A Lesson from the Battlefield by Dr. Said Ramadan

 

LESSONS from the Battlefield 

An Arabic officer, who was imprisoned during Palestine war 1948, says that I had a conversation with Jewish commander when I was released from prison of war;

"Would you permit me to ask about a matter for which I as a soldier could find no satisfactory tactical explanation in the course of military operations?" "Please do. Perhaps I will be able to answer you." "Why did you not attack the Arab village of Sur Bahir near Jerusalem?" The Jewish commander thought for a while and then said : "A very good question. Do you want a frank answer?" "Of course, if that is possible." "The Israeli army did not attack Sur Bahir because it contained a large force of volunteers from al-Ikhwan al Muslimun." "The captive officer, visibly offended, thought that the Jewish commander meant to belittle the value of the regular army since he spoke of the volunteers in such high terms. So he asked sharply, almost angrily, "What difference does that make? You often attacked other Arab positions defended by much larger and better equipped forces under conditions far more difficult for you!" "The fact is that the volunteers of al-Ikhwan al Muslimun are entirely different from your regular troops. For them fighting is not a duty which they fulfil within the bonds of tactics and of formal orders received but a passion to which they devote themselves with wholehearted enthusiasm. In this respect they are similar to our own soldiers who are fighting for the sake of Israel. But the difference between us and them is that we are fighting to build a national state to live in whereas they want to die! To attack people who are not only unafraid of death but actually aspire to die, with an enthusiasm bordering on madness as if they were savage demons out to challenge our civilization and all it stands for, is like attacking a thicket full of wild beasts. It is a risk we prefer to avoid. We do not think it wise to arouse these fanatics, lest their lunacy infects all the others so that they gain all they want while we lose everything."What do you think it is that has afflicted these people so that they are infatuated with death and have become transformed into a demonic force which defies all reason?" The Jewish commander replied: "The magic effect of religion on the minds of these simple-minded people! Unlike you, they have not had the opportunity of a progressive and enlightened education to open their eyes to the facts of life and to liberate them from superstition and the tricks of the merchants of religion. The poor wretches are still prey to those fantastic delusions about a paradise awaiting them after death overflowing with milk and honey. They are the chief obstacle in the way of a constructive peace for the sake of which we must cooperate and the greatest danger for the success of efforts made in good-will for the prevention of war and the establishment of relations on an enlightened basis between persons such as you and myself. They represent a danger not only to us but also to you if you genuinely want stability in your countries and your governments to be free of those disorderly elements which are constantly crying out for Jihad and martyrdom which have no place in the twentieth century. This is the century of science, of the United Nations, of world public opinion and the rights of man! I am so delighted to have met you and to have had this honest talk with you and I do not doubt that we will both remember it until we meet again under happier circumstances and in a different atmosphere filled with mutual cooperation which we hope will be achieved by enlightened progressives like yourself, free of all irrational rancour and obstinacy." "As I left his office," he told me, "I felt as if a volcano were erupting inside my soul, as if my breast were on fire. By God, I had been so preoccupied with the different types of weapons and tactics in battle that I had ignored the most effective weapon in the most dangerous kind of battle. Now I have realized that only the force of faith can repel this aggression! Those who equip themselves with modern weapons and the materialist ideologies of the twentieth century can be defeated only by those who hold fast to their faith in God and are determined to fight the enemies of God whatever disguise he may assume. They will induce awe and terror in the enemy so that he will fear them as he would fear a thicket of wild beasts. He will fear too that they will infect the rest of their people so that from them will burst forth volcanoes of faith which engulfed the treacherous ancestors of the present-day Jews-the Banu Qurayza, the Banu Nadir and the Banu Qaynuqa and then chastised them with implacable wrath at the Battle of Khaybar. Then I was overwhelmed by memories of the countenances of "these savage demons" in death, radiant with the smile of content ment, satisfaction and profound tranquillity."*

- Islam Versus Ahl Kitab Past and Present, p. 71 ~ p. 73