About memoirs of the youngest commander of Battalion of the Division 41 of Sarallah

"Essarat Publications" launched in enemy

Elham Saleh
Translated by M. B. Khoshnevisan

2016-8-14

Note: "Haj Qassem Guys" is a book covering the memoirs of Brigadier General Hossain Ma'roufi from childhood years to sacred defense period and captivity in the camps of Saddam's army. Brigadier General Hossain Ma'roufi went to the war fronts voluntarily in his teens. He was the youngest commander of the Battalion of the Division 41 of Sarallah during the sacred defense period. The book has been compiled in six parts. First years, sacred defense years, captivity time, my captive husband Hossain Ma'roufi, images and indexes are parts of this book.  It has been released in 2016 and republished for the third time.

The atmosphere of front

"Haj Qassem Guys" begins with the first years of the life of Brigadier General Hossain Ma'roufi. It deals with the scared defense years in the second part.  The narrator who has said goodbye to his family in order to take part in a training course, talks about his dispatch to the war fronts and taking part in different operations in the second part.

One of these operations was an overseas one which was supposed to be carried out in the area of Halabcheh inside the Iraqi soil: "A heavy snow had fallen. The whole area had been covered with a strange and beautiful cover, creating an eye-catching view. In the first phase, we climbed the mountains with great difficulty. Then, we moved toward Dezli Village and to Veshenkar furrow, the main place of the operational area of the Division 41 of Sarallah…"

The book's narrator has also explained about the conditions of different operations one of which is Valfajr 10 Operation: "Valfajr 10 Operation, before it was the war against the enemy, it was the war against nature and this was a memorable experience for the corps of Islam. It was an experience happened in the coldest season of the year and in the most difficult and the most impassable snowy heights of Iran which led to a victory for our combatants."

The book does not just explain about presence in the operations, but it is about the intimate relationship between the combatants and the spiritual atmosphere in the war fronts: "One night, I was patrolling in the frontline. I was passing by a stronghold. I heard the voice of a plaintive supplication and praying, I waited a few moments. I was impressed. I went until the end of the line, inspected the strongholds and came back. I saw that the supplication was still continuing. The voice was beautiful, sincere and romantic …"

The missing conditions described

"Haj Qassem Guys" is about a combatant who was among the missing. The word is meant well when the audience knows the difference between a captive and a missing. Brigadier General Ma'roufi in parts of the book has referred to this difference: "The captives who had been enrolled in the list of the Red Cross had rations and rights. They had pens and papers and could write letters to their families and received answers sometimes. The exchange of these letters affected a lot in the spirit of them and their families, making them hopeful to return to their home. But the missing was deprived of any rights and their families had no hope that they had survived or returned to home."

Situation of the camps

Unlike other captives, the missing had no certificates in the Red Cross. Also, the conditions ruling over their camps were not like other captives. In parts of the book, the narrator describes about the atmosphere of the captives' camps parts of which are about shortage of facilities:"The Tikrit's abandoned barracks had no facilities, no washstand and no bath. The camp's floor was earthy and sandy and barbed wires had been installed around it."

The climatic conditions have also been described in the book: "The winter in Tikrit was very strange. It was too cold to stand. Each of us had been given two worn blankets. They were too thin to warm us. We had no needles. We sewed them together with barbed wires with great difficulty so that they became thicker and to keep more heat".

The captives tolerated many hardships and sufferings. But this did not cause them to stay behind boosting their morale. Cultural plans were held for this purpose: "Some of the guys who were fluent in English and Arabic trained the languages especially Arabic which was more useful for us. After a while, we started training religious laws. The activities were carried out clandestinely until the Iraqis realized …"

One of other cultural plans the narrator of "Haj Qassem Guys" refers to is the launching of "Essarat (captivity) Publications". Writing the Holy Quran, writing Hadiths and the narrations of the household of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), the writing of some of supplications, were among these plans.

Images and family profile

"Haj Qassem Guys" has not sufficed only to memoirs of Hossain Suleimani. Part of the book has been allocated to memoirs of his wife. This part is mere memory-telling rather than oral history, and they deal with the times of being away from husband and the gloominess of the children.

The final part of the book covers images. The part which starts with an image of a letter includes a letter from General Qassem Suleimani (written to the narrator's family), the narrator's reply to General Suleimani, the message the narrator had prepared in a ceremony for his welcome in Shhar-e Babak as well as images from the times of front and war. As the narrator has referred, there is not image from him due to his missing.

Index

There are many books which have no index, but this part correctly and wisely exists in "Haj Qassem Guys". One of the characteristics of index is that the audience can have easy access to the book's subjects. A list of the names of persons, places, events and so on can be seen in this index. One of the events is the operations carried out during the sacred defense to which has been referred in the book.  

Badr Operation, Beit-al Moqaddas Operation, Beit-al Moqaddas 7 Operation, Kheibar Operation, Ramadhan Operation, Tariq- al Qods Operation, Fat'h al-Mobin Operation, Karbala 1 Operation, Karbala 4 Operation, Karbala 5 Operation, Karbala 10 Operation, Mersad Operation, Nasr 4 Operation, Preliminary Valfajr Operation, Valfajr 1 Operation, Valfajr 4 Operation, Valfajr 8 Operation, and Valfajr 10 Operation are seen in this index. The list makes the audience more interested in more search about the operations.

Title, the right choice

And "Haj Qassem". The book has been named "Haj Qassem Guys"; a title which has been selected without coordination or consultation with General Haj Qassem Suleimani. But in view of the fact that he has been named many times in the book, the choice seems natural. The commandership power of Haj Qassem has been stressed in various topics. "Suddenly, the Haji stood up and addressed his driver: Let's go to Ahwaz, Golf Barracks. The barracks was the main place for decision-makings. He addressed the guys and said: Nobody should be disappointed. Everybody should be in high alert. If we were not careful, the enemy may misuse and harm us."

The influence of Haj Qassem on the combatants and their interest and trust on him can be seen well in the book: "One night, Haj Qassem came and talked to the guys. They loved Haji very much. All had circles around and kissed him. The Haji appeased them. The guys listened carefully to see what their dear commander says in order to fulfill it."

He was also a well-known Iranian commander among the Iraqis. Thus, "Haj Qassem Guys" is a right title for this book.