Episode 58: Ahmed Er-Raisuni’s Strategic Letter to Al-Khattabi (1925)
"Beyond the battlefield, history was also written through letters. This rare correspondence reveals a pivotal moment in the dialogue between two of Morocco's most influential resistance figures."
The Mujahid Ahmed Er-Raisuni Writes to the Leader Al-Khattabi
On the 20th of Rabi' al-Awwal 1342 AH, corresponding to 1925 AD, after the Sharif Er-Raisuni had descended from Mount Abi Hashim at the behest of the Residency General regarding peaceful policy, he wrote to Ibn Abd al-Karim expressing his viewpoint on the war with the Spanish state. He stated that there was no longer any good in continuing the war against a wealthy and established state supported by all the nations of Europe, and that he preferred a peaceful policy. He wrote advising him to end the war and enter into peace, in accordance with the words of God Almighty: "But if they incline to peace, then incline to it [also] and rely upon Allah. Indeed, it is He who is the Hearing, the Knowing." After he had agreed to the peaceful policy, he sent him a letter advising him, but received a reply demanding that he revoke the peaceful policy and continue the war. This second letter explains the circumstances currently surrounding him, the impossibility of continuing the war, and details the conditions under which he had been fighting a state wealthy in its funds and men. His desire to enter into a peace policy with him was to allow the Muslims to rest from the calamities of the wars they had suffered for this period.
The text of the second letter:
"Praise be to God alone, and may God bless our master Muhammad, his family, and his companions. To the respected friend, Mr. Muhammad ibn Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi, may peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you. After this, your reply to the letter I addressed to you on its date has reached us, and I ask you to join us in the peace and reconciliation we have concluded with the Spanish, so that the Muslims may rest from the calamities of the wars they have suffered during this known period. However, you refused to join us in the reconciliation which God has called 'good.' Let it be known to you that we no longer possess the strength, neither in money nor in men, to continue the war; for the men we relied upon have been consumed by war, and the remainder are insufficient. We have realized that throughout the war, we have found no helper or supporter but God. You see that they have driven us from our homes, and we have been forced to take refuge and fortify ourselves in the towering mountains. We know that residence in the mountains is limited to the spring, summer, and autumn seasons, and not the winter, which is characterized by heavy rain and snow, as is the custom in the high peaks. Our desire for peace and reconciliation with them only came after we envisioned destruction and were certain of it with our own eyes should we continue. Do not think that we were capable of sustaining the long war with the Spanish state as some might assume; rather, many of our war days with them relied on political maneuvering more than on warfare. You cannot imagine what is happening in our land while you are far from us. War is a seesaw, a destroyer of men, and I only tell you what is happening in our own land. How can a mountainous country that lacks fertile land to rely on for the needs of the Mujahideen, and lacks industry to export abroad to replace agriculture, sustain itself when the farmer has abandoned the plow and taken up the rifle to resist the occupying enemy? Moreover, our mountain tribes and your Rif tribes have always relied for their livelihood on the southern tribes, which have now fallen under French rule. What are we to do when France and Spain have closed the doors in our faces? Where shall we import the necessary food for us and our children so that we may continue a war that demands sustenance, not to mention the clothing we and our children also need? Let us assume you know that if you gathered the fighting men who are in your Rif tribes, their number would not reach forty thousand, and likewise we, the people of the mountain tribes. Yet the Spanish have Moroccan soldiers in numbers exceeding this, in addition to their own state troops, plus the war materiel manufactured in their country—of which we own nothing except what we take as spoils from them, which is not enough for us to continue the wars against them. What you have achieved by raiding their military posts will not avail you against a wealthy, organized, and sophisticated industrial state that manufactures its own war machines, and if it needs more than what it produces, it can purchase, borrow, or secure it, for behind it stand all the nations of Europe. Therefore, I advise you—so listen to my words—that it is best for you and for us that you accede to what we have invited you to, out of mercy for the weak Muslims who follow us. Do not think that we are asking you to come under our influence; you are in your land and we are in our land. Our war struggle is one, and we want you to rest from it, and for the men who have followed us in the wars for fifteen years to rest with us. You shall have your influence in your tribes, and we shall have ours, until God brings relief to the Muslims.
The conclusion of the letter, as written by Ahmed Er-Raisuni, is a final appeal for a strategic ceasefire to spare the Muslim population further hardship. He states:
"Therefore, I advise you—so listen to my words—that it is best for you and for us that you accede to what we have invited you to, out of mercy for the weak Muslims who follow us. Do not think that we are asking you to come under our influence; you are in your land and we are in our land. Our war struggle is one, and we want you to rest from it, and for the men who have followed us in the wars for fifteen years to rest with us. You shall have your influence in your tribes, and we shall have ours, until God brings relief to the Muslims."
Signed: Ahmed Er-Raisuni
See also the previous episodes linked below
المشرف على منصة "أرشيف شمال المغرب" للتوثيق والبحث التاريخي.
تعليقات
إرسال تعليق
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