New York Bum

A shaheed ’s will The will of shaheed Sa’id Hasan al-Houtari

The shaheed Sa’id al-Houtari, perpetrator of the act of martyrdom [i.e., suicide] in Tel Aviv, which caused the deaths of more than 21 Zionists and the wounding of 150, leaves after him this will which we are posting here as it was written:
In the name of Allah the all merciful
“Fight them, Allah will chastise them at your hands and He will lay them low and give you victory over them, and He will console the breasts of folk who are believers” [Qur’an, Surah 9 (Al-Tauba) verse 14 .

Praise be to God, Sovereign of the world. [There is to be] no [act of] aggression, [only] against the conquerors, the invaders and the plunderers [i.e., the Israelis]. May the prayer of Allah and his blessing of peace be upon the commander of the army of warriors fighting the holy war, on the members of his family and on his lucky, noble friends,* my beloved brothers in faith, all the sons of my Palestinian people fighting a holy war, and free Muslims everywhere:

Receive the blessing of a heart which bound its fate to Allah which with a strong cord,** the blessing of a soul deeply desirous of meeting those it loves – Muhammad and his comrades – the blessing of a living, faithful shaheed , whom the shaheeds who preceded him are waiting for, led by my great teacher and mentor, Yehia Ayash.***

Therefore, as a servant of God and in need of Allah’s mercy, I, Sa’id Hasan Hussein al-Houtari, from the city of Qalqilia, 22 years old, am about to reach you. Yes, I am coming to meet you, emissary of Allah [i.e., the prophet Muhammad], may the prayer of Allah and his blessing of peace be upon you, around the pool of blessed, divine waters [from which we drink];**** I am coming to you, the commander of [all those] who chose to die a martyr’s death [i.e., suicide bombers], oh, engineer Abu al-Baraa’ [ Yehia Ayash’s nom de guerre ]:***** as you avenged your downtrodden nation, avenged the spilled blood of your people and [the desecrated honor of] Al-Aqsa mosque, we announce that we are striding toward you.

Abu al-Baraa’, the bravest of heroes: indeed, you taught us that the real heroes are those who write the history of their nation with their blood, who build with their own bodies the glory and pride which reaches heaven, and who with their skulls build impregnable fortresses.

I hereby defiantly say to the world that bears a grudge against our people, that supports the Zionists with money and weapons, what was written before me in the blood of shaheed ‘Abdallah ‘Azam: “If preparation [for a jihad ] is terrorism, then we are terrorists. If defending our honor is extremism, then we are extremists. If a jihad against our enemies is fundamentalism, then we are fundamentalists.”

Prisoners, wounded, shaheeds and widows:

In all your names I sacrifice my life for the sake of Allah, may he be extolled and praised, to avenge your cries, moans and wounds. I will turn my body into shreds and explosions which will pursue the sons of Zion [in an Islamic context, a derogatory name for Jews, and in this case Israelis, mentioned in other anti-Semitic diatribes], will wound them and burn what is left. [As opposed to what is written in the Qur’an and quoted at the beginning of this article:] “And he [Allah] will console the hearts of the faithful.”

[On this occasion] It is my desire not to forget my family – my mother, my father and my brothers: I hereby command you, [I repeat,] I command you, to fear Allah, may he be extolled and praised, and to be patient and not mourn for me. For I came from Jordan to Palestine only to meet the Sovereign in the best way possible [i.e., to perpetrate a suicide bombing attack], for is there any [act] more sublime than dying as a martyr [to perpetrate a suicide bombing attack] on the soil of Palestine for the sake of Allah, may he be extolled. Therefore, utter only cries of joy, oh my mother; distribute sweetmeats, my father and brothers. For your son [and brother] is [eagerly] awaiting his marriage ceremony and the beautiful-eyed virgins in the upper heavens – “In the seat of honesty, in the presence of a Mighty King”[Qur’an, Surah 54 (Al-Qamar), verse 55, in the context of a description of paradise].
————————————————————————————————————————————————
*. A similar version appears in a note written by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of a group called The Group for the Single of God and Jihad (Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad), in an appeal to Al-Qaeda’s leaders, with whom he is affiliated and in whose service he sees himself as working.
**. I.e., devoutly and publicly performs the commandment of loving God or of the covenant with Allah.
***. Yehia Ayash, called “the engineer,” was head of the terrorist-operational wing of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and West Bank and specialized in preparing explosive charges and in dispatching suicide bombers between 1994-1996 (when the Oslo Accords were in effect). He was behind a series of lethal attacks and responsible for the deaths and wounding of hundreds of Israeli civilians. Hamas fosters his memory and glorifies him as a role model.
****. “Hawdh” in the original, which literally means the trough from which camels drink. However, according to Muslim oral tradition, a short time before his death Muhammad said: “After my death, my dear young friends, come drink from my divine trough.” Later the trough became a reservoir or pool, the source of divine wisdom and mercy. Thus drinking from it is the dearest wish of every Muslim (especially the younger ones), particularly after their deaths. Those who are considered shaheeds they arrive in paradise where they will reside – according to Muslim tradition – even in the presence of the prophet Muhammad.
*****. It is reasonable to assume that Yehia Ayash adopted the name al-Baraa’ because it was the name of a well-known comrade of Muhammad, Al-Baraa’ bin al-Maa’rur.