The last Tuesday ( Sept. 16) marks the 83-year anniversary of martyrdom of the #LionOfDesert Omar Mukhtar. Although, comparatively less known in our country, we have many lessons to take from this man, one of the greatest anti imperialist figures that history has ever produced. As a teenager, Mukhtar developed a lifestyle of not sleeping more than three hours every night in order to get up to pray to Allah in the last third of the night and recite Quran until fajr. A member of the Sanussiyah (Sufi) tariqah, Mukhtar not only taught the Quran but practised the teachings of the Quran. Sound in the belief that true submission requires us to mix knowledge with action, Mukhtar repeatedly led his small, highly alert groups in successful attacks against the Italian military. Skillfully attacking outposts, ambushing troops and cutting lines of supply and communication, the poorly armed and far smaller mujahideen battalions left the Italians astonished and embarrassed. In 1930, having failed in a massive offensive against Mukhtars forces, the Italians initiated a plan to transfer the local people (about 100,000 persons) to concentration camps on the coast and to close the border with Egypt from the coast at Giarabub, thus preventing any foreign help from reaching the fighters and breaking up the solidarity of the population. From the beginning of 1931, these measures took their toll on the mujahideen. Muhammad Asad relates that when he visited Libya at the bequest of the great Sanussi leader, Sayyid Ahmad, to advise Mukhtar to leave temporarily for Egypt to regain his strength, Mukhtar stubbornly refused: “... how could we abandon our people and leave them leaderless, to be devoured by the enemies of God? al-Mukhtar told him, We fight because we have to fight for our faith and our freedom until we drive the invaders out or die ourselves. We have no other choice. To God we belong and unto Him do we return. Finally, on 11 September 1931, Mukhtar was ambushed and captured. Despite his old age (70), Mukhtar was shackled with heavy chains from his waist and wrists because of the Italians fear that he might escape. His resilience impressed his jailers, who later said that they were overwhelmed by his steadfastness. His interrogators stated that Mukhtar looked them in the eye and recited verses from the Quran as he was tortured and interrogated. When asked by the Italian general, Graziani, whether he would give up fighting if released, the Lion replied, We shall not cease to fight against you and your people until either you leave my country or I leave my life. And I swear to you by Him who knows what is in mens heart that if my hands were not bound this very moment, I would fight you with my bare hands, old and broken as I am. Mukhtar was eventually hanged on September 16, 1931 in front of his supporters in the concentration camp of Solluqon. When Omar al-Mukhtar was executed, the Italian press, strictly controlled by the regime, gave a pompous but somehow limited attention to the event.14 Then, after the war, an admission of the crimes of genocide - and hence the story of Omar al-Mukhtar - was wrung with great difficulty from official Italian historians (Bosworth 2002). It was the beginning of a collective amnesia that lives on until the present. Reading the above passages would certainly help us to understand the neo-imperialists and their allies strategy towards those who oppose and dont want to compromise with injustice and oppression of neo imperialism! May Allah grants the highest Jannah to him, and help us to remove the collective amnesia from the entire Ummah.. ameen. Sources: islamicawakening/viewarticle.php?articleID=1379 ouraim.blogspot.in/2008/06/legacy-of-libyan-freedom-fighter-omar.html
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 12:45:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015