Jalal
al-Din Haqqani, a Legend in the History of the Afghanistan
Jihad
22 March 2010
By Mustafa Hamed
Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani is regarded as one of the
most prominent figures of the both the period of Jihad
against the communists and the Soviet invasion (1978
–1992). Maulavi Haqqani belongs to the Zadran tribe,
one of the main tribes in Paktia province, adjacent to
Pakistan.
As is well-known, he received his education in the
religious schools in Afghanistan, as is case with most
the leaders of Jihad in its past and present stages,
completing his learning in the al-Haqqani madrasa in
Akurah Khatik in the tribal border region with
Pakistan. He then worked as a teacher in the same
madrasa for a year before he entered permanently into
the Jihadist effort in the provinces of Paktia and
Paktika. Maulavi Haqqani remains immersed with great
effectiveness in the fighting against the Americans
and their allies in Afghanistan.
This is the first instalment regarding that Jihadist
luminary whose story represents a peerless Jihadist
legend. This instalment uses real-life stories, based
on the accounts of his closest friends, students and
brothers in Jihad. I had been gathering material on
the beginnings of Jihad in Afghanistan in the period
after the communist coup (April 1978) and, at the
beginning of 1983, finished writing a small book that
has not yet been published. I drafted a number of
titles for it before settling on “Highlights of the
First Year”.
The theme of the book was the beginnings of the Jihad
in that period, considered to be among the strangest
in the history of Afghanistan, but for which,
unfortunately, not much has been done to document.
Thus our glorious Islamic history has been obliterated
and the mission of writing and commenting upon it has
been left to our enemies!! Our Ummah has thereby lost
its history and is living without a memory, and our
generations are being raised on the poisonous
excretions of the culture of our enemies.
This installment is a part of that book.
I became acquainted with Maulavi Haqqani in June of
1979 a few months before the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan, and later I accompanied him during my
poor participation in the Afghanistan Jihad until the
conquest of Girdiz in April 1992 and the conquest of
Kabul a few days later. During that time, I followed
many of the conquests of that great Mujahid. I grasped
many of the aspects of majesty in his personality as a
model for the great scholars (Ulema) of Afghanistan
and students of the knowledge of the pure Mujahideen,
who now stand as an impregnable bulwark against the
largest crusader attack upon the Islamic Ummah across
the entire globe and upon its most inaccessible
fortress – Afghanistan.
“Highlights of the First
Year”
After prayer on the morning of the first day of the
Taraki rule, many of the men of the Hay al-Muhajareen
Mosque in the Pakistani border city of Miranshah
gathered to discuss in great earnest yesterday’s
events in Kabul. All of them were emigrants who had
fled the violence of the Daoud regime, which had swept
away the king and declared a republic supported by the
Marxist parties. Those men were among the minority of
the people which had opposed that regime in parts of
the country, but the majority of public abandoned them
and chose to make peace with the regime, maybe –
possibly.
Those men tried to declare Jihad against the Daoud
regime, but they did not receive sufficient support
from the people. Eventually the truth of their views
became confirmed, but only a while had passed and the
Muslims had already paid a huge price as a result of
their negligence in carrying out their duty at the
right time. In the Muhajareen Mosque, after events
revealed the regime’s ugly face, that group saw the
need to embark once again on Jihad against the
communist regime.
Right away, they made the decision to travel to the
city of Peshawar where were living some of the Islamic
leaders who had previously fled from the injustice of
the successive governments in Kabul which attacked the
Islamists. They decided to seek from those leaders the
immediate declaration of Jihad against the infidel
government.
In Peshawar, throughout many hours both day and night,
the discussions went on and opinions became divided.
The first group of Mujahideen from the Daoud era
believed that the Ulema should head immediately to
Afghanistan and make contact with the people and
residents of their respective districts to incite them
to Jihad and lead them in this venture.
Another group opposed this opinion under the excuse
that confronting huge government forces armed with
modern weapons and equipment was tantamount to suicide
and throwing oneself to destruction, which was not
permissible under Shari’a. Rather, a large force
equipped with heavy and light weapons must first be
gathered together then launched to liberate the
country. The funds necessary to implement this plan
could be obtained from Islamic countries, especially
the petroleum states, for those states would
understand completely the danger posed to their own
interests by the Marxist coup in Afghanistan. This
party optimistically supported their point of view by
saying that the West, which had prepared armies and
equipment to confront the communists, would not
hesitate to send weapons and money to support fighters
against the communist regime in Kabul.
Those who spoke of the necessity of immediately
launching Jihad insisted upon their position of
immediately heading to the field of battle for a
number of reasons:
First, the arguments of the first group would waste
time while achieving nothing. During the time lost in
gathering money and convincing states to support the
Mujahideen, the communists would be able to shore up
their rule and destroy completely any possibility of
resistance.
Second, the commitment of Islamic states to assist
those hostile to the Kabul regime was not guaranteed
and of dubious benefit.
Third, no matter how long it takes, they would not be
able to equip a force that would match or even come
close to the strength of the Afghan Army which gets
whatever weapons and ammunition it wants from the
Soviet arsenal.
In Peshawar, divisions flared up and an agreement
became impossible, as each party set out to implement
what it saw as the correct way.
The “Assistance First” party set out for the petroleum
countries and the countries of the west requesting
aid, while the “Jihad Now” party traveled to inside
Afghanistan to begin from there.
……………………….
Sheikh Jalaluddin Haqqani returned from Peshawar and
its fruitless discussions to his house in Miranshah
and the people, muhajireen and adherents of the old
Jihad against the rule of Daoud. He declared Jihad
again and surrounded himself with a number of those
who previously waged Jihad against the rule of Daoud,
including Maulavi Mahmud Lala, the old Mujahid who was
more than 70 years old but still possessed crushing
strength and a body that was harder than rock. With
him were the youngMaulavi Ahmad Gul, the pious
worshipper, and four young students of knowledge. They
all gathered their wealth and sold their worldly
goods, leaving their families without money, buying
instead ammunition and rations. Since the days of the
Jihad against the Daoud regime, they had possessed
seven old English rifles, taken as booty in the Afghan
war against the English, and they purchased a decrepit
mule on which they loaded their baggage.
The seven men crossed the mountain paths into Paktia
province where the lived the toughest Afghan tribes
who had taught bitter lessons to previous British
expeditions.
Jalaluddin settled in the mountain canyons and
contacted his people in Zadran. A delegation from the
mountain villages reached him secretly, telling him
that government forces had come and burned down his
home and the home of his relatives and that tanks had
arrived in the village, terrorizing the people. The
government had warned the residents that any attempt
at rebellion would be met with maximum force. The
people were frightened and convinced that their rifles
would be useless against government tanks and MiG
aircraft which swept the skies of the region
repeatedly every day.
They gave Jalaluddin and his group some food,
apologizing for their inability to help them further,
and then returned to whence they came.
This meeting was frustrating to the hopes and the
determination of the most courageous men. By morning,
the government had learned of the presence of
Jalaluddin and his group and sent a number of squads
to sweep the mountains and increased the aircraft
operations in the skies over the region. Jalaluddin
and his men fell back to the trackless mountains.
Their food was on the point of running out and their
mule was near death from exhaustion and the difficulty
of the road.
In the evening they sat down to consult with each
other. They lit a fire, and Jalaluddin was exhausted
and hungry but he was tough. He and his hungry, tired,
hunted companions would not yield. The cold of the
mountains penetrated their bones. He was commander of
the caravan and it was up to him to decide and make
clear to them how they had to act.
At this moment crucial moment, Jalaluddin said to
them:
“We will wage Jihad fi Sabeel Allah, even if all
people forsake us. There is no victory except from
Allah. We do not fear the Afghan army. Allah said to
us ‘It is Allah Whom you should more justly fear,
if ye believe’. We seven individuals are facing an
army of eighty thousand but Allah said, ‘How oft,
by Allah’s will, has a small force vanquished a big
one’. We have an example in the victory given by
Allah, Subhanahu wTa’ala, to the Believers over
Goliath and his huge armies, and the victory given by
the Almighty to Moses and his lowly people over the
pharaoh and his vast army. All of remember the events
of the battle of Badr and the aid Allah gave to his
noble Messenger and his companions. For those who
desire the ease of this world, let him return to his
family and live content, if he so wants, in the
lowliness of exile and under the subjugation of
infidels. Whoever desires martyrdom let him stay with
me. For tomorrow after dawn prayer, we attack the
government garrison in the valley. Let Allah judge the
matter that has been done”.
Tears flowed from the eyes of the men and, one after
another, they purified themselves in a nearby stream
whose clear waters flowed from the heart of the
mountains. And they remained in prayer until midnight.
For the morning was their appointment with martyrdom.
The men finished the dawn prayer and each took up his
rifle, inspected it quickly, and placed a cartridge
belt upon his shoulders. Jalaluddin, wearing a smile
that illuminated his face, whispered “Allah, O wind of
paradise”.
The men smiled and prepared to depart. Jalaluddin
raised his arm to heaven and his men gathered about
him, saying Amen to his prayer as his eyes filled with
tears and he recited the prayer that the Messenger of
Allah used to recite before the beginning of battle.
He wiped his beard after they finished prayer, and
gave the order to move out. The seven men dispersed
among the rocks like moths or seven lovers overcome by
an excruciating desire and approached to within 200
meters of the camp.
Jalaluddin ordered the one of his men with the
strongest voice to call upon the soldiers of the camp
to surrender and join the camp of the Muslims - for
this was the guidance of the Messenger to his soldiers
before war.
The man stood and in his loudest voice called to the
soldiers, explaining the unbelief of the government
and the prohibition against aiding them to kill
Muslims and destroy their homes. He had not finished
his message when it was answered from inside the camp
by the abominable cry “hurrah”, which was the war cry
of the communists. This was followed by automatic
weapon fire.
Jalaluddin cried “Allahu Akbar”, calling his men to
battle. The exchange of gunfire continued incessantly:
seven antique rifles, relics of the past century,
against automatic weapons firing hundreds of rounds
each minute.
It was clear that there was no hope and that what was
unfolding was madness itself. But two hours after the
battle began, the government garrison stopped firing.
The Mujahideen therefore ceased their assault in order
to reconnoiter the situation. The voices of the
soldiers then called out asking them to cease fire
because they surrendered.
The soldiers of the garrison emerged from their
positions shouting “Allahu Akbar” and dragging the
corpse of a man by his feet – he was their Khalqi
leader, a member of the communist Khalq party. One of
the soldiers had shot and killed him, and the entire
unit joined the Mujahideen. Not one the Mujahideen was
wounded or martyred.
Paktia and the entire southern region were shaken by
the news which was circulating around the mountain
peaks. Dozens of young men from the tribes joined
Jalaluddin and food and clothing poured in from the
tribes of the south. Within two days following the
battle, it became clear that resistance was possible.
However, a troublesome question kept everyone awake at
night: what if the tanks come? This question continued
to trouble the minds of everyone although they did not
reveal this to their leader Jalaluddin.
The rifles and machines guns they had captured would
not penetrate these steel beasts…so what to do?
The question did not long remain. The government
decided the matter by sending a large force of
infantry and tanks to chastise the entire region. News
reached Jalaluddin that a government force had left
the provincial capital and was on its way to them.
Many felt confusion. Some felt fear, especially those
who had witnessed these beasts demolishing nearby
villages. The people gathered to Jalaluddin to seek
his opinion on this dilemma, and the men found him
calmly smiling as he came out for prayer. So he made
fun of them saying: “Perhaps you are frightened
because the tanks are coming?” They answered, “Yes, we
don’t have the strength to fight tanks, and we have no
weapons that penetrate them.” He asked them, smiling,
“Who is more powerful: Allah the Creator of heaven and
earth or tanks? The people were surprised by the
question of the revered scholar and they answered
without hesitation, “Allah, Subhanahu wTa’ala”. And he
said kindly but firmly, “All who believe that
truthfully is a believer of the truth faith, if we are
not victorious, we have gained that which is better
than victory, we have gained martyrdom and the company
of the His noble Messenger and his Companions in
Paradise. For he who would love to obtain this honor,
let him come with me. I go to await the tanks at the
mountain pass.”
Radical Transformation
Fifty men set out with Jalaluddin for the mountain
pass, some of them carrying automatic weapons. Thus
for the first time the Bedu of those mountains carried
automatic weapons. Jalaluddin smiled as he thought
about this novelty and he murmured in the ear of his
comrade, the old Mujahad Mahmud Lala saying, “This is
from the blessings of Jihad, Sheikh Mahmud.” And
Sheikh Mahmud laughed with all his heart.
Jalaluddin stopped, standing upright in the middle of
the mountain corridor which was crossed by a level but
unpaved road. He then turned to face his men and said,
“If we are faithful, here the angels will descend upon
us”. He raised his hand to heaven in a humble prayer
to Allah, beseeching Him for victory over their
enemies or martyrdom in His cause. Sheikh Mahmud broke
into tears with loud sobs as he remembered his 70
years without earning a meeting with the Beloved Ones.
The men dispersed to positions among the rocky peaks
and as the morning lengthened, there came from afar
the rumbling noise of the metal beasts. The first tank
had just entered the mouth of the pass to cross it
when there came cries of “Allahu Akbar” and bullets of
the Mujahideen poured upon the steel beasts.
The
heavy machine guns of those tanks which had not yet
entered the pass opened fire on the heights in order
to suppress the fire of the Mujahideen. In the midst
of the din of machine gun fire and spraying rock, the
sound of a terrible explosion reverberated around the
entrance to the pass. All were stupefied as they
watched the first tank explode and pieces of it
scatter in the air. Ahmad Gul brandished his ancient
rifle and cried, “Allahu Akbar. The victory and
triumph of Allah has come”.
Then a round struck a fuel truck outside the pass and
it set alight and soon exploded. Its wreckage
scattered and the ammunition and shells it carried
caused great destruction. Then something occurred that
had not been taken into consideration: the soldiers
jumped from their tanks, leaving them inside and
outside the pass, and the movement of the entire
military force stopped completely.
At the end of the battle, one of tank commanders who
had been taken prisoner told them that they thought
the Mujahideen had struck the first tank with a
rocket, frightening the soldiers trapped inside their
tanks between the walls of the pass. So they opened
the hatches of the tanks and jumped out, taking up
positions behind the rocks to exchange fire with the
Mujahideen. This was a golden opportunity for the
Mujahideen to pick off the soldiers one by one, for
they were by nature skilled sharpshooters.
The attack collapsed completely and the Mujahideen
took as booty a large amount of automatic rifles,
medium machine guns, transport vehicles and tanks.
More important than any of this was the acquisition of
RPG-7 anti-armor grenades. This was a radical
transformation in the course of the fighting in that
region. After that battle, the tanks no longer excited
terror and the Mujahedeen became more proficient and
capable of opposing armored assaults.
On the road, old Sheikh Mahmud Lala whispered in the
ear of Jalal al-Din, “Tell me Jalal al-Din, what
happened to that tank in the front?” Jalal al-Din
answered him gravely as he was lost in thought,
“Subhan Allah Sheikh Mahmud, did I not tell you these
were the blessings of Jihad. Allah aids those who aid
Him.”
News flew from Paktia to Ghazny and all the south of
the victory of the Mujahideen, and riders among the
wild mountain trails circulated the story that angels
had come down from heaven to aid the Mujahideen. And
so the spirit of Jihad was ignited in the heart of the
mountains.
The news of the victories of the Mujahideen reached
the army camps, and the soldiers themselves circulated
these same stories about the angels descending from
heaven to help the Mujahideen. This awakened their
religious feelings and there occurred repeatedly cases
of government soldiers fleeing with their weapons and
joining the Mujahideen or even more: some of them had
opened fire on communist officers and there were
increasing cases where entire military units
surrendered after a short battle that had been
pre-arranged with the Mujahideen to give them the
opportunity to assassinate their military leaders and
political officials.
In Paktia, during the first year alone, the entire
province was liberated with the exception of its
capital Gardiz and its major city Khost, as well as a
number of strongholds which relied increasingly upon
helicopters to deliver supplies. Scattered across the
surface of the main roads were the wrecks of dozens of
destroyed and burned-out tanks and trucks. The booty
provided the Mujahedeen with modern weapons, including
artillery pieces, mortars and a quantity of
serviceable tanks. In sum, their military force
numbered a thousand while the strength of their morale
reached a level impossible to imagine or describe.
The Martyrdom of Sheikh
Mahmud Lala
Some months after the last battle, the old Mujahad
Maulavi Mahmud Lala was leading afternoon prayer on
the mountain top. With his impressive stature, he was
standing for prayer between the hands of Allah when a
number of helicopters appeared to raid the position.
The gigantic man paid no heed to the odious noise
coming from the helicopter machine guns. A round from
the shower of machine gun fire struck the head of the
elderly man and the body of the Shamikh fell with his
blood staining the rocks of the mountains he loved and
which loved him. The spirit soared with the dear one
to the place where the Beloved Ones awaited him.
------------------------------
The locations and details differed, but what happened
in Paktia at the hands of Jalaluddin and his six men
with their ancient rifles and their broken-down mule,
was repeated in Jalalabad at the hands of Maulavi
Mohamed Yunis Khales, a sheikh who was more than sixty
years old. With him were his students who had received
at his hands their learning in Kabul and Jalalabad.
Yesterday he was their sheikh teaching them their
learning and today he was their leader on the field of
Jihad. Sheikh Khales achieved successes like those
achieved by Jalaluddin in Paktia, with the same spirit
of enthusiasm and yearning for martyrdom.
In Konar, Maulavi Mohamed Hussein had plunged into the
venture of the great trial. In Nuristan the men
started under the leadership of unknown Ulema – and it
may remain that way forever – and they liberated
Nuristan entirely and established Islamic rule there.
And this is what happened in Ghazny, Qandahar,
Mazar-i-Sharif, Logar, Maidan and elsewhere. The
spirit of Jihad was ignited throughout the country and
gradually the power of the army was destroyed. The
ruling party lost most of its cadre in furnace of
fiery battles or in assassinations that took place on
the streets of Kabul and other cities.
When is Russia Coming?
Maulavi Jalaluddin was sitting on the mountain top
where was located his command center in the village of
Sarana. Everything around him was draped in white
snow, and the houses were almost invisible within
their frozen covers. In this mountain region where the
snow reaches the height of a man, most people prefer
to migrate to the border region with Pakistan until
spring comes. To his right, Jalaluddin cast his glance
upon a wooden hut sheltering a Dushka machine gun.
Snow had covered it until its interior appeared as a
pit covered in white snow. Inside it, the snoring
increased from the young Qayyum Khan, wrapped within
ragged strips in this stinging icy cold. The presence
of Jalaluddin encouraged the youth to sleep easily,
relying on his leader to watch the skies and wake him
in case of an emergency. Jalaluddin smiled as he
looked at the slumbering young man, and the story of
the Ahl al-Kahf came to his mind and he murmured the
noble Aya: “They were youths who believed in their
Lord and We advanced them in guidance”. Then he looked
below where lay the houses on the borders of the
narrow valley like a great frozen tomb which had lost
all signs of life - except Jalaluddin who was lost in
a wave of dark thoughts until he was roused by the
sound of crunching ice under the slow, and heavy tread
of a panting newcomer.
The newcomer was the officer Golezrak, a former major
in the army and a son of the same Zadran tribe to
which Haqqani belonged. Haqqani looked at the hard
officer with sharp, blue eyes whose breathing was
growing choppy and steamy and had carded snow upon his
eyelashes and trim mustache.
The two men exchanged a terse greeting betraying the
tension and excitement struggling inside both of them
incongruous with the icy death surrounding the place.
They both sat down next to each other on the stump of
an old tree that had long ago collapsed, as if one
would find in it no use other than to be a place to
sit, recalling the peace and tranquility of eternity.
Golezrak began the talk saying, “Maulavi Sahib, have
you sent for me?”
“Yes, Golezrak, perhaps you have heard Radio Kabul
this morning?”
“Yes, Maulavi Sahib, the Russian army has come”.
“What do you think, major?”
“You know, Maulavi Sahib, what the Russians did to the
Muslims in Bokhara and Samarkand.”
“And what do you advise, Golezrak?”
“I received my military education at their hands, and
I know how they think. They will not begin their real
activity in our area before three months with the
coming of spring. We need to organize our affairs
during this period.”
“And how do we organize our affairs?”
“We will not be able to hold out more than three
months. Within six months at the most they will have
subjugated the entire country.”
“Do we withdraw then?”
“This is not exactly what I mean, but we must work to
gain time and prolong the period of our resistance to
the utmost possible. For perhaps an international
solution will appear. Because I don’t think the world
will be silent about this and maybe China or America
will intervene directly in the war. And maybe we will
receive much assistance from the Arab states to buy
the modern weapons we need.”
“I’m asking you what we can do. I’m not concerned
about what others do. Those people won’t move even if
we’re slaughtered like sheep. What have they given us
during the 18 lean months in which we experienced
these things at the hands of Russian experts and their
young men. By Allah, you must tell me what must we
do?”
“Maulavi Sahib, please do not be angry. We cannot
resist for more than three months or about that. I
advise that we hide our heavy weapons in the mountain
caves and establish a chain of caches to conceal our
ammunition. We will distribute the men into small
groups to begin guerilla warfare against the Russians.
“
“Golezrak, with rifles and small bands we cannot hold
all these areas currently in our hands. We cannot even
hold the mountain passes we now use. We would close in
the faces of our muhajareen in Pakistan the way to
return again to their villages. What will happen is
that the Russians will control the main roads and
mountain passes as well as the cities and villages.
And upon them they will pursue us and hunt us one by
one as people hunt the wild beasts in the mountains.”
“I think that is a highly logical sequence.”
“Very well. Then we will not surrender our necksto the
Russians and we will not let them hunt us like rats.
The roads that we need for our movements and for
transporting people and muhajareen back and forth will
remain open. Our vital areas will remain ours or will
kill everyone above them, and the convoys will not
safely cross any roads in the province.”
“Maulavi Sahib, this will be a hugely expensive
confrontation. The tribal leaders and field commanders
must be consulted.”
“It shall be so. I sent one to inform everybody of a
meeting tomorrow afternoon for a Shura council of the
Mujahideen and tribes in the province.”
……………………………………….
In the middle of a forest of mulberry and apricot
trees dried out from the cold, about 800 persons
gathered with all their weapons – young men, mature
men, and old men, the blood in whose veins was
rekindled by Jihad as they vied with the young men in
the front ranks of battle.
All came to hear Jalaluddin, the man with whom they
had started Jihad and with whom they plunged into war
with all its gravity, blood and martyrs as they
participated with him in manufacturing the victory and
the glory which had resurrected a bright shining
reality.
Jalaluddin stood in front of the assembly representing
the Ulema and sheikhs of the tribes, the Mujahideen
and the group leaders. The young scholar stood with
his palms placed over the muzzle of his old English
rifle, planted on the layer of ice that coated the
open space. He remained silent for some time, lost in
thought as he scrutinized the faces of those sitting
row upon row. Without realizing it, he was searching
for the faces of old comrades, most of who had already
passed on as martyrs. Of those he found only one – the
lean face and sad eyes of the pious Maulavi Ahmad Gul.
He was all that remained from the first beginning of
the Jihad.
How he longed to see the beloved face of his life-long
friend Sheikh Mahmud Lala, that face which radiated
peace and tranquility and confidence in victory at
even the gravest times of trial and affliction. He
twice looked over the faces in the front row, spurred
on by the vague hope that he would find him there,
sitting as always with his huge body and his sharp
glances like blazing stars shooting from deep eyes
combining intelligence and benevolence, shaded by
heavy eyebrows like the eaves of a forest concealing
endless secrets, and with his old rifle that never
left his hands, which possessed the vigor and raw
mountainous enormity that enabled him to wring the
neck of any earthly beast with ease.
Jalaluddin remained silent, distractedly casting his
glance among the rows of men, until he became aware
that those gathered before him were waiting upon his
decisive word to show them the way through these dark
calamities that portended great dangers and made all
previous events seem petty by comparison.
He began his speech praising Allah, followed by a
brief explanation of all that had happened in
Afghanistan since communist coup until the
earth-shaking news of the arrival of the Russian army
and its occupation of the capital Kabul the previous
night, recalling the tragedies which Russia caused for
the Muslims in Turkistan (Central Asia) and the
slaughters in the great Islamic cities of Bokhara and
Samarkand.
He then recited to them Ayas from the Glorious Quran
which encourage Jihad and fighting Fi Sabeel Allah and
rebuked those who disagreed or were idle in performing
this obligation. He spoke to them about the rankof
martyrs in Paradise, reminding them of the honors and
achievements of their martyred brothers, and how
through them Allah protected Islam and the people and
by them struck terror in the hearts of infidels
thereby gaining great prestige for the Muslim. He then
reminded them of the many wonders they had witnessed
in hard times and the victory that came down to them
from Allah when all believed that defeat and
destruction were inescapable. The young scholar did
not leave unsaid anything he wanted to say.
Finally, he turned to the tree on his right and rested
upon it his old rifle that had been with him since his
first departure Fi Sabeel Allah. He then removed the
large white turban from his head and began wrapping it
around his right armpit and left shoulder and recited
these Ayas from the Book of Allah:
Allah hath
purchased of the believers their persons and their
goods; for theirs in return is Paradise: they fight in
His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding
on Him in Truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the
Quran: and who is more faithful to his covenant than
Allah? Then rejoice in the bargain which ye have
concluded: that is the achievement supreme. (Sura
al-Tauba Verse 111)
The men knew well that Aya and what it meant. The
Sheikh had explained it to them repeatedly and the
Ulema recited it in the hearing of many. The sheikhs
began to cry; they lifted their turbans from their
heads and placed them on the ground. They raised their
hands towards heaven, saying Amen to the prayer of
Jalaluddin who was crying as he beseeched Allah for
victory over their enemies and to protect Islam in
this country. The young men saw no shame in displaying
their emotions and weeping on this occasion, even
though it was forbidden for the men of the mountains
to show their tears in any other situations.
Jalaluddin stopped talking and the men dried their
tears as their turbans lay thrown on the ground.
Silence covered the place, a silence that was eloquent
in expressing the feelings that no words could
describe. There lengthened an absolute silence,
unprecedented in similar meetings in the past, as if
words and thoughts had been frozen by the piercing
winter wind. Above their heads gathered a tension
mingled with fighting ardor and uncertainty about what
tomorrow would bring in surprises and the pain of the
departure of those martyrs coming to join their
beloved ones who went in the recent past?
The silence remained heavy until it was broken by a
simple bedu who spoke suddenly in a high voice with
all the spontaneity of the Bedouin and their
instinctive courage. He directed his speech to the
young scholar, saying: “Jalaluddin – I heard that the
Russians have long rifles with scopes that make far
away things appear up close, and that one can kill a
man a day’s journey away. By Allah, you must tell me
when the Russians are coming so I can kill one of them
and take his rifle.”
Everyone shook with laughter and Jalaluddin’s teeth
shone with pure laughter. It was as if a mysterious
power of energy and joy had penetrated the gloomy
atmosphere of the place and entered in a blink of an
eye the hearts of those sitting there. They began
talking with each other and looking with mirth at the
plain bedu.
Jalaluddin calmly gestured to them and announced in a
loud voice, “Let all bear witness that the first rifle
of this type that we capture as booty will be the
share of this man”.
The council shook with cries of “Allahu Akbar” and
they began to congratulate the man on his new rifle
and warmly embracing him laughing with joy and
gladness as if the booty was actually in their hands.
Jalaluddin was roused to action and embarked with his
men in feverish activity racing against time. The
coming spring would not see the usual wedding parties.
For the snow had begun to melt as if to compete with
the men in a grand race to embrace the virgins of
paradise.
Tomorrow in spring the streams of Paktia would
overflow with water and blood.