A Walk in the Past - Abdullah the Hasty Abdullah was the King of Jordan and the second last King of Palestine (self declared) and King of Jerusalem. His grandson, King Hussein remembered him as a full-blooded extrovert. Lawrence of Arabia described him thus: short, thick built, strong as a horse, with merry, dark brown eyes, a smooth round face, full but short lips, straight nose. He led an adventurous life. He shocked even Lawrence himself when, in Lawrences words, once, Abdullah shot a coffee-pot off his court-fools head thrice from twenty yards! He was more than a soldier and a diplomat but also a classical scholar, described Sir Ronald Storrs of him. He intoned for me the Seven Suspended Odes of Pre-Islamic Poetry, Sir Ronald continued. As his nature was to pursue his every ambitions with haste, he was nicknamed the Hasty. Quite a person he was. As a person who was the 37th in line from Prophet Muhammad, Abdullah would tease the ulamaks and muftis. Is it wrong for me to look at a pretty woman?, he asked a Mufti. The mufti replied, its a sin, Your Majesty. But the Holy Quran says if you see a woman, avert your eyes, but you cant avert the gaze unless you have been looking, replied the King. After Israel was established, King Abdullah led an army into Jerusalem. I dont want to create a new Arab state that will allow the Arabs to ride on me. I want to be the rider and not the horse, he declared. All other Arabs states were more interested in limiting King Abdullahs ambition rather than to actually rescue Palestine. To cut a long story short, King Abdullah ended up with the Old City, eastern of Jerusalem and the West Bank. The Israelis ended up with the west of Jerusalem and an some territories on Mount Scopus and a promised access to the Wall. But that promise was never fulfilled. Nobody will take Jerusalem from me unless Im killed, declared the King. King Abdullah was disappointed with his son Talal and preferred his grandson, Hussein (later, King Hussein) instead. Until my day comes, nobody can harm me; when my day comes, nobody can guard me, said him. When I have to die, Id like to be shot in the head by a nobody. Thats the simplest way, he told Hussein. One Friday, he arrived went to Jerusalem for Friday prayers. He brought Hussein with him. Hussein was then 16 and he was told by King Abdullah to wear his military uniform and all his medals. There were so many guards around them and Abdullah asked what is this, a funeral procession? Just as he was walking to Al-Aqsa, a young man pulled a gun and stuck it at the Kings ear and pulled the trigger. The bullet exited through his eye. He collapsed and died. His grandson Hussein lunged towards the assassin. I saw his bared teeth, his dazed eyes, said Hussein. The gunman pulled the trigger again and the bullet hit Hussein right at his chest. Hussein fell to the ground. Hussein remembered asking himself, is this death? As King Abdullah lay dead, the guards killed the assassin. Hussein would soon discover that he wasnt dead. The bullet hit his medals. The very medals his grandfather, the King, the 37th in line of Prophet Muhammad, told him to wear that day. (Jerusalem - the Biography; Simon Sebag Montefiore).
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 03:50:29 +0000
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