This post is part of our special coverage The Death of Osama Bin Laden.
A tweet in Arabic saying that a million Bin Ladens will now rise
The end of Al Qaeda's Saudi leader Osama Bin Laden was met with tributes and remembrance by many users on Twitter from across the Arab world. Here is a sample of tweets from users in Bahrain and Kuwait, who say that Bin Laden may have died but his ideology will live on.
These reactions express the views of the people I quote and are not representative of the entire Arab world, where views cover a wide spectrum, from joy to disbelief.
Kuwaiti Mubarak Al Bathaali tweets [ar]:
ان كان توفاه الله ففي أمة محمد ألف أسامه وان دين الاسلام لا يتوقف لأجل رجل إنما هذه الامة يتوارثها الابطال على مر السنين منذ عهد رسول الله
If he had died, then (Prophet) Muhammad's Ummah (Islamic community) has another 1,000 Osamas. The Islamic religion will not stop with one man. This is an ummah which has been inherited by heroes over generations, from the times of the Prophet.
Still in Kuwait, Dr Sajed Al Abadli adds [ar]:
أسامه بن لادن ليس شخصا.. أسامه بن لادن فكرة.. مات الشخص.. هل ماتت الفكرة؟
Osama bin Laden is not a person. Osama bin Laden is an ideology. A person has died… did the ideology die too?
And Nabil Al Awadhy adds [ar]:
قد نختلف مع بعض أفكار ابن لادن لكن أسأل الله أن يغفر له ويرحمه ويتقبله في الشهداء أما الجهاد الشرعي فهو ماض إلى يوم الدين
We may differ with some of Bin Laden's ideas but I ask Allah to forgive him and have mercy on his soul and welcome him as a martyr. As for the legitimate Jihad (war), it will continue until the Day of Judgement.
Moving on to Bahrain, Fatima Buhassan notes [ar]:
ربما سقط بن لادن لكنه رفع الملايين ممن زرع فيهم روح الجهاد ليصبح هناك مليون بن لادن في هذا العالم ليسقط أمثال أوباما
Bin Laden may have died but he has created millions, whom he gave the spirit of Jihad (Islamic holy war) to create a million Bin Laden's in this world, who are able to overthrow the likes of Obama
Fellow Bahraini Mubarak Mattar adds [ar]:
مع اختلافنا مع القاعدة إلاأننا نفخربموت رجل مسلم استطاع أن يهز العالم في وقت لم تستطع كل الجيوش العربية ذلك #OBL
With all our differences with Al Qaeda, we are proud of the death of a Muslim man who was able to shake the world at a time all the Arab armies united couldn't do that
and he continues [ar]:
رحمة الله عليك يا اسامة .. لن افرح لمقتلك .. أنت الوحيد الذي قلت لا في زمن قالت العرب نعم ! #Osama #Binladen
May Allah have mercy on you Osama. I wasn't happy for your death .. you are the only one who said “No” in an era where the Arabs said “Yes.”
Still in Bahrain, Dr Adel Abdulla notes [ar]:
ابن لادن ليس شخصا بل ظاهرة، وقتله سيفرخ منه آلافا، وأمريكا تستقطب عداوة البشرية بامتياز، وموت الشخص لا يميت الفكرة والأيديولوجيا
Bin Laden is not a human being but a phenomena. His death may make thousands happy and the US attracts the hate of humanity with excellence. The death of one person does not kill the idea or the ideology
Screen shot of the 'We are all Osama bin Laden' page on Facebook.
Meanwhile on Facebook, pages of support like We are all Osama bin Laden have popped up.
Stay tuned for more reactions on this story from across the Middle East and North Africa.
This post is part of our special coverage The Death of Osama Bin Laden.
17 comments
Just remember, you took 2 of our towers… you declared war on us. We responded and took 2 of your countries. We have plenty of towers. How many countries do you have?
Just as you claim to have ‘sleepers’ in our country, we have CIA and unnamed operatives living among you or right next door to you.
This war will end one day and it will cost us both dearly. One side more than the other. You are willing to die for your hatred of us and extremist religious beliefs. We are divided by our different systems of government and religious beliefs, but we are united by our will to die for freedom. We don’t seek freedom to do whatever we want, we seek freedom from the the terror you cowards continue to use though a hijacked religion that promotes peace and love.
And remember who it is that gave up your sweet Osama… one of your own.
We did not feed the lust of the people who desired to see Osama beheaded, tortured, and his body desecrated or dragged to the streets. We respected your culture by giving him a proper Muslim funeral. Not all of us have the morality to do this but some do. Who among you has the morality to do the same to one of us?
WE REMEMBER… WE DON’T FORGET….ITS NOT WHO WE ARE
@LL, Great comment
As Americans we don’t go looking for people to kill unless those who are passionate about destroying the innocent lives and want to harm the USA. Remember because of Bin Laden 9-11 happened, and because of 9-11 the wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq happened. If one really pays attention you will discover that Bin Laden had killed more Muslims than Jews and Christians combined. Osama was finally punished for what he believed in and met his just reward.
OBAMA STOLE OSAMA
Most Muslims fail to realize how dangerous Bin Laden was to the Muslim world. Some believe he was a hero and some say he was a monster but its a matter of opinion. I know this, Muslims everywhere want to go back to the customs and traditions of ancient Arabia including jihad but that kind of stuff can not and will not work in modern times. The recent protests and the revolutions are a prime example of that. Muslims and non-Muslims alike are sick and tired of elements that hinder progress and peace of people in general. Killing one or thousands doesn’t make one holy or martyr. It is one of the deadliest sin in all religions including Islam. Osama’s draconian ideology has ruined the country of Pakistan and the world. It will perhaps take years if not decades to undo the harm the fundamentalist ideology has caused. When Obama stole the body of Osama he did us all a great favor including the Arab world. Think about it.