Salem Azzam and Causes of the Ummah
Ustadh Salem Azzam was truly a man of the Ummah. Even those who belong to the Islamic Movement typically identify with a national cause, context, or politics and thereafter they may branch out to briefly show solidarity with other causes relating to the Ummah. As for Ustadh Salem he, in his own words, saw himself as a ‘Muslim who was born in Egypt’. Whilst given the position and historical, regional, political, and religious significance of Egypt as well as his own familial ties to the country perhaps meant that Ustadh Salem was never disassociated from the affairs of his country of origin, he was not limited in his scope, perspective, or dedication to just one country. Ustadh Salem Azzam’s loyalty was not to a nation-state but rather to the Ummah in its entirety.
Introduction
Thus Ustadh Salem Azzam and his Islamic Council became a voice for the Ummah even in issues that were not well represented at the time. Whether it be the liberation of Palestine in its entirety, the Muslims struggling for freedom in the Philippines, those trying to expel the Soviets in Afghanistan, the Muslims attempting to secure their civil rights in Bulgaria, the Islamic Movement trying to implement Sharia in Sudan, Erbakan and his comrades striving for the revival of Islam in Turkey, the establishment of Northern Cyprus, Muslim Youth in FOSIS trying to find a centre for their activities – wherever Muslims sought for an ally, they readily found it in Ustadh Salem Azzam and the Islamic Council.
The causes that Ustadh Salem and the Islamic Council championed were not only encapsulated in the conferences they hosted. Amongst the Causes they raised and sought to represent were:
- Letters and Cables pertaining to the prisoners in Turkey under the despotic Secular Rule and those arrested under the dictatorship of Mubarak due to the assassination of the Traitor Sadat
- Writing to Jacques Santer, President of the European Commission, about the military coup against the Islamic Salvation Front who won the Algerian elections in 1991
- A letter to Pope John Paul II asking that the Catholic Church apologise for its expulsion and persecution of Muslims from Spain
- Letters to Senator Robert Dole and Prime Minister John Major about the Russian invasion of Chechnya describing it as a ‘genocide’, supporting President Dudayev and calling on the United Kingdom to recognise Chechnya.
- Writing an opinion piece in the Independent newspaper calling for sustained pressure to be put on the aggressive Serb forces with regards to Bosnia
- Meeting the Mayor of Sarajevo and demonstrating solidarity with the Bosnians
- Encouraging Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto not to abandon Pakistan’s Nuclear Programme despite pressure from the United States
- Attempting to secure the release of Palestinian Resistance Leader, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin
- Writing to the Government of Pakistan attempting to secure the release of the sons of Dr Abdullah Azzam and about the wider issue of extraditing Arab Mujahideen to Egypt
- And earlier in his career it was Ustadh Salem Azzam whilst at the Saudi Embassy who with his career-long colleague Ebrahimsa Muhammad secured the funds for FOSIS to acquire its Hostel in Kilburn, London, in 1971
With Prince Muhammad-al-Faisal
With Muhammad Qutb
Conferences
Additionally, Ustadh Salem Azzam on Behalf of the Islamic Council attended numerous conferences including:
- The 1989 Islam in Africa Conference convened by the OIC where Ustadh Salem spoke and was a representative
- The 1993 Popular Arab and Islamic Conference where Ustadh Salem delivered a speech.
- The International Islamic Conference in London 1995 where Ustadh Salem gave the Welcome Address celebrating the career of the Amir of Jamaat e Islami Bangladesh, Ghulam Azam
- Necmettin Erbakan’s 1997 Conference on Islamic Co-operation and Solidarity in Istanbul and Ustadh Salem also gave a speech at this conference
- 1997 Islamic Summit in Tehran, Iran representing the Islamic Council
- Another facet of Ustadh Salem and the Islamic Council’s strength and support for the Causes of the Ummah was the strong personal relationships and friendships established with leading Islamic figures. Amongst these were:
- President of Pakistan, Zia Ul Haq
- The freedom fighter and first President of Algeria, Ahmed Ben Bella
- Prime Minister of Turkey, Necmettin Erbakan
- Prime Minister of Sudan, Sadiq al Mahdi
- President of Northern Cyprus Rauf Denktas
- The President of Afghanistan and Mujahid Burhannudin Rabbani
- Professor Khurshid Ahmad, founder of the Islamic Foundation
- Moazzam Ali
- The Esteemed Murshid of the Muslim Brotherhood Umar Al Tilmisani who once remarked that: ‘If I were to regret anything in my life Salem, it is that I did not meet you a long time ago’
- Ebrahimsa Mohamed, General Secretary of FOSIS
- The Afghan Mujahid Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
- Prince Muhammad al Faisal
- Secretary General of the OIC and Senegalese Foreign Minister, Karim Gaye
With Abdulrab-Rasul-Sayyaf
Gallery
