Saddam and a Rat!!

By Mohammad Asghar

A few esteemed writers I know have compared Saddam Hussein of Iraq with a rat. Saddam's comparison with a rat developed from his hiding in a so-called foxhole as well as from his ignominious surrender to the American forces in Iraq a couple of days ago. .

While comparing Saddam with, or calling him a rat, our learned writers have overlooked an important aspect of his belief: He was, in fact, replicating what the Holy Prophet of Islam and his Companion Abu Baker had done at the time of their flight from Mecca to Medina.

Though many of us always believed that Saddam Hussein was a secular leader of Iraq; in fact, he was a true Muslim from his heart. It was his Islamic fervor that had made him to add "Allah-o-Akbar" to the Iraqi flag days before his war with America in 1991. At the same time, he also had granted an exclusive interview to CNN in which he had declared that since he was fighting a just and holy war, his Allah (God) was going to help him with angels from heaven to fight his enemy along with his martyrdom-loving soldiers. 

Again, days before the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, Saddam had spoken exclusively with Dan Rather of CBS on the strategy he had adopted to save himself from the American onslaught. He had categorically told Dan that he was not afraid of death, for, death, according to him, comes only from Allah and that if He wanted to keep him alive, there was none in the world who would be able to kill him in spite of his best efforts.

Saddam let the Americans invade his country, hoping that Allah would deal a fatal blow to the American soldiers through His angels. It did not happen. The Americans marched toward Baghdad, but it did not shake his faith in his Allah. Even when the infidels were at the gate of his Presidential Palace, he did not done the uniform of the Commander-in-Chief and lead his army to a fight against his enemy, believing that their engagement with his enemy soldiers would turn the angels away from the battlefield.

After the infidel soldiers had occupied all of his palaces, he took to his heels with the hope that while being on run, Allah would come to his help. When his enemy soldiers intensified his search, he followed the example of his Prophet: he hid himself in a hole (was not it a cave?) with the hope that a spider would weave its net on the hole's mouth on which, a dove would lay its eggs, thus discouraging his pursuers from peeping into his hiding place.

Since Allah had remained busy with other important businesses of His Empire, He had forgotten to order the "Ankabut" (The Spider) to weave its net on the mouth of Saddam's hiding hole. As a result of Allah's failure, his hiding place failed to save him from the sniffing noses of the American soldiers.

Saddam had expected the American soldiers to act like the ancient pagans of Mecca. Instead of turning away from the mouth of the hole, they began preparing to throw hand grenades into the hole's deeper sanctuary. Sensing danger to his precious existence, he came out of it and surrendered to his infidel captors.

Some of our esteemed writers have condemned Saddam Hussein for not escaping capture by taking his own life. While writing their pieces, all the writers have missed one important point and it is this: Lives of all the Non-believers are not worth a grain of sand. On the other hand, the lives of all Muslims are very precious in the sight of Allah. He has, therefore, encouraged Muslims to kill the infidels, but prohibited His beloved followers from taking their own lives!

Being a good Muslim, how could Saddam have taken his own life,  especially, when he knew that his Allah is going to take him out of the American custody in a few days' time?