The testimony is: Hamas has mastered and fulfilled its purpose.
The reason for its success and achieving perfection is that it does not rely on mass popular work but rather on selective educational work, picking the elite, educating them in private, and deepening their understanding before training them for battles. Thus, it provides elements characterized by strong will and foresight, making the popular alignment a reflection of the presence of these scholarly soldiers.
In times of need, the true nature of men is revealed.
During battles, the sword becomes sharper when wielded by a fervent heart.
A weapon damaged by rust will not be useful, no matter what.
Just as people adorn sword scabbards with gold and glittering jewels, competing and increasing in this, the blades inside differ in sharpness. Similarly, men are adorned with clothes, positions, and titles, but some hearts beneath the surface lack resolve and charisma, providing neither benefit nor action. They are like fruit with rotted pulp, leaving only the peel.
However, Hamas has made the sword the noblest of Allah's gifts to the people of Palestine, to the people of Iraq when the cowboys invaded, to Muslims in general, and to the free people worldwide, through the contagion of goodness and the subconscious imprint with every news of jihad and every image of a martyr preceding his brothers to Jannah.
In the language of Hamas, the sword has become:
- A tool of rescue, an instrument of pride, a supporter of firmness...
- A man's support, a protector of women, and a defender of neighbors...
- A messenger rising to demands...
- And a servant achieving goals. (1)
Hamas's practices have divided people worldwide into two teams. Among the men are symbols of pride, adorned with determination, preventing aggression against the nation, rising to every noble demand, making the missionary axis the methodological center for every act of jihad they intend to perfect.
Next to them are the weak, lazy, chaotic, backward who do not live in their era, ignorant who disdain knowledge, cowards who fear confrontation, and selfish who sit idly watching the battle.
The distinction has become so clear that every sincere person has to ask themselves: to which team do they belong? Perhaps a sincere person would even accuse themselves, seeing no bounds for sacrifice other than the highest limits practiced by Hamas, which became an example.
Through the centuries, the young men of jihad have had a passion different from the worldly desires of other youths, full of noble meanings and sublime emotions, with mutual advice among their group.
This has been Hamas's approach since it affirmed its Islamic identity, making all the experiential jihad heritage an educational curriculum for its fighters, starting from the era of the noble companions, passing through the middle ages, and continuing to the contemporary mujahideen.
Hamas first narrates to its youth the stories of how the young companions were skilled and meticulous horsemen, like the story of Abdullah bin Umar bin Al-Khattab - may Allah be pleased with them - where the Prophet (peace be upon him) raced the horses. Abdullah said: “I was a horseman that day, and I overtook the people until my horse crossed the mosque of Banu Zuraik, almost going as high as the mosque.”
(Abu Ubaid said: He means the horse leaped with him until it almost equaled the mosque in height, (2) as if there were high obstacles the racer had to overcome, similar to today's game.) The origin of the hadith is from Sahih Al-Bukhari.
Reading Abdullah bin Umar's accounts in worship and hadith narration might make one think he was an ascetic who only knew sitting and spreading knowledge, but he was the foremost knight.
Not to mention the recount stories like that of Abu Sa'id Khalaf bin Muhammad Al-Yahsubi Al-Surti Al-Maliki, who died in 319 AH, and his son Sa'id said:
“My father had studied the Quran with Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Khairun, the reciter, for a long time. Whenever Ibn Khairun went to Sousse for jihad, Abu Sa'id would follow him... He had a beautiful voice in reciting the Quran... His son said: I used to accompany him to jihad, and every night in Ramadan, he would lead us in prayer, with a congregation gathering behind him, and I would hear weeping and sobbing from everywhere. He was skilled in horsemanship, fond of buying horses, and would take them to the jihad to guard the Muslims. He would sometimes leave Sousse with Abu Ja'far Ahmed bin Sa'dun Al-Arbisi and Abu Bakr bin Abi Uqba, standing in a row as if the enemy were before them, running their horses until the sun rose.” (3)
As for the contemporary experience, it is not narrated but lived, shaping “the Palestinian society concerned with the Palestinian cause” into an ideal environment for teaching and imparting the art of jihad and revolution to the entire Islamic world, along with leadership skills and dealing with the complexities of international relations and the ferocity of globalization.
The origin of this Hamas's capability stems from the collective Palestinian experience. The leadership phenomenon in driving life does not come from an individual leader or a single organization or party but also from a society with unique characteristics granted by its way of life within the larger community. The clearest example is the “Quraysh society” and its leadership role concerning the larger Arab society, facilitated by Quraysh's commercial life and the Arab pilgrimage to Mecca.
Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, explains this in his speech to the Ansar on the day of the Saqifah, justifying his claim to the caliphate: “The Arabs were torn away from us just as the millstone is torn from its axis. We were the center, and the Arabs revolved around us like the millstone.” (4)
The Arabs were torn away from us, meaning they were separated from us, making Quraysh the axis around which the Arabs revolved. This leadership position developed gradually and over a long time without artificiality or affectation.
Urban inhabitants are generally more aware than the Bedouins and more experienced in politics, and the people of capitals are more influenced by it than those in the outskirts. Any city or region with a lot of literature, knowledge exchange, and intellectual research becomes, after a while, capable of influencing leadership in its surroundings.
Because this phenomenon exists, the preaching orientation naturally tended to dominate some dynamic movements and to discover and develop the opportunities around it.
The Palestinian jihad bloc supporting the Palestinian cause has reached a level of complete momentum, capable of spreading its methods, plans, convictions, and experiences to every other oppressed and unjust cause. This was most evident in its direct and decisive impact on the “Iraqi cause” and the rapid Iraqi response to the call for jihad, merging and uniting the two causes, which was the ultimate success of Hamas.
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(1) Al-Basair 5/132
(2) Lisan Al-Arab 2/598
(6) Aayan Ulama Libya/64 by Nasir Al-Sharif, referring to the book “Riyad Al-Nufus.”
(7) Lisan Al-Arab 1/526
A message written by Sheikh Muhammad Ahmad Al-Rashid following “Hamas” winning the elections in Palestine.
Source: “Palestine Dialogue Network.”
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