ISMAIL HANIYEH'S Martydom: A Fulfilled Life by Ishaaq Muhammad Jaamiu

When Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) broke out the news of the martyrdom of the political head of Hamas-Ismail Haniyeh- on Wednesday, I thanked Allaah for his life while beseeching Allaah to grant me a similar end.

Shaykh Ismail Abdus-Salaam Ahmad Haniyeh was martyred alongside one of his bodyguards at his residence in Iranian capital,Tehran while he was in the town to attend Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian's swearing-in-ceremony that came up on Tuesday.

There was an insinuation that the planted sophisticated spyware through a WhatsApp message sent to him by Israeli intelligence to locate his exact position culminated into the incident which amounted to the conclusion of many analysts to put the blame of his death on Israel. Israeli War Room, immediately after his assasination, posted a video on x showing Haniyeh celebrating the October 7 attack on Israeli citizens. The video was captioned: "This was Hamas chief Haniyeh's reaction to the Hamas massacre on October 7, He's not celebrating anymore." In fact in his later broadcast on Wednesday, Netanyahu, Israel Prime Minister, has eventually admitted that they are responsible for the assassination (which in actual sense is martyrdom) of Ismail Haniyeh.

Born in Gaza's 'Al-Shati Refugee Camp 62 years ago, Haniyeh, the exiled Hamas leader who had spent much of his recent years in Qatar, was the face of Hamas and was active in several peace negotiations. He was most famous for being a senior political leader of Hamas. He served as the Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority and continued to wield significant influence in the Gaza Strip, despite his dismissal in 2007.

Reacting to his assasination, Iran threatened Israel as follows: "Be prepared to tell the Zionists what the punishment is for shedding the blood of a guest in our home."

In his address to the nation after the assasination, Iran's Spiritual Leader,, Ayatollah Ali khameinei, said on Wednesday: "In the Name of Allaah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. Indeed we belong to Allaah, and indeed to Him we will return.

Dear people of Iran!

The brave and distinguished fighter, Mr. Ismail Haniyeh, passed away at dawn last night, meeting his Creator, and the vast front of resistance is now in mourning. The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime matyred our dear guest in our home, causing us great sorrow, but they have also paved way for severe punishment for themselves. Martyr Haniyeh held his precious life in the field of a honorable struggle for many years, ready for matyrdom, and had offered his children and loved ones in this path. He had no fear of martyrdom in the way of God and the liberation of God's servants. However, we consider it our duty to seek justice for him in this bitter and painful incident that occured within the Islamic Republic. I extend my condolences to the Islamic Ummah, the resistance front, the brave and proud Palestinian nation, and especially to the family and survivors of Martyr Haniyeh and one of his companions who was martyred with him. I pray to Almighty God for the elevation of their ranks".

Earlier in April, Israeli airstrikes killed three of Haniyeh's sons and four of his grandchildren. Similarly, others like his granddaughter Ruaa Hammam - a medical student, another granddaughter Malak Muhammad, his sons, Hazem, Amir and Muhammad, his sister, Zahe AbdusSalaam Haniyeh aka 'Ummu Nahed' and at least 60 other family members, have been met with similar fate.

His family originally came from occupied Majdal ("Ashkelton"). His parents were driven from their home in the Nakba. He himself was a son of the Nakba, bearing witness to the Israeli atrocities against his friends and family members at just the tender age of five. By his early 20s, he was a soldier of the first intifada and went on to repeatedly endure imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Jewish colonizers.

In 1992, the Jews deported him to Lebanon along with Shaykh Umar Muhammad Daghlas, Shaykh Abdul-Aziiz Ar-Rantisi, Dr. Mahmoud Az-Zahr and some 415 other Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists. It was at this time that he solidified life-changing, history-shifting and the Resistance Axis.

There was a "father and son" relationship between him and the renowned Shaykh Ahmad Yaasin, who personally appointed him to head his office as the Leader of Hamas in 1997.

His hands was badly wounded in an attack which he experienced along with Shaykh Ahmad Yaasin, and was noted for his efforts to concretize Palestinian unity throughout his life, regardless of all the obstacles he faced due to the ongoing collaboration and security coordination with Zionists by the treacherous Palestinian Authority.

He will forever be remembered by his simple words: "We will never recognize "Israel" and for the fact that in all his writings, Israel was always written within an inverted comma.

Russia has denounced and declared the killing of the political leader of the Palestinian movement Hamas as an "unacceptable political assasination".

"It is an unacceptable political assasination, and this will lead to a further escalation of tensions," Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikhail Bogdanov told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

Konstantin Kosachev, the vice-president of Russia's upper house Federation Council, said he expected a "sudden escalation of mutual hatred in the Near East."

"The most difficult period of confrontations is beginning in the region,," he wrote on Telegram. Recall that Russian Foreign Minister, Sergie Lavrov, welcomed Haniyeh to Moscow in September 2022 for discussions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

What would your household say after you? Are they on the same page with you in the Islamic struggle or are you at variant with them? Upon hearing the news of the martyrdom of his father, AbdusSalaam Haniyeh said then that: "My father got what he wished for and we are in a revolution and continuous struggle against the occupation, and the resistance will not end with the assasination of the leadership, and Hamas will continue to resist until liberation. My father felt martyrdom everyday and we are proud of him and hold our heads high."

Ismail Haniyeh had once declared: "We feel the heavy burden and responsibility of the Palestinian cause. The responsibility comes with a price. AND WE ARE READY TO PAY THAT PRICE, MARTYRDOM for the sake of Allah Almighty, then for Palestine and for the dignity of this Ummah."

AlhamduliLlaah Rabbil'aalamiin that at last, he was blessed with the glorious throne of martyrdom. We are saying these after him. What would those who shall outlive you and me say after us?

May Allaah be Merciful to his soul, accept his return as a martyr on his path, overlook his shortcomings, widen his grave, illuminate it with light and Barakah, take good care of the family members and the Jamaa'ah he left behind, and grant us a good end too. Aamiin.

'Ishaaq Muhammad Jaami'u writes from Osogbo-Nigeria.

26th Muharram 1446(1st August 2024).