On September 27, 2024, the Israeli Air Force dropped in one night up to three times as many bunker-buster bombs the United States military used in its entire 2003 invasion of Iraq. i With the usual disregard for international law and a deep-seated desire to destroy civilian lives, Israeli jets blasted through Beirut and pounded four high-rise buildings in order to accomplish their goal of assassinating Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who “has been described as the “personification of Hezbollah”, the group he built over more than three decades which is highly organized and remains determined to continue standing up to Israel.” ii
While United States President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brand the late Sayyed Nasrallah as a terrorist, freedom-loving people across the globe regard him as “The Man Who Beat ISIS and Saved Christians,” iii noting that under his leadership, Hezbollah helped to defeat ISIS & Al-Qaeda, protected Christians, and fought against Israeli colonialism & military occupation. iv
So, who, exactly, is Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and what was the motivating force that made him who he was? Although history is replete with names of revolutionary leaders who impacted people’s lives, what distinctly separates the late Sayyed Nasrallah from the rest is his worldview that goes beyond time and spatial confines, and is based on the true nature of man that is wired with love of truth and justice. As a sincere follower of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Ruhollah Khomeini, and the present leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, Sayyed Nasrallah was practically aware of God’s great presence and, thus, was never intimidated by any worldly power. Equipped with such certainty of faith that gave him wisdom and the vision to comprehend reality, Sayyed Nasrallah was a thorn in the eyes of hegemonic America which is hellbent on maintaining control all over the world through its shock and awe policy, carried out by both overt and covert terror creations like Israel, ISIS, Al Qaeda and other mercenary groups.
Obsessive about the success of the Israeli project which aims to ethnically cleanse Palestine and eventually annex the other neighboring Arab countries, the West, spearheaded by the United States, found a formidable enemy in the person of Sayyed Nasrallah as he faithfully towed the line of Imam Khomeini who made the issue of Palestine a priority in his policy of helping the oppressed and safeguarding the sanctities of religion. Schooled in Imam Khomeini’s thoughts that reflected genuine Islam, Sayyed Nasrallah understood the enemy’s divide-and-rule policy, thwarting the enemies’ efforts in creating discord along sectarian lines. And thus, up to his last breath, Sayyed Nasrallah was planning on how to free Palestine from the clutches of the demonic Western forces.
Going through the anecdotes on the life of Sayyed Nasrallah would make one realize that his life was a testament to his faithful service to the cause of Imam Hussain (AS), the grandson of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who stood up for truth and justice. Looking death in the eye with no fear or trepidation that manifested his dedication to please his Lord with the hope of meeting Him, it sufficed to say that the martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah emulated Imam Hussain’s resolve in Karbala which can be attributed to his grasp of reality. In his final letter to his brother, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, Imam Hussain wrote, “In the end, it is as if the world
(Dunya) never happened, and the afterlife is all there ever was.” v
iii – Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy Report. https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/09/29/hezbollah-nasrallahlebanon-israel-colonialism/
iv – Ibid.
v – From a video clip of Sheikh Hussain Makke.
By: Zainab Javier, Secretary of the Association of Elite Women of the Philippines and Iran
