Martyrdom is for lesser men!! “Abu Abdullah, cry like a woman for a Kingdom you could not defend as a man.” Aisha, mother of the last Muslim Caliph of Garnada, scorning the Caliph as he wept on fall of Garnada!!
Abu Abdullah, the last king of Granada, and his family were exiled to the hills. As he looked at the majestic palace of Alhambra, a name still linked to Spain’s Islamic Era for the last time, tears came into his eyes. At this, his aged mother Aisha said scornfully, “Abu Abdullah, cry like a woman for a Kingdom you could not defend as a man.”
(A story of missed opportunities since 1948 by Palestinian leaders and betrayal of a trust of a destitute nation by Chairman Arafat- an autopsy of the conviction of suicide, the article was inspired by someone on SI who wrote 'Martyrdom is for lesser men!!' also this is in memory of a wasted life of 16-year-old daughter and many innocents in Israel whose lives were taken prematurely by this wanton act of aggression. Jeb the exchanges with you today stimulated me and I came across a post by someone on wastefulness of suicidal missions, I thought that this subject deserves attention from Ideas. I am grateful to many who inspired me to write on this thorny issue. )
Iqbal Latif – London 30/03/2002
The prize of taking one’s life? ….Part 1
In April last year, the grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, declared that ‘‘any act of self killing or suicide is strictly forbidden in Islam”; consequently ‘‘the one who blows himself up in the midst of the enemies is also performing an act contrary to Islamic teachings’’. The grand Mufti elaborated by adding that suicide attackers ‘‘should not be buried with Islamic rituals and should not be buried alongside other Muslims”
But the Grand Imam of Islam’s top seat of learning at Egypt’s Al Azhar University, Mohammad Sayed Tantawi, issued another opinion; stating suicide bombings were legitimate, but only if directed against Israeli soldiers, not women and children.
Another reputed Egyptian clergyman Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi said such attacks were ‘‘among the greatest forms of holy struggle against oppression’’. He was even quoted as saying the ruling against suicide bombings were issued by ‘‘people who are alien to Sharia (Islamic law) and religion.”
Even Jerusalem’s top cleric and the Imam of Al-Aqsa mosque, Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, affirmed in an interview, ‘‘Muslims believe in the Day of Judgement and that dying as a martyr has its reward going to heaven — and that a martyr is alive in the eyes of God’’. In 1997 before the current upheaval in the Levant, he had commented, “The person who sacrifices his life as a Muslim will know if God accepts it and whether it is for the right reason. God in the end will judge him and whether he did that for a good reason or not. We cannot judge. The measure is whether the person is doing that for his own purposes, or for Islam.”
In spite of contrary interpretations on the significance of life in Islam the ideological support of suicide bombings in the Middle East is not hard to come by. While the Qur’an in Surah an-Nisaa (Chapter: ‘The Women’), verse 29 seems specifically forbid suicide; the chapter’s 75th verse enjoins that fighting oppression is commendable.
Thus the present debate is centred on whether the bombing is in fact a suicide or related to a jihad against oppression. The fact that self-annihilation is totally against the injunctions of Quran, as it categorically forbids suicide, spurs some scholars to label it a mission of martyrdom and an effective course employed to fight oppression.
Why is suicide militancy becoming such a popular tool with insurgencies across the world? Can militants belonging to suicide squads be dismissed as irrational zealots? Suicide operations have inherent tactical advantages over ‘‘conventional’’ tactics. It is a simple and low cost operation requiring no escape routes or complicated rescue operations. It guarantees mass casualties and extensive damage since the suicide bomber can choose the exact time, location and circumstances of the attack, and there is no fear that the bombers will be caught and interrogated (because their deaths are certain).
When the enemy possesses the most sophisticated weapons in the world the weapon of martyrdom is easy and costs the lives of young gullible people, who volunteer for such undertakings. Human bombs cannot be defeated as it is an instrument of the ultimate terror. What these naïve people do not realise is that not only is suicide bombing futile and inhuman, however it is the negation of the fundamental human contract, that we respect our own life and that of others, the dissolution of which is inevitably castigated by the tides of history. History has many a lesson; the nation that produced the defeated Kamikazes is now a significant constituent of the global economy. The Nizari Ismailis, renowned as one of the most peaceful of the sects of Islam are the spiritual descendants of the ‘assassins’, the sect based on which the word assassin originated and whose numbers were severely devastated by the Mongols.
A study profiling more than 50 Muslim suicide bombers serving in Amal, Hamas, Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad and secular pro-Syrian outfits in Lebanon, it was concluded that there is no single demographic or psychological profile for a suicide bomber.
The Palestinian freedom movement is in no way an Islamic one; a sizable and influential minority of Palestinians are adherents of Christianity. Distinguished Palestinian Christians include, Hanan Ashrawi, the dignified and visible symbol of the Palestinian struggle, and Dr. George Habbash, heading the extremist faction within the PLO. The irony is the Chairman Arafat and his cronies like Bahrgouti use every conceivable piece of deceit to enrol new converts by appealing to the secular left and fanatical right with chameleon like subterfuge.
This stratagem within religious teeming refugee camps induces intense ideological struggle with diverse personalities who have very little to loose the potential willingness to sacrifice their lives. Religion alone does not play the key role; it can only offer a partial explanation. Recruiters will often exploit the religious beliefs when indoctrinating would-be bombers, using their subjects’ faith in a reward in paradise to strengthen and solidify pre-existing sacrificial motives.
But other powerful motives reinforce tendencies towards martyrdom, including patriotism, hatred of the enemy and a profound sense of victimisation. Yes the potential victims have nothing to loose but Chairman Arafat cannot absolve himself of the responsibility of extreme poverty within Palestinian society. The very reason that these refugee camps were encouraged, created and left to proliferate poverty was the inability of leadership to convet honestly that they have lost a war. The grand standing and continuation of dream of greatness is one reason for this sad saga today. If nearly 10 million refugees from sub-continent division in 1947 could have settled in their new lands which in some cases were culturally and geographically much more distant, I see no reason why the same stock of people made refugees in 1948 in very proximity of their own land in west Bank, Gaza and in some cases Lebanon Jordan and Syria could not have assimilated or made progress.
The effort to strip these Palestinians from any desire to reconstruct their life’s was politics perpetrated by the Grand Mufti Hussieni and later on by the successive Palestinian leaderships who viewed Israel as dagger in the heart of the Arab land and a target of scorn and destruction. The fixation with destruction take nations to no where.
The fluidity of Palestinians today is the result of the failure of policy and blunders of the past. The present leadership should stop this game of deprivation and realize that ground realities are different. The defeat of Granada was the beginning of one of the greatest Muslim tragedies. In 1469, Christian Spain had united with the marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. As the two continued their re-conquest of Spain was swift, they entered the magnificent palace of Alhambra in full glory and crosses were placed on the highest minarets. Abu Abdullah, the last king of Granada, and his family were exiled to the hills. As he looked at the majestic palace of Alhambra, a name still linked to Spain’s Islamic Era for the last time, tears came into his eyes. At this, his aged mother Aisha said scornfully, “Abu Abdullah, cry like a woman for a Kingdom you could not defend as a man.” Don’t cry for Palestinians Chairman Arafat or for there state that you lost as a failed warrior.
Palestinians should take heed from the fall of the Muslim rule in Granada, Spain, in 1492 provides a good example of the elimination of a system not keeping pace with the march of events of the period. The Muslim rule over the bulk of Spain spanned over seven centuries (711-1492) The orthodox Muslims would say that Granada collapsed because the Muslims there had deviated from their faith and had become corrupt and luxury loving; they were weakened by internecine struggle for power. That is correct but only partly. The real reason was that the whole of Europe had entered a new era. New ideas, new technologies and new political systems were beginning to herald the new age. Reformation had taken roots and the concept of nation state was fast developing. This new concept was supplanting the system of different, often warring, tribal lords and kings.
The inability of Ameer Abul Hasan of Granada to see clearly this new reality and adjust his response accordingly in his domain that was already suffering from a triangular strife for power between him, his brother and son, ensured the end of the Muslim rule of over seven centuries. Similar patterns can be noticed in case of false glory of the Palestinians. The biggest wrong within Palestinian polity is their inability to perceive the ground realities, their frailty, they cannot appreciate that their wrong stand in 1990 Gulf war made Saudis-Kuwaitis very sceptical of them, no oil embargoes or political pressure can be thought of, moreover the present globalized world has changed the pressure groups like OPEC it is not like before any embargo with US presence in Gulf is difficult to implement. Unfortunately the very presence came s a result of Saddam invasion and Osama bin laden helped lost the rest of political capital
Arabs had, now with nothing in hand only way is to accept the 1967 border peace that was a no goer until 11th Sept. That summarised the decreasing returns of 300 millions Arabs over Israelis although they have a 1:50 advantage over Israel.
Any exercise in the roots of martyrdom is futile if one does not look beyond religious ‘zealots’ who are blowing themselves and their targets. Suicide militancy is not solely a product of Islamic fervour and religious indoctrination. Psychologists state the mindset of a suicide bomber is no different from those of Tibetan self-immolators or the Irish prisoners who were ready to die in a hunger strike. The ethos of sacrifice is firmly engrained in their mindsets and they derive their inspiration from their struggle against the oppressor.
The Buddhist monks in Laos during Vietnam War burned themselves to death injuring none but their own persons. The self-immolation with petrol received far more political attention; the elements of sacrifice and passive martyrdom for the sake of peace did have a significant impact on a very watchful world. The numerous youngsters in Palestine blowing themselves to slaughter others epitomises cowardice and utter disregard for human life. The dual sins committed; to take one’s own life for the sake of maiming, murdering and orphaning others, can receive no justification from Islamic doctrine, which promulgates harmony and tolerance.
To martyr oneself to promote peace is more explicable rather than to slay oneself to murder others. Selfless sacrifice irrefutably demonstrates strength and the will of character however to harness the essence of martyrdom as a weapon to mutilate and butcher others can confer no benefits and only demeans the value of the cause, that the perpetrators seeked to advance.
I remember of Saddam in his heydays of glory soon after invasion of Kuwait when a secular Iraq belatedly recognised its Islamic nature, immediately to confront the Saudi flag that depicted the most important verse of Quran, Saddam added the Islamic battle cry "Allahu Akbar," his "God is great" on Iraqi flag as a tool to gain Islamic sympathy. For a more universal Islamic appeal so that countries like Pakistan can be roped in they would grow beard when required like Arafat recent pictures the beard has noticeably become more evident instead of an unkempt one that he maintained for long time.
The distortion of Islam for political means is a disaster that is a major loss for mankind. This art if perfected by some perverts and it is being employed indiscriminately to send the young on self-annihilation missions. The missions that are against the spirit of Islam. The religion like all the other religions of God, Islam (Submission in English) promotes peace, of Islam (Submission in English), advocates freedom, peace and mutual agreement and admonishes aggression.
[Quran 5:87] ... and do not aggress; GOD dislikes the aggressors.
[Quran: 7:199] ......You shall resort to pardon, advocate tolerance, and disregard the ignorant.
The relations of Muslims (Submitters) with others are based primarily on peace, mutual respect and trust. The theme in the Quran is peace as long as there is no oppression or injustice that cannot be resolved by all the peaceful means available.
The religion of Islam forbids the killing of innocent people, irrespective of the cause - religious, political or social beliefs.
Quran, the Muslims' holy book and scripture declares;
[Quran 6:151] "...... You shall not kill - GOD has made life sacred - except in the course of justice. These are His commandments to you, that you may understand."
When they threaten global destruction these self styled leaders of the 1.2 billion Muslims include the voice of the whole 1.2 billion Islamic world as their own voice but when a summit to endorse peace with Israel is converged only Arabs are invited, lesser pedigrees and impure Hindu-Buddhist converted less significant bluer blood of Islam like that of the Pakistanis and Bangladeshis is not considered pure enough to think and dwell on this present Arab-Israeli conflict. Sometime it is a Islamic conflict others it is purely an Arab one, but I think it is a conflict that has roots not beyond dirty rotten streets of Ramalah where since 1948 these guys have never admitted that they have missed every opportunity to live in peace with people who have bigger power and bigger resources. The admission of one’s weakness is the art of survival; Arabs at large have failed to comprehend this very intricate art. Fake pride has destroyed them. They attacked the newly created or crafted state of Israel that was minuscule to obliterate it, they ended up losing and Israel grew bigger and bigger out of military defeats, every time from 1948 to 1967 to 1973 it was the great Arab armies who imposed the war to destroy Israel.
In 1967 a new war resulted in further expansion, now after 54 years of 1948 they are ready to accept what they lost in 1967 and in 1948 as honourable peace. The recent Arab summit endorsed finally the doctrine of diminishing returns of Arabs because of their natural slogans based on void self-pride.
To be continued…. |
