The Role of Mothers in the Culture of Martyrdom – Karbala’s Heroines Pt. 4

This is part of a series anonymously submitted by a Lebanese academic. Read part 1, part 2, and part 3.

Umm Amro ibn Junadah al-Ansari: an old woman’s sacrifice in defense of the Imam of time

Although they were not mentioned in detail in history books, the distinctive role of women in Ashura was not limited to the wives of Imam Hussain, peace be upon him, but also some of the women of the Ansar (companions) of Imam Hussain, especially mothers.

A short biography

Umm Amro ibn Junadah al-Ansari was one of the loyalists of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them). She is Bahriyah bint Masoud al-Khazraji, the wife of Martyr Abu Junada ibn al-Harith. Her husband stems from Yemen and one of the best companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and one of the special companions of Imam Ali (peace be upon him).

Umm Amro ibn Junadah al-Ansari accompanied her husband along with her young son from Mecca to Karbala. After his father was martyred, she dressed him in the cloak of war, saying: “Go out, my son, and fight by the side of the son of the Messenger of Allah.”

Amro asked Imam Hussain (peace be upon him) for permission to fight, but the Imam refused, saying: “This is a young boy whose father was killed in battle, and perhaps his mother opposes him going out.” So, Amro told Imam Hussain (peace be upon him): “My mother is the one who ordered me.” Then Imam Hussain gave him permission.

Then he fought bravely chanting: “My prince is Imam Hussain. He is the best prince. He is the joy of my heart. He is the bearer of good tidings and the warner. Imam Ali and Sayyeda Fatima are his parents. Do you know of anyone comparable to him?”

Amro received martyrdom during the first round of the battle, in which 50 of Imam Hussain’s (peace be upon him) companions were martyred. Malik bin Al-Nasr cut off his noble head and threw it towards Imam Hussain’s (peace be upon him) soldiers.

The jihad of women in Karbala

Umm Amro ibn Junadah al-Ansari took the butchered head and wiped the blood from it, saying: “Well done, my son, and the joy of my eye.” 

Then she returned to the camp. She brought her tent pole and headed towards the enemies saying: “I am an old woman among women. Although, I am vulnerable, skinny, and worn out, I will strike you with a violent blow in defense of the noble descendants of Sayyeda Fatima.”

She struck two of the enemies with the pole and killed them, then Imam Hussain (peace be upon him) ordered her to be returned to the tent after he thanked her and prayed for her. It was enough for her that the Imam of her time was pleased with her, as he says: “May Allah be pleased with us, O people of the house.”

This old woman embodied a symbol of heroism and defending the right of Imamate in the face of injustice.

Indeed, Imam Hussain (peace be upon him) insisted on the presence of women in the battle because they were the main supporter of the Mujahideen. Had it not been for the participation of women in this uprising, the true events of Karbala would not have been immortalized and revived the human conscience.

Umm Amro ibn Junadah al-Ansari’s husband and son were both buried with the companions of Imam Hussain (peace be upon him); their names are mentioned in the Ziyarat al-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa: “Peace be upon Junada bin Kaab bin al-Harith al-Ansari al-Khazraji and his son Amr bin Junada.”

Hajja Umm Ragheb Harb on the path of Umm Amro

The story of Umm Amro ibn Junadah al-Ansari is very similar to the story of the mother of Sheikh of the martyrs of the Islamic Resistance, His Eminence Shaheed Sheikh Sheikh Ragheb Harb (ra), as Hajja Umm Ragheb in particular played a major role in supporting him in establishing the nucleus of the Islamic resistance in southern Lebanon, particularly in her village Jebchit.

Hajja Sakina Abdullah Harb, more often known as Umm Ragheb Harb, is one of the exceptional figures among the mothers who nurtured the launch of the sincere Mujahideen who defeated the occupation and liberated Lebanon in 2000 and is now fighting a fateful existential battle.

Sheikh Ragheb was martyred at the age of 32. His honourable jihadi record includes diverse achievements at the religious mobilization and field resistance levels. Her home hosted the great scholars of Lebanon, including Sayyed Musa al-Sadr, the late Scholar Sheikh Muhammad Mahdi Shams al-Din, and the late Scholar Sayyed Muhammad Hussain Fadlallah, in addition to the fact that her kins were among the first military leaders and martyrs of the resistance at that time.

During the time of studying at the Najaf Seminary, Sheikh Ragheb Harb was among four other Lebanese Hawza students who met with Shaheed Sayyed Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr almost daily. They were pursued by the Baathists, which forced them to return to Lebanon. The Iraqi intelligence did not leave Sheikh Ragheb alone, however, as one of its security personnel in Lebanon attempted to assassinate him.

Deterring a Baathist from assassinating her son

This Baathist claimed that he was one of the fugitives wanted by the Iraqi intelligence, so he stayed in Sheikh Ragheb’s house in Jebchit, southern Lebanon, with the intention of assassinating him. For a month of his stay with the Sheikh’s parents, Hajja Umm Ragheb honored him and welcomed him well, so he was affected by her kindness and spirituality, and decided to flee.

Before fleeing, the Baathist wrote her a letter apologizing for his previous intention to kill Sheikh Ragheb and asking her to warn him against attempts to assassinate him.

Sheikh Ragheb was greatly influenced by his mother’s morals. Her noble qualities were reflected in him. He even learned from her the love of the land, agriculture, and tending livestock.

Before the “Israeli” invasion in 1982, one of his peers was planting some trees, when Sheikh Ragheb emphasized the necessity to water and care for them, saying: “These trees may be useful for us to hide under when a battle breaks out between us and the Zionists.”

His mosque was the first center that established Hezbollah. He transformed the Friday sermon into a state of resistance that confused the Zionists. His pulpit was the pulpit that confirmed the strong link between religious commitment and resistance commitment, condemning normalization with “Israel” by reiterating the words of Imam Khomeini: “Whoever ‘Israel’ has not arrested or pursued should review his faith.”

Umm Ragheb’s house to mobilize people to confront the enemy

When the Zionists invaded Lebanon, Sheikh Ragheb returned from Iran to hold awareness sessions with the youth, the elderly, women, and even children. Sheikh Ragheb wanted to eradicate fear from their souls stressing on the strength hidden deep within them and about the weakness of the enemy, mocking its alleged strength. Sheikh Ragheb urged everyone to resist it and even to show anger on their faces.

Sheikh Ragheb was known for his eloquence and shrewdness in addressing the southern society, so they would rush to fight the occupation and join the resistance. He addressed them: “’Israel’ is like a soft thorn on the side of the roads. The people of the South must seize the opportunity to pick these thorns before they turn into hard thorns and require tools that may not be available and make the matter difficult.”

In the first week of the occupation, he met the people at night in the home of Sheikh Abdul Karim Obeid to discuss whether there would be a permanent occupation like the occupied West Bank and Gaza, or whether the occupation had other plans. Sheikh Ragheb clearly stated that we should think about liberating Palestine because “Israel” would not remain in Lebanon, and we should think about when we would reach Al Quds.

During that meeting, the door was knocked. Sheikh Ragheb went out for a few minutes, and returned to complete the discussion. After 3 hours, the first resistance operation against the occupation was announced.

One night, a large “Israeli” force brutally and cruelly arrested Sheikh Ragheb Harb. An “Israeli” officer asked him: “Wouldn’t it have been better for us to meet in a different way?” Sheikh Ragheb Harb replied: “It is a thousand times better this way.”

Sheikh Ragheb Harb was taken to Ansar prison, and then to the intelligence center in the city of Tyre, where senior Zionist officers gathered around him to get to know that man who terrified them.

During the investigation, they asked him: “What does Khomeini represent to you?” He replied: “He is our Imam and our leader.” They said: “Would you fight us if he ordered you to do so?”  He replied, “Yes, of course.” Then they said to him, “Your words provoke the youth and push them to fight us, so how are we going to solve this problem?” He replied, “This is not my problem, it is your problem, and you must solve it by leaving our land.” They offered him to leave the south and have whatever he wanted. Sheikh Ragheb replied, “I will not leave the south, and I will stay on its land.”

A house like Sayyeda Khadija’s, cradle of resistance

One day, he sat with the children in Umm Ragheb’s house. They began to tell him that an “Israeli” patrol passed by them. The “Israeli” colonial soldiers threw candy at them, so they picked them up from the ground and threw them at them. Sheikh Ragheb was very happy. He said to them: “Well done. Well done, little heroes. Come to me.  Whoever threw a candy at the patrol, I will kiss his forehead.”

Worth mentioning that Sheikh Ragheb paid great attention to orphans, as he allocated two rooms in his house for them. Besides, he did not hesitate to serve people and watch over their suffering.

February 1985 was harsh on the “Israeli” occupation in the south, prompting “Israeli” forces on the morning of February 28 to attack Jebchit, with “Israeli” media outlets clamoring to film the “heroism of Tsahal” in front of the defenseless townspeople.

The “Israeli” colonel went up to the town’s Hussainiya, calling on the residents (aged 15 to 45) to gather at the town’s high school. They were taken out into the open and in the bitter cold, while the occupation soldiers stormed homes under the pretext of searching for weapons, vandalized their furniture, stole valuables, and spoiled food supplies by mixing them with oil and kerosene.

The “Israeli” colonel called on the town’s youth to surrender, threatening to blow up their homes if they did not, stressing the need to hand over Khalil Ahmad Harb, the brother of Shaheed Sheikh Ragheb Harb.

They confiscated weapons from Umm Ragheb’s house and destroyed it.  Umm Ragheb said: “The Arabs are unaware of us. I am ready to carry the sword and fight the enemy. This is our land and we are free to carry weapons on it. Every southern woman must carry weapons and if an ‘Israeli’ soldier enters our homes we must kill him. I will set up a tent on the ruins of my home. Even if the ‘Israelis’ can kill our children and their families, they will not be able to remove the faith of resistance from our hearts.”

When she told Sheikh Ragheb Harb that the occupation soldiers had destroyed their house, he said to her: “Mother, do you want to buy paradise for just a quarter of a lira (at a cheap price)?!” 

Sheikh Ragheb Harb (ra) explains the Quranic concept of Hezbollah by saying:

“Brothers and sisters, Hezbollah is a term mentioned in the Qur’an. Hezbollah has its own organizational style. This concept should not be used in the framework we want. Hezbollah has its own organizational style that is not subject to traditional protocols. Hezbollah is the style followed by the prophets and Imams (peace be upon them). Hezbollah has a style that I cannot detail in a few words, but I will clarify some of its aspects. Hezbollah considers every Muslim a member of it. Hezbollah considers every mosque on earth a center of its centers. Hezbollah’s leaders are not appointed by decrees or by voting, but by the trust that qualifies every person to perform his religious duty. Hezbollah, which is led by the prophet, the guardian, the imam, or the qualified jurist during the time of occultation, is the organizational style adopted by Imam Khomeini (ra), through which he made the power of the Islamic nation spread in every alley, street, mosque, and Hussainiya, so that foreign intelligence surveillance technology is unable to monitor it. When it discovers it, it fails to know its borders and edges. When it knows its borders and edges, it fails to strike it. So who can strike a large nation that carries one soul spread throughout it?”

The offspring of Umm Ragheb

One day, Sheikh Ragheb was stopped at an “Israeli” checkpoint. The officer extended his hand to shake hands with his son Ahmed who frowned at him and refused to shake his hand. The officer became enraged and shouted: “You even teach your children to be hostile to us.”

This was a consecration of the Sheikh’s position with the “Israeli” officer who stormed his house one day and extended his hand to shake hands, and his response was: “The position is a weapon and the handshake is an admission.”

“What will you name her, father?” his daughter Zainab asked him after the birth of his fifth daughter. One of their relatives answered sarcastically: “We will name her: ‘I seek forgiveness from Allah the Almighty.’”

Sheikh Ragheb said to her: “O Hajja, are you still thinking in the way of the people of ignorance? What is the difference between a male and a female? Don’t you know that a girl is a mercy from Allah the Almighty? I will choose the most beautiful names for her.”

He thought carefully and then said: “I will name her Safiyya.” Her daughter objected: “What! What is this name, father? It is a name that suits old women. There are many beautiful names. What do you think of the name Rasha or Rehab?” He refused, saying: “No, none of these names are beautiful. I have chosen for you a name that honours Sayyeda Zainab, the heroine of Karbala. Zahra was the name of the Lady of the Women of the Worlds. As for Sumayya, she was the first female-martyr in Islam. Islah (i.e. Reform) was the goal of Hussain’s uprising. Ahmad is one of the names of the Prophet.  Let’s imagine that your sister grew up and learned that I chose for each of you an immortal name of one of the great people in our Islamic history, and I chose for her a vulgar name. Wouldn’t you be sad?  Safiyya bint Abdul Muttalib is the aunt of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), and she is a great woman who provided great services to Islam.”

The mother of two martyrs

Hajja Umm Ragheb was very patient with the bitterness of poverty and difficult calamities, including the martyrdom of Sheikh Ragheb’s brother, Shaheed Abdullah Harb, and her relative, Shaheed Maher Harb.

Sheikh Ragheb learned from his mother that he must fight the enemy no matter what the cost. He says: “’Israel’ claims that it occupied Sinai and Arab lands, but it cannot claim that it has brought the southerners to their knees and occupied their land, so they have become evil.”

After the martyrdom of Sheikh Ragheb, Hajja Umm Ragheb continued for 40 years to mobilize the resistance fighters and their families religiously and morally, perpetuating the mission of her martyred son through media and cultural resistance that complemented Sheikh Ragheb Harb’s both cultural and military resistance.

Sheikh Ragheb did not only have an outstanding basira, but he was quite certain of victory at a time when the occupation army was boasting about its capabilities and strength, so he ended up one of the mujahideen and martyrs.

“The Jews, historically and nowadays, are not warriors, but a nation of cunning and deceit.”

– Shaheed Ragheb Harb (ra)