Through many true stories, one comes to learn how the great man, M. A. Sheikho, was able to wipe out crime and the criminals who had perpetrated it. He removed the darkness that hovered over al-Sham [100]and changed it into a place of peace and tranquillity seeking no help but that of God Almighty. Some criminals even arranged a plot to get rid of this illustrious officer and planned to murder him. Those criminals were hardened murderers who had drifted into a life of crime from a young age, and had many lives and spirits on their conscience.
On the other hand, there were men who became criminals because there was little work for them, or perhaps they were victims of circumstance, whereby their standard of living was very low and hard times befell them. And so, deprivation and poverty, lack of food, the hunger pangs of their children, and their turning to alcohol as a means to dumb their emotional pain, were the reasons they gradually slipped into a life of crime. So how should he deal with them? What would be the best approach that he could adopt so as to distinguish them from the hardened criminals and to turn them away from their iniquitous life-style and also rescue their families and children from an obscure future?
How did this great reformer convert al-Sham’s night into bright days that lasted for many years?[101]
The great miracle was that Officer Mohammad Amin enrolled seventy of the lesser criminals as security guards to protect the whole country, people’s homes and man’s honour, and so he brought joy not only to their lives but also to their families and their fellow countrymen.
After the Ottoman Empire had turned away from the teaching of God’s Book and replaced it with temporal systems and laws written by man, the fortunes of the empire took a turn for the worse. Weakness started to erode the heart of the state till it was completely overcome and the West began to call it ‘the sick man’. That was the situation in the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the twentieth century. So, it is no wonder that disorder spread and corruption prevailed in different parts of Greater Syria that were subject to the rule of the empire.
Security quickly deteriorated, reassurance was confused and people suffered unenviably difficult circumstances. Furthermore, poverty and deprivation, plundering, and theft increased. The citizens felt the encroaching danger to the extent that as the sun set and darkness fell, the doors of the houses were locked and the streets soon emptied especially in the two quarters, of al-Salihiya and al-Akrad, because the vicious chaos was worse than it had ever been. Anyone foolish enough to leave his house after sunset, could blame no-one but themselves if they became a prey for brigands and thieves or a target for others with criminal tendencies. It was not unusual for them to be set about and robbed, and often killed.
In the meantime, with regard to the status quo of this dreadful situation and as a security measure, the army commandant issued an urgent order that assigned our officer Mohammad Amin as director of the al-Akrad quarter in Damascus and granted him full authority to do whatever he felt necessary to restore law and order and reassure the people. The commandant appointed him to this formidable task because he recognised his exceptional conduct and heroic feats carried out in the cause of law and order.
Our officer received the official document and soon made his way to that area. He then went to the administrative offices of the department: namely, the police-station. There, he set about formulating his ingenious plans to clean up all the criminal elements till he eventually held the reins of power firmly in his hand. He steadily and surely got rid of all signs of neglect, disorder and aggression until he achieved a real sense of security as an outcome of his consistent efforts. He felt neither tired nor drowsy and his determination never deserted him. He spent many long sleepless nights in his efforts to stamp out criminality and transgression and remove evil-doing and vice whereby he pursued the wrongdoers, arrested them, and inflicted the severest punishment. He pursued them to their mountain hideouts and attacked them in their dens as he patrolled the two mountains Qasiyun and al-Arb’een on horseback accompanied by his squads of policemen. There was barely a night that passed without he undertook planned raids on the hiding-places of the criminals high on the two mountains. The criminals’ dens no longer served as their safe havens for Officer Mohammad Amin pursued them relentlessly. These villains could never have imagined that one day an officer with such superior qualities of boldness, courage and strength, would be appointed to that position. The resultant misery he brought to their lives when he pursued them to their hiding places and captured them to face their punishment changed the lives of all of them, one way or another.
The lives of the people changed too, for they could now bask in safety, for he had restored the joys of life to them and brought a smile to the faces of their children.
He often went without sleep and was constantly alert, he spent his leisure time, and would have sacrificed his soul for people to sleep, safe and sound, in their homes. However, through his relentless efforts, Officer Mohammad Amin captured many of the criminals and put them into prison: for the most part they were hardened villains who insisted on adhering to their love of crime, iniquity, plundering and robbery. Some members of the same gang ran away abroad, never to return, for fear of being arrested and humiliated. Additionally, there was a further substantial number who repented at his hands and turned towards God, and so they did not dare to let their spirits be seduced into committing any further evil action due to the punishment that they would face.
In his office, Mohammad Amin drew up lists of all previously convicted criminals and classified them under various categories; one list specified defectors who had vanished from sight; a second list held names of unrepentant culprits convicted of a long list of crimes. After finishing their terms and being released from jail these men would soon revert to their criminal ways and their evil deeds. They would be caught yet again and taken to prison for further degrading punishment. A third list contained the names of those who willingly would have returned to a life of crime but were afraid to do so because of the impact and authority of our officer. These men were watched too, but to a lesser degree.
The last list contained those who had truly repented and whose conduct was now deemed to be safe: they numbered seventy men. With such efficiency and by having full knowledge of all of the criminal elements in the quarter he was able to purge the area of all the crimes that were prevalent at the time: robbery, plundering, violence and other violations which might escalate into serious offences or even murder. Ultimately safety prevailed and the whole of his area again basked in security and tranquillity was restored to people’s hearts. Again they were able to go about their daily life freely and peacefully by both day and night: go to the mosques to pray, the markets to shop and out to fields and orchards to tend the produce and enjoy the fresh air. Eventually, this great champion of the people was able to sleep at his home for a few nights of the week. Finally, he had some respite from being continuously on duty at the police-station, when it was no longer necessary for him to go out to make raids on villains who had taken refuge in the mountains.
One night, after Officer Mohammad Amin had left the police-station and arrived at his house, someone knocked at the door at two o’clock in the morning. ‘Strange!’ he thought, ‘Who‘s knocking at the door so late at night?’ He took up a lamp and looked out from a small window above the street door and shouted, ‘Who’s there?’ They replied,
‘Oh Sir, we’re robbers.’ He was astonished at what he heard. And shouted again, but louder this time ‘Who is it. What do you want?’
‘Oh sir, we are thieves,’ they answered.
‘This is strange, altogether too strange!’ Mohammad Amin said to himself. He quickly went back to his room, brought out his revolver from under his pillow and loaded a bullet into the chamber of the gun. Then, going back to the door, he pulled open the street door and leaped forward prepared to attack, levelling his revolver at them. What a bizarre scene: he saw three men standing before him all calm and peaceful, but their faces looked afraid. A mule could be seen behind them with a sack on its back.
‘What happened, what’s the matter with you?’ He asked them.
‘Sir, we’ll tell you about our problem, and we hope you will help us; please, we have come to you trusting in your generosity and assistance,’ one of them replied, trembling.
‘So… let me know what’s wrong… tell me about it.’ Mohammad Amin said to them.
At this, the man took heart and began to relate their story, explaining why they had come to the police director’s house at such a late hour. There were three men and each of them was a father with a family to support. They had wives and little children, but they had nothing to eat. Even the bread had run out from their impoverished houses. There was no money in their pockets and no food in their kitchens. During the winter when it was bitterly cold, they had no fire-wood to warm their homes. The children cried because of their hunger, their mothers wept, and their husbands’ hearts were overcome with anguish at the sorry plight of their families.
Their teeth chattered from the cold and they rubbed their hands together to try to restore some warmth till finally they could stand it no longer and each of them went out into the neighbourhood. The first man went out intending to steal at all costs even if he were caught and severely punished. He walked along the street in a state of great anger and agitation and met with the second man who had gone out for the same reason and with the same purpose in mind. Once they realised that they had the same aim they joined up. Within a few minutes, they came across the third man who had also gone out for the very same purpose because he was also suffering under similar circumstances.
On the way, the three men agreed to break into the flour mill to steal a sack of flour and divide it between them so that it might keep their families’ bodies and souls together. They continued on their way towards the mill while they planned how they would carry out the break-in. Of course, this was an easy task for them because they had spent many years doing such things.
They arrived at the mill, and immediately climbed the fence. Inside, over in a corner, there was a big mule used exclusively by the mill to carry sacks of flour. One of them hurried towards it and loosened its tether, while the other two men went into a room where sacks of flour were stored. They took just a single sack and loaded it onto the back of the mule. The three men walked quietly pulling the mule towards the outside gate of the mill. In the meantime and in the darkness of the night – remember there was no electricity at that time – the guard of the mill got to his feet when he heard the faint sound of footsteps breaking the stillness of the night. Quickly he rushed out of his room shouting, ‘Who’s there, what are you doing?’
At that moment, one of them pointed his gun and shot a single bullet in the direction that the voice had come from: all was quiet… not a sound could be heard. I wonder! Had he hit him? Was he dead? Then they ran away, stopping only to take the donkey with them.
On the way, they soon hid in a house to divide the flour; but one of them was delayed for he had something to do… it seems he had second thoughts. While he was walking along, he remembered how he was once caught by the head of the police station. He remembered the intense pain of the whip that hit every part of his body till it bled. He recalled the bitterness of that day when the officer punished him severely for a misdemeanour he had committed. That event had taken place some time ago and nothing would make him forget the pain and humiliation that he had suffered; but the suffering of his children, because of hunger and hardship, had prompted him to steal again. But by then, it was too late to go back after what had happened at the mill. He could only imagine what he would suffer for this crime. He was quite certain that the police officer would find him and he would be arrested. Finally, he realised that he was in a very precarious position.
He caught up with the men at the house while still thinking about what might become of him if he were caught. His horror increased a thousand-fold when he thought about the severe punishment inflicted on him in the past at the hands of the chief of the police station, who was a violent man, in his view, and he did not want to face such torture again. While the other two began to divide the flour, he felt a strong shiver pass through his body and he shouted. ‘Don’t get me into trouble… may God keep you safe… don’t bring me any problems. I don’t want my share of the flour. Keep it for yourselves. Forget about me… as if I didn’t see you and you didn’t see me… let’s all go our separate ways… keep the sack of flour for yourselves… I’m not your partner in this robbery.’
The other two men were amazed at what they heard and their hearts were overcome with fear, and so they said,
‘We’re in this together. Whatever happens to us, will happen to you too.’ As for him, he became even more horrified, still trying to get out of the situation, until his cowardice affected all of them.
‘However, what’s the solution once the deed is done and it’s already too late? What can we do? What should we do after we have been involved in a murder and robbery? How can we get over this problem?’ they wondered.
One of them said, ‘What do you think? Should we go to the director of the police station? It’s true that he’s hard and tough, but he’s compassionate and honourable and never denies those who ask a favour of him. By God, I’ve heard so much about his integrity, generosity, and the great support he gives to the needy people of the neighbourhood who go to him for help. What do you say about going to him now and telling him our story, and about the desperate circumstances of our families that have forced us to go back to stealing again? I’m sure he’ll help us.’ They all agreed to this plan and immediately went off to the police station as they knew that he often stayed there on duty at night.
As they got closer to the police station, they began to be afraid, which worsened when they thought of his awe- inspiring appearance and grave demeanour, though they still expected that he would help them. A short distance before the police station, they stopped and one of them went off to see whether Mohammad Amin was in his office or not. After a few moments, he came back in a happy frame of mind as he had not found the officer there; he would most likely be in his house. If they had found him in the police station, he might have arrested them on the spot and sent them to prison to be punished and humiliated for the crime they had just committed. As he was at home, it was more likely that he would help them, especially if they went there seeking help and mercy. So they set off towards the officer’s house dragging the mule with the flour sack behind them.
Our officer quickly understood their story and why they had arrived at his house so late at night. Officer Mohammad Amin inwardly gave thanks to Al’lah for he realised that the fruit of his efforts and hard work had not been lost on the wind and he knew that criminals were always very apprehensive about him whether he was present or absent. ‘Did the warden die?’ Officer Mohammad Amin asked them. ‘Sir, we shot him and we think that he fell to the ground and we heard no further sound from him… we don’t know anything more,’ they answered with voices shaking with fear.
‘I hope to God that he is alive, and I shall help you as much as I can. God forbid that he is dead… anyhow, I promise to do my best to help you.’ He said after a few moments of silence.
Officer Mohammad Amin continued, ‘Now take the mule and the sack of flour into the stable at my house and tomorrow morning at about ten, one of you should take the mule and the sack of flour back to the mill and tether it to a tree and leave it there.’
They said, after they regained their senses and caught their breath, ‘That will be easy, Sir.’
As they were about to leave, the officer asked them to wait for a while, then he said, ‘Follow me.’
As for our officer, he entered the stockroom inside the house where sacks of flour were stored, with the three men following behind; then he pointed at a sack of flour and told them to take it, ‘Eat that flour which I’m giving you legally, and don’t break the law by eating the flour you stole from the mill.’ Their high opinion of him was justified: he was truly compassionate and generous and did not deny those who asked a favour of him. They left after he had lessened all their hardship and suffering on that difficult night.
As for Officer Mohammad Amin, he went to his room after they left, performed a short prayer, and prostrated himself before God; he gave thanks and praised Him for He had dressed him as though in a cloak of reverence that made the likes of those brutes and villains come to him for help.
In the morning when Officer Mohammad Amin reached the police station, everything had happened as expected: there was the recorded complaint from the flour mill, detailed as follows:
- One or more men broke into the mill.
- One sack of flour and one mule were stolen.
- The watchman was shot, incurring a slight flesh wound to the ankle.
Then he gave heartfelt thanks to God because the guard at the flour mill had not been killed during the incident the previous evening. At once he started to write an unofficial report because he already knew all the details as they had been related to him.
When the prosecutors returned to the mill, they found the mule tethered to the tree and the sack of flour upon its back! Soon they came back to the police station to tell the officer that they had found the mule along with the sack of flour and also told him that they had dropped the claim. Then he tore the paper into pieces and the case was closed.
The results were good and he kept his promise exactly as he had told the three men. But that event and the confession which he had heard from the three men along with the details of the hunger, poverty and deprivation that their families were suffering made him realise the reality of a painful and unchanging situation. That situation had existed when they were criminals and remained the same after they gave up their life of crime. None of the hunger and deprivation had changed for them, and the flour he had given them from his own store was like a sedative for their misery and soon it would run out, and so they inevitably returned to a life of crime due to the hunger of themselves and their families.
That incident brought the situation of seventy families to the attention of that humane officer, Mohammad Amin; they, too, had suffered the same problems of unemployment, hunger and deprivation. He spent an entire night thinking of them and wondering what he could do to help them. His monthly salary was not enough to help more than a few of them, but what about the rest? He had seventy names written down on the list before him. They were criminals, but there were three men who had repented and it was only hunger and need that had turned them back to their criminal ways. At that time after they had abandoned the criminal life at his hands, how could they ensure the food of their families and keep their children barely alive after they ate the one sack of flour? They were talked about for the reason that they were known for their bad reputations and no-one wanted to employ them as workers or let them hold a lease on any property. In addition to their notoriety, time had not been kind to them either. Because of their hard lives and difficulties in providing food and lodging for their families they were ill-kempt and their faces were worn and lined so that they had the appearance of rascals or villains. As if it was not enough that time had worn their bodies out, but they were stamped with a look of abject misery that marked them out as, murderers and thieves.
Before Officer Mohammad Amin was appointed to that district people would run away from them in fear, but then how could people be familiar with them from day to day and still be safe from them? However, that was their situation and by studying and thinking of the matter this was the conclusion that Officer Mohammad Amin had arrived at after the event happened at the mill, which Al’lah (Glory to Him) had put into his hands. Hence the question still remained: How could they make a simple, honest living to meet the needs of their families?
He thought, ‘If their circumstances stayed the same, and they received no help, they must sooner or later go back to the life of crime, driven by hunger. But driven by desperation I certainly believe that their crimes would be uglier and their hatred towards society would be greater… then, what is the solution?’ Officer Mohammad Amin spent a long, sleepless night imploring Al’lah to lead him to an adequate and curative solution for them. So, he must keep them on the straight path, and protect them and others from their own evil. Finally, he found the solution and said to himself, ‘I get it… I get it… it is the solution by God’s Leave.’
He remembered that a few days earlier he had noticed a report issued by the sultan’s palace on behalf of the commander of the gendarmerie of al-Sham[102]to the effect that were recruiting a large number of security guards because of the general disorder, and the great number of crimes committed in most areas of al-Sham.
Many men were eagerly dreaming about that being appointed to that position because gendarmes, guards and officers received a high salary at that time; and later when he retired he would also receive a big pension which would ensure a life of plenty and opulence for family however large it was. Furthermore, he would have a prestigious social position. At that time, the police-man (gendarme) was held in high esteem and respected by all people because he received certain entitlements from the government and other authorities that most people did not have.
Officer Mohammad Amin proceeded straightaway to the commander-in-chief (the commander of the army) of Greater Syria and knocked at the door of his office. When he heard the words ‘Come in’, he entered the office and gave the customary military salute, ‘Greetings, Sir.’
On seeing him the commander-in-chief gladly stood up due to the affection and appreciation he held for him. He
A Great Epic Against Deprivation and Inhumanity returned the greeting saying, ‘Welcome, Aslan, and have a seat.’[103]come in‘Might I ask you something, Your Excellency? But before that, please let me give you some details.’ Our officer said after he sat down.
The commander said, ‘Please, let me know what is on your mind.’
‘God forbid… God forbid… God forbid!’ Our officer said.
The commander fixed his eyes on our officer in amazement; ‘This must be a matter of some importance, he thought.’
Our officer continued, earnestly and steadily, to paint a graphic picture for the commander. ‘God forbid… God forbid that one day the prefect might be angry with you and dismiss you from the service for some particular reason… Of course, you would have to leave your position of authority and become a civilian again. Then you would live like any man here in Damascus and use up all your savings and any spare money collected from your previous salaries… until eventually all that you possessed had been used up. You were formerly a policeman and chief of the army, and you have no other job or profession to practise in order to earn a living and provide for your family. And, of course, you are a person of considerable social rank known to all the people in al-Sham so you could never work in any mundane job such as a blacksmith or a carpenter…
‘And then it happens! Your money has run out, there’s no suitable work for you and your children are crying from the griping pains of hunger and deprivation, their beautiful eyes sunken from lack of sleep. There’s no more food in the house not even a morsel of bread, and you stand completely powerless watching this desperate scene and you are smitten by its harshness. What would you do then? How would you behave? Would you leave them to die?’
The commander’s eyes opened wide, his nerves were stretched and he trembled in every limb, then he shouted at the top of his voice, ‘Aslan, do you want me to steal?’
Our officer replied, ‘Far be it from you, God forbid… but I have a strong reason for giving you this scenario.’ The high commander, still flabbergasted, cried out, ‘I?…
steal?… and kill?’
Then our officer continued in a forceful voice, ‘Your Excellency, High Commander, seventy families are suffering this bitter and painful situation. Seventy men who are trying to provide for their families have repented and turned away from their lives of crime and now due to the dire state of the country they can’t provide even a single morsel of bread: their children weep from hunger and deprivation… cold and pain, and so their fathers are obliged to steal in order to feed them. Inevitably these men become felons and we arrest them, beat them and put them in prison.’
The commander-in-chief calmed down at these words and a look of amazement appeared on his face… and he said, ‘But would my salary be enough for seventy families? Of course not, Aslan! I have no way to provide sustenance for seventy families. Surely they need far more than I can provide for them.’
Our officer added saying, ‘Your Excellency, High Commander, I do not ask you to give them charity from your own pocket, but you know that there is an official order published by the sultan’s palace on behalf of the gendarmerie of al-Sham by which they are looking for a number of security guards and gendarmes, and I think that those seventy would be enough to fulfil that order.’
The face of the high commander was again overcome with all kinds of emotions… amazement, anger, astonishment… and he shouted, ‘Are you going to deliver the souls of good human beings into the hands of mere felons?’
Our officer replied in a voice that was equally heated, ‘Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, those are criminals for precisely the same reason that would make you steal and kill. They stole only because of necessity. But they have now repented that crooked course. You know that no sooner had I taken over the leadership of the