A discussion of the Shaykh’s meeting with one of the leaders of the mujahideen in Bosnia.

The Shaykh : I was approached two days ago. We were here the day before yesterday; I had a private meeting here. A man who goes by his kunya, Abu 'Abd al-'Aziz, was present. He established a front there in Bosnia and Herzegovina, gathering around five hundred, perhaps more, of us, the Islamic mujahideen. Because the state there, which is nominally a Muslim state, is led by Ali Izetbegovic, most of them drink intoxicants, and many of them flee from fighting out of fear. They used to be amazed by us. He would say, "This is Abu 'Abd al-'Aziz," and they would be amazed by us and speak well of us regarding our courage and bravery. How are we holding firm, even though our weapons are light, while the state has stronger weapons? In any case, this man was able to gather around five hundred people, and the number may have increased later, as he says, reaching a thousand Bosnians whom he was able to guide to the correct path of Islam. They did not pray, but they started praying. They used to drink intoxicants, but they stopped drinking intoxicants, and so on. They joined him, along with some Arabs who came from Saudi Arabia and perhaps from elsewhere. So he had about five hundred at first, and now about a thousand. However, they were tied to the upper Bosnian command, so they felt that their connection with the command was not suitable for the jihad for which they had gathered around him. It was the wisdom of this Arab, Abu 'Abd al-'Aziz, that he made the leader of the group, from a military standpoint, a Bosnian in whom he saw goodness and soundness, a believer, meaning a good man, and perhaps a graduate of some of the universities. So this Bosnian leader was the one who managed the battle with the Serbs, and under his military supervision was this man, but this man is a caller to Allah, though he is trained in Afghanistan in the use of some weapons. In any case, he told us about things involving victory, as we had been hearing completely about Afghanistan. But note that their remaining connected to the upper Bosnian command is not in the interest of the Islamic call to jihad. So they sent a telegram stating that they are not prepared to be connected with them, and that either they become independent and act according to their own views and their jihad and combat plans, or they return to their countries. The result of that was that they sent them a very high-ranking officer, and he met with the Bosnian leader and some of the heads of the factions, and of course this Abu 'Abd al-'Aziz was present, and they agreed with them that they would be completely independent. This was also a great victory for them. In any case, this man says he heard some tapes in which I do not encourage this so-called jihad. So he came here for a connection with Shaykh Al-Albani to understand his opinion on jihad closely and in detail. It was a very long session, and we heard these details from him extensively. I did not put him in an awkward position by saying, "You did not come for this; you did not come to hear us; you came to understand our opinion." I did not resort to that, but rather, every opportunity I took to enter the topic... In the end, I concluded with the following with him, and of course he left very pleased, and I was even more pleased because he understood me completely how he should act. I said to him: "I understood from you that you are successful in the call to the Book and the Sunnah there, and I was also pleased that you understand the call as we want it, contrary to the Saudis: Book and Sunnah and the methodology of the pious predecessors. So he repeated this himself, which pleased me greatly. So I said, 'I understood that you benefited the Bosnians in the call to the Book and the Sunnah and on the methodology of the pious predecessors more than you benefited them by helping them in fighting.' Of course, among the things that took place between me and him was that the Bosnians are now under the shadow of their government, and they do not fight a jihad; they fight a battle that makes no difference from this perspective. And these are delicate matters that most people do not know. So the Muslim Bosnians, and geographically as we say, us and the Serbs, who are Christians, both meet in that they fight. It was supposed for the Muslim Bosnian people to fight a jihad in the path of Allah. I said, "Perhaps you know more than I do, because you are directly with them, that they fight but do not do jihad. So this is a point of distinction between you and them. You fight a jihad in the path of Allah; they do not fight a jihad in the path of Allah," and so on. We parted after a very long conversation, close to ten o'clock, with the following conclusion: "You, O 'Abd al-'Aziz, I advise you to remain there as a caller to the Book and the Sunnah." And I reminded him of the hadith: and so on, and not to participate in offensive combat, offensive combat, but rather you are in the area where you live and reside; if you are attacked, you defend, because you want to focus on your remaining there for the sake of the call. The call to whom? Not the Serbs, but these Bosnians who remained, especially since he clarified to me that in fact a large portion of them responded to him and embraced Islam and improved their Islam. They started praying, even in the trenches, where they did not pray in their palaces or in their homes. I said, "You will benefit these Muslim Bosnians, and this is their right upon you in the call, more than in jihad. So let your jihad now be defensive jihad, not offensive jihad." Of course, I was speaking with certainty of my opinion that my brother, Jihad Baroudi, and I brought him the Syrian example: what does a bullet do against tanks, airplanes, launchers, and shells? And so on. I brought him the Syrian proverb, "An eye cannot resist a needle." So now, with your small number, and a very small number, you want to attack the Serbs, who are first a state prepared with all means of fighting, and then everyone around them is helping them against you. So I advise you to make your jihad defensive, and your greatest jihad the call to Allah. On this, we parted. And we found the man, because of how much he was responsive to me, saying, "I want you to direct a word to these Bosnians, and especially to those of them who responded to Allah and the Messenger." So we improvised a good word, and Abu Malik completed it. This word is recorded, of course, atAbu Layla : and perhaps it will be published soon, if Allah wills.