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as soon as possible in cases where the prisoner complains of ill treatment the arab will have no right to any reward 36 when asked what the reward was for a severed french head the emir replied twentyfive blows of the baton on the soles of the feet one understands why general bugeaud governor general of algeria referred to the emir not only as a man of genius whom history should place alongside jugurtha but also as a kind of prophet the hope of all fervent muslims 37 when he was finally defeated and brought to france before being exiled to damascus the emir received hundreds of french admirers who had heard of his bravery and his nobility the visitors by whom he was most deeply touched though were french officers who came to thank him for the treatment they received at his hands when they were his prisoners in algeria 38 one should note carefully the extraordinary care shown by the emir for his french prisoners not only did he ensure that they were protected against violent reprisals on the part of outraged tribesmen seeking to avenge loved ones who had been brutally killed by the french he also manifested concern for their spiritual well being a christian priest was invited by him to minister to the religious needs of his prisoners in a letter to dupuch bishop of algeria with whom he had entered into negotiations regarding prisoners generally he wrote send a priest to my camp he will lack nothing 39 likewise as regards female prisoners he exercised the most sensitive treatment having them placed under the protective care of his mother lodging them in a tent permanently guarded against any would be molesters 40 it is hardly surprising that some of these prisoners of war embraced islam while others once they were freed sought to remain with the emir and serve under him 41 the emir s humane treatment of french prisoners was kept secret from the french forces had it leaked out the result would have been devastating for the morale of the french forces who had been told that they were fighting a war for the sake of civilization and that their adversaries were barbarians as colonel gery confided in the bishop of algeria we are obliged to try as hard as we can to hide these things the treatment accorded french prisoners by the emir from our soldiers for if they so much as suspected such things they would not hasten with such fury against abd el kader 42 over one hundred years before the signing of the geneva conventions the emir demonstrated the meaning not only of the rights of prisoners of war but also of the innate and inalienable dignity of the human being whatever his or her religion also highly relevant to our theme is the emir s famous defense of the christians in damascus in 1860 now defeated and in exile the emir spent his time in prayer contemplation and instruction in the finer points of the faith when civil war broke out between the druzes and the christians in lebanon the emir heard that there were signs of an impending attack on the christians of damascus he wrote letters to all the druze shaykhs requesting them not to make offensive movements against a place with the inhabitants of which you have never before been at enmity here we have an expression of the cardinal principle of warfare in islam never to initiate hostilities and fight in the way of god those who fight you but do not commit aggression god loveth not the aggressors 43 the emir s letters proved to no avail when the druzes whose numbers were now swelled by members of the damascus mob were approaching the christian quarters of the city the emir confronted them urging them to observe the rules of religion and of human justice what they shouted you the great slayer of christians are you come out to prevent us from slaying them in our turn away if i slew the christians he shouted in reply it was ever in accordance with our law the christians who had declared war against me and were arrayed in arms against our faith 44 this had no effect upon the mob as the turkish authorities stood by either unable or unwilling to intervene the christian quarters were mercilessly attacked and many christians were killed the emir and his band of maghrebi followers sought out the terrified christians giving them refuge in the emir s home news of this spread and on the morning of the 10th of july an angry crowd gathered outside the emir s house demanding that he hand over the christians alone he went out to confront them and fearlessly addressed them thus o my brothers your conduct is impious how low have you fallen for i see muslims covering themselves with the blood of women and children has god not said he who killeth a single soul it is as if he hath killed the whole of humanity qur an 5 32 has he not also said there is no compulsion in religion the right way is clearly distinguished from error qur an 2 256 this only enraged the mob further the leaders of the crowd replied to him o holy warrior we do not need your advice why are you interfering in our affairs you who used to fight the christians how can you oppose our avenging their insults disbeliever deliver up those you have hidden in your house otherwise we will strike you with the same punishment we have meted out to the disbelievers we will reunite you with your brothers further words were exchanged the emir retorting i did not fight christians i fought the aggressors who called themselves christians the anger of the mob increased and at this point the tone of the emir changed his eyes flashed with anger and he sensed the possibility of battle for the first time since he had left algeria he hurled one last warning to the crowd saying that the christians were his guests and that for as long as one of his valiant maghrebi soldiers lived the christians would not be handed over then addressing his own men he said and you my maghrebis may your hearts rejoice for i call god to witness we are going to fight for a cause as holy as that for which we fought before the mob dispersed and fled in fear 45 one should note carefully the words of the emir to his own men preparing them to lay down their lives for the christians he says that this act of defense is as holy as the war we fought to defend our homes and families against the french colonialists in algeria one fights for what is right not only for our rights whether as individuals or as members of a family tribe or even religion the principles of the religion take priority over those who call themselves muslim and these principles apply in all circumstances and most urgently when such people act unjustly his action together with the fact that he calls god to witness must be seen as a graphic response to and thus commentary upon the call made in the following verse from the qur an o ye who believe stand up for justice as witnesses to god even against your own souls or your parents or your kin whether rich or poor for god protecteth both follow not passion lest ye deviate 46 the emir then sent two hundred of his men to various parts of the christian quarters to find as many christians as they could he also offered fifty piastres to anyone who brought to him a christian alive his mission continued thus for five days and nights during which he neither slept nor rested as the numbers swelled to several thousand the emir escorted them all to the citadel of the city it is estimated that in the end no less than fifteen thousand christians were saved by the emir in this action and it is important to note that in this number were included all the ambassadors and consuls of the european powers together with their families as charles henry churchill his biographer prosaically puts it just a few years after the event all the representatives of the christian powers then residing in damascus without one single exception had owed their lives to him strange and unparalleled destiny an arab had thrown his guardian aegis over the outraged majesty of europe a descendant of the prophet had sheltered and protected the spouse of christ 47 the emir received the highest possible medals and honors from all the leading western powers the french consul himself representative of the state that was still very much in the process of colonizing the emir s homeland owed his life to the emir for this true warrior of islam there was no bitterness resentment or revenge only the duty to protect the innocent and all the people of the book who lived peacefully within the lands of islam it is difficult to conceive of a greater contrast between the emir s conduct and the present self styled mujahideen who indiscriminately portray the west as the enemy tout court and perpetrate correspondingly unjust acts against innocent westerners the emir s action exemplifies well the qur anic verse god forbiddeth you not from dealing kindly and justly with those who fought not against you on account of your religion nor drove you out of your homes truly god loveth those who are just 48 when the bishop of algiers louis pavy commended the emir s actions the latter replied the good that we did to the christians was what we were obliged to do out of fidelity to islamic law and out of respect for the rights of humanity for all creatures are the family of god and those most beloved of god are those who are most beneficial to his family then follows this passage which is clearly rooted in the universality of the qur anic message and the ontological imperative of mercy that is its ineluctable concomitant the practical import of this universality and this mercy is expressed dramatically by the courage of the emir in his unwavering fidelity to these principles these are not mere words but ultimate spiritual values for which one must be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice if necessary all the religions brought by the prophets from adam to muhammad rest upon two principles the exaltation of god most high and compassion for his creatures apart from these two principles there are but ramifications the divergences of which are without importance and the law of muhammad is among all doctrines that which shows itself most attached to and most respectful of compassion and mercy but those who belong to the religion of muhammad have caused it to deviate that is why god has caused them to lose their way the recompense has been of the same nature as the fault 49 what we are given here is a concise and irrefutable diagnosis of the contemporary malaise within the islamic world since the compassion that is so central to this great religion has been subordinated to anger and bitterness the mercy of god has been withdrawn from those who have caused it to deviate this is in accordance with the wellknown saying of the prophet he who shows no mercy will not have mercy shown him man lam yarḥam lam yurḥam as well as with this verse of the qur an in their hearts is a disease so god increased their disease 50 this disease of hard heartedness needs to be accurately diagnosed and if we are to take seriously the greatest warriors of our recent past a key ingredient of the remedy is universal compassion it is interesting to note that another great warrior of islam imam shamīl of dagestan hero of the wars against russian imperialism 51 wrote a letter to the emir when he heard of his defense of the christians he praised the emir for his noble act thanking god that there were still muslims who behaved according to the spiritual ideals of islam know that when my ear was struck with that which is detestable to hear and odious to human nature i allude to the recent events in damascus concerning the muslims and the christians in which the former pursued a path unworthy of the followers of islam a veil was cast over my soul i cried to myself corruption has appeared on the earth and at sea because of what men s hands have wrought qur an 30 41 i was astonished at the blindness of the functionaries who have plunged into such excesses forgetful of the words of the prophet peace be upon him whoever shall be unjust towards a tributary 52 whoever shall do him wrong whoever shall deprive him of anything without his own consent it is i who will be the accuser on the day of judgement ah what sublime words but when i was informed that you have sheltered the tributaries beneath the wings of goodness and compassion that you had opposed the men who militated against the will of god most high i praised you as god most high will praise you on the day when neither their wealth nor their children avail qur an 3 10 in reality you have put into practice the words of the great apostle of god most high bearing witness to compassion for his humble creatures and you have set up a barrier against those who would reject his great example may god preserve us from those who transgress his laws 53 in response to this letter the emir wrote the following which expresses so well the situation prevailing to an even more parlous degree in our own times when we think how few men of real religion there are how small the number of defenders and champions of the truth when one sees ignorant persons imagining that the principle of islam is hardness severity extravagance and barbarity it is time to repeat these words patience is beautiful and god is the source of all succour ṣabr jamīl wallāhul mustaʿān qur an 12 18 54 the patience and compassion advocated by these warriors is far from sentimental defeatism nor is it simply making a virtue out of a necessity it stems from the very values that motivated them to fight against aggression in the first place values embedded in the subtle spirit of islam values of rigor combined with gentleness strength and compassion resolution and resignation all such complementary qualities being rooted in the polarity within the divine nature itself jalāl majesty and jamāl beauty 55 if a warrior deprived of his jalālī qualities loses his virility one who smothers his jamālī qualities loses his humanity let us also bear in mind that within the sufi tradition to which both the emir and imam shamīl belonged spiritual realization cannot but result in compassionate radiance realization of the absolute is inescapably radiation of mercy since as we noted above mercy and compassion are of the essence of the real 56 if compassion in the fullest sense thus flows from realization this realization itself is the fruit of victory in the greater jihad to which we now turn notes 32 qur an 5 8 33 cited in w b quandt revolution and political leadership algeria 1954 68 cambridge ma mit press 1969 4 34 see roger garaudy un dialogue pour les civilisations paris denoël 1977 54 65 for this and many other official accounts of such atrocities this is cited from rashid messaoudi algerian french relations 1830 1991 in algeria revolution revisited ed reza shah kazemi london islamic world report 1997 6 46 35 ibid 10 36 see mohamed chérif sahli abdelkader le chevalier de la foi algiers entreprise algérienne de presse 1967 131 2 see also our essay from sufism to terrorism the distortion of islam...