Home About Sherpur Group Contact Photo Gallery

A Strategic Doctrine for Pakistan Part II and a case study of the Afghan Jihaad   (The writer has received a large number of comments from eminent persons in the Armed Forces of Pakistan. The writer is also surprised at the great public response to his article---although the subject is of a specialized type. He has written this second part in the light of the comments and his experiences of Zarb-e- Momin, the biggest exercise of the Pakistan Armed Forces and even in the Muslim World. He has also made an analysis of the long period of the Muslim Rule of India and a case study of the Afghan Jihaad).   CLAUSEWITZ the great German expert on warfare, strategy and tactics has defined - - -   ‘Strategy is the theory of the use of combats for the object of the war'.   And again he elaborates,   'Strategy is the employment of the battle to gain the end of the War; it must therefore give an aim to the whole military action, which must be in accordance with the plan of the War; in other words. Strategy forms the plan of the War, and to this end it links together the series of acts which are to lead to the final decisions that is to say, it makes the plans for the separate campaigns and regulates the combats to be fought in each.'   But the strategic doctrine that I have enunciated in the first part of my article is much wider than the doctrines of Clausewitz and Liddlehart. So when I write about strategy I really mean GRAND STRATEGY.   During the last two hundred years, the Muslims have not---except for Kemal Ata Turk's campaign against the Greeks in Anatolia--- won a great battle. There have been consistent debacles of the Muslim Armies so much so that prior to the creation of Pakistan, except for Turkey, the entire Muslim World was under de facto foreign domination.   Now I am concerned with enuciating an entirely new strategic doctrine with a view to re-shape the entire concept of warfare, strategy and tactics and even broadening the horizons and the aims and objectives, the vision and the spectrum of the Muslims of the World.   It is really a monumental task to ray down a coherent concept of strategy nay Grand Strategy which shall in name be for Pakistan but shall actually be for the entire Muslim World. The task is more difficult in the present situation and conditions of the Muslim World which has an unenviable legacy of decadence and foreign domination during the last two hundred years. It has not won any wars but lost all its battles. Its culture is not what it was prior to its decadence but has the distinct imprint of its foreign masters. Its history has been written by those who till now ruled them. its religious leaders though they played a role in preserving Islam in adverse circumstances can not think and act as leaders of a revived and revolutionary religion and have now developed vested interests which places this religious hierarchy as veritably opposed to the interests of the common people whose interests Islam projects and protects. Its political leaders--- the worst products of bourgeois democracy--- are mediocrities who suffer from a deep inferiority complex from the West about its political institutions, its civilization and culture.   So in such a situation it is difficult if not impossible to conceive of enunciating a doctrine of Grand Strategy based upon the moral and intellectual superiority of Islam or to visualize the renaissance of Islam or the political ascendancy of the Muslims or the military superiority of a Muslim Army irnbued with the spirit of Jihaad.   So with such a legacy of the moral decadence of the Muslims, of a chain of military defeats, of the oblivion of its political institutions, the absence of vision of its power-elite--- the only means and vehicle for the morel! and political ascendancy of the Muslims and Islam can be a doctrine of Grand Strategy based upon Islam as an ideology and Jihaad as the means for the implementation of that ideology.   An ideology, a doctrine and a revolution has to be and remain constantly on the offensive both in the ideological and the geographical sense. The moment it is enunciated it has to assume the offensive for it is only on being on the offensive that it can destroy the existing systems of the state and finally assume the role of a conquering ideology with no geographical limits and constraints. Once it has subverted the state machinery it is necessary that the ideology pursues the offensive and subdue ideologically and geographically the neighboring states.   So once Islam completely subdued ideologically and geographically Arabia Felix--- it assumed the offensive and conquered Egypt, Iran, Palestine, Syria, Iraq and soon reached the Atlantic and even Samarkand, Bukhara and Sind. So Islam never looked back- never confined itself to Arabia Felix but went on and on till ultimately the ideological decline led to the political decline.   So our objective now should be an Islamic-Revolution and an Islamic Revolution can only be ushered in through the adoption of Jihaad as its primary instrument.   Now at this momentous cornerstone of our history, the Afghans through the successful application of the Islamic doctrine of Jihaad have because of the defeat of a super power-the USSR--- shown the beacon light to the entire Muslim World and are the veritable torch-bearers and trail-blazers for the revival of Jihaad not merely as a static doctrine to be discussed by the ulema and the intellectuals but as a practical phenomenon which can be the sum-total of our concept of Grand Strategy for the Muslims of the world.   It is therefore necessary and imperative for us to make a case study of this great phenomenon because by the following of that great example the Muslims of the world may alter the entire future course of the onward march of Islam and the Muslims of the World.   But before I do that it is necessary for me that I first analyze the Zarb-e-Momin in the light and in accordance with my own doctrine as enunciated in the first part of my article. Moreover, I shall also deal with the basic reasons of that other great phenomenon of history--- since it is relevant for the Muslims of the history--- since it is relevant for the Muslims of the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent the 700 year Muslim Rule of the Indo- Pakistan sub-continent   Zarb-e-Momin   Let met state categorically that it is a matter of supreme pride for me that the Pakistan Army in its planning and execution of its exercise Zarb-e-Momin has to a large extent accepted the concept of offense of my own strategic doctrine which I enunciated more than a year back. it is a matter of profound satisfaction that because of the adoption of my own 'offensive doctrine' the Pakistan Army has got rid of its 'defensive syndrome' and that the next war shall Insha Allah be fought not on Pakistani soil but on Indian territory. This is a great and revolutionary step as we shall go back to the offensive doctrine that was followed and practiced by the Muslims during the seven hundred year long Muslim rule of India.   Moreover, the Muslim Armies during these seven hundred years of Muslim rule did not hold exercises as we do now but actually learnt the art of fighting in actual battles. A Muslim prince at the age fifteen years after learning the basics of fighting as a cadet was sent on actual campaigns with a senior general who was his guide and mentor.   So it is a momentous and historical decision and development that the Pakistan Army has accepted my own offensive doctrine as enunciated by me in my article entitled 'A strategic Doctrine for Pakistan'.   The Game of Numbers   The second most important development is that the Pakistan Army by accepting my doctrine has impliedly got rid of what I call as the 'game of numbers'. Now the Pakistan Army shall not be overawed by the fact that the Indian Army is three or four times that of Pakistan and shall not suffer from an inferiority complex and from a defeatist demon even before the battle commences. Now it shall be a test of motivation and also a test of adopting a better strategy and tactics during the battle.   However, there are certain defects or failings from my own point of view in the Zarb-e-Momin which are:   1. Jihaad   The great weakness of Zarb-e-Momin was that apart from its name it was not motivated to the extent that it should have been by and had not introduced the concept of Jihaad---- which has been the sheet- anchor of all the Muslim conquests during the last fourteen hundred years.   It may be emphasized even at the cost of repetition that Islam at its advent defeated the two super-powers Iran and the Roman Empire only because of the spirit of Jihaad. Moreover, even in Afghanistan it was because of the spirit and practice of Jihaad that the Afghans-succeeded in defeating a super-power the USSR. And it is because of the inculcation of the spirit of Jihaad that the Intifada Movement in Palestine and the resurgence of the liberation struggle in Kashmir has been possible.   I am of the considered opinion that without the inculcation of the spirit of Jihaad to the extent that it has been done in Afghanistan success in any war with any enemy country shall not be possible.   2. Islam   The second great weakness of Zarb-e-Momin was the absence of the practice of Islam to the extent that it should be. As mentioned in the first part of this article Ibn-e-Khaludun was of the considered opinion that the Muslims have achieved all their success when they were motivated by Islam.   The present writer from his personal experience in Afghanistan is of the opinion that without the actual motivation and practice of Islam the Afghans could not have defeated the Russians.   3. Colonial British Traditions   The third most important weakness of the Pakistan Army is that it still follows the traditions that were laid down for it by the East India Company and the British Government. I think that we should get rid and bury all those traditions once and for all and revive both the glorious traditions of early Islam and of the 700 year Muslim rule of India when the Muslims won all their battles.   Zarb-e-Momin--- Tactics   Clausewitz had described "tactics Is the theory of the use of military forces in combat"   I shall not elaborate or comment on the detailed tactics employed during the Zarb-e-Momin exercise but there are certain points that I want to emphasize.   1. Mobility   My experience of the Afghan Jihaad and the manner in which the Russians used the helicopters both for transport of troops and for attack on the guerrillas has convinced me that 'mobility' of troops is very essential for surprise in warfare. So like India we should also form and constitute 'mobile brigades'. It may be mentioned that it was primarily due to their mobile brigades that India was able to move its troops so quickly to the Maldives. But to organize these mobile brigades it is necessary to have a large number of helicopters only for this purpose--- which should be attached to these brigades. And it must also be pointed out that it is necessary for us to build these helicopters in Pakistan. It may be mentioned that India not only builds its own helicopters but has also acquired the right to build high altitude capability helicopters which are used in Siachin-from France.   The APC--- the armored personnel carrier--- is useful for the normal transport of troops in a set-piece battle but it is not of any use if the objective is to give a surprise to the enemy.   So it is extremely necessary for us to organize separate mobile brigades - separate from the general infantry and even from the SSG.   2. Tanks   Although after the successful use of anti-tank weapons by the Egyptians during the Ramazan War of 1973 the tanks are not as formidable as Rommel had made them in his first attack on France and later in North Africa, Yet since an armored brigade has to depend upon tanks for its attack it is absolutely necessary for us to introduce new and modern tanks--- which should be manufactured in Pakistan.   Needless to mention that in the manufacture of modern military hardware it is necessary for us to either privatize some of our existing arms manufacturing factories or to encourage the private sector to enter the field of defense production.   3. A Nation at war   In a modern war it is necessary to mobilize the entire nation for warfare so that they can also share the burden of defense. So it is also necessary to mobilize the Nation and to mobilize all those persons like ex-servicemen, Rangers and National Cadet Corps students in such exercises and in an eventual war. It is also necessary to mobilize the Muslim Ummah as has been successfully done in the Afghan Jihaad.   Reasons for the 700 year Muslim Rule of India.   Before I deal with the Afghan Jihaad which is the greatest modern manifestation of the success of Jihaad I shall deal with another equally great historical phenomenon that is the 700 year long Muslim rule of the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent when the Muslims did not practically speaking loose a single battle during that period. And contrary to the Muslim rule of Spain and East Europe this did not result in the exit of Islam and the expulsion of the Muslims. Nor did it result in the rule of non-Muslims on Muslim majority areas as in the USSR and China. During this 700 year Muslim rule the political and military domination of the Muslims over the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent was thorough and complete and when it finally came to an end it resulted in the creation of Pakistan in the Muslim majority areas.   Since this is a very important and monumental historical phenomenon -unique in the history of the world-it is necessary to analyze and lay down the basic reasons for this 700 year long Muslim rule of India.   1. Jihaad   The first most important reason for this prolonged rule and initially the conquest of the sub-continent by the Muslims was the spirit of Jihaad and its actual practice by the then small Muslim micro-minority that commenced its rule of India. It is patently obvious that during the earlier period of Muslim rule of India the Muslims were a tiny minority but this tiny minority continued to rule India and defeated the Hindus in every battle that they fought. The reasons for this complete military ascendancy of the Muslims over the Hindus was the spirit and actual practice of Jihaad by every Muslim in India. It is very interesting to note that even a person like Hazrat Amir Khusro--- perhaps the only genius that India has produced was not exempt from Jihaad. He was sent for Jihaad to the western frontiers to defend against the Mongol invasion where he was captured and made to do hard labor. Then on his return he was sent to Bengal.   So Jihaad was compulsory for all Muslims and Jihaad was the main reason for the 700 years Muslim rule of India. It was also the main reason for the military dynamism and ascendancy--- and therefore of the political rule of the Muslims of the Indo- Pakistan sub-continent.   2. Sharia   It is also pertinent to mention that during the entire 700 years Muslim rule of India--- the legal system that was administered by the State was the Sharia. And throughout the 700 year Muslim rule of India no one objected to the application of the Sharia.   Needless to emphasize that it was the Hanafi School of Sharia which was applied during this entire period.   In conclusion it may be pointed out that just as the spontaneous rise of Islam was due to the spirit and practice of Jihaad as also the 700 year Muslim rule of India so also it was the Sharia which consolidated and gave stability to the Muslim rule.   3. Conversions to Islam   One of the most important developments during the 700 year Muslim rule of India was the frequent conversion of the Hindus to Islam. The conversion which in some areas was on a large scale was entirely due to the Sufis who settled down in far off areas of India and took advantage of the favorable objective conditions created by the Muslim conquest of India. These conversions took place because of the high moral standards of the Muslims and created pockets of Muslims in various areas of India and changed the balance of power in favor of the Muslims. These converts also played an equally important part in the consolidation of Islam in India and it was because of these large scale conversions that it was not possible like Spain to extern Islam and the Muslims from India. And it was due to these large scale conversions which led to the increase of the Muslims in terms of population and numbers which led ultimately to the creation of Pakistan.   4. Change of the Ruling Dynasty   Before the Moghul rule of India--- which produced six brilliant rulers in a row--- the Muslim ruling dynasties of India--- following lbn-e-Khaldun's theory that a dynasty can effectively rule for three generations and then becomes decadent-- were replaced by a new and virile dynasty. It is a fact of history that in most cases prior to the Moghuls, a Muslim dynasty after three generations when it became degenerate and its ruler effete--- then it was replaced by a new and virile dynasty which continued the conquests of various parts of India.   Similarly the fact that the 'rule of primogeniture' the eldest son succeeding- had no place either in the Muslim Law of inheritance or in the traditions of royal succession-- it was actually the question of the survival of the fittest that is the son who was the ablest--- such as Aurangzeb-- succeeded to the throne.   5. No feudalism during Muslim Rule   Contrary to public belief even shared by our so-called intellectuals there was no feudalism at all during the entire Muslim rule of India. After the death of a governor or a military commander all his property except his personal property went back to the state and his son started from the lowest rung of the ladder. Feudalism as we understand it is the product of the period of decline of the Moghuls and of Lord Cornwallis' 'permanent settlement'.   So a new class was created when a young king came to power and in theory he could remove all the officers of state and replace them with new ones--- as is done now after the election of a new president in the USA.   6. Continuous immigration from the Muslim World   The last reason for the long Muslim rule was the continuous immigration of the Muslims from Afghanistan, Iran, Central Asia. So when the Muslims living in the Gangetic Plains due to the climatic conditions became decadent and easy-going that the new generation of Muslim immigrants with a lot of verve and extra energy joined the armed forces of the Muslim Empire and continued their conquests of whatever remained unconquered or if some recalcitrants tried to revolt against the Muslim rule- they were crushed by them.   So this regular cycle of Muslim immigrants- replaced those Muslims who because of affluence following Ibn-e-Khaldun's theory had become effete. And these new immigrants postponed the natural decline of the Muslims which is the fate of ruling people. These immigrants not merely brought army recruits but also ulemas, poets, painters and also kept the faith of Islam in its true dynamic form.   Unfortunately after the advent of the British this immigration from the Muslim World came to an abrupt end.   GRAND STRATEGY   In my opinion and my concept of Grand Strategy which shall be the basis for the ideological and militaristic renaissance of the Muslim World in general and Pakistan in particular means:   The creation of an Islamic Army or the transformation of the Pakistan Army into an Islamic Army; 2. The adoption of Jihaad as the primary instrument of conquest and expansion by the Pakistan Army; The ushering in of an Islamic Revolution in Pakistan following the precepts of Jihaad by the Pakistan Army.   1. The creation of an Islamic Army or the transformation of the Pakistan Army into an Islamic Army:   In an Islamic society throughout history--- specially at the advent of Islam during the times of the Holy Prophet and the Orthodox Caliphate, the Islamic Army represented all that is best in Islam. It represented its glory, its greatness and its ideological quintessence. The Islamic Army was the torch-bearer of Islam. It was the creme de la creme of Islamic society. It was in actual fact the leader of the Islamic society and state.   It is this glorious vision of the Pakistan Army that I have in mind and that I envisage.   So the Pakistan Army--- shall be the vanguard of the Islamic Revolution and the sheet-anchor of Islam. The Pakistan Army shall be the elite corps of Islam.   I believe and maintain the Pakistan Army and the Armed Forces of Pakistan have the innate ability and the natural capability of transforming itself into an Islamic Army capable of leading the people of Pakistan-- nay of the Muslim World towards an Islamic Revolution.   The Pakistan Army shall not as some people maintain reflect some of the base and materialistic aspects of our society but shall be the instrument for the eradication of all these ills of bur society and laying down high moral standards for it.   In early Islamic history there was a great difference in stature and significance in society between those who went and fought the battles of Islam and those who just remained at home. Conquests of vast territories, expansion of the Islamic Empire and the spreading of Islam was primarily due to those who fought the battles of Islam.   So the Islamic Army, the Islamic soldier and Mujahid was the best human being produced by Islam.   So the vision that I have of the Pakistan Army is not that of a colonial army living in cantonments (designed by Florence Nightingale on the request of Lord Roberts, Commander-in-Chief of India) and shopping in saddars and totally cut-off from the body -politic and oblivious to the political conditions and developments in the country. This was a concept deliberately nurtured by the British for its British Indian Army. It is totally foreign to Islam, to any concept of an Islamic Army--- for an Islamic Army is part and parcel of the body-politic and an instrument for revolutionary change in an Islamic society. It is only an army which has roots amongst its people, which feels the anguish and the pains of the common people which can represent their wishes and desires and which can also lead the people towards its destiny During the earlier period or during the 700 year Muslim rule of India--- there was no segregation of the Army into cantonments away from the people nor was there any separation of the army as an institution from the ruling institutions and hierarchy that is the Executive. In fact it was victory in the battlefield which gave a person a certain pre- eminence and right to start a new dynasty in Delhi. The great Muslim heroes-starting from Hazrat Ali who became prominent because of his prowess in the battlefield to Ahmed Shah Abdali- won their laurels in the battlefield.   The Pakistan Army with its personnel of dedicated officers and jawans, with its training institutions, with its proper training schedules has the capability to transform itself into an Islamic Army.   What is required is the supreme will and sheer determination of the Army itself and the iron will of the supreme leadership which fortunately it now possesses.   2. The adoption of Jihaad as the primary instrument for conquest and expansion by the Pakistan Army:   A religion like a revolution has to have an instrument for its ultimate ascendancy-- otherwise it can be nothing more than an intellectual aberration. So a religion like a revolution has to succeed in assuming power.   Jihaad is that great, that most potent, that most important instrument created and perfected by Islam--- for its ascendancy.   So any concept of a revolutionary Islam defeating the two then super powers- the Sassaniad Empire of Iran and the East Roman Empire called Byzantium-within such a short period without the instrument of Jihaad is actually meaningless and completely irrelevant.   Christianity achieved power through a long conspiracy of subversion of the Roman Empire--- a conspiracy of 300 years---. On the other hand Islam defeated the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sassaniad Empire in a very short period.   This was primarily due to the instrument of Jihaad and Jihaad only.   Similarly the spreading of Islam from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean--- the conquest of Arabia Felix, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Central Asia, Turkey, East Europe, India, Egypt, North Africa, and Spain was due to the conquests of the Islamic Armies motivated by the spirit of Jihaad.   Consequently the conversion of the people of these areas to Islam was due to the objective conditions conducive to the spreading of the message of Islam created by the Islamic conquests.   So also the political rule by the Muslims of these areas was due to the military conquests through the instrument of Jihaad.   So the primary instrument of Islam, for the spreading of Islam, for the Muslim conquests, for establishing the political rule of and ascendancy of Islam and the Muslims was the instrument of Jihaad.   So a the ascendancy of Islam and the Muslims has to be re-established not merely in the Muslim World but throughout the world--- it is necessary for the Pakistan Army--- as the natural leaders of the Pakistani people to accept, adopt and practice the Islamic doctrine of Jihaad in its pristine glory. Therein lies the glory of the Pakistan Army, the glory of the people of Pakistan and the glory of the Islamic World.   3. The ushering in of an ISLAMIC REVOLUTION in Pakistan:   A Nation has a national objective. A great Nation has a grand national objective. A great Nation like the great Pakistani Nation has to have a grand national objective- an objective which has to be in consonance with the objectives of the Islamic Ummah of which the Pakistani Nation is a part.   That great national objective can be no other than the ushering in of an Islamic Revolution in Pakistan.   A revolution has to have its own dynamics. It has its own rules. It sets its own standards. It is the most potent political force. It is like an avalanche. It can not be stopped. It can only be channelised (as Napoleon did of the French revolution). If any force tries to stop a revolution it is submerged in its tide--- bundled into political oblivion like the Shah of Iran.   And Islam is the most revolutionary force ever created. Its tide could not be stopped. It swept away both the east Roman and the Sassaniad Empires--- to the backwaters of history--- to be studied and analyzed by historians. It swept away ideologies and religions--Christianity from Egypt, Syria, Palestine and Zoarastrianism from Iran and Iraq. It remoulded ancient civilizations and cultures in its own mould. It replaced the existing languages with Arabic in Egypt, North Africa and the Middle East and transformed the Pahalvi language into Persian--- the most sophisticated language of the world.   ISLAM NEVER BECAME DECADENT--- IT IS THE MUSLIMS WHO BECAME DECADENT, DEGENERATE AND INDOLENT   Even now it is Islam and the Islamic Revolution in Iran which humiliated a super-power-the USA and it is Islam which in Afghanistan vanquished another super-power-the USSR.   These are two important recent historical phenomenon’s apart from the creation of Pakistan which the Muslims have to try to comprehend and try to learn a lesson from them.   There are also certain objectives and main points of any revolution which we shall enunciate:   1. The basic objective of any revolution-- whether Islamic or non Islamic is to replace the existing political, economic and social system which is meant for the preservation and protection of the existing vested interests with a new more dynamic socio-economic and political order which is meant to protect and project the rights of the 'have-nots' called 'mustazefain' by the Iranian Revolution.   The objective of Islam was also to transfer power to the have-nots and the down-trodden of Arabia. Its objective was to remove from power those vested interests who were the ruling classes and tribes and to bring into power the have-nots.   So in Pakistan the objective of an Islamic Revolution should be to transfer power from the present 'haves' to the 'have-nots' otherwise any talk of an Islamic Revolution would be useless and any transfer of power which does not achieve this would not be an Islamic Revolution and shall be an exercise in futility which shall not be welcomed and accepted by the people.   2. We also have to learn a lesson from history specially the history of revolutions. In 1789 when the French Revolution took place in France--- an alliance of European Powers led by England invaded France with a view to crush the French Revolution, Danton, a famous leader of the Revolution said,   'It is never possible to vanquish a people who have ushered in a revolution by the invasion of a neighboring country. There is a great possibility that the Nation which has ushered in a revolution may conquer the neighboring invading country (as you have to face not merely the army but the entire Nation imbued by a revolutionary ideology).’   The history of the French, the Russian, the Chinese and Iranian Revolutions is a witness to this historical phenomenon that when these countries were attacked during their revolutionary period it was not possible either to defeat them or to crush these revolutions.   Similarly after Islam was ushered in Arabia Felix no non-Muslim country has succeeded in ever conquering or even penetrating Arabia Felix. This is a historical truism which is undeniable.   So if Pakistan undergoes an Islamic Revolution it will not be possible for any country to vanquish Pakistan and the Islamic Revolution because a revolution can not be defeated as the invading country has to fight not merely the regular army but the people themselves. It may be possible to fight an army of 500,000 soldiers but it is not possible for an enemy and an attacker to fight and vanquish 100 million Mujahids imbued with an ideology like Islam.   3. A revolution is actually carried out by a small, trained and determined minority which is ideologically orientated. In Pakistan no political party either has a trained political cad re nor has the basic organizational infra-structure nor are properly ideologically orientated to carry out an Islamic Revolution. Our religious parties which normally should be expected to lead such a revolution have developed their own vested interests and also extra-territorial loyalties and contacts and are divided and pitted against each other--and a heart divided against itself is worse than a mind divided against itself.   So like early Islam, the sheet-anchor and the torch-bearers of the Islamic Revolution is and can be the Pakistan Army--- if it is imbued with the revolutionary spirit of Islam--- if it follows the precepts of Jihaad as followed by the early followers of the Holy Prophet in his life-time and during the Orthodox Caliphate--- if it transforms itself into an Islamic Army like that of early Islam then no power on earth can stop it from achieving conquests and glory for Islam and above all to usher in an Islamic Revolution in Pakistan.   4. There is always a time for ushering in a revolution what in French is called le moment de verite--- the moment of truth.   Islam burst on the horizons of the world when all ideologies and religions that is Christianity and Zoarasterianism had become decadent and the East Roman Empire and the Sassaniad Empire of Iran were politically and militarily degenerate so it was the perfect moment for a virile and revolutionary religion like Islam to conquer and overwhelm these degenerate people and their political systems.   So now when capitalism has been on the decline and communism has been discredited in the USSR and externed from East Europe when an Islamic country Iran after its Islamic Revolution had made USA the laughing stock of the world and Afghanistan through following the precept of Jihaad has vanquished a super-power the USSR--- that the situation is now identical to what it was in the world at the time of the advent of Islam--- the same ideological buoyancy of Islam and the same degeneracy, moral and political of the super powers--- THE MOMENT IS RIPE FOR AN ISLAMIC REVOLUTION   Sameen Khan   Sherpur House, Nawab Ismail Khan Road, Karachi 5,   January 23 1990.