Fazl-e-Umar — Page 369
Fazle Umar 369 In status also, it is placed at the heart of the Islamic world. Hence, its peace and security is the concern of every Muslim. Today that peace is under threat and the Muslims of the world cannot remain silent and they are not silent. The Muslims of every corner of the world are deeply concerned and their anxiety is justified because that war which was to be settled in the deserts of Africa and the Mediterranean Sea will now be fought in the homes of Muslims. The courtyards of our mosques and the enclosures of the tombs of our revered saints will be its target. And everyone knows the state of those countries now being occupied by the Germans. If Sheikh Rashid Ali Jilani and his associates had refrained from conspiring with Germany, this danger for the Islamic world would not have arisen. “Turkey has fallen as a result of this revolt, war has arrived on the doorsteps of Iran, Syria has become a means of propagating this war, Iraq has become a target for war. Afghanistan stands at the doorstep of this war and the biggest threat is that war has arrived on the borders of the blessed land (of Mecca and Medina) which we love more than our homelands and more than our own lives and honour. Those unprotected holy sites, those sites that have no physical defences for their protection with which our hearts are so emotionally attached, are now in the range of bombardment and the deadly warplanes. And all this has happened due to the mistake made by a few of our brothers because the war was hundreds of miles away from these holy sites before this grievous mistake. In these circumstances, it is the duty of every Muslim to try and suppress this revolt right from the start. There is still time to push the war away because the troops of Germany and Italy have not entered Iraq and Syria in large numbers. If God forbid, troops enter these areas in large numbers then this task will not be easy. The flames of war will spread swiftly through the deserts of Arabia.