It was last year on January the 3rd that in an act of terror, the government of the United States brutally assassinated General Qassim Soleimani, one of the top Iranian generals in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in a drone strike near Baghdad International Airport. As a result of this terrorist attack, which was ordered directly by the U.S. president Donald Trump, the Islamic Republic of Iran lost one of its best and most loyal commanders.
But who was this man and what made him become so popular and loveable among Iranians and even among people of other countries?
In the eyes of his family, General Soleimani was a loving husband, and a caring father, a man who raised his children with outmost love and affection, a man who taught them to always take God’s will prior to theirs. He was a man as strong as a mountain rock and yet as kind and pure-hearted as a child in the family circle. In the face of Iran and Islam’s sworn enemies, however, the great General was totally fearless. He embraced danger every time in order to keep the country safe from the enemies’ attacks. “He’s a serious person, but very kind and emotional,” said Sohrab Soleimani in an interview published on August 23 with the Fars news agency back in 2015, adding also that “Those who don’t know him well can’t believe what kind of personality he has.”
This brave and Godly man fought by his heart and soul with the Saddam regime’s invasion to Iran back in 1980 all to defend his country against the invaders. Likewise, his appearances on the battlefield of Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State militant group and how he put his life in danger to help his Muslim brothers and sisters will never be forgotten, neither for the people of these countries nor for the ISIS terrorists. Those who were with him during his presence in Iraq or Syria well admit that the great General was always ready for scarifying his life for his holy purposes and at the same time, he was such a talented fighter that the enemies could never track him down in the battlefields. His name was indeed a nightmare for the terrorists and a reassurance for the army of rightlessness. But this great man was not just an extraordinary fighter in the battlefields, but he was a smart and experienced diplomat. He was outstanding in negotiating for the sake of preserving Iran and Muslims’ interests.
With all the power, charisma, and fame he had, the great General Soleimani was very modest and never considered himself superior to anyone. Those accompanying him in and out of the battlefields all admit that General Soleimani was kind and modest towards anyone and had always a beautiful smile on his charming face when he was among his friends and his family. General Qassim Soleimani was a true servant of God who lived for God, fought for God and died for God. That’s what that makes Martyr Major-General Qassim Soleimani a ‘living martyr’, a man for all the times, a man whose remembrance will never be forgotten for all the unique and holy qualities that he had.
It is now up to us to continue his holy and rightful path and act according to his will when he demanded us to “take care of Islam’s principles and do not be divided by the condemnation and the conspiracy of the enemies, and remain united in the face of their slanders and their pressures”.
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