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The tragic martyrdom of Ayatollah Al
Hakim calls for a stance..*
Never Again!
Tragedy has struck once again. This time, however, it was unlike any
other time. On Friday 29th of August 2003 a vicious attack ripped
through the holy city of Najaf, central Iraq in the close proximity
of one of Islam’s most sacrosanct shrines; the tomb of Imam Ali.
The bomb was the product of malicious, ruthless, and filthy minds
that had used it in order to utilize the immense destructive power
of its 500 kilos of deadly explosives with the intent of spreading
fear and creating widespread havoc and tragic mayhem. The shock
factor was to be instilled in the hearts of Iraqis through the
massacre of as many people as possible but most specifically by the
assassination of Grand Ayatollah Sayed Mohammad Baqir Al Hakeem.
Ayatollah Al Hakeem was one of the highest ranking clerics known for
his elevated status as a religious jurist, his closeness to other
high ranking scholars such as the martyred Ayatollah M. Baqir Al
Sadr, but most of all he was known for his lengthy and strenuous
struggle against the oppressive tyrant Saddam Hussein. At one stage
Saddam sent him an ultimatum “return to Iraq to face execution, or
one member of your family will be executed for every six months you
are abroad”. Over the 23 year period he spent in exile, he faced
the agony of witnessing the brutal murder of 8 brothers and 22 other
immediate family members at the hands of the tyrannical Baath
regime.
This incident was unlike others pertaining to Islamic clerics. It
was not the first time the Muslim world received horrifying news of
the death of a grand religious jurist. In fact, we have somewhat
become accustomed to such tragedies to the point where some –
regrettably – see them as almost mundane. In the past 25 years at
least 7 such clerics have been murdered. What sets this tragedy
apart form the previous ones is the fact that the former incidents
were carried out by despotic regimes, notably that of Saddam. The
massacre of Friday 29th of August, however, set a new precedence in
the way our enemies express their hatred and malice towards our
values. The time was Friday, the Islamic day of worship. The month
was Rajab, a holy Muslim month in which fighting of any sort is
categorically outlawed. The city was the center of our religious
seminaries, rather like Oxford and Canterbury put together. The
place was the burial site of Islam’s second most important figure
and third holiest shrine. The atmosphere was that of worship and
prayer. The target was everything that is honored by humanity at
large.
By launching their evil attack, the perpetrators of this most
heinous crime against humanity breached the sanctity of our
religious clerics. They also violated the status of our religious
educational institutes. They desecrated the holiness of one of
Islam’s holiest places of worship and the tomb of our most noble
leaders. They breached the sacredness of our holy month and holy
day. Those behind this criminal act of terror, thus, disrespected
everything that is sacred and despoiled everything that is holy.
"
At one stage Saddam sent him an ultimatum “return to Iraq to
face execution, or one member of your family will be executed
for every six months you are abroad”. Over the 23 year period
he spent in exile, he faced the agony of witnessing the brutal
murder of 8 brothers and 22 other immediate family members..
" |
There are many lessons that need to be learnt in this tragedy. The
first and foremost is ensuring the prevention of any such incidents
in the future. This may seem quite obvious to an outsider, but under
the current situation, no guarantee exists to ensure such tragic
episodes are hindered. In a modern democracy, any attack of such
magnitude would inevitably result in top level investigations and
perhaps even ministerial resignations if neglect was found to be
part of the underlying problem. In Iraq, however, there is no such
system in place. In fact, there is no system at all except one which
focuses its attention at restoring the flow of oil out of the
country. Iraqis have been suffering from the absence of civil
services such as water, electricity and other necessities, but the
biggest concern of all has been the security threats. The coalition
forces have politely “handed over” the security profile to the
people while no steps have been taken to equip them with the
required apparatus to implement the security measures. All the
resources and funds are held by the coalition forces or their
imposed authorities and the people of Iraq along with their
religious leadership are left crippled amid growing security
concerns and several assassination attempts against key clerics.
What needs to be done is a complete – rather than partial – handover
of power to the majority Shi’ites in Iraq. If, indeed, the tragic
attacks of 29/08/2003 were funded and
masterminded by foreign Wahhabi agents, they could not have carried
out such large scale attacks without the assistance of Iraqi
minority elements that had everything to lose from the fall of
Saddam and the rise of the Shi’ites. Their prime interest is to
disrupt the political situation by eliminating the Shi’ite
leadership and assuming power by force as they have done for
centuries. To this we all say “Never again”. Never again must also
any of our leaders be murdered. Any occupying force is responsible
for the security of the nation they occupy, and the coalition is
responsible for lack thereof in Iraq.
We, therefore, as Shi’ites, as Muslims, as Iraqis, but above all as
brethren in humanity condemn this vicious crime in the strongest
possible terms and vow to continue the legacy of Ayatollah Al Hakeem
in rebuilding Iraq. We demand that the coalition forces uphold their
duty and live up to their promises by restoring peace and stability
in Iraq. They came to Iraq holding the promise of liberation from
oppression, they must, therefore, take all necessary measures to
restore the peace and protect our citizens as well as our religious
scholars at all costs. The security of such
scholars as Grand Ayatollah Sistani, Grand Ayatollah Sa'eed Al
Hakim, Grand Ayatollah M. Taqi Almodarresi, Ayatollah Ali Sabzewari,
Ayatollah Hadi Almodarresi, Ayatollah Ishaq Fayadh, Ayatollah Bashir
Al Najafi, and others must be guaranteed, or else the Coalition
forces will be held fully responsible in the event of any
recurrences of the events of 29/08.
If the martyrdom of Ayatollah Al Hakim along with over 120
worshippers destabilizes the relationship between Iraqis and the
coalition forces, that is because, to Muslims all over the world,
such incidents do not call for patience and tolerance of their
opponents, but for a stance. That stance, it seems is “Never
Again!”.
Sayed Mahdi Almodarresi
02/09/2003
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* This
speech was delivered in the symbolic funeral procession of Ayatollah
M. Baqir Al Hakim in Sydney, Australia attended by hundreds of
mourners.
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