In a recent TV children's show, aired on the Egyptian Al-Rahma TV, a child preacher, Abd Al-Fattah Marwan, recites the legend of Abu Qudama and the young boy, who died a martyr on the battlefield in the early days of Islam. In the legend, which glorifies Jihad and martyrdom, the boy, Muhammad, is said to have beseeched Abu Qudama to let him join the Jihad against the infidels despite his young age. After shooting three arrows, which killed "three Byzantine soldiers," he died a martyr's death and went to Paradise. There he met his wife-to-be, whose face radiated blinding light and whose beauty was maddening.
In the program, Abd Al-Fattah Marwan – himself a child – recounts that the boy smiled in his sleep when he dreamt that he would be martyred the next day. "My father was martyred last year, and my brother and uncle the year before that," he says. This year, "my mother has presented me as a gift to Allah." Paradise is described in endearing terms, as full of "a scented bouquet of black-eyed virgins" of indescribable beauty.
The mother, upon hearing the news of her son's martyrdom and when her daughter drops dead from shock, praises Allah, "who did not send any offspring of mine to the Hellfire."
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memri.org/legacy/clip/2383.
Also featured is a story about the burial of the boy – in this version called Sa'id – told by Egyptian cleric Sheik Muhammad Nassar to a TV studio audience of spellbound elementary school children. The show aired on the Egyptian Al-Nas TV on June 15, 2006.
To view this clip from the MEMRI TV archives, visit http://www.memri.org/legacy/clip/1185.
For further clips on child indoctrination on TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/subject/en/178.htm.
We Meet to Talk about the Love of Martyrdom
Show host: "Let us begin with our son, Abd Al-Fattah Marwan, who will tell us about the love of martyrdom for the sake of Allah. Can you do this, Abd Al-Fattah?"
Abd Al-Fattah Marwan: "Allah willing. [...]
"We meet today to talk about the love of martyrdom for the sake of Allah. Yes, the love of martyrdom for the sake of Allah... Dearly beloved, Allah said: 'Allah has bought from the believers their lives, their property, because they shall have Paradise. They shall fight for the sake of Allah, and slay and be slain.'
"Dearly beloved, a woman came to [the commander] Abu Qudama Al-Shami holding two braids of her hair, and said: 'Abu Qudama, I cut off two braids of my hair, so that you could make them into reins for your horse, for the sake of Allah. Abu Qudama took the braids from her.
"Abu Qudama says: When we wanted to set out for Jihad the next day, a boy stood in my way, and said: I implore you, in the name of Allah, to take me with you on the Jihad for the sake of Allah. Abu Qudama said: You are but a child, and cannot carry a weapon.
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"My Mother Has Presented Me as a Gift to Allah This Year"
"The boy said: I implore you, in the name of Allah, Abu Qudama. My mother has given me as a gift to Allah. Do not return the gift. Abu Qudama said: I will take you on one condition. The boy said: On what condition? Abu Qudama said: If Allah decrees that you be martyred, you should vouch for me before Allah. The boy said: You got it. I will vouch for you before Allah, if he decrees that I be martyred. [...]
"Abu Qudama says: One day, the boy went to prepare food. He was late coming back, so I went to see that he was safe. I discovered that the boy had lit the fire, placed the pot on it, and fallen asleep next to the fire. I looked at the boy, and saw that he was smiling. Then he smiled some more. Then he began to laugh until he woke up.
"Abu Qudama said: What was that about, boy? The boy said: To Allah we belong, and to Him we return. By Allah, Abu Qudama, my mother considered me [a martyr] next to Allah. My father was martyred last year, and my brother and uncle the year before that. My mother has presented me as a gift to Allah this year.
[...]
"The boy said: While I was asleep, I dreamt that the Resurrection had occurred, and that Allah had ordered me to enter Paradise. The boy continued: When I entered Paradise, I saw a scented bouquet of black-eyed virgins, whose beauty I could never even begin to describe, Abu Qudama. By Allah, I could never even begin to describe their beauty, Abu Qudama.
"One of them looked at me, and said: This is the husband of Al-Mardhiya. I asked her who Al-Mardhiya was, and she said: Don't you know her? I said that I didn't. She said: She is your wife in Paradise. I asked her: Where is Al-Mardhiya? She pointed to one of the palaces of Paradise, and said: In that palace. Go inside, so you can see Al-Mardhiya."
Black-Eyed Virgin in Paradise: We Have a Date Tomorrow
"The boy said: I knocked on the palace door, and went in. I saw a black-eyed virgin. I swear, Abu Qudama, if Allah had not ordained that we should not be blind in [Paradise], I would have become blind from the light radiating from her face. If Allah had not ordained that we should not be blind in Paradise, I would have become blind from the light radiating from her face. If Allah had not ordained that we keep our sanity, I would have gone mad from the intensity of her beauty.
"I asked her: Are you Al-Mardhiya? She said: Yes, my love. I have been raised for you in the palaces of Paradise for the past 500 years. When I tried to touch her with my hand, she said: No. May Allah spare you the disgrace and the depravity. We have a date tomorrow, after the noon prayer, in the Paradise of the All-Merciful God.
"Dearly beloved, Abu Qudama said: At the exact time set by the black-eyed virgin, the boy said to me: By Allah, give me three arrows. I said: You will waste them. The boy said: Allah willing, I won't. The boy took the three arrows and put them in his quiver.
"During the Jihad, he said: 'May God be with you, Abu Qudama,' and he shot one arrow, killing a Byzantine soldier. Then he said it again, shot another arrow, and killed another Byzantine soldier. Then he said it a third time, shot another arrow, and killed a third Byzantine soldier. Then the Byzantines saw him and killed him.
"The boy fell from his horse, and when Abu Qudama saw him, stained with the blood of martyrdom, he dismounted from his horse behind the boy, and said: Boy, don't forget your pledge. The boy said: I will not forget. I will vouch for you before God.
"The boy said: By God, Abu Qudama, I ask you to take this shirt, stained with the blood of martyrdom, and bring it to my mother. Abu Qudama said: Who is your mother, boy? The boy said: My mother is the woman who gave you the two braids. Allahhhhhhh. My mother is the woman who gave you the two braids. Yes, one generation after another was brought up to obey Allah, on glory, and on fighting for the sake of the religion of Allah."
The Mother Said: "Give Me the Good News" that My Son Has Been Martyred
"Abu Qudama said: When the Jihad was over, I went to the village of the boy's mother. The mother said: Give me the good news. Abu Qudama said: By Allah, he died fighting. He died killing three Byzantine soldiers. He killed them and was killed. May Allah's mercy be upon him. He sent you this shirt, stained with the blood of martyrdom, and said: Rejoice, oh mother. Your gift has been accepted, and Al-Mardhiya has been wedded to me in God's Paradise.
"When his sister heard the news, she dropped dead. The mother looked at her daughter and said: Blessed be Allah, who has not sent any offspring of mine to the Hellfire." [...]
The Grave Kept Shuddering and Ejecting the Corpse of the Boy
From the MEMRI TV archives – Al-Nas TV, June 15, 2006:
Egyptian cleric Sheik Muhammad Nassar [telling the story to a group of children of school age]: [...] "They dug a small ditch in the ground like a grave, and they put Sa'id in it, and covered it with earth. Then they began to walk away. All of a sudden, the grave shuddered, and they were frightened. What happened? The grave shuddered and ejected Sa'id. They said: 'Allah be praised, what's going on?' The corpse got out of the grave all by itself. They were amazed, and said: 'Allah be praised.'
"Abu Qudama said to them: 'Wait just a moment. Let's try again. How can we possibly leave his corpse like this?' So they put him into the ground once again, and covered him with earth. After they covered him and began to walk away, the ground shuddered, and threw out the corpse again. They were all frightened, and began to shiver. Allah be praised. Allah Akbar. Then they all stood there in amazement.
"Abu Qudama said: 'We cannot leave him like this. This is my beloved Sa'id. He instructed me to bury him when he dies, and to stay with him, and not to tell his mother anything. I must do it. I must bury Sa'id. I cannot leave him. Bury him again.' So he dug the grave himself, and said: 'My Lord, reveal this thing to us, my Lord. We want to bury him, my Lord.' They put him into the grave again, and began to walk away. Then the earth shuddered once again, and the corpse got out. So they said: 'Allah Akbar. This is Allah's doing.'"
