“To die in the course of fulfilling the Way is a proper destiny while dying in manacles and fetters is not a proper destiny.” Mencius
Amidst rubble, dust, and blood, a 62-year old man is sitting in a chair in a ruin. He is dressed for combat. He has lost a hand and knows that he is about to meet his Maker soon. A drone flies into the ruin to locate any survivors. The old man, defiant to the end, throws a stick at it in order to make sure that his last act in this life would be an act of resistance, of struggle. Pointless? What can a small stick do to a drone, even if it hits it? Not according to the old man. He wasn’t just a warrior he was also a wise sage who knew how little drops of water eventually cleave massive boulders into pieces. He had lived on his terms, fighting for liberty, and he would die on his own terms, struggling for freedom. He went to the hereafter knowing that his people, living in ruins like the one he breathed his last in, would continue with the struggle and carry on seamlessly under the leadership of men he had trained psychologically, morally, and physically. Thus, ended the mortal life of Yahya Sinwar – truly a titan and a legend who now stands with the very best in the pantheon of Islam!
I find it very hard to write about Yahya Sinwar. It isn’t that I am too emotional to write, on the contrary, my hesitation stems from the fact that I find myself quite unworthy to eulogize a man of his stature. I belong to a nation that lives on scraps from the tables of the slaves of Zionists. A nation that lives in perpetual fear of offending the Great Global Hegemon (Main aisi qom se hun jis ka har fard dushman se darta hai!). A nation that is oppressed by those who consider it the highest of achievement if the slaves of Zionists give them “authority” to oppress the people! Nevertheless, I will write just to elucidate to my nation how Sinwar wasn’t just fighting for the land between the river and the sea but also for the land stretching from Morocco to Pakistan (Neel ke sahil se le kr tabakhak-e-Kashghar).
Defiance in the face of oppression is not just an act, it’s an idea as well. In fact, for the act to take place, the idea has to be firmly rooted in people beforehand. Like Jungian archetypes, every legend of history embodies an idea in his/her life. Just take the names of the four righteous caliphs: Abubakr the Siddiq (embodying the idea of standing up for truth), Umar the Farooq (embodying the idea of struggle in order to make a difference), Usman the Ghani (embodying the idea of the subservience of wealth to the greater good of society), Ali the Lion of Allah and the Door to Knowledge (embodying the union of scholar and soldier in supermen/ubermensch). The list goes on: Salahuddin (the magnanimous), Iqbal (the philosopher), Jinnah (the advocate), Sheikh Yassin (the wise sage representing the principle of mind over body), etc.
So, what does Yahya Sinwar represent: the spirit of defiance of course! Defiant in jail, defiant on the battlefield, the one who refused to die as the “good victim”, as a sheep that comes meekly to the butcher. The difference between a hero and a legend is this: the legend isn’t merely an extraordinary individual hero-worshipped by his followers. He has the ability to transform his followers, imbue them with the strength contained within his spirit, and animate them with the idea that defines his soul. That is why heroes die whereas legends live on. Like the legends mentioned above, Yahya Sinwar invigorated the people he led with the spirit he embodied.
He also taught a lesson in defiance to those he wasn’t leading, but who badly require this lesson. Yes, now I am talking about the relevance of Sinwar and the Sinwarian idea of defiance for the people of countries that form part of the so-called Islamic World. Oppression can never be conquered by humble pleas and oppressors can never be convinced to abandon their practices by invoking feelings of pity in them. Oppression can only be fought through defiance, bravery, and sacrifice. If Sinwar and his few followers can take on the might of the USA and Israel, why can’t the oppressed millions of Pakistan take on the slaves of the West (mis)ruling them who are not even ashamed to crackdown on pro-Palestine protests? Why are 250 million people of Pakistan helpless in the face of oppression while 2 million people in Gaza have the courage and the spirit of defiance to confront oppression head-on? The answer is in two words: weakness and inertia. Iqbal explained the concept beautifully in some Persian verses:
Weakness is a highway robber which destroys life,
Her real form has not been recognized.
People have placed different veils on her face,
Mildness and compassion are sometimes the veils across her face,
She dons the garb of humanity at other times,
She is occasionally hidden under the plea of compulsion.
When analyzed it is nothing but a love of ease;
It takes the heart out of an individual who could have been strong!
As for inertia, it ensures that the state of national weakness is perpetuated. As the other Eqbal from Pakistan once wrote: “Inertia is ever immune to experience. So, horrors follow upon horrors.” Our inertia ensures that we do not learn from experience and the governing dynamics that led us to our present pitiful state. Yahya Sinwar has done us a great service by showing us how to be defiant, how to combat oppression, how to sacrifice everything bravely, and how to stand tall in the face of the devil himself and say calmly: Do your worst! If we pay attention, in sacrifice and defiance lies the solution to our problem of weakness and inertia. Sinwar showed us the way of dignity and defiance but if the ruthless genocide of our Palestinian brethren can’t rouse us out of our comfort zones, if the brutal repression of our youth doesn’t rile us up, if the rape of our judicial institutions doesn’t shake us out of our indolence, then maybe we only deserve slavery and humiliation. Will we learn from Yahya Sinwar? Or Will we succumb to inertia and weakness?
