بسم الله والصلاة و السلام على رسول الله

Since the murderous assault on the noble city of Ghazzah began in Rabīʿ ʾal-ʾAwwal 1445, Muslims have become more familiar with the name the Mujāhidūn had adopted, Katāʾib ʾash-Shaḥid ʿIzzuddīn ʾal-Qassām or the Brigades of the Martyr ʿIzzuddīn ʾal-Qassām or Qassām Brigades for short. Few of us however are acquainted with the life story of the noble ʿālim, mujāhid and shahīd after whom they are named. This short composition is an attempt to educate the ʾUmmah on the honourable son of Islām and friend of Allāh I who continues to inspire a noble people, long after he left his earthly existence.

Early Life & Education

ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn ʾal-Qassām (رحمه الله) bin ʿAbdil Qādir bin Muṣṭafā bin Yūsuf bin Muḥammad ʾal-Qassām was born in Jabalah, Ottoman Syria in 1881/2 (around 1299 Hijrī). His father, ʿAbdul Qādir served as an official in the local Ottoman Sharīʿah court and belonged to the Qādiriyyah Silsilah of Taṣawwuf. His grandfather was a leading Qādirī Shaykh in Irāq and had relocated to Jabalah.

Born to a house established on Islamic principles, ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn ʾal-Qassām (رحمه الله) was raised on the moral and religious grounds of Islam. He completed his primary education his father’s elementary school (kuttab), in Jabalah. When he was 14 he went to Cairo to study at ʾal-ʾAzhar.

From a young age, the Shaykh encouraged and practised self-sufficiency, one of the many moral elements he mastered along with humility, courage, asceticism, and willingness to sacrifice for a cause. ʾat-Tannūkhī, a close friend of his at ʾal-ʾAzhar, narrated an incident that demonstrates this:

They were studying at ʾal-ʾAzhar together and were short of money. He asked the Shaykh, “What will we do for funds?” The Shaykh asked him if he had any specific abilities. ʾat-Tannūkhī replied that he could cook namūrah, an Arab dessert. He then told ʾat-Tannūkhī to make the dessert, which he would then sell. ʾat-Tannūkhī father, was visiting Cairo at the time He passed by the university and saw them selling the food. He curiously asked what they were doing. ʾat-Tannūkhī, felt embarrassed and replied, “This is what al-Qassām told me to do.” His father replied, “He taught you to be self-sufficient.”

Upon obtaining his Ahliyya diploma, he returned to Jabalah in 1903. There he succeeded his father in running the kuttab and teaching the basics of reading and writing, Qurʾān memorisation, and some modern subjects. He also upheld the Qādirī order.

The Shaykh became the ʾImām of the Manṣūrī Masjid in Jabalah. He taught children in the day and adults at night, dedicating his time to spreading awareness and knowledge, and determined to exert himself as much as possible to the service of Islām. He undertook an Islamic revival in Jabalah based upon the conscientious practice of religious obligations combined with orthodox voluntary practices.

His unique teaching methods and insistence on piety, accompanied by a good sense of humour, made him popular, specifically among the youth. For example, to illustrate the theme of one of his sermons on “He who remembers his Rabb and he who does not are like the living and the dead,” the ʾImām encouraged his disciples to grab a villager who did not pray, place him in a coffin, and carry him around Jabalah.

ʾash- Shaykh Nimr, a student of his in Ḥayfā, described him as “an intensely active man but with a child-like charm,” who “laughed like a child, spoke with the simplicity of a child, and was a warm and impulsive person.” His wife attributed his good humour to a complete confidence and trust in Allāh, “At the worst times, he would always laugh and tell us not to worry.”

For years after, stories were still told in Jabalah of the Shaykh’s humility and simplicity. An important official came to the town to meet him, only to find him sharing a simple lunch with a worker at the communal ḥammām (public bath). ʿIzzat Darwaza, leader of the ʾIstiqlāl party described him as such: “His face was illuminated by an inner light. He was a man lacking in arrogance or self-love. He was open and available to all of the people, and the people loved him. He lived the life of a mujāhid.”

ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn ʾal-Qassām (رحمه الله) devoted himself to moral reform, endlessly encouraging the community to be regular with Ṣalāh, maintain Ramaḍān, and strive to eradicate gambling and consumption of alcohol. His campaign was successful, so much so that those among the townspeople who were not previously notably practicing became either reformed or began to conform to Sharīʿah in public. Since the Ottoman authorities respected him, he was able to call upon the police in the rare cases of flagrant violations against the Sharīʿah. On a few occasions when he heard that there were mule trains smuggling alcohol through the district, the Shaykh sent out his disciples to intercept the caravans and destroy all contraband. It is said that the religious revival in Jabalah reached such heights that the women would go to the market on a Friday at noon unveiled. They were sure that they would not encounter any man, since every man would be away performing Jumuʿah. 

The Spirit of Jihād is Kindled

While ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn (رحمه الله) was studying in Egypt, ʾAḥmad ʿUrābī Pāsha, an Egyptian army officer, revolted against the British occupation. Although the British crushed the revolt, the calls for reform, the maintenance of national unity, self-reliance, and resistance to foreign occupation had a major impact on the young ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn (رحمه الله).

Jihād against Italy

In 1911 Italy invaded Ottoman Libya.  This event triggered his practical involvement in politics and Jihād. His response was not limited to a mere supportive Duʿāʾ. He recruited volunteers and raised funds to the aid of the Libyan struggle. He used his status as a respected preacher to urge his people to help the Libyans suffering from the occupation. He also led several demonstrations in Jabalah, composing the chant:

يا رحيم يا رحمان أنصر مولانا السلطان واكسر الاعداء الايطاليين

Oh Allāh, the Most Merciful, the Most Gracious, grant our Master, the Sulṭān, victory, and smash the Italian enemies!

The governor of Jabalah attempted to take control of the fund raising away from the Shaykh, but the townspeople continued to contribute him. The governor therefore accused him of plotting against the Ottomans, but an official investigation vindicated him and resulted in the discharge of the local governor.

After the Ottoman authorities exonerated ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn (رحمه الله), became convinced that fund raising for the Jihād against Italy was not sufficient.

ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn (رحمه الله) soon decided that fundraising for Jihād against the Italians was not enough. In June 1912, while preaching the Jumuʿah Khuṭbah sermon at Masjid ʾal-ʾAdham in Jabalah, he called for volunteers for Jihād. Many townspeople came forward, but only those who received previous military training with the Ottomans were accepted. He then raised funds to finance the expedition and provide a modest stipend for the families of the Mujāhidūn for the duration of their absence. He led the Mujāhidūn (at least 60) to Alexandretta (İskenderun). There, he was expecting provision and transport to Libya via Alexandria from the Ottoman authorities. They waited there for over a month until the Ottoman authorities ordered them to return to Syria. This was because the new government in Constantinople was occupied by the close threat of a war in the Balkans. Thus, they hastily made peace terms with Italy in 1912, whose terms included refusal of transport to potential Mujāhidūn. They returned to Syria grief-stricken that they could not fight alongside their brothers in Libya. They used part of the money raised for the aborted expedition to build a school, and the rest they set aside, which was later used in the eruption of the First World War.

Jihād Against the Allies

In 1914 ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn (رحمه الله) enlisted in the Ottoman army. He was sent to a camp south of Damascus. There, he received his training and remained as army ʾImām, assigned to the garrison. The Ottoman Empire collapsed. British forces entered Syria and the French entered Lebanon.  The Shaykh returned to his hometown of Jabalah and began military training for every able-bodied man. He then sold his house in Jabalah. With the proceeds of the sale, as well as the money left over from funds raised for Libya and donations from local landowners, he purchased arms for the Jabalah militia and prepared himself for Jihād. First, they fought the Alawite Shīʾah bands that had emerged from the mountains and had begun to occupy the orchards and farmland outside of Jabalah. The French had incited the Shīʿah against the Muslims ʾal-Lādhiqiyyah districts, probably to destabilise the region to enable a French occupation.

Jihād against France

In 1916 France and the UK negotiated the infamous Sykes-Picot agreement, by which they would divide the Ottoman territories amongst themselves. There was to be no regard for Arab independence, or to be united in a single land. Now, at the end of the First World War, the French occupied most of the Syrian-Lebanese coastal area, as well as the greater part of Northern Syria including ʾal-Lādhiqiyyah and the Alawite region. Hence, until its eventual demise in 1920, the Hāshimī government in Damascus controlled only the interior of Syria.

The French general, Henri Gouraud, was a descendent of the Crusaders. He entered Syria and kicked the grave of Ṣalāhuddīn (رحمه الله) in Damascus, and announced that the Crusaders had returned to take their revenge and finally gain victory. Centuries has passed, yet the Europeans never forgot how Ṣalāhuddīn (رحمه الله) had defeated their ancestors and forced them to leave ʾash-Shām. As a man burning with zeal to fight in the path of Allāh, the Shaykh refused to tolerate any humiliation of Islām. In response to this disgrace against Ṣalāhuddīn (رحمه الله), as well as the French occupation, Muslims, including ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn ʾal-Qassām (رحمه الله) took to the forests, mountains, and orchards of Northern Syria, where they established bases of resistance.

The Shaykh was amongst the first to oppose to French. His group, which was based in the village of Zanqūfah, consisted mainly of his disciples and a handful of relatives. During this time, he seized the opportunity to introduce his followers to a combined religious and military training regimen, which implanted a strong sense of Jihād within them. Each month, he would teach his men a new ʾayah from the Qur’ān, helping them to commit it to memory and thoroughly explaining its meaning.

The French consolidated their hold on the district, specifically due to the large population of pro-French Alawites. The position of the Mujāhidūn weakened. France extorted landowners who were either serving with the Mujāhidīn or funding them, to either pay their taxes or lose their property. This caused major division and quarrels in the village Masjid. This upset the Shaykh. He understood that the French were succeeding in spreading corruption and divide the Muslims. Keen on preventing any discord among his Muslim brothers, he famously declared, “We are here to fight the French, not to quarrel among each other.”  This statement shows that he was indeed a righteous person, as the true believers support one another and strengthen the bond of unity among them. Sadly, the landowning fighters abandoned the Shaykh, which left only the poor Mujāhidūn remaining.

Because of this experience when the Shaykh would again begin recruit Mujāhidūn in Palestine, he was much more selective and placed greater emphasis on character, obedience and the willingness to sacrifice for Allāh.

He and his remaining men left their post and moved towards Ḥalab (Aleppo). There, they fought under the command of ʾIbrāhīm Hanānū, a Kurd who had been fighting French forces in Northern Syria since the San Remo Conference. This Conference repudiated the Arab’s demands for an independent Arab kingdom and instead awarded France the mandate for all of the Levant, excluding Palestine and Jordan.

The French tried to crush the resistance with bribery. They sent a delegation to negotiate ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn (رحمه الله), offering him land, position, and money. He sternly declined their offer, refusing to accept any form of bribery from the enemies of Islām. The Syrians resisted the French for two years after the initial occupation, until crush in a battle near Damascus. France divided their portion of ʾash-Shām into four major sections: the Damascus state, the Aleppo state, the Alawite state (in ʾal-Lādhiqiyyah), and the Druze state (located near the Mountain of the Druze). These four states were formed in an attempt to divide the Muslims, thus making it easier for the invaders to control them. Their old strategy of “divide and conquer” has unfortunately been proven to be effective in many Muslim lands. Following the fall of Damascus, the French military court sentenced ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn (رحمه الله) to death. He was thus forced him to flee to Palestine, accompanied by a few of his relatives and disciples.

Arrival In Palestine

In late 1920 or early 1921, the Shaykh and some companions settled in the Old Quarter of the city of Ḥayfā, Palestine. The Algerian Shaykh, Muḥammad bin ʿAbdil Malik al-ʿAlami called upon ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn (رحمه الله) in Ḥayfā and told him he had “some close friends” among the North African officers serving in the French army in Syria who could intervene with the French authorities to secure the release of his wife and daughters. The Shaykh refused, saying he would trust in Allāh and ask nothing of unbelievers and collaborators. The Algerian however still arranged for the family to be reunited in Palestine.

Upon settling in Ḥayfā, ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn (رحمه الله) dedicated himself to serve Islām in Palestine. Some people think of him as a Palestinian, but he was not. He was born in Syria and his grandfather was from ʿIrāq. True Muslims do not give importance to nationality, nor do they aid one another based on artificial, geographical, or political borders. ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn (رحمه الله) gave no importance to nationalism. He sought to unite the Muslims under the only banner that mattered: the banner of Islām. He was described as a man “uninfected by the nationalist disease” and sensitive to what he perceived as backwardness and moral debasement among the Muslims. He firmly emphasised that the only possible way in which Muslims could progress and liberate themselves from foreign oppression and occupation would be through the revival of Islām.

There he worked as a teacher in the Burj Secondary School. The Muslim Society, which was in charge of Islamic waqf in the district of Ḥayfā, had established this school, as well as the ʾIstiqlāl Masjid (the biggest Masjid in the area) in which he began to teach Dīn. His sermons excited much attention. A few years later he became ʾImām and Khaṭīb of that Masjid. He dedicated his time and efforts towards serving its farmers and peasants by setting up night schools for its illiterate casual labourers, as well as raising funds for the unemployed to help them start a new working life. He with delinquents, as well as social and religious outcasts, seeking to rehabilitate them. The Shaykh would identify the men who seemed most observant of their Ṣalāh and ʿIbādah, and most responsive to his preaching. He would visit them in their homes for further discussions. Invariably, these men were mostly illiterate and without formal education: railway and construction workers, artisans, stevedores, and shopkeepers. He formed them into dozens of circles, each circle unknown to the other, where he taught them to read by using the Qurʾān as a text. He preached to them their duty towards, and the inevitability of Jihād. Many of his followers were former tenants recently driven off their land by exclusion policies of the Jewish National Fund, or by their inability to meet the demands of rising rents in the land boom stimulated by continuous Zionist purchases.

The Shaykh helped found a branch of the Society of Muslim Youth in Ḥayfā and in July 1928, he was elected its president. That society effectively spread political consciousness among youth and men and in drew them into its ranks.

In 1930 the Sharīʿah Court in Ḥayfā appointed him as maʾdhūn (religious official/registrar). In this capacity, he travelled through the villages of ʾal-Jalīl (Galilee) region of Palestine. He got to know the people there and his reputation increased.

The Zionist Danger

For 15 years, the Shaykh worked tirelessly to educate the people of Ḥayfā and its neighbouring villages of the great danger that threatened their existence – the growing menace of Zionism and British support for a “Jewish National Home,” in Palestine.  The British Balfour Declaration opened the way for Jewish colonists to occupy Palestine. The Shaykh  recognised the great danger and strove to make people aware of it. This proved to be difficult, as many Palestinians welcomed and celebrated the British troops that had entered Palestine when it was mandated to Britain. They were deceived to believe that the British were a civilised and tolerant people, especially when compared with the barbaric and brutal practices of the French forces. Unaware of reality the Palestinians believed that the British would help educate and modernise them and make their lives better with new technologies. Behind closed doors, however, the British had already collaborated with the French to divide the Arab lands in the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement.

ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn (رحمه الله) believed that only armed Jihād could stop the Zionist plot. He advocated that this could only be accomplished through sincerity of faith; abandonment of all party affiliation and family loyalty; cooperation; sacrifice; commitment to secrecy; and strict organisation and timing. He combined this with a particular compassion toward the poor and those with very low income, and he sought continuously to improve their situation.

ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn (رحمه الله) warned his people about the British and to be wary of their sly intentions, not to be taken in by their sugar-coated words and empty promises. He also warned them about the colonial settlers, as he foresaw that their emigration to Palestine would result in them usurping the land. Several Arabs ignored his warnings, regarding the Jewish settlers as guests and welcoming them as ʾAhlul Kitāb. For example, Al-Qiblah, a newspaper from Makkah, published an article in 1918, urging  Arabs to welcome the Jewish migrants, and to be friendly and hospitable towards them.

Martyrdom

ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn (رحمه الله) was reluctant to declare Jihād against British colonialism without complete preparation. However, the flood of mass Jewish immigration in the early 1930s, the increasing level of surveillance over his activities by the authorities, and his apprehension of a pre-emptive move against him all led him to declare Jihād on the night of 12 November 1935 in Ḥayfā. He and 11 or 12 companions went to the forests of the village of Yaʿbad in the district of Janīn.

The British gathered 400 soldiers. They hunted him and a dozen of his fighters and  eventually surrounded them on 20 November at a cave near Yaʿbad, and demanded that they surrender.  ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn (رحمه الله) bravely refused and encouraged his men to fight until blessed with Shahādah. The British force was much larger, hundreds of men, yet the battle against the Allāh’s warriors lasted for six hours.  The Shaykh and three or four of his men were martyred. The others were wounded or captured. He was aged 53.

Ḥayfā went into mourning and declared a general strike on 21 November 1935. All shops and restaurants closed their doors. Thousands of people forced their way past police lines to join the  Janāzah and bid farewell to the Shuhadāʾ. For 5km they followed the vessel of a man who gave away his wealth so that others might benefit from it; a man who dedicated his life to learning to spread knowledge to others, and sacrificed his own life so that others may live. The procession follows him in death as they followed him in life, never forsaking the man who possessed every characteristic of a faithful and true believer. The Janāzah, held at Masjid ʾal-Jarīnah, was the largest Janāzah Hayfā had ever seen.

The Shahīd was buried in the cemetery of Balad ash-Shaykh. It was a Palestinian village near Ḥayfā, but is now a Nesher, a Jewish suburb of Ḥayfā.

In the weeks that followed, peasant guerrilla bands and urban commandos calling themselves Qassāmiyyūn after him, sprang up across Palestine. The 1936 uprising begun.

ʾash-Shaykh ʿIzzuddīn (رحمه الله) is regarded as the most venerable figure of Palestinian Jihād, a source of inspiration for Palestinian resistance for succeeding generations even those who not dedicated to Islām. The secular Fataḥ movement originally considered using the name Qassāmiyyūn.

His love for Islām, concern for people and zeal for Jihād cannot be forgotten. His martyrdom was instrumental in igniting the Great Palestinian Rebellion (1936–39). Even to this day his legacy inspires the heroic people of Palestine and Ghazzah specifically. The Qassām Brigades which also fights for the pleasure of Allāh I is named after him, as is the Qassām rocket they use.

May Allāh fill his grave with light and make us also zealous for His Dīn – ʾĀmīn!

و صلى الله على النبي الامي

Further Reading

حموده، سميح. “الوعي والثورة: دراسة في حياة وجهاد الشيخ عز الدين القسّام”. ط 2. القدس: جمعية الدراسات العربية، 1986.

الحوت، بيان نويهض. “القيادات والمؤسسات السياسية في فلسطين 1917-1948. بيروت: مؤسسة الدراسات الفلسطينية، 1981.

دروزة، محمد عزة. “مذكرات محمد عزة دروزة: سجل حافل بمسيرة الحركة العربية والقضية الفلسطينية خلال قرن من الزمن” (خمسة مجلدات). بيروت: دار الغرب الإسلامي، 1993.

عودة، زياد. “من رواد النضال في فلسطين 1929- 1948”. عمان: دار الجليل للنشر والدراسات والأبحاث الفلسطينية، 1987.

“الموسوعة الفلسطينية”، القسم العام، المجلد الثالث. دمشق: هيئة الموسوعة الفلسطينية، 1984.

نافع، بشير موسى. “الشيخ عز الدين القسّام: مصلح وقائد ثورة“. “حوليات القدس”، العدد 14، خريف- شتاء 2012، ص 6- 21.

نويهض، عجاج. “رجال من فلسطين”. بيروت: منشورات فلسطين المحتلة، 1981.             

Abdul Hadi, Mahdi, ed. Palestinian Personalities: A Biographic Dictionary. 2nd ed., rev. and updated. Jerusalem: Passia Publication, 2006.