BALIK-ISLAM
UNITY CONGRESS
TULFO'S UNCALLED-FOR COMMENT
By Prof. Joey "Yusuf" Ledesma
In his column published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) on January 25, 2003, entitled "An uncalled-for comment", Ramon Tulfo showed his ignorance of Islam and of Islamic history. He said that Muslims pretend to have a monopoly on bravery while slaughtering unarmed opponents, stabbing a guy at his back is turned overwhelming a lone opponent with sheer numbers. He also that Muslims killed Christians just for being Christians. This totally contradicts the teachings of the Qur'an and what we know from history.
At Badr, the fledgling Muslim force consisting of 313 mostly unarmed men led by the Prophet (saw) defeated a well-equ8pped army of over 1000. Allah (swt) tells us that "It was not ye who slew them; it was Allah;" Qur'an viii:17. The bravery of Muslims comes from the the conviction that Allah (swt) will help him as long as he is fighting in the Cause of Allah.
After the crusaders took Jerusalem in 1099, one Jewish pilgrim wrote, "The Franks arrived and killed everybody in the city, whether of Ismael or of Israel... Now all of us anticipated that our sultan, may God bestow glory upon his victories, would set out against the Franks...and he chase them away." And here in the Philippines, in spite of being outnumbered, the Muslims in the South continue to fight the heavily trained and foreign-equipped troops decade after decade, century after century. Today, the U.S. plans to hit the country weakened by years of sanctions, with at least 400 cruise missiles in the first assault, to strike "fear and awe" into the enemy, according to news reports. But Muslims reserve "fear and awe" only to Allah (swt) As it says in the Holy Qur'an, we will wait just as our enemies wait for the verdict of Allah. For only Allah gives the victory. Allahu Akbar!!!