Re: Slobodan Praljak
(Muslim Millennial Musings #1)
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Earlier this afternoon, at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, a prominent Bosnian Croat war criminal died from an apparent suicide, following his ingestion of the contents of a small brown vial upon an earlier conviction and sentence of twenty (20) years’ imprisonment for his direct role ordering and governing war crimes against the Bosnian Muslim civilian population during the Croat-Bosniak War (1992–1994) being upheld by chief judge Carmel Agius.
Muslims worldwide, predictably, are outraged.
I am not.
I’m happy.
Here’s why.
1. Praljak is not the first Bosnian Croat (nor the first war criminal regardless of ethnicity and historical period for that matter) to commit the cowardice of convenience to avoid the consequences of his actions.
In the orthodox Islamic tradition, the act of suicide is considered an unforgivable cardinal sin if done consciously with intent, particularly to avoid capture.
Therefore, every Muslim should understand, based on elementary literal interpretation of explicit textual evidences, Praljak can not and will never, ever, be forgiven by God for this.
2. Praljak was the convicted murderer, rapist, and pillager of countless Muslim women, children, and men. Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians perished needlessly. Millions of human beings were displaced. It is inherently impossible for a single human mind to properly empathize and imagine the totality of suffering represented by this order of magnitude.
Praljak’s victims, their survivors and descendants — some of whom I have known for over a decade, since my high school internship days at the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture — have not forgiven him.
In the orthodox Islamic tradition, God will not pardon any person if they have breached, infringed, and/or otherwise encroached upon the rights of another person(s), including but not limited to the latter’s: life; health; safety; property; family; honor; civil freedoms; religious practice; character; and worldly reputation.
I can state, with whole-hearted confidence and conviction, Praljak has neither requested nor received their forgiveness.
Therefore, every Muslim should understand, based on elementary literal interpretation of explicit textual evidences, Praljak can not and will never, ever, be forgiven by God for this.
3. Praljak’s premeditated action resulting in his premature death facilitated his escape from justice, yet merely hastened his unavoidable questioning and inevitable punishment in the grave, the Last Day, and the hereafter.
Therefore, every Muslim should understand, based on elementary literal interpretation of explicit textual evidences, Praljak can not and will never, ever, be forgiven by God for this.
He deserves, in my opinion, eternal damnation for his unrepentant crimes against humanity, unconscionable abdication, and unforgivable cowardice.
To hell with you, Praljak.
To hell with your defenders.
To hell with your enablers.
To hell with your financiers.
Good riddance. Rot in piss.
Closing Thoughts: Prayer
May God seize every criminal as only He can and has promised.
May God deliver justice to the oppressed as only He can and has promised.
May God protect, bless, and uplift the Bosnian Muslim people, their culture, children, land, language, and sovereignty, sanctify the memory of their dearly departed martyrs, and increase them and their progeny in all that is good, nearness to Him and His Pleasure.
May the eyes of cowards never sleep.
May the heavens quake with the sincerity of this prayer.
Amen
Self-aware title is self-aware. Note from the author:
I’m well aware this “story” is wildly different than my usual writing, which consists of memoir, satire, political rants, and self-help stuff for Millennials by your favorite Millennial’s favorite Millennial. I thought I’d try something new today. Well, two new things. First, I’d like to share information about Islam and Muslim beliefs, as I understand them, because I’m quite often asked to address misconceptions, refute Islamophobic rhetoric, and, yes, even debate the good old-fashioned haters of Twitter, Medium, etc. (case in point: President Trump retweeted anti-Muslim video content by Britain First, an infamous far-right British hate group whose deputy leader was convicted of religiously motivated harassment last year, less than 24 hours ago… and yeah I know, I know, there’s nothing new under the sun, nothing makes sense anymore, 2017 should have been canceled, I shouldn’t expect anything remotely resembling reality from POTUS Vanilla ISIS, but c’mon people). Second, I’d like to try writing more journalism-style content. Why not? Also, I’m well-aware this whole thing is basically me gloating about my religious conviction damning the soul/spirit/whatever of a 72-year-old human turd to burn in hell for, like, forever. I’m well aware this sounds mean-spirited, Hell seems like the most metal Ronco Rotisserie ever, and you’re probably asking yourself, how could/why do folks like yours truly, who are trying to be God-conscious and decent human beings, revel in esoteric eschatology, and the fire and brimstone reserved for nogoodniks like Praljak? There’s a long story, but the short story is this belief in ultimate justice and final accountability helps me sleep at night, in a world where 16,165 children under five years old die from preventable causes every single day, one every five fucking seconds. It’s how I cope with the sudden suicide of my uncle, the loss of my darling angel maternal grandmother to Alzheimer’s after her decade battling dementia, and the sudden bout of illness which expired the last breaths of my darling angel maternal grandfather, who seemed bulletproof at ninety, yet I wasn’t able to say goodbye to one last time. If I didn’t believe these things, speaking for only myself, I don’t think life would bear any color, fragrance, nor joie d’vivre. The struggle of sixteen plus years being misunderstood, typecast as un-American, declared under stifled mutterings an enemy combatant, assumed flight risk, and presumed guilty before proven innocent due to the maniacal acts of terror committed by heartless savages masquerading as my fellow Muslims would be worthless. I wouldn’t get out of bed. None of this would have meant anything.
P.S. I love you so much.
P.P.S. Fuck Matt Lauer.
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