The life Of Muhammad Asad , Leopold Weiss (1900-1992)

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Abdul Aziz in order to weaken both, and then exert pressure on a weakAbdul Aziz to cut the Arabian peninsula by building a railroad that was togo all the way to India and solidify the strength of the British empire. Asad'sarticle on this secret plan was published with sufficient evidencesimultaneously in both Arab and European newspapers and caused asensation. The British plan died before it could bud, for Abdul Azizimmediately took a harder stand on the British and forced them to stopaiding Ad-Dawish, who soon afterwards was totally defeated.Asad had deep sympathy for the struggle that was going on in North Africafor liberation from the colonial yoke. He became a close friend and admirerof Sayyid Ahmad, the great Sanusi leader. He was living in Saudi Arabiawhile his people, under the leadership of Umar Mukhtar – the Lion ofthe Desert – was desperately fighting against the Italian army which wasequipped with modern weapons and an air force. Italians often led theirconvoy of armored carriers and tanks through Muslim villages, tearing aparttents and huts, crushing men, women, and children as punishment for"helping" the guerrilla fighters of Umar Mukhtar. One eyewitness whosurvived the fall of his village said,They came upon us in three columns, from three sides, with manyarmored cars and heavy cannons. Their aeroplanes came down low andbombed houses and mosques and palm groves … Our rifles were uselessagainst their armoured cars … I hid myself in the palm orchards waiting fora chance to make my way through the Italian lines .. the next day .. theItalian general … ordered the palm trees of the oasis to be cut down andthe wells destroyed and all the books of Sayid Ahmad's library burned. Andon the next day he commanded that some of our elders and ulama be takenup in an aeroplane – and they were hurled out of the plane high above theground to be smashed to death … And all through the second night I heardfrom my hiding place the cries of our women and the laughter of thesoldiers ...
Although outnumbered and outgunned, Umar Mukhtar successfullyfought the Italian army for many years until dictator Mussolini sent one ofhis ruthless generals, General Graziani, to contain Mukhtar's guerrillaforces. General Graziani soon brought tanks and other superior weaponsfrom Italy and erected barbed-wire fences along the Egyptian border,cutting off all supplies to Mukhtar. Without supplies, Mukhtar's forcesfaced heavy casualty against the Italian army, and started dwindling untilonly a few hundred of his men remained and he lost control of all areasexcept his own base.It was at that time that Sayyid Ahmad asked Asad if he could visit Mukhtar,analyze the situation, and advise him on what could be done to improvethe situation. Asad readily agreed. "To me Islam was a way and not an end– and the desperate guerrillas of Umar al-Mukhtar were fighting with theirlifeblood for the freedom to tread that way, just as the companions of theProphet had done thirteen centuries ago. To be of help to them in theirhard and bitter struggle, however uncertain the outcome, was as personallynecessary to me as to pray ..."And once again, as before, Asad took a risk on his life and started his secretlong journey to meet Mukhtar in the Libyan desert. He nearly lost his lifewhen he and his companions were spotted by an Italian reconnaissanceplane. The plane circled and closed in - and below stood Asad and hiscompanions on the empty desert totaly devoid of any cover - and startedfiring at them. They all lied on the ground and played dead, but the pilotapparently knew it well. He fled only when one of Asad's companions – aguerrilla himself - took careful aim and started firing at the plane. Afterevading the Italians, he eventually reached his destination and metMukhtar. The Lion was then 70 years old.Seeing that continuing the struggle at that precarious situation will onlybring loss of life and a total defeat, Asad suggested to Umar Mukhtar thathe flee to Egypt so that he may gain some strength there and later come
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The life Of Muhammad Asad , Leopold Weiss (1900-1992)

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