16th February martyrdom anniversary of Sayyed Abbas Moussawi leader of Hezbullah

Biography of a Martyred Leader Sayyed Abbas Moussawi

The martyrdom of Sayyed Abbas Moussawi is not a matter of coincidence. He did not die of sickness or old age, or due to a mere accident. It was a conspiracy to put an end to his courageous actions, a conspiracy that backfired; He is more alive in his legacy and Martyrdom today than he ever was. The martyrdom of Moussawi is a piercing cry of revolt in the face of the enemy and the tyrants of the world, against anyone who dares think of oppressing!! The birth…The vision It all began with a dream, a vision that inched its way to reality. Sayyed Abbas Moussawi’s mother had a dream one night: A baby given to her on the hands of the Imam Abil Fadel Al Abbas, brother to Imam Hussain (pbuh). The baby was presented as a gift from the Prophet Mohammad’s household “Ahlul Beit”. “This child has been blessed by us,” Abbas says to the mother. …and so, when the mother gave birth to her boy, she named him Abbas. And so, Sayyed Abbas opened his eyes to a life filled with piety and Jihad. Birth He led a life filled with piety and Jihad, a short life in this mortal universe. “Sayyed Abbas” was a descendent of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh), having pure “Hashemi” (belonging to the Prophet) blood in his veins from both mother and father. He wasn’t only Hashemi because of the bloodline of his mother and father, but because he was a prominent letter and a daring, immortal word in the book of the Hashemi bloodline. He was Hashemi in nature that manifested in most of his tendencies, approaches and attitudes. From his childhood he was affectionate with people, fearless in expressing his views; and the pioneering aspect of his personality made him prominent among his peers. He was the committed believer, a young man who inspired his spirit from the holy “Quran”, deeply affected by the tragedy of “Karbala”. Sayyed Abbas Moussawi was aware of his nation’s pains and concerns, namely the biggest of problems: the aggressive occupying entity which was created by the tyrannous power among the people of our land. He knew that things wouldn’t be on the right track as long as that atrocious entity resists. This regional cancerous tumor resulted in the tragedy of separating people from their land. Sayyed Abbas held close the tragedy of the Palestinian people all his life. He joined the rebels of the Palestinian revolution when he was ten years old, attending numerous military Sayyed Abbas2training camps. Then the revolution became an important aspect of his life. He was even wounded in one operation with the revolution comrades, having a leg broken in one of the military training camps to be rushed to the Makased Islamic Hospital. They failed to deter him; it made him even more attached to the soul of sacrifice. Sayyed Abbas realized that he had chosen the thorniest path, yet had the willpower, determination, and the zeal of a committed conscious person; He transformed his deeply-felt revolutionary ideology into doctrine of firm, comprehensive, pious struggle. One of the most prominent points in the life of our martyr was his meeting with Sayyed Moussa Sader in 1968. Sayyed Sader realized back then that he was in the presence of a unique character. Sayyed Abbas Moussawi wore the turban (the dress-code for Muslim religious men) at the age of sixteen after studying at the Hawzah (religious school) in Tyr. He then traveled to Iraq to continue his studies as a student of the supreme leader, martyr Sayyed Mohammed Baqir-ul-Sader in the holy city of Najaf. Noteworthy is the fact that Sayyed Mohammed Baqir-ul- Sader repeatedly said about Sayyed Abbas, “Abbas is a precious part of me”. The First Returning to Lebanon in (1973) His nostalgia and affection for his parents, relatives, and friends compelled Sayyed Abbas to go back to Lebanon in the summer of 1973 after a four years absence to Najaf where he had been tutored by prominent scholars and under the care of the martyr Imam Mohammed Baker Sader. The next time he went to Iraq, he was accompanied by his cousin and his wife Siham Moussawi, later known as Um Yasir. Sayyed Abbas and his family lived in Najaf with a modest income. Sayyed Abbas’s sister recalls how difficult those times were financially on her brother. She recollects that one time, he needed to buy some books for his studies but he did not have the money, so his wife sold her wedding ring to buy them. On another occasion, Sayyed Abbas’s sister, along with his wife, were waiting for him during the Holy month of Ramadan at sunset to get food for making iftaar (breaking the fast), but he came back empty-handed, reminding them of the patience of Sayyida Al-Zahraa and the sorrows of Sayyida Zeinab (pbut). He stressed on the need of being patient. It was when she asked him to get some food that he cried, but continued his speech about the Prophet’s household and their patience. Their hunger did not last long. A cleric who was a friend of the martyr Sayyed Abbas came over, bringing plenty of food. It was a critical period the martyr had experienced along with his wife. Activities of the Martyr in Najaf A man like Sayyed Abbas doesn’t know how to surrender to isolation and laziness, and he wouldn’t allow himself to lay down the banner of piety and the responsibility of jihad. He spent most of his time preaching. During his stay in Iraq, “Sayyed Abbas” enlightened others. He would not stop giving. He was touched by the suffering of the Iraqi people who patiently tolerated the oppression of their rulers. He heartily felt the tragedies of the people he loved and lived with. The martyr was devastated when he heard the shocking news about the tragedy of Jabal Amel (the mountainous terrain of South Lebanon) on the hands of the Zionist regime and its agents. Moussawi was a remarkable and loyal student of the great Imam Khomeini who struggled to establish the Islamic state and who believed that the mission of its establishment lies on the shoulder of clerics wherever they may be. Moussawi was a man of strong principles, a brave approach, and a calm attitude, and he faithfully believed that the afterlife is the outcome of this life. In this world, whoever strives to save humanity must lead the universal procession between right and wrong , and what lies in between is null and void, as Imam Khomeini puts it, for there is no borderline between this life and the afterlife. Sayyed Abbas returned to Lebanon with a mission: the revival of religion, fighting oppression everywhere and anywhere. Sayyed Abbas became the leader of the school of Islamic studies in “Baalbek”. After a while, the school opened its doors to the revolutionary guards who came to Lebanon through a special command from Imam Khomeini to aid the Lebanese people, and to spread the blessed revolution principles so that a world could be built based on respectable principles, and to mobilize people against the Zionist regime and the international tyrannical powers. The presence of the revolutionary guards came like a cup of water that saved the life of this thirsty nation, saving their wishes and hopes. In April 1980, Sayyed Mohammed Baker Sader was assassinated right after he had sent a few letters to Sayyed Abbas. Moussawi had become Sader’s deputy in Lebanon, in the meantime Sayyed Abbas took the dream and ideas of martyrdom and transformed them into an effective willpower. The martyrdom of Sayyed Sader inspired and increased the determination of Sayyed Abbas who, in turn, played an important role in the uprising of the terrified people, encouraging them and repeating to them the words of martyr Sayyed Sader, “The Iraqi Baath party fenced in the Iraqi people with a wall of fear, but I will break through this wall with my blood…”. In 1979, Sayyed Abbas strived to establish an association of Islamic clerics to congregate in Bekaa. The victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran The Islamic banner was meant to keep flying high by men who were not intimidated by either sticks or carrots. It was a far-fetched dream, but it was realized by Imam Khomeini. Sayyed Abbas was in the forefront of the Khomeini procession, and he preserved it with his soul. Jihad against the enemy gained momentum with the help of the brothers in the revolutionary guards in 1982 in a struggle to conquer the myth that “Israel” is not the legend that can’t be defeated. On the contrary, it is a vulnerable entity which is viable to defeat on the hands of the believers in Imam Hussein and demanding the martyrdom. “Hizbullah” was born in Lebanon under those critical circumstances, and it was a blessed dawning aided by the sacred Imam Khomeini. Sayyed Abbas was one of the most prominent founders of the party which occurred under the great suffering induced by the Zionist invasion against Lebanon, in addition to the multinational forces deployment later on. Sayyed Abbas and South Lebanon The south has a special story with the martyr Sayyed Abbas, a story which has been written by the pen of struggle, inked in blood. The suffering of the south was a wound in the heart of “Sayyed Abbas”; that’s why he headed there despite the Zionist invasion in order to preach the teachings of highest ranking Islamic scholar at the time, Imam “Khomeini”. He also spread the elimination of the cancerous tumor “Israel” from their country.

When the barbaric invasion started, Sayyed Abbas left his house in Baalbek and headed for Beirut and then to the south where he met cleric of Jibsheet Sheikh Ragheb Harb, and he passed on to him the “Takliif Sharee” (religious order) ordered by the Imam; that Takliif states that it is every person’s obligation to fight “Israel” everywhere in all means  possible. Therefore, Sayyed accepted that obligation with a faithful Jihadist spirit, and worked to fulfill it, raising his voice loudly to the end of time, “Stance is a weapon; Shaking hands [with the enemy] admission. He never knelt before a ferocious enemy, and he continued like this until he joined the procession of martyrs who scarified themselves in the path to paradise. His martyrdom on 16/02/1984 was a tear in the heart of Sayyed Moussawi, who believed strongly that he himself was meant to be in the martyrs’ convoy, and he had a firm belief that the blood of the Mujahideen would be transformed into striking storms against the enemy. “Sayyed Abbas” headed to the south in 1985 after assuming the responsibility of the consultative council of “Hizbullah” in the south, and he resided in the city of Tyr in a modest house. In 1987, he had to leave the south; however, the south stayed in his heart. “Sayyed” and the uprising of Palestine: Moussawi lived the wounds of Palestine and the sufferings of its people. And when Imam Khomeini called for the commemoration of Al Quds day, Sayyed Abbas lead the demonstration in his military uniform. And when the enemy tried to break up the union between the people of the south and the Palestinians, Sayyed Abbas strived in all his might to bridge the gap, accusing “Israel” and its agents of causing the rivalry. “Al Sayyed” and the concerns of the Muslims The concerns of the “Sayyed” were not restricted to the affairs of the oppressed in Lebanon, and the resistance against the enemy in the south; he was striving to create a union headed by Muslim clerics in the world including the forces that believe in fighting the powers of oppression. Sayyed Abbas, A Secretary General of Hezbullah The martyr “Sayyed Abbas” was elected as Secretary General of Hizbullah in May 1991. His eminence considered this selection an obligation, not prestige. His only concern was that it might keep him away from the concerns of the Mujahideen. When the crowds came to congratulate him, he told them: “Console me, and don’t congratulate me, for I always look forward to being among the fighters and Mujahideen”. Despite the short period that he had spent being a secretary general, a period not exceeding nine months, which ended with his great martyrdom, he was able to make many breakthroughs on numerous social, national, political, educational and informational levels. He worked day and night in order to raise righteousness. He also participated in many conferences, festivals and political, social and cultural meetings. The day of February 16th 1992 became an eternal day, for there was a martyr paying tribute to another martyr. A martyr delivering a speech in the commemoration of another martyr, a Jihadist writing the last line in his Jihad book; he was paying tribute to himself through paying tribute to Sheikh Ragheb Harb. He unleashed the pains of the nation, delivering a comprehensive speech that included his Sayyed Abbas5will. After the speech, Sayyed Abbas took a tour around Jibsheet where he visited the martyrs’ and prisoners’ parents, and then he headed back to Beirut with his wife and their son.

However, the steps of the martyr would take him elsewhere. “Israeli” war helicopters targeted the convoy Sayyed Abbas was in, killing him, his wife, his 6 year-old child, and 2 guards. It is the blood of “Karbala”, renewed to create victory, and the content soul returns to its Lord. The life of the martyr “Sayyed Abbas”: Resistance was the ultimate goal of the martyr “Sayyed” with the pious cloak, and the divine message under the banner of struggle. Sayyed Abbas considered the resistance a necessity to liberate the land and its people from the tyrannical jaws of “Israel”. During the course of his life, Sayyed Abbas always repeated that the resistance is the title of our honor, dignity and wealth, and is, therefore, our basic fortress to withstand oppression.