Immortal Slains

Those Who Died Before a Principle

Once upon time, lived a well educated man, and a friend of the famous poet Umar Khayyam, he started as a jurist and ended as a master terrorist. Hassan Sabbah, the master of Almod Catsle, who employed and trained the 2nd most reputed terrorism group in Islamic history, after Kharijites. Smoking hash and free sex with slave girls were parts of the hallucination package he granted to his mislead youth assassins. Therefore, the cult was named after Hashish, to be known during Fatimid era and after it as Hashashin. A word that fathered the term Assassin in Latin and Anglo-Germanic tongues later on.

During a visit to Martin Luther King Museum in Atlanta last week, a question beamed in my mind. Why a good percentage of great leaders throughout history were assassinated? I then remembered the common story we tell about Omar ibn Al-Khattab, the 2nd Caliph in Islamic history, when a man saw him sleeping under a tree with no guards, and commented, "O' Omar, you ruled justly, therefore felt secured enough to sleep" But was this statement concrete? Was being just enough to protect the leader? I think it was not, best confirmation was Omar himself, had been dispatched by one of those who abhorred his justice. They do exist everywhere and throughout history. Unjust systems by nature usually have a beneficiary group that tends to protect and fix the regimen favoring it. Antagonistically, a fair leader, being biased to none, has no specific defenders. He works for the wide public, those who never understand how effectual the leader was before they lose him. Proving scenes from history are numerous,

- Omar ibn Al-Khattab- 644 CE

Every Muslim must have grasped ample values of Omar, apart from Shiites convictions about him that are surely unfair; his highest reputed value was justice. This did not prevent a grudging Persian coward, to stab him six times with a dagger, while he was leading prayer in the mosque of Medina. Abu-Lulua the Magi, the assassin, was caught and killed on Omar death, two days after the assassination occurrence. (The rumors linking the shrine of Baba Shuga El-Dien in Kashan, Iran, to this man is fiction created by troublemakers to inflame hatred among Sunnis and Shiites, the man was killed and buried in Medina)

- Ali ibn Abi-Talib- 661 CE

My ceaseless prime role model, the fair judge, the even-handed Caliph, the freedom fighter, the philosopher of Islam and the founder of Logical Interpretation scholary in Islamic juristic history. All this was not sufficient to guard him from the poisoned sword of the son-of-bitch zealot, who though himself a fundamentalist, Abdurrahman ibn Mulgim. The terrorist Kharijite, revenging Ali's conquest over his Qaida-like battalion in Nahrawan. Ali's honorable blood was shed also in the mosque of Kuffa. However, his tomb is controversial between Iraqis who claimed it to be in Najaf, and Afghanis who claimed to be in Mazaar Sharif. Surely the Iraqi story sounds more logical being closer to the factual place of death. However, in history, you can never be very sure.

- Saif El-Deen Qutuz- 1260 CE

What the classical movie Waislamah did not tell in the story of Muzaffar Qutuz, is the sad end of it. When Qutuz and his prime general Bibars Bondukdary disputed after Ain Jalut battle. Bibars wanted to be an independent governor of Aleppo in Syria, while Qutuz perceived it as fragmentation of Arabic power after defeating the first wave of Mongols, a risk that is highly expected to rise again shortly. Standing before his ambition, Bibars decided to slain his Jihad partner, assassinating Qutuz in the way back to Cairo, to jump on the Egyptian throne as the well-reputed Sultan Rokn El-Deen Bibars.

- Abraham Lincoln – 1865 CE

After his speech in Ford's theatre, supporting the civil rights of the newly freed slavery of USA. For this human creed intention, he was assassinated by the fanatic Confederate Booth, who shot the president with a shotgun, that delivered the bullet to back of his head, to die in the next morning. Being commemorated in humankind hearts with liberty. While Booth were commerated with vanity.
- Martin Luther King- 1968
This man's life was a miracle, achieving a leap in civil rights in his limited lifetime, could be expressed with what black Americans say about it, "He found us a place on the table". What a simple, yet, ultimately deep statement!! This honorable man was shot during an activity trip to Mississippi, although his presumed Assassin were tried and sentenced for 99 years. Kings family still insists the US government had a hand in the matter. His death stands with JFK one as the couple of rich conspiracy theory fields in modern history.

- Mohandas Gandhi-1948 CE

Being a Hindu who loved all the nation of Indian subcontinent, including Muslims, was enough sin as visualized by the fanatic Hindu Mahasabha. One of them, was the sick fanatic who shot Mahatma during his daily tour among simple publics in Delhi. God bless the Grand Soul and burn in hellfire all fanatics.

They were all catapulting leaders who had a principle to die before, Omar martyred before justice and the glory of Islamic Empire, Ali martyred before the noble values he represented against the pragmatism of Muawia and Amre. Qutuz martyred before chivalric ethics and unity mind sets, while Lincoln, Gandhi and King all martyred before equity, liberty and tolerance of the other. All slain on hands of tampering forces, who did not determine in them in power a craved benefit. What is the lesson we can figure out from all this? A good leader, can never even dream to be the favorite of everyone. It is a matter of conflict of interests. This applies today in every society, community or organization. On this I have a quote I said once in a business conversation "Whoever sweats to satisfy persons, not values or principles, will sweat forever and achieve nothing, keeping everyone happy is an urban legend"