The forgotten war

Not many of us are aware of the war that is still ongoing in Chechnya between the Chechens and the Russians.The Chechens, labelled as a nationalist movement by some, rebellious traitors by Moscow, and Chechen terrorist militants by the West, but as a Muslim, I rather call them "Muslim Freedom fighters".

After the collapse of now defunct federation, the Soviet Union, a lot of nations/republics within the Soviet Union declared their independence from Moscow. Led by a former Russian Air Force General, Dzhokhar Dudayev , a native Muslim chechen, Chechnya declared independence in 1991. Chechnya is a major hub for Russia’s Oil infrastructure and the political domino fallout if Chechnya successfully gained independence (i.e countries such as Tartarstan was also rumoured to have considered abandoning the new formed Russian Federation) would be a major disaster for Moscow, and thus prompted the first Chechen War.

The First Chechen war erupted between December 1994 until August 1996. The fighters were formed by two groups, namely the Chechens themselves and also a group of muslim brothers from all the around the globe. These foreign mujahideen group was led by a fearless leader, Ibn al-Khattab and the Chechens by Dudayev himself. In short, the Chechens/mujahideen alliance won the first war.

The second Chechen war erupted in 1999. Russia, beaten in the first war, was very determined to recapture Chechnya to stop the Domino effect of countries declaring independence from Russia after the first Chechen War. The war is still on going to this very day, although it is now pretty much a guerrilla war rather than a full scale open war.

Casualties of wars reach in their thousands, with most of Chechens become homeless and living in fear. Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, is under constant attack daily. However, the clever media manipulation by the West and Russia only tell us a one sided story. We constantly reminded the “act of terrorism” done by the Chechens/Mujahideen such as the Beslan siege, Moscow Theatre siege and other suicide bombings, but never were we told the sufferings, degradation and atrocities that were and still are inflicted to the muslim Chechens.

We must not forget the heroes and the shaheeds (martyres) of these two wars. Dudayev, Ibn Khattab, Shamil Basayez, Zelimkham Yandarbiyez and countless others, either native Chechens or the global Mujahideen, have fought bravely and died to the cause. But remember, as Allah revealed in the Quran:

“Think not of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord; They rejoice in the bounty provided by Allah. And with regard to those left behind, who have not yet joined them (in their bliss), the (martyr's) glory in the fact that on them is no fear, nor have they (cause to) grieve.”

- Surah Ali Imran : 169-170

“Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the Garden (of Paradise): they fight in His Cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in Truth, through the Torah, the Gospel, and the Quran: and who is more faithful to his Covenant than Allah? Then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement supreme.”

– Surah At-tawbah : 111

As a muslim, I would urge you to join and support the cause of our Chechen brothers and surf the website http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/ for the latest information from this tiny Caucacus nation. We might not have the courage to fight in the name of defending our fellow muslims in Chechnya, but atleast we can support the cause with our supplement (Doa). Insya Allah.