'Echoes' of Musaylimah
 Posted on 8/16/2006
By: Ahmed Al-Jarallah

THE Arab world is cursed with leaders who are filled with jealousy and hatred, and conspire against their brothers and neighbors. In the initial days of Islam, Arabs were cursed with a liar called Musaylimah Al-Kazzab, who claimed to be a prophet. He married a beautiful woman named Sujah Bent Al-Hareth, who also claimed to be a prophet.

When Musaylimah was unable to wake up in time to perform Al-Fajr prayer after spending his first night with his new wife Sujah, the first thing he did was to cancel the Al-Fajr prayer. Musaylimah went on to mislead Muslims until the great Khalid bin Al-Waleed led a campaign against the liar and ended his series of disputes and lies.

Syria President Dr Bashar Al-Assad's recent speech, which was delivered to the Arab Journalists Association Conference, was so shallow and childish that it reminded us of the speeches of Musaylimah, who was keen to create disputes and wars between people. Al-Assad's speech had nothing to do with politics. The sole purpose of his speech was to export disputes to Lebanon and take revenge on the Lebanese for kicking Syrian troops out of their country.

Al-Assad's speech, which was based on illusionary conclusions, can only be pitied. The Syrian President claimed Israeli aggression was aimed at rescuing the March 14th Forces and launched an unethical and childish attack against the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak calling them "fake and decorative leaders."

During his speech Al-Assad mentioned historical Arab heroes like the Mujahideen, who fought against the occupation. The Syrian President may have wanted to compare the heroic resistance of Mujahideen with the reckless stunt of Hezbollah. However, he has forgotten the fact that these heroes were backed by their people and legitimate leadership, who sought freedom and independence. On the contrary Hezbollah has wasted innocent lives and destroyed the infrastructure and cities of Lebanon to serve foreign interests.

Al-Assad has allowed himself to steal Hezbollah's achievements, if there were any. By claiming "although peace is a strategic option it does not mean we should abandon the principles of resistance" and "resistance, in all its aspects, is the alternative to regain our rights when negotiations fail," Al-Assad has removed the mask from his face. Maybe he has forgotten that Golan Heights is still under Israeli occupation and he prefers to negotiate this issue. When he blamed Arab leaders for not backing the resistance in Lebanon, maybe Al-Assad forgot that as an Arab leader himself he must resist the Israeli occupation of Golan Heights.
Al-Assad believes the invincibility of Israel has been shattered in the war. If so why doesn't Syria complete Hezbollah's adventure by defeating Israel once and for all.

The Arab world won't fall for Al-Assad's plots and tricks because none of the Arab counties will respond to his speech. May Almighty Allah bless the soul of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri because it appears Al-Hariri's ghost is haunting Al-Assad forcing him to deliver such childish speeches, which are far from politics.

e-mail: ahmedjarallah@hotmail.com