Das Arabische Buro: der Grossmufti
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your national goal you should be impelled to fight against
England, to grant you military and financial support within
the limits of the possible. In order to aid the Arabs in their
preparations for a possible conflict with England, Germany is
further prepared to supply them immediately with war materials if a way can be found to transport them. . . .
I beg that this letter be kept secret. The Italian government
has been informed of its contents and is in agreement with it.
According to a New York Times report, captured German
documents later revealed that an agent of the Abwehr, the
dreaded Nazi counter-espionage and sabotage unit of the
Wehrmacht, arrived in Baghdad, disguised as a Rumanian
businessman, "to carry on relations with the Mufti and prepare
for [the] uprising."
On April 21, 1941, under the Mufti's direction, the Iraqi
politician, Rashid Ali el Khailani, with the aid of generals controlling the army, staged a coup against the Iraq government,
forced the regent to flee, and made himself prime minister.
King Farouk of Egypt and Riad el Solh, later Lebanon's prime
minister, sent messages of encouragement. Forthwith, the
Mufti issued a fatwa—the summons to a holy war:
In the name of Merciful and Almighty Allah, I invite all
my Moslem brothers throughout the whole world to join in
the Holy War for Allah, for the defense of Islam and her
lands against her enemy. O Faithful, obey and respond to my
call. . . .
... I invite you, O Brothers, to join in the War for Allah
to preserve Islam, your independence and your lands from
English aggression. I invite you to bring all your weight to
bear in helping Iraq that she may throw off the shame that
torments her.
O Heroic Iraq, Allah is with Thee, the Arab Nation and
the Moslem World are solidly with Thee in Thy Holy Struggle!