Abu Umar | 

Mohammad orders cancellation of New Year celebrations

All New Year celebrations in Dubai has been cancelled as an act of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Source : Gulfnews.com
Published: December 30, 2008, 20:37

Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has ordered the cancellation of all forms of celebrations marking the New Year in Dubai emirate, as an act of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

In support of the Palestinians in Gaza, who are enduring all kinds of killing, destruction and displacement by the Israeli military machinery, Shaikh Mohammad instructed all concerned authorities in Dubai to put this order in place and take necessary procedures to circulate the decision to all concerned parties.

Abu Umar : Tahniah diucapkan kepada Perdana Menteri UAE atas tindakan yang sangat memberangsangkan..!! Bagaimana dengan PM Malaysia?? Hmm...

Tahun Baru, Barang Baru dan Saudara Baru




BIsmillahirrahmanirrahim..

Agak lama juga saya tidak mengemaskinikan blog ini. Hendak dikatakan sibuk, tidak jugak. Nak dikatakan kurang topik, sebenarnya banyak perkara yang hendak dikongsikan bersama. Tapi itulah, mungkin perasaan 'excitement' hendak berblog itu dah menurun sedikit jikalau hendak dibandingkan semasa saya memakai wordpress.com dahulu..

Sedar tidak sedar, kita sudahpun berada di penghujung tahun 2008, dan tahun 1430 hijrah sudahpun menjelma (Selamat tahun baru hijrah 1430). Nila dikatkan dengan tahun baru ini, pasti kita teringat zaman kanak-kanak dahulu tentang bagaimana kita diajar untuk memperbaharui azam kita apabila tahun baru bakal menjelma. Cumanya, tahun baru yang dimaksudkan itu bukanlah tahun baru hijrah, tetapi tahun baru gregorian! agaknyalah, kalau dibuat 'survey' kepada remaja-remaja islam sekarang, berapalah agaknya peratus remaja yang menyedari bahwa semalam sudah masuk 1 Muharram 1430? Hmm...

Rahmat dalam kesakitan


Saya kena demam campak bermula isnin minggu lepas, di saat dua benda baru muncul dalam hidup saya, iaitu kereta baru dan Hanphone baru.(Terkejut beruk agaknya kut, tup tup terus kena demam campak! ) Dua perkara baru yang saya dapat tahu apabila terkena demam campak ini. Pertama, baru lah saya tahu yang saya belum kena demam campak semasa kecil. Yang kedua, orang yang terkena campak ini rupanya akan mengeluarkan sejenis antibodi baru yang menguatkan daya pertahan badan seseorang itu.

Di saat sedang menaip ini, campak saya tampak belum akan pulih. Mungkin seminggu lagi barulah kering akan tompok-tompok campak ini. Alhamdulillah, saya bersyukur kerana Allah S.W.T memberikan nikmat sakit ini disaat kerja-kerja ofis tengah menimbun. Bukan kerana saya dapat mengelat daripada kerja-kerja rutin ofis, tetapi kerana memberikan masa kepada saya untuk bermuhasabah kembali akan kerja buat saya kepada agama islam ini. Bila dinilai balik sejak saya datang ke abu dhabi ini, rupanya saya lalai dalam menjalankan tanggungjawab sebagai khalifah Allah dimuka bumi ini. Allahhu rabbi, maafkan lah kelalaian hambamu ini..

Di dalam buku "La Tahzan" karangan Dr Aidh Abdullah Al-Qarni, ada satu bab yang sangat menarik yang saya boleh kaitkan berkenaan orang yang sakit ini. Kata beliau,

"Rasa sakit tidak selamanya tidak berharga sehingga mesti selalu dibenci. Kerana mungkin sahaja rasa sakit itu malah akan mendatangkan kebaikan kepada seseorang."

Kan Allah taala mengingatkan kita akan perkara baik dan perkara buruk yang kita tidak ketahui hikmahnya,

كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْقِتَالُ وَهُوَ كُرْهٌ لَكُمْ وَعَسَى أَنْ تَكْرَهُوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ وَعَسَى أَنْ تُحِبُّوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ شَرٌّ لَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتُمْ لا تَعْلَمُونَ

Kamu diwajibkan berperang(untuk menentang pencerobohan) sedang peperangan itu ialah perkara yang kamu benci, dan boleh jadi kamu benci kepada sesuatu padahal ia baik untuk kamu, dan boleh jadi kamu suka kepada sesuatu padahal ia buruk bagi kamu. Dan ingatlah, Allah jualah yang mengetahui, sedang kamu tidak mengetahuinya.


Sahabat Baru@Saudara Baru

Dua hari lepas, saya berkesempatan berkenalan dengan lelaki bernama lukman, seorang mualaf yang berasal dari Sydney, Australia dan sekarang menetap di daerah Banten, Indonesia. Dia sebenarnya datang ke UAE untuk menhadiri International Islamic Fair yang sepatutnya diadakan di Dubai, tetapi kerana sebab2 teknikal, event itu dipindahkan ke Yaman. Sementelaah cuti panjang ini, saya ambil peluang untuk menghantarnya ke Sharjah untuk bertemu dengan seorang lagi sahabat baru yang berketurunan african american, Brother Bilal.

Dalam perjalanan ke Sharjah, saya sempat bertaaruf panjang dan berborak dengan beliau banyak perkara berkenaan Islam. Mulanya ia agak suspicious sedikit untuk berbicara dengan saya(Mana tidaknya, saya asyik bertanya soalan seakan S.B yang interview pesalah aje). Tetapi setelah beberapa ketika dan juga saya memberitahu beliau yang saya bergiat aktif dengan Jamaah PAS di Malaysia, barulah beliau agak selesa untuk 'mengeluarkan' banyak informasi-informasi yang bukan sahaja sangat berguna malah mengejutkan saya sebenarnya!! Sangat terkejut sehingga saya terpaksa berighstifar banyak kali untuk menenangkan hati saya..

Bersambung...

Tinggalkan Rumahmu Di Belakang...

Duduk sahaja di rumah -setelah beruzlah di masjid- adalah lebih teruk lagi dan tidak langsung menggambarkan sifat seorang muslim. Sahabat-sahabat Rasulullah S.A.W. membantah keras orang yang bersembunyi di rumah sambil bersenda gurau dengan isterinya dan anak-anaknya, meninggalkan dakwah, amar makruf dan nahi mungkar. Mereka ini mengosongkan tempat mereka dalam barisan mujahidin yang sepatutnya dipenuhkan untuk menentang taghut.


Para perawi telah meriwayatkan kepada kita dari seorang sahabat Rasulullah S.A.W. yang telah dijamin masuk syurga, iaitu Talhah bin Ubaidillah al-Quraisyi r.a. Beliau telah berkata:

“Cukup jadi keaiban pada seseorang bila dia duduk diam di rumahnya.”

Tiada seorang pun ulama’ yang terkemuka yang redha dengan sikap demikian.Contohnya Imam al-Ghazali, beliau berkata:

“Ketahuilah, setiap orang yang hanya duduk di rumahnya, walau di mana pun dia berada sebenarnya telah melakukan kemungkaran. Bagaimana mereka boleh duduk saja-saja tanpa membimbing manusia, tidak mengajar mereka dan tidak membawa mereka kepada kebaikan. Walhal, di luar sana, sebahagian besar manusia masih jahil tentang syariat hinggakan syarat-syarat sembahyang"

Apatah lagi mereka yang tinggal di kampung pedalaman. Di antara mereka ada orang Arab Badwi, Kurdis dan Turki serta berbagai golongan etnik lagi. Sepatutnya ada seorang ulama’ atau faqih yang mengajar manusia tentang agama di setiap masjid dan kampung. Wajib ke atas setiap ahli fiqh -yang telah selesai melaksanakan kewajiban fardhu ain dan fardhu kifayahnya- keluar ke negara berdekatan, sama ada ia didiami oleh manusia tidak kira bangsa Arab, kaum Kurdi atau kaum etnik lain bagi mengajar mereka tentang agama dan hukum-hukum syariat mereka.



Firman Allah S.W.T dalam surah Al-Mudatsir ayat 1-2:



يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُدَّثِّرُ

“Wahai orang yang berselimut (Muhammad)!"

قُمْ فَأَنْذِرْ

Bangunlah, lalu berilah peringatan! (kaummu)”



Ibnu Taimiyah mentafsirkan ayat di atas dengan berkata:


“Wajib ke atas umat Islam untuk menyampaikan apa yang diturunkan kepada baginda Muhammad S.A.W., memberi peringatan sebagaimana baginda Muhammad S.A.W. memberi peringatan dan ancaman"



Firman Allah S.W.T.:


مَا كَانَ لأَهْلِ الْمَدِينَةِ وَمَنْ حَوْلَهُمْ مِنَ الأَعْرَابِ أَنْ يَتَخَلَّفُوا عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ وَلا يَرْغَبُوا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ لا يُصِيبُهُمْ ظَمَأٌ وَلا نَصَبٌ وَلا مَخْمَصَةٌ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلا يَطَئُونَ مَوْطِئًا يَغِيظُ الْكُفَّارَ وَلا يَنَالُونَ مِنْ عَدُوٍّ نَيْلا إِلا كُتِبَ لَهُمْ بِهِ عَمَلٌ صَالِحٌ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ


“ Dan tidaklah (betul dan elok) orang-orang yang beriman keluar semuanya; oleh itu, hendaklah keluar sebahagian sahaja dari tiap-tiap puak di antara mereka, supaya orang orang itu mempelajari secara mendalam ilmu yang dituntut di dalam ugama, dan upaya mereka dapat mengajar kaumnya apabila orang-orang itu kembali kepada mereka; mudah-mudahan mereka dapat berjaga-jaga.” (At-Taubah 9:122)



Bangsa jin pula apabila mereka mendengar ayat al-Quran,“..mereka kembali kepada kaumnya, memberi peringatan.Dalam timbangan Islam dan iman, ada amalan-amalan tertentu yang perlu diutamakan oleh seseorang pada satu ketika dan pada situasi tertentu mengikut konsep fiqh keutamaan (fiqh awlawiyyat). Satu amalan mungkin perlu dilakukan oleh seseorang tetapi tidak perlu bagi orang lain, perlu dilakukan pada seseuatu masa dan tidak pada masa yang lain. Adakalanya, setiap individu muslim mempunyai satu amalan khusus yang lebih utama untuk dilakukan olehnya berbanding dengan amalan-amalan lain yang juga mulia.


Ibnu al-Qayyim Rahimahullah telah mengatakan: “Bagi orang yang berani dan kuat yang mampu menggerunkan musuh dengan serangannya, perlu berdiri di barisan depan dan berjihad menentang musuh Allah. Tindakan ini lebih utama dari mengerjakan haji, puasa, sedekah dan ibadah sunat yang lain.”


“Bagi tokoh-tokoh agama yang alim dan memahami sunnah, halal haram, kebaikan dan kejahatan, pandai bergaul dengan orang ramai, mengajar dan menasihati dalam bab-bab agama lebih utama baginya dari mengasingkan diri dari orang ramai dan menghabiskan masa untuk bersolat, membaca al-Quran dan bertasbih semata-mata.”

"Janganlah ada di kalangan kita berhujah dengan hadis-hadis keutamaan ibadat-ibadat sunat, tasbih dan zikir untuk menjustifikasikan tindakan kita mengasingkan diri dari orang ramai, meninggalkan tugas untuk membimbing manusia lain serta mengajar dan menasihati mereka, berdasarkan pengetahuannya. Sesungguhnya menyampaikan dakwah Islam kepada orang ramai lebih baik daripada melakukan ibadah yang sunat."

-Petikan dari kitab 'Al-Muntalaq' karangan Muhammad Ahmad Al-Rasyid-

Abu Dhabi to recycle all waste water


By Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporter
Published: November 24, 2008, From Gulfnews.com

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi will be recycling 100 cent per cent of its waste water by next year, a senior official told Gulf News on Monday.

"Now, two-thirds of waste water is recycled in the emirate," said Alan Thomson, Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Sewerage Service Company, a government-owned company dealing with sewerage treatment services.

He spoke to Gulf News on the sidelines of the Middle East Economic Digest's Waste Water Treatment and Reuse Conference 2008 which began in the capital yesterday.

Thomson said there is no plan to improve the standard of waste water recycling to produce potable water. "The present recycling system does not aim for potable water."

A proposed 15 kilometre sewage tunnel linking the Abu Dhabi mainland and island as part of Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (Step) will improve the waste water treatment capacity of the emirate, said the official.

"Abu Dhabi's population is expected to double by 2020 and the amount of waste water will also increase proportionately."

Abu Umar : Jangan laaa depa ni nak tiru cam Singapura udah lee. Waste water dah convert jadi drinking water..ish2

Sahabat Usrah Di Tangkap

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim..

Seperti biasa, perkara rutin yang saya akan lakukan sebelum memulakan kerja di ofis ialah men'jenguk' keadaan semasa di Malaysia melaui webnews-webnews, antaranya ialah Harakahdaily.net,tranungkite.net,Utaraonline, utusan meloya,berita hairan dan the star.

Saya terbaca tajuk utama hari ini( disini dan disini ). Sudah di agak, perhimpunan mansuhkan ISA yang dianjurkan oleh Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA (GMI) di Padang MPAJ semalam memang akan diganggu polis. Ternyata, Polis Malaysia masih lagi tidak menunjukkan ketelusan dan keadilan yang sepatutnya. Manakan tidak, satu perhimpunan menyokong ISA (disini dan disini) boleh pula diadakan, malah di'manja'kan oleh pihak polis. Padahal, kedua-dua perhimpunan itu menyentuh perkara yang sama, iaitu ISA. Satu menyokong dan satu lagi membantah. Yang menyokong dimanjakan, yang membantah di'kerja'kan.

Apabila melihat senarai orang yang ditangkap pada malam itu, rupanya ada dua orang sahabat usrah pandan saya berada dalam senarai. Mereka ialah Azman Abd Hamid ( kami panggil dia Man Tok Kenali) dan juga Hafiz Zulkifli (juga dikenali dengan gelaran Hafiz Bere). Kedua orang yang saya kenal ini amatlah baik perwatakannya (walaupun terkadang agak nakal sikit, biasalah nakal-nakal sayang dengan sahabat seperjuangan). Saya yakin, mereka ini ditangkap bukan kerana bersikap liar ataupun ganas, tetapi kerana keberanian dan ketegasan mereka dalam nak menjalankan amanah sebagai petugas unit amal pada malam itu. Sekurang-kurangnya, taujihat yang dihadam dalam usrah jemaah berkenaan pengorbanan dan keberanian dlm memperjuangkan keadilan dapat dipraktikkan dlm kehidupan mereka.

Syabas diucapkan, semoga allah taala tabahkan hati kalian , mudah-mudahan akan lebih cekal dalam perjuangan.

Teruskan Perjuangan..!!!

وَلَمَّا رَأَى الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الأَحْزَابَ قَالُوا هَذَا مَا وَعَدَنَا اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَصَدَقَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَمَا زَادَهُمْ إِلا إِيمَانًا وَتَسْلِيمًا(22) مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاهَدُوا اللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ قَضَى نَحْبَهُ وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَنْتَظِرُ وَمَا بَدَّلُوا تَبْدِيلا

Dan tatkala orang-orang mu’min melihat golongan-golongan yang bersekutu itu, mereka berkata: "Inilah yang dijanjikan Allah dan Rasul-Nya [1] kepada kita". Dan benarlah Allah dan Rasul-Nya. Dan yang demikian itu tidaklah menambah kepada mereka kecuali iman dan ketundukan. (22) Di antara orang-orang mu’min itu ada orang-orang yang menepati apa yang telah mereka janjikan kepada Allah; maka di antara mereka ada yang gugur. Dan di antara mereka ada [pula] yang menunggu-nunggu [1] dan mereka sedikitpun tidak merobah [janjinya]- AlAhzab,ayat 22 dan 23



Kad pengenalan UAE??


Bismillahirrahmirrahim..

Nampak gaya lepaih ni penuh pulak laa beg duit saya ni dengan kad. Semenjak datang ke sini, tak kurang 5 kad memenuni slot kad di beg duit saya, sampai naik kembung beg duit. Kalau kembung sebab duit takpa la, ni tidak...penuh dengan kad-kad, credit card la, labour card la, driving license card, dan yang sewaktu dengannya..

Yang terbaru, expatriates yang bekerja di UAE diarahkan untuk membuat kad pengenalan UAE la pulak. Yang bestnya, kena renew macam kita buat lesen memandu, setahun kena bayar AED100.. Betoi punya kedarah laa govt kat sini.. Bayangkan kalau ada sejuta expatriates bekerja di sini, senang-senang saja depa boleh dapat 100 juta setahun. Nasib baik kat sini tak kena bayaq income tax, kalau tidak habih lagu tu ja duit gaji ni..

kadang-kadang tu dok terpikir, takdak pembangkang ka kat UAE ni?? hmm...

December 8 to be first day of Eid Al Adha

Abu Dhabi: December 8 will be the first day of Eid Al Adha, according to the Islamic Crescents Monitoring Project.

Astronomical calculations have predicted that November 29 will be the first day of Zil Hijja.

On that day, sighting of the crescent will be endorsed in some Muslim countries to mark the beginning of the Hijri month.

The Islamic Crescents Monitoring Project was set up in 1998 and includes 400 scholars and moon-sighting experts


The Teacher Turned Icon - Umar Al Mukhtar

(Taken from the weekend review on Gulfnews.com,)

Published on Nov 13 2008 by Joseph A. Kechichian

When Admiral Cappo Farafelli and his battleships reached the North African shores near Tripoli in October 1911, Italy intended to occupy territories under Ottoman suzerainty and would take into account neither Turkish objections nor opposition from the indigenous population.

Constantinople ordered its men, most of whom fled just before the Italians bombed Tripoli for three consecutive days, to surrender. Rome proclaimed victory.

Italian officials asserted that the Libyan people were “committed and strongly bound to Italy”. What followed was a series of battles between the occupiers and guerrillas organised and led by an extraordinary man — Omar Al Mukhtar.

Al Mukhtar awakened among his followers love for their country and duty and put to rest an often-used Western claim that Arabs did not consider their lands dear.

Master strategist

Al Mukhtar embarked on an organised resistance in 1912 at Bir Halgh Barga, not far from Benghazi and close to the Egyptian border. This quiet teacher quickly became a master strategist in desert guerrilla tactics because he knew his country’s geography better than most.

Al Mukhtar led his highly mobile groups into skilful and successful battles, before fading into the desert which was a mystery to the Italians.

By attacking outposts, ambushing troops and cutting supply and communication lines, Al Mukhtar and his men outmanoeuvred the intruders.

Before long, he was the undisputed leader of the Sanusi resistance movement, which became a model for others throughout the Arab world.

Sanusi is a Sufi order founded by Sidi Mohammad Bin Ali Al Sanusi in 1843 in Cyrenaica whose theology asserted that believers should aim at communicating with the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in their waking hours and praying to God to be united with the Prophet.

Although the Italian invasion was initially concentrated on coastal cities such as Tripoli, Benghazi, Misrata and Derna, major battles were soon fought elsewhere as the Libyans stood up against the occupation.

Few villages in the mountains or the desert were spared. After the April 1915 Ghartabiyyah battle, in which the Italians lost thousands of soldiers, the colonial troops gained the upper hand even if they failed to gain full control.

To their credit, the Libyans fought fearlessly; thousands joined the resistance Al Mukhtar organised.

Most hid in the Jabal Al Akhdar (Green Mountain) in northeast Libya from where the resistance launched its fiercest assaults on the hapless Italians.

Fearing defeat, Rome dispatched a notorious officer, Pietro Badoglio, to pacify Libya, granting him carte blanche to resort to any method, including inhuman measures, to quickly end the resistance.

With such a mandate, the officer fought the guerrillas and imposed harsh punishment on ordinary people, whose only crime was to help the resistance.

After extensive negotiations, Badoglio reached a compromise with Al Mukhtar, although Italian sources falsely described the situation as an act of complete submission on the part of the resistance leader.

By the end of October 1929, Al Mukhtar denounced the compromise and re-established a unity of action among his forces. As Badoglio’s brutal techniques proved insufficient, then rising Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, who would become better known as Il Duce (Supreme Leader of Fascism), sent another high-ranking officer, General Rodolfo Graziani, to hone his atrocious methods in Libya.

Graziani versus Al Mukhtar

Historians differ on the issue but Graziani apparently agreed to go to Libya if and only if Mussolini gave him a free hand to behave without any consideration for Italian rules and laws. What Graziani proposed to do was unquestionably monstrous — to dispose of half the population, if need be, to control Libya.

Graziani wanted to strangulate Libya to prevent Al Mukhtar and his men from receiving material assistance from neighbouring Egypt. Towards that end, he ordered the construction of a 300-kilometre, 2-metre high by 3-metre wide wall from Bardiyat Slaiman port to Al Jagboub in the south along the Egyptian border.

Moreover, he authorised the creation of several concentration camps — in Al Aghaylha, Al Maghrun, Soluq and Al Abiyar among others — where thousands of Libyans were forced to live under complete Italian military control.

Those who escaped detention fled to the Jabal Al Akhdar or hid deep in the desert, living in severe conditions. These measures caused the deaths of thousands of men, women, elderly folk and children — directly through public hangings and shootings or indirectly due to hunger and illness.

Graziani placed over 100,000 Libyans in his infamous concentration camps between 1929 and 1931 and, according to authors Hala Khamis Nassar and Marco Boggero, who penned the essay titled Legacy of Libyan Freedom Fighter — Omar Al Mukhtar (published in The Journal of North African Studies in June), an estimated 40,000 were killed in these facilities.

Life was miserable in the camps and thousands died of hunger or illness. In the words of Dr Todesky, chairman of the Italian Army Health Department: “From May 1930 to September 1930, more than 80,000 Libyans were forced to leave their land and live in concentration camps; they were taken 300 at a time, watched by soldiers to make sure that the Libyans went directly to the concentration camps … By the end of 1930 all Libyans who live[d] in tents were forced to go and live in the camps; 55 per cent of the Libyans died in the camps.”

A leading Libyan historian, Mahmoud Ali Al Tayyeb, said that in November 1930 at least 17 funerals were held each day in these camps.

Libyans in concentration camps received meagre sustenance.

The condition of the guerrillas was far worse.
To say that Al Mukhtar and his men were deprived of reinforcements, spied upon, hit by Italian aircraft and pursued by Italian forces aided by local informers, would be gross understatements.

By early 1931 even food became scarce and, before long, vital ammunition ran out. Despite such hardship, Al Mukhtar kept fighting, even after he fell seriously ill.

Arrest and execution

Fighting against great odds and, perhaps inevitably after a 20-year guerrilla engagement, Al Mukhtar was ambushed, wounded in battle and subsequently captured by the Italian army in the desert near the city of Zaltan, about 150 miles south of Benghazi, on September 11, 1931. Fatigue or his innate dignity compelled Al Mukhtar to remain calm.

He understood his situation and accepted his fate. His jailers were overwhelmed by his steadfastness and several interrogators later confessed that Al Mukhtar looked them in the eye and read verses of peace from the Quran as he was interrogated and tortured.

As expected, he was tried by a kangaroo court, convicted and sentenced to death. Al Mukhtar welcomed the verdict quoting from the Quran: “From God we came and to God we must return.”

Rome hoped that the speedy execution of the old fighter five days after his arrest — carried out in the concentration camp of Salluq in front of many of his followers on September 16, 1931 — would wither the resistance.

Remarkably, the Libyan resistance was not silenced, even if it was significantly weakened.

Italy lost the moral high ground since it opted to ignore World War treaties, international law or humanitarian considerations for an individual well advanced in age. Even in this feeble condition, Al Mukhtar — who was known as the “Nimr Al Sahrah” (The Lion of the Desert) — instilled such fear in most Italian hearts that no great indignation anywhere around the Arab world would budge the callous decision to hang him.

Legacy and impact on Libya

Al Mukhtar’s final years were immortalised in the 1981 film Lion of the Desert, starring Anthony Quinn, Oliver Reed and Irene Papas.

The film climaxes with the execution, when the old man’s glasses fall to the floor. A boy fetches the spectacles and hands them to his mother, perhaps to preserve a simple memento of the Libyan hero.

In real life, Al Mukhtar’s impact was far greater, as all three Libyan regimes — monarchic, revolutionary and military — declared him their national hero (today, his face is on the Libyan 10-dinar bill).

Beyond the symbolic, however, his historic character crossed Libyan boundaries as he contributed to the formation of different forms of Arab nationalism.

Over the years, his memory defined Libyan opposition against the Italians and later against those who were power hungry.

In all instances, Al Mukhtar taught Libyans to love, protect and defend their land and their freedoms.

He also taught an entire generation to fight as religious men, proclaiming the words of God in every battle, assuming that no one but Libyans had any right over their country.

It may be safe to conclude that he invented Libyan nationalism in the modern sense of the word, rejected foreign domination and, most importantly, refused to submit to the usurper.

A humble individual from a modest background, Al Mukhtar did not venture out of Libya to defy order but simply defended his flock and his land. Even if colonial times defined sovereignty in peculiar terms — granting the powerful intrinsic privileges — Al Mukhtar stood up for what were his rights.

He was a devoted practitioner of freedom, whose basic understanding of authority compelled him to fight and die for his nation.

Dr Joseph A. Kechichian is an author, most recently of Power and Succession in Arab Monarchies, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder, Colorado, 2008.

This article is the eighth in a series, which appears on the second Friday of each month, on Arab leaders who greatly influenced political affairs in the Middle East.

Biography

Omar Al Mukhtar Bin Omar Bin Farhat was probably born around 1860 although various birthdates range from 1856 and 1862.

Little is known of his early life except that he saw light in the Ghayth family, which was part of the Farhat clan and which was a branch of the Manfahah Badu tribe from Burqah, Libya. His father was a courageous man and a fighter, which meant that he was frequently absent from home.

His mother, Ayshah Bint Mohair, taught the young man and his brothers piety and religious values and may be said to have raised Al Mukhtar on a more or less exclusive basis.

As he grew older, Al Mukhtar was assigned by Ahmad Sharif Al Sanusi as a teacher in a Sanusian school, which allowed him to delve in teaching positions for much of his life.

Al Mukhtar’s son, Al Haj Mohammad Omar Al Mukhtar, fought alongside his father as the former developed a hugely successful technique, based on small-scale and swift attacks, which were followed by rapid retreats into the desert. These methods led Italian forces to resort to poison gas and a systematic policy of ethnic cleansing.

Holy cities were attacked, the ‘zawias’ (residential complexes used by the clergy as forms of monasteries) were expropriated and religious leaders expelled.

When all else failed, Italian troops cut supply lines by building an enormous wall along the Egyptian border, but to no avail.

After a decades-long guerrilla commitment, Al Mukhtar was captured by the Italians in September 1931 during a fierce battle that pitted a few thousand of his men against more than 20,000 well-equipped troops that possessed aircraft and modern weapons.

He was submitted to a mock trial and hanged as a bandit in front of his own people at Solush after which he became a martyr of the Cyrenaican rebellion.

Welcome


Ahlan Wasahlan wa marhaba bikum..!!

Welcome to my new blog..!

After a while, i have decided to change my blog from wordpress.com to blogger.com instead.

Insya Allah, i will try my best to make this blog as useful as possible to visitors.

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Selamat datang ke blog baru saya!!

Setelah lama memerhati dan mengkaji, saya memilih untuk bertukar dari wordpress.com kepada blogger.com. Sebab? Banyakkkk sangat, tak tertulis agaknya..

Insya Allah, saya akan pastikan blog ini seceria dan seinformasi yang mungkin


Abu Umar in Abu Dhabi