Fatimah Martryed In Abu Ghraib Prision In Resistance Attack That Takes Heavy US Toll

Jan 10, 2005

By Muhammad Abu Nasr, Free Arab Voice and Omar Al-Faris JUS; Published In Arabic By Islam Memo

Resistance forces fired a rocket barrage at the US Abu Ghraib prison camp west of Baghdad. A correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam in Baghdad said that the attack took place at 1am Friday and that a variety of rockets, including the powerful Ababil and the Grad were used in barrage that lasted more than 15 minutes.

The barrage left four Iraqis dead, as well as the Iraqi woman prisoner known as Fatimah whose letter, smuggled out of the prison two weeks ago, sent shock waves around the Muslim world outrages as it disclosed many horrid details of US forces gang raping female prisoners and regularly perpetrating other abuses e against the prisoners in the ill-reputed facility. Friday’s barrage also severely wounded another 22-year old Iraqi woman.

An Iraqi who works at the Abu Ghraib prison camp told Mafkarat al-Islam that more than 68 US troops were killed in the bombardment as that the rockets specifically struck their barracks. But just one night before the attack, the Americans had moved more than 500 Iraqi prisoners to the east side of the prison, resulting in the death of many of them.

Allawi police brought the body of Fatimah to her home in the adh-Dhahab al-Abyad village in the Abu Ghraib area, 45 km east of Fallujah. The correspondent wrote that because of the family’s psychological condition at the time, he was unable to interview them. Their neighbor, however, spoke to the reporter.

Fatimah’s eldest brother, who is one of the mujahideen whom the occupation forces are searching for, spoke in the mosque Thursday at the nighttime prayer said “Praise be to God” with tears in his eyes. Everyone in the mosque witnessed him saying ‘Oh God take her soul! Oh God this is a shame so please cleanse it! You are the All-Powerful! You are the All-Powerful! You are the All-Powerful!’ Then after the prayer, one of the worshippers came up to him and remonstrated him for saying, ‘Oh God this is a shame so please cleanse it!’ The man told him, ‘Say rather, this is an honor, so raise it up and honor it. It is we about whom the word shame should be used, not Fatimah. She is the most honorable, purest, and cleanest of girls. I ask you for her hand in marriage after she gets out of prison, God willing.’”

The neighbor went on, saying, “Fatimah’s brother and his fighting detachment carried out more than 50 rocket attacks on the prison before and after her letter came out. Every day they would hunt down a car or two belonging to the occupation forces. His name became famous among them in this area, as famous as that of al-Zarqawi.”

The neighbor’s wife told the correspondent, “a month before her arrest Fatimah distributed candy and ‘brides’ fingers’ an famous Iraqi folk delicacy to the people on her street because she finished memorizing 13 of the 30 sections of the Qur’an. She told the women, “after memorizing Surat al-Baqarah, the rest of the Qur’an is easy to memorize. Give me three more months and you’ll see who’s better, me or Shaykh Khalid.’” (Shaykh Khalid is the imam of the mosque in the neighborhood where Fatimah lives.)

The neighbor wife says of Fatimah: “she used to be shy about everything. I remember once she was with the women at a wedding party for one of the local young people, and the other girls all asked her to take off her veil because there weren’t any men around, but she refused to, because she was so shy.”

Fatimah’s funeral took place at 1pm today, Friday, the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported, to the sound of exultant cries of Allahu akbar! [God is greatest!] and the Muslim creed “there is no god but God!” Fatimah’s brothers and father were not there for the funeral, however, because they are all wanted by the occupation forces, and the Americans surrounded the whole area of funeral - from Fatimah’s home to the cemetery - and kept everyone under close surveillance.

The medical report concluded that Fatimah was struck fatally in the head during the bombardment. The blow killed her instantly.

At the time the correspondent sent his report at 8:30pm Friday, Mecca time, white flags - the sign of a martyr, were flying over the Fatimah’s house. Local people stayed in the house to receive condolences from mourners on behalf of the family. It was as if Fatimah were saying from her grave to all the mourners:

How can you find sweetness when life is bitter?
How can you find pleasure when humanity is enraged?
If your desire is true then everything [else] is insignificant,
And everything on the dust is but dust.

Fatimah lies in the al-Karakh Islamic cemetery west of Baghdad. The mourners put a date palm frond on her grave so that she might remain in people’s memory even as the hot daytime sun dries up the palm leaves.

In case you missed it, here is Fatimah’s original letter, smuggled out of Abu Grhaib and published throughout Muslim press and on JUS December 18, 2004. the letter speaks for itself.

Fatimah’s Letter

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Mercy-giving. “Say He is God the One; God the Source [of everything]; Not has He fathered, nor has He been fathered; nor is anything comparable to Him.” [Qur’an, Surat 112 “al-Ikhlas”]

I chose this noble Surah from the Book of God because it has the greatest impact on me and on all of you and it strikes a particular kind of awe in the hearts of Believers.

My Mujahideen brothers in the path of God! What can I say to you? I say to you: our wombs have been filled with the children of fornication by those sons of apes and pigs who raped us. Or I could tell you that they have defaced our bodies, spit in our faces, and tore up the little copies of the Qur’an that hung around our necks? God is greatest! Can you not comprehend our situation? Is it true that you do not know what is happening to us? We are your sisters. God will be calling you to account [about this] tomorrow.

By God, we have not passed one night since we have been in prison without one of the apes and pigs jumping down upon us to rip our bodies apart with his overweening lust. And we are the ones who had guarded our virginity out of fear of God. Fear God! Kill us along with them! Destroy us along with them! Don’t leave us here to let them get pleasure from raping us! It will be an act to ennoble the Throne of Almighty God. Fear God regarding us! Leave their tanks and aircraft outside. Come at us here in the prison of Abu Ghraib.

I am your sister in God (Fatimah). They raped me on one day more than nine times. Can you comprehend? Imagine one of your sisters being raped. Why can’t you all imagine it, as I am your sister. With me are 13 girls, all unmarried. All have been raped before the eyes and ears of everyone.

They won’t let us pray. They took our clothes and won’t let us get dressed. As I write this letter one of the girls has committed suicide. She was savagely raped. A soldier hit her on her chest and thigh after raping her. He subjected her to unbelievable torture. She beat her head against the wall of the cell until she died, for she couldn’t take any more, even though suicide is forbidden in Islam. But I excuse that girl. I have hope that God will forgive her, because He is the Most Merciful of all.

Brothers, I tell you again, fear God! Kill us with them so that we might be at peace. Help! Help! Help! [WaMu‘tasimah!].

This letter is ended, but the sufferings of the one who wrote it and the sufferings of her sisters along with her have not ended!!

Alhamdulilah, Fatimah’s suffering has indeed now ended. May Allah accept her among the true martyrs. Ameen.

¶ 9:03 PM

 lanallah said...
inna ilayhi wa inna ilayhi raji'oon

I have heard in a lecture today that in today's dark and troubled times we should turn to the advice of our beloved Nabi (Sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam)given to a Sahabi that asked for some counsel - and that is ( something to the effect) to increase our Taqwa and fear of Allah, and to recite and be close to the Holy Qur'aan

may Allah guide us all , ameen  

 lanallah said...
As Salaamu Alaikum

Definately...let us sincerely take refuge in ALLAH and we can never go wrong.

May ALLAH protect us all always.Ameen.  

 lanallah said...
As salaamualaikum

after reading the post on memorising the Qur'an first I decided it would be better if it was verified by a reputable scholar before being published.Not that it was wrong,but just to make sure everything is authentic and unambiguious InshAllah.

Was Salaam  

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