Ahmad
Yaseen was born in 1938. In 1949, he quit school in order to support his
impoverished family. He took up work in a small restaurant selling fava beans.
In 1953, the vertebrae in his neck were fractured while he was playing with his
friends. He never told his family that the injury came as a result of a fight he
had with his friend `Abd Allah al-Khattîb, because he feared that it would cause
problems between the two families.He was left completely paralyzed. His injuries also left him suffering with weak eyesight, chronic ear infections resulting in hearing loss, hypersensitivity of the lungs, and digestive disorders.
He continued with his life and became a teacher of Arabic Language and Islamic Culture. He also became a preacher at the mosques in Gaza and earned a reputation for the strength of his arguments and his boldness in standing up for what was right.
He was arrested in 1983 and sentenced to thirteen years of prison. His release was secured in 1985 as part of a prisoner exchange deal.
He founded Hamas after the outbreak of the 1987 Palestinian uprising. He played an important role in that uprising. From that time forward, he would be seen as the spiritual leader of the Islamic resistance movement in Palestine.
He was again placed under arrest in 1989 and sentenced to a prison term of life plus fifteen years. His release was secured by in 1997 as part of an agreement between the Jordanian and Israeli governments.
Under the leadership of Sheikh Ahmad Yaseen, Hamas played a significant and vital role in the second Palestinian uprising.
Though the Palestinian Authority recognized the importance of the resistance effort, it placed Sheikh Ahmad Yaseen under house arrest on a number of occasions.
Israel attempted to assassinate Sheikh Ahmad Yaseen in 2003.
Then, as morning broke one day in March 2004, the dawn over Gaza was a strange one indeed. Smoke filled the sky. The silence was broken by the sound of bombs going off. Three bombs were dropped from the air from Apache helicopters upon an aged, crippled man in a wheelchair as he was being pushed along down the road to the mosque for his morning prayers.
The Palestinian people were stunned into disbelief when they heard the news that the Sheikh of the two Palestinian uprisings had been martyred. The eyes of Palestinian men and women filled with tears. Children cried out loud. Young fighting men swore oaths of revenge.
Upon reflection, we must consider that martyrdom is a noble status reserved by Allah as an honor for his choicest servants. The family of Sheikh Ahmad Yaseen was expecting him to die a natural death any day. He was dangerously ill at the time. Instead, and by Allah’s decree, the greatest honor was conferred upon him at the hands of his bitterest enemies.
Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) about the Muslims: “You are the witnesses of Allah upon the Earth.” Many righteous people from the Muslim community have witnessed that Sheikh Ahmad Yaseen lived his life struggling and died a martyr by Allah’s grace, declaring that we must consider him as such and that with Allah is the final determination.
Muslims all over the world conducted funeral prayers for him in absentia. Among these places were none other than the two sacred mosques of Mecca and Madinah.
Sheikh Ahmad Yaseen was a man who lived in touch with the hopes and pains of his people. He shared in their concerns, their joys, and their suffering. He broke bread with them. By doing so, he became much more than a symbol of the resistance, but he became a symbol of what it meant to be Palestinian.
Every person, no matter how simple or humble he might be, whether he be a farm worker, a laborer, a parent, or a youth, has a need to feel that someone else is there with him standing at his side, someone who listens to him, opens his heart to him, and shares in his concerns.
Indeed, Islam places great emphasis on such human compassion. It also places emphasis on a man’s carrying out his duties like a man. Therefore it spoke volumes to the people that someone who, in spite of having been paralyzed all of his adult life, hid from the world the cause of why it happened in order to preserve ties of love and affection and avoid division.
It is impossible to fathom true religiousness without such courage, sacrifice, and generosity.
The Israelis no longer fear any consequences. The “red lines” that they used to not cross have become like fables of the past. They now stretch their hands forth in naked arrogance where and how they please. This comes as no surprise, considering how the Arab states had entered the peace process and were kept busy trying to preserve it, and had nothing but dust tossed in their faces for doing so.
Miracles are not needed. All that is needed is a sincere desire for reform along with empathy for and solidarity with the peoples of the region. It is enough for us to recognize that there is a collective feeling of intense disgrace, ridicule, and impotence, and a sense that everyone else is treading us underfoot. People feel disenfranchised and that they can have no effect.
However, I see in the killing of Sheikh Ahmad Yaseen an occasion for optimism and hope, something to inspire in us vitality and resolve. How is it that so many people are seeing the opposite and expressing themselves in a language of pessimism, despair, and defeat?
Indeed what happened is a lesson in the value of effort, in dispensing with excuses, and abandoning the justifications found in claims of incapacity.
With Sheikh Ahmad Yaseen, the lines have been drawn, leaving no more room for excuses. Those who choose to be pessimistic are only expressing their detachment from the spirit of the Muslim community, its history, and its future.
The Palestinians are a people accustomed to withstanding hardships and suffering. They keep up their spirits in the face of difficult circumstances. They hold solemnly to their goals, no matter how great the sacrifice.
We need only look at the refugee camps, the Israeli prisons, the great prison that Palestine itself has become to see clear lessons in patience and God-inspired self-reliance, where people refuse to be cowed and refuse to wait for others.
May Allah take care of these resolute people whose enemies are so harsh and whose friends are so treacherous. Even the most basic humanitarian aid is denied them, for who will dare give it and face the accusation of supporting “terror”.
As for peace, let peace be upon it. It is a dream. It has been until now only vain promises attached to accords of surrender. The only language being spoken is that of power by those who have the ability and solidarity to use it. We should not lose sight of a political solution. However, a political solution should not have to mean abject and total submission.
May the Palestinian people find unity. May they be ever resolved not to let their enemies breach their fraternity and solidarity. Their enemies are well defined and the struggle before them is clear. The road ahead is long but the objective can be seen.
Allah says: “And do not take a life – which Allah has made sacred – except in right. And if anyone is slain wrongly, we have given his heir authority. But let him not exceed the bounds in the matter of taking life. Indeed, he is helped.” [Sűrah al-Isrâ’: 17]
O people of Palestinian, you are oppressed and you will be helped by Allah. So stay your hands from all besides your aggressors. May you exercise patience, persevere in the face of your enemies, support one another, and fear Allah that you may be successful.
Submitted by a Mujahid