Izz ad-Din al-Qassam

Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam (1882– November 20, 1935) (, ) was an influential Islamist preacher in the British Mandate of Palestine. In 1930, he founded and until his death was the leader of the underground militant organization Black Hand that the British authorities regarded a terrorist group.

Early life

Al-Qassam was born in Latakia, Syria. He was educated at Al-Azhar University and was associated with the Salafi movement.

Revolt in Syria and refuge in Palestine

Al-Qassam was a key figure in the 1921 Syrian revolt against the French and was sentenced to death after its failure. He fled Syria and took refuge in Haifa, then under the British Mandate. He concentrated his activities on the lower classes, setting up a night school for casual labourers. He was also a prominent member of the Young Men's Muslim Association. In 1929 he was appointed the marriage registrar in the Sharia court in Haifa, a role that allowed him to tour the northern villages, whose inhabitants he encouraged to set up agricultural cooperatives.

The Black Hand group

In 1930, al-Qassam organized an Islamist underground group Black Hand. He recruited and arranged military training for peasants and by 1935 he had enlisted between 200 and 800 men.

According to Shai Lachman, between 1921 and 1935 al-Qassam often cooperated with Mufti of Jerusalem Hajj Mohammad Amin al-Husayni:

During the (nineteen) twenties, both were on good terms, their understanding probably based on identity of views and mutual esteem. It was then that al-Qassam was appointed imam of the al-Istiqlal mosque and sharia register - appointments which required the Mufti's prior consent and approval and were financed by the awqaf administration. The cooperation may well have increased as a result of the 1929 riots. One source claims that al-Qassam's men took an active part in the bloody riots... Later towards the mid-1930s, there was a falling out between the two men. The reason for this is unknown, but it seems to have been closely related to al-Qassam's independent activity... As long as the terrorist activity was directed only at Jewish targets, the Mufti saw nothing wrong with this. On the contrary, it fell in line with his won anti-Jewish policy; he secretly encouraged it and apparently extended financial aid to al-Qassam and his organization.{{cite book