Stories from Islamic History (12 page)

The imperialists obviously had a
well-disciplined army with superior firepower. But they owed most
of their success to rival chieftains getting cold feet on merely
sighting the enemy. The few who dared to fight were easily
defeated, since both were fighting for this world and the
imperialists were obviously superior. This was the pattern all over
Africa.

Now the situation was different. Mohammed
Ahmed was fighting for the next world, and at this early stage in
his revolution; he had the same pure faith, courage and conviction
in his beliefs as the
salaf
- that his supplications would
be answered and angels would fight by his side. More and more
tribes flocked under Mohammed Ahmed.

***

The wait for the Mahdi, who would restore
Islam and end corruption, oppression and injustice started thirty
years after the death of Prophet Mohammed, may Allah bless him, and
grant him peace. Abdullahi, the shrewd operator that he was knew
the only way to end the centuries old blood feud amongst the tribes
and rally them under the banner of Mohammed Ahmed on a prolonged
basis was to proclaim Mohammed Ahmed as the Mahdi, and this he did.
The wedge shaped gap in his tooth was taken as a sign of
divinity.

On being presented the signs, Mohammed Ahmed,
well-intentioned as he was began to think that perhaps Allah had
placed him as the Mahdi after all. Thus the kingdom of Sudan became
the “mahdia,” and the followers “ansars.” Within no time all Sudan
except the fortified garrison at Khartoum became “mahdia” land.

***

General Hicks set out from Khartoum, but even
before he reached the battle-field, his native foot-soldiers, whom
he so brilliantly played off against each other till this time
crossed over and gave the
bayah
to the Mahdi. The battle was
a mere formality. Those who remained with General Hicks were
mercilessly cut into pieces.

London had the sense to realize Sudan was a
lost cause and send General Chinese Gordon to complete the
evacuation purpose.

The Mahdi made an offer to the newly arrived
Gordon – surrender, leave all the wealth behind and secure a
passage to Cairo. Considering the circumstances, the offer seemed
irresistible to everyone inside the garrison – everyone except
Gordon, and it was Gordon’s say which mattered.

Gordon decided to stay put, awaiting a relief
force to fight their way back with their hoarded wealth. In the
meantime, he began unleashing a reign of terror on the natives -
what in his view was justice.

Very soon, the Mahdi besieged Khartoum with
all his might. The Nile was blockaded and telegraph lines cut.

Khartoum was surrounded by Nile on three
sides. The open desert day on the only landwards side, and Gordon
still had enough ammunition and native guinea pigs as the first
line of defense.

***

The Nile was flooded and the Mahdi knew it
would be atleast six more months before the waters would ebb and
the city could be taken. But by then relief steamers, already
enroute from Cairo would carry the white man to safety, and the
last of the natives in Khartoum would be dead.

The Mahdi heard out the remaining few who had
similar heart wrenching things to tell. It was time now for the
Friday
khutabah
. He went into the open courtyard, entered
the pulpit and started his
khutabah
.

He started with an
ayah
of Sura
Al-Imran:

“Every soul shall have a
taste of death. And on the Day of Judgment shall you be paid your
full recompense. Only he who is saved far from the fire and
admitted to the garden (of paradise) will have attained the
objective of Life, for life in this world is but goods and chattels
of deception.
”

He continued by recounting a sermon delivered
by Abdullah ibn Mas’ood, the famous companion of the Prophet, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace.

"Surely the most truthful speech is that of
the Quran, the Book of Allah; and the best of covenants and bonds
are an expression of piety; the best of persuasions is that of
Ibrahim, peace be upon him, and the best of traditions are those of
Mohammad, may Allah bless him, and grant him peace. The most noble
and exalted of speeches and conversations is to talk about Allah
the Most High; the best and most truthful of stories are told in
the Quran; the worth of a good deed will show at the end, and the
most evil of deeds are innovations; to have less of what satisfies
one's needs is better than to have aplenty one cannot compass or
control; the worst self-blaming is sorrow when death comes to seize
the person, and the worst grief is to have regret on the Day of
Judgment…."

If this
khutabah
made a deep appeal on
the masses, it pierced the heart of Osman of Beja, leader of a
powerful Arab tribe. He had come to Ombdurmann on the Mahdi’s
invitation, but his real purpose was to spy for the white man. He
earned a lucrative income by granting trading rights and acres of
plantation to the settlers in his
sheikh
dom bordering
Abyssinia. He immediately went forward and gave the
bayah
to
the Mahdi.

Soon, news arrived of a series of British
columns advancing from Cairo, the first one having already reached
Abu Klea, a strategic oasis before the Nile crossing halfway
between Cairo and Khartoum.

The Mahdi asked for volunteers for
jihad
.

The entire assemblage raised their hands, but
in the end two of the finest chieftains – Osman of Beja and Salida
were chosen to lead the
jihad
. Abdullahi and the Mahdi would
stay back in Ombdurmann and continue the siege.

***

The battle lines were drawn at Abu Klea, the
desert Oasis some miles before the Nile. The British broke camp and
rode out in their traditional orderly square formation. They moved
deliberately into the mouth of the defile, no gaps appearing in
their lines. Their discipline and precision was chilling, even to
men like Osman and Salida.

Osman and Salida were men of contrasts. The
former was a student of knowledge, the breed willing to sacrifice
and work hard to attain the desired goal – and in this fact he was
no different from the British.

“I will not leave them for the desert”
declared Salida. “We will destroy them with the sword”.

Osman instinctively knew the battle was
lost.

The
salaf
under the command of Sad bin
Abi Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with them once walked over the
flooded Tigris at Midan against the Persians. Seeing this, the
terrified Persians ran away saying “
Divana” “Divana
” we are
not fighting humans.

But those were the ones who practiced pure
religion, had full faith in Allah and were ready to accept only two
outcomes – victory or death. The likes of Salida professed such,
but deep down, they loved life of the world and luxuries that came
with it, as manifested by the tough breed horses, opulent palaces,
lavish ceremonies, desire for fame and the like. Moreover the
religion of Prophet Mohammed, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace was different from the religion of Salida, though the latter
claimed to be waging
jihad
on behalf of the former’s
religion. Prophet Mohammed’s religion did not know blood feuds,
clans, fighting for war booty and prestige, difference between
Arabs and Africans, luxuries for the leader and hardship or the
foot-soldiers and likewise. Though the “mahdia” professed and
promised such a
khilafat
, it could never really eradicate
the established customs of the land.

The British rode on through the narrow neck
of the pass and the sides opened like the jaws of a monster on each
side of them. The sergeant rode down to the ranks to redress
them

“Close up on the right!”

“Keep your spacing in the ranks!”

“Wheel into the line of the left!”

Within minutes the integrity of the square
was restored. The corners were at meticulous right angles and the
spacing precise. The lines of bayonets glittered in relentless
sunlight, and faces of the waiting men were ruddy with sweat, but
not one unhooked a water bottle from his webbing.

In was this organized square that Salida’s
tribal hordes, wasting energy war drums and other unnecessary
gimmicks, tried to break. The massacre would have been complete had
Osman not entered the fray when Salida and his men were being
decimated.

In matters of wine, women, palaces and the
like Osman was no different from Salida. However he was a
pragmatist. He knew that keeping aloof from what did not concern
him was a part of faith, and as such did not waste time or
undertake anything unnecessary, and that was a good beginning. He
also knew “Allah loves someone, who when they do something do it
well.”

Even before, if any European had ticked him
off, and there were many, he would pardon him off in exchange for
teaching him something. In all Sudan, he was the only one who knew
about the existence of locomotives, gunpowder and the like.

Osman had hoped to tire out the enemy in the
deserts by blocking off the wells and the passage to Nile. It would
only be a matter of time before water ran out and the waiting
hordes could pounce on the thirsty and dehydrated British soldiers.
At that time, no threats of court martial would have worked to
restore discipline in British ranks. This was what a vastly
under-armored Salauddin Ayyubi, may Allah have mercy on him did to
the Crusaders, and he attained big time success.

Osman entered the battle and broke the square
not with the objective of killing off the enemy, but to inflict
maximum damage to their stores and armory. In this he succeeded,
and just as the square was closing in, he retreated.

By this time Salida and most of his soldiers
has passed into the life of barzakh, about which only Allah
knows.

Gordon’s streamers were waiting at the Nile,
but Charles Wilson and his troops had to reach the Nile first, and
Osman was waiting. The few of Salida’s soldiers who survived joined
Osman’s banner, hungry for revenge for their fallen brothers,
uncles, nephews, sons and others. The British still had another two
hours to go before reaching Metemma on the Nile when Osman decided
it was time for battle again. The British camels were exhausted and
could go forth no longer. The only way for them was to leave the
wounded and make a run for the last leg.

Osman’s troops took their time in coming, but
when they came it was as if Gog and Magog had truly broken out. The
British still had superior firepower and better discipline, but
against overwhelming odds, led by a shrewd tactician it was not
enough. Charles Wilson himself survived only because Osman didn’t
wait to complete the extermination. Time was a precious commodity,
and so were the lives of his followers. He had already lost some of
his best during the earlier attack on the square. He had done
enough to prevent the advance of the relief column to Khartoum. Any
further delay meant risk of some other column further up the Nile
advancing. He had a job in hand, and that was the take over of
Khartoum.

Before Osman returned to Khartoum, he did one
ruse. He wrote a letter to the Mahdi

“
Bismillahi Rahmani Raheem
Praise be
to our beloved Prophet Mohammed and his Mahdi (may Allah’s peace
and blessings be upon both!). All is lost. My shame and sadness is
a great rock in my belly, for the infidel devils has prevailed in
battle against us. Emir Salida is dead, and his division destroyed.
The infidel has reached the Nile at Metemma. I am returning in all
haste with my division to Omdurmann. Pray for us, holy and mighty
Mahdi.”

He tied the message to the pigeon and sent
it. He knew for sure that the British garrison in Khartoum was
intercepting their pigeon-mails, and sure enough this happened.

The mood in Khartoum, hitherto grim, erupted
into gaiety. Stored up liquor was thrown open and the night was
spent in partying and bursting of crackers all round. The defenses
were relaxed.

All this while, Osman was steadily advancing
from Metemma.

Back in Metemma, Charles Wilson managed to
chase away the mad few who stood back to complete the revenge. He
however found his strength badly decimated to make an advance to
Khartoum before the next relief arrived from Cairo.

Osman entered Ombdurmann unnoticed. He found
the mood somber and despondent. The trickle to enter the city was
reversed, and people packed their camels, preparing a retreat to El
Obeid.

“The ruse has worked” he thought.

Osman wasted no time. From what he knew,
previous attempts at Khartoum failed primarily because war cry gave
advance notice to the enemy, and the huge mass of dead bodies at
the first line, resultant from the enemy firepower, acted as an
additional barrier for the second wave.

Osman returned to camp and gathered fifty of
his most trusted and able soldiers, and just before dawn crossed
the river by stealth. He had spent the night studying from those
who had been to Khartoum the strategic locations of defense.

Before anyone knew it, all such positions
were taken. The customs warehouse and the infantry barracks came
next. The slaughter was swift, silent and total.

Simultaneous with the adhan for fajr at
Ombdurmann, the rest of Osman’s army, in their traditional war cry
swarmed upon the city.

Charles Gordon, awoken from his slumber gave
orders to repulse the “dervishes.” Instead of the sound of army
boots marching forth, it was the face of Osman that greeted
him.

Osman did not waste time in frivolities. He
immediately sliced off Gordon’s head and sent it to the Mahdi.

Two days later Charles Wilson’s steamers
reached Khartoum. All it took was a single cannon shot to rupture
the hull of the lead steamer. Wilson decided enough was enough and
returned to Cairo post haste.