Inspired by al-Qa’ida, a hitherto little-known militant group is behind the outbreak of bloody violence which has left scores dead

By: Robert Fisk

They came into Lebanon last summer when the world was watching Israel smash this small nation in a vain attempt to destroy the Hizbollah. But the men who set up their grubby little office in the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp, some of them fighters from the Iraq war, others from Yemen, Syria or Lebanon itself, were far more dangerous than America and Israel believed the Hizbollah to be. They had come, they told the few journalists who bothered to seek them out “to liberate” Jerusalem because “to free our territory is a sacred duty inscribed in the Koran”.

That the men of Fatah al-Islam should believe that the road to Jerusalem lay through the Lebanese city of Tripoli and might be gained by killing almost 30 Lebanese soldiers – many of them Sunni Muslims like themselves, four of whom it now emerges had their heads cut off – was one of the weirder manifestations of an organisation which, while it denies being part of al-Qa’ida, is clearly sympathetic to the “brothers” who serve the ideas of Osama bin Laden.

Last night their gunmen in Nahr el-Bared offered a ceasefire to the Lebanese troops surrounding them after doctors had pleaded for a truce in which the dead and wounded could be cleared from the streets. It was an equally odd idea from a group which only 24 hours earlier had promised to open the “gates of hell” all over Lebanon and “shoot to the last bullet” if the army did not halt its fire. The nature of their politics, however, is less sinister than their savagery. At least two, it now transpires, blew themselves up with explosive belts in Tripoli on Sunday after taking civilians hostage.

One survivor recalled that a dying member of Fatah-al-Islam spent his last moments reading to him from the Koran.

The organisation – we still do not know if they have 300 armed men at their disposal – clearly took some inspiration from the famous declaration of al-Qa’ida’s Ayman al-Zawahiri that Palestine was close to Iraq and that thus “warriors should take their holy war to the frontiers of Palestine”. One of those frontiers, of course, is the Lebanese-Israeli border. Chaker al-Absi told Lebanese journalists last year that his movement “was founded on the Koran and holy law” and that it was a “reformist movement created to bring an end to corruption and to brandish in the sky over Jerusalem the banner which says ‘There is only one God but God’.”

And he added that “we are neither allied to a regime or any group existing on this earth.” Absi, it should be added, is wanted in Jordan for the murder of an American diplomat. No less a figure than Omar al-Bakri – deported from Britain more than a year ago – has described Fatah al-Islam as “well and truly Syria’s winning card”.

If it is, then Syria will have some work explaining how the group also announced its responsibility for two bombings in Beirut at the weekend, one of which killed a middle-aged Christian woman. The Lebanese army suspect that it also placed bombs on buses in the Christian district of Ain Alak earlier this year.

But why Tripoli? And why now? Well, of course there’s the imminent United Nations tribunal into who killed ex-prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Was it Syria? But reports in Lebanon become more dramatic the more they are repeated; that Fatah al-Islam is funded by Bin Laden’s two sons, Saad and Mohamed; that two of the gunmen killed in Tripoli were brothers of a Lebanese man from Akkar – also in the north of Lebanon – who was arrested in Germany last year for allegedly plotting to put bombs on railway trains; that the Tripoli dead also included a Bangladeshi and a Yemeni.

Certainly, we know that one of the dead – possibly two – are sons of a 60-year-old Lebanese man from Sidon, Darwish Haity. He is aware that his son Ahmad is dead and fears that Mahmoud Haity was also among those who fought to the death in the Tripoli apartment blocks. “My children are not like that,” the father was quoted as saying. “Fatah al-Islam fooled them and turned them into criminals.” Ahmad Haity was a married father of three.

Sidon itself is home to the largest camp in Lebanon, Ein el-Helweh, from where at least 20 Palestinians set off to be suicide bombers against US troops in Iraq. One Tripoli Sunni Muslim movement boasts that it sent “at least” 300. And Ein el-Helweh boasts a set of tiny Islamic groups like Issbat al-Anssar which broke apart when its leadership founded Issbat al-Noor – “The Community of Illumination” – whose chief was assassinated, supposedly by a PLO faction.

If these internecine Palestinian disputes appear tiresome, it should be remembered that many have their origins in the Lebanese civil war, when Arafat’s PLO fought on the Muslim side against Christian Maronite militia.

When Lebanese troops arrested Moamar Abdullah al-Awami, a Yemeni, in Sidon in 2003 and accused him of plotting to blow up a McDonald’s restaurant, Awami – who used the nom de guerre “Ibn al-Shaheed” (son of the martyr) – claimed to have met three al-Qa’ida operatives in Ein el-Helweh. Several Lebanese fundamentalists involved in a battle against the Lebanese army in 2000 at Sir el-Dinniye, joined a Palestinian group known as Jund al-Shams (Soldier of Damascus) whose leader, Mohamed Sharqiye, arrived in Sidon 10 years ago – and here the story comes full circle – from the same Nahr el-Bared camp where Fatah el-Islam was established in the summer of last year.

It is too simple to claim that this is Syria’s work. Syria may have an interest is watching this destabilisation, even – through its security networks – assisting these groups with logistics. But other organisations might have found common interest; the Iraqi insurgents, for example, even the Taliban, perhaps equally small groups in the Palestinian occupied territories. That’s how these things work in the Middle East, where there is no such thing as responsibility – only a commonality of interests. Perhaps the Americans might have learnt something about this if they had not two years ago insulted the Syrians for allowing fighters into Iraq – at which point, the Syrians halted all military and intelligence co-operation with the US.

Interviewed earlier this year, another of Fatah al-Islam’s leaders who called himself “Abu Mouayed”, insisted that “we are not in contact with other Islamists… we are not at the point of recruiting fighters, but those who want to work with us and struggle against the Jews are welcome”. He also threatened to attack the enlarged UN force in southern Lebanon which is run by four Nato generals. At the time, the PLO’s officials in Nahr el-Bared claimed that they were “keeping their eye” on Fatah al-Islam. But sometime in the last two months, their gaze clearly wandered.

The army and the Internal Security Force – a mild version of a paramilitary police unit – appear to have caught 11 of the gunmen before they could kill themselves and they are now under interrogation (a process that is definitely not going to be mild, although one of the men was seriously wounded). Photographers managed to catch pictures of one of the captured men as he was grabbed by soldiers after one of their comrades had been killed. But is it likely that these fierce – vicious – warriors are going to talk when they were all prepared to die?

The army, too, has its feelings. About half of their dead appear to be Sunni Muslims, and many of them come from northern Lebanon.

This is a part of the country where revenge killings have often been a feature of social anger and once the battles at Nahr al-Bared are over, there will be families desperate to make up for the loss of husbands and sons, especially those who were done to death so cruelly. Back at Sir el-Dinniye in 2000, there were no revenge deaths after 11 soldiers were killed. But some of the gunmen who killed them seven years ago are now themselves – and here we go full circle again – in the Ein el-Helweh camp in Sidon.

The PLO’s Fatah movement has called its namesake “a gang of criminals” – a wise precaution given the suppressed fury of the Lebanese that the Palestinians allowed the group to be created in the northern refugee camp. In Ein el-Helweh, the PLO are on the streets, ensuring that there is no recurrence, although one Palestinian Islamist did open fire into the air on Monday in anger at the death of his “brothers” who are fighting the army.

If the siege of Nahr el-Bared continues, however, it may not be so easy to control the Palestinian groups in Beirut and in the south of Lebanon. And then the Lebanese army – which is all that stands between peace and anarchy here – will be even further stretched.

The Independent
23 May 2007

Iqbal ki ye nazm unki kitaab baal-e-jibreel meiN maujood hai. baal-e-jibreel 1935 meiN manzar-e-aam per aaii. aur ye nazm taqreeban 1934 se 35 ke darmiyaani arse meiN likhi gayee.

yooN to Iqbal ka taqreeban saara kalaam hi ishq-e-Haqeeqi per mabnee hai, magar is kitaab “baal-e-jibreel” ka saara kalaam soofiyaana raNg ka hai. jaa.ba.jaa aisi nazmeN aur ghazleN haiN jin meiN Iqbal ne Allah se khitaab kia hai. aur bahot se maqaamaat per musalmaanoN ko be.daar karne ke liye banda-e-momin ko mukhaatib kia hai.

isi taraH iqbal ki is nazm “saaqi naamah” meiN bhi tamaam tar khitaab Allah ta’aala se hai. lafz “saaqi” ko bahot vasee’ maanoN meiN iste’maal kia gayaa hai, aur is khitaab ke zariye Musalmaanaan-e-barr-e-sagheer ko khwaab-e-ghaflat se bay.daar karne ki koshish ki gayee hai.

Professor Muhammad Zakariya is nazm ki haiyyat bayaan karte hue likhte haiN :

“asnaaf-e-shaairee meiN saaqi naamah aik nazm hai jo macnavee ki haiyyat meiN likhi jaati hai, umooman is ke liye beHr-e-mutaqaarib mucamman meHzoof (faoolun, faoolun, faoolun , faool ya faa’l) ikhtiyaar ki jaati hai. is nazm meiN jaa.bajaa saqi se khitaab kia jaata hai, maut ki Haqeeqat aur baycabaati-e-dunya ka bayaan kar ke un dukhoN ko bhulaane ke liye sharaab ki talab ki jaati hai, kabhi alaamati andaaz meiN peer-e-kaamil ki vasaatat se vaardaat-e-tasavvuf bayaan ki jaati haiN aur kabhi khudaa ko mukhatib kar ke kaainaat aur insaan ke pur.asraar rishte ko vaazeH karne ki koshish ki jaati hai.

Iqbal ki is nazm meiN khuda se takhaatub hai, aur asr-e-Haazir ke Haalaat-o-masaail bayaan kar ke Khudaa se rehnumaai talab ki gayee hai aur madad maangi gayee hai”

(taf’heem-e-baal-e-jibreel).

is nazm ke saat (7) band haiN. Iqbal ne her band ke aakhri she’r ko aamne saamne likhne ki bajaaye, dono misroN ko ooper neeche likha hai, taa’ke qaari ye samajh jaaye ke khayalaat ki aik kaRee mukammal ho chuki hai, aur ab nayee kaRee ka aaghaaz naye band se ho rahaa hai.

maiN nazm ke her band se muntakhib ash’aar likh ker poore band ka khulaasa apne alfaaz meiN likh rahaa hooN.

Band No. 1 (kul ash’aar : 12)

hua khaima zan kaarvaan-e-bahaar
iram ban gayaa daaman-e-kohsaar

fazaa neeli neeli havaa meiN suroor
Theherte nahiN aashiyaaN meiN tuyoor

vo joo-e-kohistaaN uchakti hui
aTakti, lachakti , sarakti hui

uchalti , phisalti , sambhalti hui
baRe pech khaa ker nikalti hui

zara dekh ae saaqi-e-laala faam
sunaati hai ye zindagi ka payaam

pilaa de mujhe voh ma-e-parda soz
ke aati nahiN fasl-e-gul roz roz

voh mae jis se roshan zameer-e-Hayaat
voh mae jis se hai masti-e-kaainaat

uThaa saaqia parda is raaz se
laRaa de mamoole ko shahbaaz se

khulaasa :

Iqbal nazm ka aaghaaz karte hue kehte haiN ke ae Khudaa her taraf bahaar ke qaafile ne apne kheime gaaR diye haiN. pahaaroN mein jaga jaga ranga raNg phool khil chuke haiN, jo kisi jannat ka manzar pesh kar rahe haiN. nadioN meiN paani tezi se beh rahaa hai, her rukaavaT ko haTaata hua ravaaN davaaN hai. intehaai khoobsurat manzar hai. ye fasl-e-gul, ye bahaar ka mausam roz roz nahin aata. bahaaroN ki ye khoobsurati, apne andar bahot se raaz chupaaye baiThi hai. is kaifiyat ko samajhne ke liye mujhe maa’rifat ki voh sharaab pilaa jis se mujhe noor-e-baseerat mil jaaye aur ilm ataa kar jis se meri aankhoN ke aage se parda haTT jaaye aur maiN in asraar-o-ramooz ko samajh sakooN.

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Band No. 2 (kul ash’aar : 14)

zamaane ke andaaz badle gaye
nayaa raag hai saaz badle gaye

puraani seyaasat garee khwaar hai
zameeN meer-o-sultaaN se bay.zaar hai

musalmaaN hai tauHeed meiN garm.josh
magar dil abhi tak hai zunnaar posh

tamaddun, tasavvuf, sharee’at kalaam
butaan-e-ajam ke pujaari tamaam

Haqeeqat khuraafaat meiN kho gayee
ye ummat rivaayaat meiN kho gayee

voh soofi ke tha khidmat-e-Haq meiN mard
mohabbat meiN yaktaa, Hamiyyat meiN fard

bujhi ishq ki aag, andheir hai
musalmaaN nahin, raakh ka Dheir hai

khulaasa:

yahaaN se Iqbal ne musalmaanoN ko jhinjhoRna shuru kia hai. kehte haiN ke is naye zamaane ke andaaz bilkul badal chuke haiN. bay.shumaar tabdeeliaaN ru.numaa ho rahi haiN. farangioN ki saazisheN aur ayyaariaaN ab logoN per zaahir ho rahi haiN. dunyaa ke mukhtalif mumaalik ab bay.daar ho rahe haiN. magar majmui taur per musalmaanoN ki Haalat bahot khasta hai. ummat-e-muslima intishaar ka shikaar hai. musalmaan saamne se to tauheed parast hai, magar us ke andar ab bhi ghair islami aqaaid maujood haiN. tamaddun, tasavvuf, aur sharee’at ka naa’ara lagaane vaale meHz ghair islaami aqaaid ka parchaar kar rahe haiN.khateeb-e-masjid ka khutba sun’ne meiN to bahot acha hai, magar us meiN acar bilkul nahin rahaa. us ka bayaan mantaq , falsafay aur pecheeda taraakeeb meiN ulajh ker reh gayaa hai.

soofiya-e-karaam aise bhi the jinhoN ne saHeeH maa’noN mein insaaniyat ki khidmat ki thi, mohabbat aur hamiyyat mein apna maqaam rakhte the, magar aaj ka soofi sirf dikhaave ka soofi hai, aur raah-e-sulook ki bhool bhulaiyyoN mein khoya hua hai.

goya aaj ke musalmaan mein ishq ki garmi baaqi nahin rahee, us ki Haalat aisi hi hai jaise kisi raakh ke Dheir ki hoti hai. zaahir hai, Iqbal ne doosre band meiN jo musalmaanoN per kaRee tanqeed ki hai, us ka maqsad yehi tha ke unheN hosh aaye, aur voh apni asli Islami rivaayaat ki paervi karte hue mutahhid ho jaaiN.

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Band No. 3 ( kul ash’aar :17)

sharaab-e-kuhan phir pilaa saaqia
vohi jaam gardish meiN laa saaqia

khirad ko ghulaami se aazaad kar
javaanoN ko peeroN ka ustaad kar

taRapne phaRakne ki taufeeq de
dil-e-Murtazaa , soz-e-Siddeeq de

jigar se vohi teer phir paar kar
tamanna ko seenoN mein bay.daar kar

javaanoN ko soz-e-jigar bakhsh de
mira ishq, meri nazar baksh de

bataa mujh ko asraar-e-marg-o-Hayaat
ke teri nigaahoN mein hai kaainaat

mire deeda-e-tar ki bay.khwaabiaaN
mire dil ki posheeda bay.taabiaaN

yehi kuch hai saaqi mataa-e-faqeer
isi se faqeeri meiN hooN main ameer

khulaasa :

pichle band meiN musalmaanoN ki zubooN haali ko bayaan karne ke baa’d ab Allah ta’aala se madad maangi jaa rahi hai. kehte hain ke hameN vohi sharaab-e-kohan (puraani sharaab) pilaa, yaa’ni voh ilm-o-maa’rifat ataa kar, jo hamaare aslaaf ke paas thi, jis ki badolat tamaam musalmaanon mein phir se ishq ki vohi garmi paida ho jaaye jo ke quroon-e-oola ke musalmaanon mein thi. is daur ke nau.javaan musalmaanoN ko hidaayat de, aur unheN gumraahi se bachaa, taake ye naujavaan dunya ko nayee soch aur nayaa valvala de sakeN, aur unheN voh sha’oor ataa kar jis ki madad se voh apne daur ke un buzurgoN ki rehnumaai kar sakeN jin ke zehnoN ne ghulaami ko qubool kar liya hai. ae Khudaa !! aaj ke musalmaanoN mein eemaan ki voh Haraarat paida kar jo Hazrat Ali (karamallahu vajhu) aur Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) jaise jaleel.ul.qadr asHaab meiN maujood thi.

is band meiN iqbal ne ye bhi kahaa hai ke maiN her vaqt millat-e-islaamiya ke baare mein sochta rehta hooN, raatoN ko jaagta hooN, girya karta rehta hooN, jo dard maiN meHsoos karta hooN, meri khwaahish hai ke ye dard, yehi jazba, yehi fikr meri millat ke doosre afraad khaas taur per nau.javaan meHsoos kareN.

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aglee qist meiN baaqi chaar (4) bandoN ka khulaasa pesh kia jaaye ga inshallah

jamaal-e-ishq-o-masti nae navaazi
jalaal-e-ishq-o-masti bay.niaazi
kamaal-e-ishq-o-masti zarf-e-Haider
zavaal-e-ishq-o-masti Harf-e-Razi

nae navaazi = baansuri bajaana
zarf-e-Haider = Hazrat Ali (KAW) ka aa’la zarf
Harf-e-Razi = Imam Razi ka daqeeq aur peicheeda falsafa

Allama Iqbal ne is rubaaii meiN ISHQ ke mukhtalif darajaat bayaan kiye haiN. Iqbalke nazdeek Ishq ka jamaal , us ka Husn itna hi dil.aaveiz hota hai jitna ke baansuri ki aavaaz. Iqbal ne pehle misre meiN ishq-o-masti ko nae.navaazi (baansuri) se isi liye tashbeeh di hai, kyuNke baansuri ki dhun insaan ki samaa’atoN per gehra asar Daalti hai. apne saame’ ko apni taraf kheinchti hai, goya use mas’Hoor kar deti hai. isi taraH Ishq bhi jab apna jamaal dikhaata hai to tamaam makhlooq-e-khuda ko apni taraf maail kar leta hai.

Ishq ke jamaal se muraad kiya hai? aik suchha ashiq, aik Momin jab Allah aur us ke Rasool SAWAW se mohabbat karta hai, ishq karta hai, to phir Khuda aur us ke Rasool ki pairvi karta hai, aik baa.amal , saaHib-e-kirdaar Musalman ban ker dikhaata hai. us ka yehi amal, yehi kirdaar poori dunya ko mutassir bhi karta hai, aur ahl-e-jahaaN ka dil musakkhar bhi karta hai. aur yeh sab us Ashiq (momin) ke Ishq ke jamaal ki vajah se mumkin hai.

doosre misre meiN Iqbal kehte haiN ke Ishq ka jalaal use be.niaaz kar deta hai. is ka matlab ye hai ke Ishq ka jamaal to use dunya ke saamne aik amali namoona banaa ker pesh karta hai aur logoN ko ye dikhaata hai ke aik sucha ashiq aur momin aisa hona chaahiye. magar usi Ishq ka jalaal ye hai ke wo duniya aur maa’fee’haa se be.niaaz ho jaaye. aur faqr ki taraf chal paRe, aur faqr ki manzil kiya hai? KAMAAL-E-ISHQ

teesra marHala aur daraja hai Ishq ke kamaal ka. ashiq ne pehle apne ishq ka jamaal dikhaaya aur duniya ko apni taraf maa’il kiya, phri Jalaal dikhaaya aur usi duniya se be.niaaz ho gayaa, in ke baad wo Ishq ke kamaal ki jaanib baRhta hai. aur Kamaal-e-ishq ki sab se baRee misaal Hazrat Ali KAW ka faqr hai, unki seerat hai, unka aa’la zarf hai

Haidari faqr hai na daulat-e-Usmaani hai
tum ko aslaaf se kiya nisbat-e-RooHaani hai

chotha misre ko Iqbal ne bilkul alag andaaz se pesh kiya hai. kehte haiN ke ishq ka jamaal, jalaal aur kamaal to dekh liya, ab ye bhi jaan lo ke wohi Ishq zavaal pazeer kis taraH hota hai. Iqbal ke mutabiq ishq ka zavaal waisa hi hai jaisa ke Imam Razi a peicheeda falsafa. Imam Razi o mashoor falsafi bhi haiN aur mufassir-e-Quran bhi, unhoN ne apni tafseer-e-Quran AL FAKHR.UR.RAZI meiN itna pecheeda, daqeeq aur mushkil falsafa bayaan kiya hai ke paRhne aala meHz falsafiyaana baatoN ki bhool bhulaiyyoN meiN kho jaata hai.

bilkul isi taraH gar koi Ishq aur Mohabbat ki rooH ko samajhne ki bajaaye meHz mantaq aur falsafe ka sahaara lay le, aur amali taur per kuch na kare to wo aik ba.kamaal Ashiq nahin, balkezavaal pazeer shaksh ban jaaye ga.

Iqbal aik aur maqaam per Hazrat-e-Razi ke baare meiN farmaate haiN:

ilaaj-e-zau’f-e-yaqeeN un se ho nahin saktaa
ghareeb agarche haiN Razi ke nukta haaye daqeeq

aage chal ker Ishq ke baare mein farmaate haiN:

agar ho ishq to hai kufr bhi Musalmaani
na ho, to mard-e-MusalmaaN bhi kafir-o-zindeeq

ISHQ per Iqbal ke ye ash’aar bhi sun lijiye:

kabhi aavaara-o-bay.khaanumaaN ishq
kabhi shaah-e-shahaaN nau shervaaN ishq

kabhi maidaaN meiN aata hai zara posh
kabhi uryaan-o-be.taigh-o-sinaaN ishq

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maiN apne tabsire ke baad mahir-e-Iqbaliyat Professor Doctor Khwaja Mohammad Zakariya ki mukhtasar sharaH pesh karna chaahoon ga:

“chaaroN misroN ka pehla lafz ham qaafiya hai, phir ishq-o-masti ki charoN misroN meiN takraar goya radeef ko beech meiN le aaii hai, teenoN misroN ke aakhri Tukre maamool ke qavaafi haiN, misre ka aakhri Tukra zarf-e-Haider teenoN qafiyoN ka ham vazn hai. aahang ke tavaazun ki aisi misaaleN naayaab haiN.

Iqbal kehte haiN ke ishq-o-masti (yaa’ni inhimaak aur tavajjoh) ka Husool khudi ke liye bahot zaroori hai, agar ishq-o-masti apna jamaal dikhaaye to wo baansuri ki sureeli dhunoN meiN Dhal jaata hai. is ka jalaal duniya ke mufaadaat aur ahl-e-dunya se be.niaaz kar deta hai. jab koi mard-e-momin ishq-o-masti ki takmeel kar leta hai to wo Hazrat Ali (KAW) ki taraH intehaai aa’la zarf ka muzaahira karta hai, lekin jab is salaaHiyat ko zavaal aata hai to us se Razi ka falsafa paida hota hai”

(taf’heem-e-baal-e-Jibreel, P:226).

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lage haathoN in ash’aar per Yousuf Saleem Chishti ka tabsira bhi paRh lijiye:

“aashiq jab apni shaan-e-jamaal dikhaata hai to is ka vujood dunya vaaloN ke Haq meiN reHmat-e-ilaahi ban jaata hai…. aur shaan-e-jalaal us ko dunya vaaloN se khidmat ka sila talab karne se baaz rakhti hai………….. jab ye donoN shaakheN apne martaba-e-kamaal ko paunchti haiN to momin (ashiq) ke andar Haidar-e-Karraar RA ki pukhtagi-e-seerat ka rang jhalakne lagta hai ………

is liye wo apne dushmanoN ke saath bhi lutf-o-karam se pesh aata hai…… jab insaan ishq-o-masti ki sifat se meHroom ho jaata hai to Razi ban jaata hai”

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maine apni sharaH ke saath maahireen-e-Iqbal ka tabsira bhi pesh kar diya hai taa’ke aap sab is khoobsurat rubaai se behtar tareeqay se lutf andoz ho sakeN.

andaaz-e-bayaaN garche bahot shokh nahiN hai
shaayad ke utar jaaye tere dil meiN miree baat

shukria

Amjad