational material" under the the provisions of 50 U.S.C. § 1702(b)(3). Note: If the organization responsible for this particular text is ever removed from the list of IEEPA-sanctions then its suitability for Wikisource will have to be re-examined and it may face deletion.
Translation:	This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States federal government (see 17 U.S.C. 105).