Taken from the book ‘Mi’atu min ‘uzamā’i ummati al-Islām ghayyarū majra at-tārīkh’ by At-Turbani.[1] (Slightly Adapted)
(Hadith) “Indeed, faith exists in the Levant when afflictions befall.”[2]
(Hadith) “Verily, the stronghold of the believers is in the Levant.”[3]
We now turn to a great figure from the blessed lands of the Levant (Bilād al-Shām), a magnificent young man who sacrificed the prime of his youth in the cause of Islam. But before we narrate his heroic story, let us go back to the year 1798 CE. Let us leave the lands of the Levant for a moment and turn to the land of Kinānah, Egypt (Miṣr). There, on the shores of Alexandria (al-Iskandariyyah), invading ships advanced under the command of the French leader of Italian origin, Napoleon Bonaparte, in a military campaign that we studied in our curricula under a deceptive name: “The French Campaign in Egypt.” The truth that those rotten curricula concealed from us is that the real name of this campaign was “The French Crusader Campaign in Egypt”! Indeed, it is high time for this Ummah (Muslim community) to call things by their true names, without any flattery or humiliation. And if anyone doubts the Crusader nature of this campaign, let them follow the beginning of the story with me and observe what those murderers did to the Egyptians—I mean, specifically, the Muslims among the Egyptians!
Initially, Napoleon pretended that he had come only to spread civilization and progress throughout Egypt. He sent a letter to the Sharīf of Makkah (Ghālib ibn Mas‘ūd) and to the Shaykhs and dignitaries of al-Azhar, claiming that he had demolished churches in Europe, deposed a Roman Pope before his arrival in Egypt, and that he was a lover of the Prophet Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him); indeed, that he—Napoleon—was a supporter of the Islamic religion! However, this old deception did not fool the monotheists (muwaḥḥidīn) among the people of al-Maḥrūsah (Cairo). The spark of the “First Cairo Revolution” was thus ignited against the French. It was then that the French revealed their true colors, and it became clear that these proponents of culture and civilization still carried a hideous Crusader legacy in their hearts. The French stormed al-Azhar with their horses, trampled upon the Book of Allah (the Qur’an) with their feet, mounted cannons on “Jabal al-Muqaṭṭam” (Muqaṭṭam Mountain), and bombarded the neighborhoods of old Egypt, turned the district of “Būlāq” into ruins, and demolished mosques upon their worshippers. At that point, the honorable men of al-Azhar rose up, striving in the cause of Allah. The French Crusaders killed two thousand of the finest scholars of al-Azhar in a single day! It was precisely at this moment that the Muslims realized they were facing a Crusader invasion no different from previous ones; the essence was the same, even if the names differed. What further solidified the Muslims’ conviction regarding the Crusader nature of this campaign was what the Egyptian historian al-Jabartī recounts in his book ‘Ajā’ib al-Āthār fī al-Tarājim wal-Akhbār (Wonders of Antiquities in Biographies and Reports) about the treacherous Crusader collaboration of Ya‘qūb Ḥannā with the occupiers against his own countrymen in Egypt, and how he formed legions of Crusader traitors from among the native inhabitants, like himself, to assist the French in storming the homes of their fellow Egyptian Muslims!
After Napoleon believed he had successfully suppressed the Egyptian uprising, he returned to France to continue his criminal record among the European peoples, leaving command to another war criminal named Kléber. This French commander was a Crusader to the core. As soon as he took the reins after his predecessor, the French openly displayed their depravity. They converted Egypt’s mosques into brothels for the amusement of their vile soldiers, raped Muslim girls in front of their fathers, and murdered infant suckling children before their mothers. Everyone thought that Islam had come to an end in Egypt.
It was then that Mujāhidīn (holy warriors) rose from every corner, raising the banner of Lā ilāha illā Allāh, Muḥammad Rasūl Allāh (There is no god worthy of worship except Allah, Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah) throughout Egypt. Egypt transformed into a fiery mass confronting the invaders. The Egyptian mujāhidīn in Upper Egypt and along its coast rose up against the French. The heroic Mamluk knights launched raids against the Crusaders everywhere. Delegations of mujāhidīn from the Ḥijāz, from Makkah and al-Madīnah, sailed to the Egyptian coast to aid their Muslim brethren. Thousands of Turkish fighters secretly infiltrated Cairo to participate in the jihād declared by the Ottoman Caliph (Selim III), and the residences of Moroccan students in al-Azhar were converted into barracks for the popular resistance. As for the Riwaq al-Shām (Levantine Quarter) in al-Azhar, there is no need to elaborate; the Muslims of the Levant volunteered in the ranks of the Egyptian popular resistance, and among these heroes was a Kurdish youth from the city of Aleppo; the French Crusaders killed his teacher, the Egyptian mujāhid Shaykh al-Sharqāwī. They desecrated al-Azhar Mosque with their horses before his very eyes. The heart of this young man, who was not yet twenty-two years old, filled with intense rage against those criminal murderers. He resolved to carry out a unique military operation, one that would require him to sacrifice his life for its success!
This young man’s name was Sulaymān al-Ḥalabī. This heroic Kurdish youth decided to storm the military palace and attack the French army’s command center alone in a complex operation, the culmination of which would be the assassination of the Commander-in-Chief of the Crusader invading forces. Indeed, Sulaymān al-Ḥalabī carried out this military operation with complete success, ridding Muslims and humanity of the evil of a war criminal named Jean Baptiste Kléber.
But look at what the proponents of “freedom and progress” did to Sulaymān al-Ḥalabī after that!
They burned his hand until the bone was exposed, then they burned three Palestinians from Gaza alive in front of him, after it was proven that those heroic Gazans had collaborated with him in preparing for Kléber’s assassination. As for Sulaymān himself, may Allah have mercy on him, they tore his intestines from within while he was still alive, leaving him in that state, crucified for several days, to be devoured by birds of prey. The strange thing is that those criminals were not content with what they did to our hero while he was alive; after his death, they took his skull to preserve it in the Museum of Man (Musée de l’Homme) in Paris, writing beneath it in French: “Criminel” (meaning “criminal”)!!!
The truly disgusting thing is not merely the criminality of the old French, but rather what the “new” French are doing, as they still keep the skull of this mujāhid in their museum to this very day! By Allah, if I were an Arab official, I would not let any of the proponents of French democracy discuss matters of freedom and human rights in our countries without first discussing with them the matter of that skull which they preserve in their museum!
Sulaymān, the hero, was not a criminal as the French portray him. Rather, he was one of the finest youths of Islam. His only “crime” was that he wished to study at al-Azhar University. He was horrified by the French killing his elderly teacher and disgusted by the tearing of the holy Book of Allah by those who claimed to be proponents of knowledge. Thus, he avenged the injustice of Napoleon and his followers, a revenge befitting their oppression and tyranny. As for the real criminals, they are your leaders, O French, who killed innocent civilians. If you truly want to know who the real criminal is, then search for him among the names of your murderous ancestors!
The laughable thing in this story, rather, what truly invites mockery, is that I found, through my preparation of this historical material, that foreign sources—both English and French, as evil as they could get—claim that Sulaymān al-Ḥalabī only killed Kléber to free his father from taxes imposed on him by the Turks! Oh, what fools you are, exploiting your peoples and hiding the crimes of your armies from them, until your peoples are now questioning the secret that drives others to hate you!
And after that… This was just one chapter from the story of French terrorism in the lands of Islam. This terrorism was confronted by a Kurdish Levantine mujāhid who sacrificed the prime of his youth in the cause of Allah against those terrorists who now sneak glances at his skull morning and evening. What hatred do those “civilized” people still carry in their hearts? And what pleasure do they find in looking at a human skull, even if he was a criminal in their eyes?! It is, without a doubt, a filthy Crusader barbarity!
And if you want to know more about the crimes of those murderers, but this time in other Muslim lands; and if you want to know the story of a new heroic epic of a new great figure in the Islamic Ummah who would not accept humiliation for himself, his people, or his religion… then follow along with me!
To be continued…… (End of the write-up.)[4]
[1] Pages 63-66.
[2] Al Hakim reported in Al Mustadrak from the Hadith of `Abdullah ibn `Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) who narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “I have seen the pillar of the book was taken from under my pillow. Then I looked and found it as a bright light was planted in the Levant (the region covering Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine). Indeed, faith exists in the Levant when afflictions befall.” Mustadrak Al Hakim (5 /712 – 713) (No. 8601) and Al Hakim graded it as authentic and Adh-Dhahaby agreed to his judgment on the Hadith. Sheikh Al Albany graded it as authentic in his verification to the Hadiths of the virtues of the Levant of Ar-Rib`y (P. 85). [https://en.alukah.net/Shariah/0/5026/#_ftnref9]
[3] Musnad (Hadith compilation of) Imam Ahmad (28 /165) (No. 16965). The verifiers of Hadith said: Its chain of narration is good. [https://en.alukah.net/Shariah/0/5026/#_ftnref9]
[4] The next chapter of the book is about the Hero of Algeria, Ameer Abdul Qadir Al-Jazairi (Rahimahullah).
In brief: – Ameer Abdul Qadir Al-Jazairi (1808-1883): A renowned Algerian Islamic scholar and resistance leader. He played a pivotal role in the Algerian resistance against French colonial rule, leading a successful guerrilla campaign for over 15 years. He surrendered to the French in 1847 due to lack of tribal support, a Moroccan royal decree against him, and overwhelming French military pressure. After being exiled to Damascus, he protected thousands of Christians during the 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war, earning international recognition. He spent his later years in Damascus, where he passed away on May 26, 1883, and was buried with honors. As one of the most prominent figures in Islamic history, Ameer Abdul Qadir’s legacy extends beyond his military achievements, showcasing his profound impact on Islamic thought, culture, and interfaith relations.
-Translated by Mohammed bin Thajammul Hussain Manna, the title ‘The Forgotten Muslim Hero of Anti-Colonial Resistance’ was added by the translator.
Saheehus-Seerah 