Victory by the Moon: The symbolic game of dates*

Peloni:  This is a fascinating read!

If Muslim holy days are repeatedly violated, the jihad army draws down onto itself the humiliating reputation of being unable to defend the sanctity of the holy days, or to punish those who violate such sanctity.

ANJULI PANDAVAR | Nov 15, 2024

Editorial note: Having been a Muslim for the early part of my life, I now do all I can to help save Jews from the Holocaust the Muslims have in store for them. Most maddening about these efforts has been the absolute refusal, not to say inability, of almost every Jew I’ve spoken to, to even consider what I’m saying. Their responses never reference reality, but always their own moral precepts or self-referential opinions. I have even encountered abuse from Jews.

In this vein, Murtadd to Human publishes Jalal Tagreeb’s “Victory by the Moon: The symbolic game of dates.” It is apposite, given the many October 7 retrospectives, and the one lesson one would have thought the Jews would have learnt from the Yom Kippur War: the significance of dates in Muslim war strategies. Alas, even after 7 October, most Israeli Jews still do not study their enemies.

* Jalal Tagreeb

Introduction

by Anjuli Pandavar

It is pointed out, quite rightly, that since 7 October, more Israeli Jews take reality seriously. But the Cassandras of jihad reality, whether Jew, Christian or former Muslim, are still approached with caution. They may less often be ignored or rejected outright, but they still elicit discomfort and are treated with an unhealthy amount of scepticism, when all they are trying to do is prevent the next Holocaust.

“Globalise the intifada”, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, “Remember Khaybar” and “Death to Israel”, are just a few of the many ways in which Muslims on jihad promise to deliver that Holocaust. Jews who doubt that any of this is deadly serious, need to look at how meticulously they take advantage of Jewish holy days. In their eyes, every attack carried out on a Jewish holy day humiliates the Jews in that the Muslims expose the Jews’ inability to defend the sanctity of their holy days.

I draw attention to this point in Tagreeb’s essay because the exact same psychology is at work in Palestinians attacking Jewish holy places. The nascent “Palestinian nation” received its most powerful boost when the Jewish army conquered the Temple Mount from the Muslims, and promptly gave it back to them! Such a profound humiliation of the Jews by their own victorious army, and their inability to this day to take it back, is all the proof a Palestinians needs of the righteousness of their coarse. A handful of unarmed old men needs only turn up to pray at al-Aqsa and no Jew will approach. They cannot defend their holy days; they cannot defend their holy places. Subhanallah!

The symbolic game of dates

In the video Inside Hamas: Investigating the Rise of the Resistance, the following two claims are heard:

Hamas didn’t choose the date of the 7th of October 2023 at random either. It was a day when the whole country was celebrating Sukkot, the Harvest Festival. Many soldiers had been granted leave.

It was a holiday, Saturday morning, we weren’t prepared for that. The Army wasn’t prepared for that.

This sets a good scene for what you are about to read. In many historical and ideological confrontations, Muslim mujahideen place significant weight on choosing dates with symbolic or religious meaning. Such timing serves not only to celebrate potential victory but to humiliate their opponents on dates that hold meaning for them. Here are a few examples:

1. Many battles throughout Islamic history were planned to take place during Ramadan, as a way of invoking spiritual empowerment.
2. The Yom Kippur War was launched during Ramadan, creating a “double impact” of significance for both Muslims and Jews.
3. The October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas came on Saturday, Shabbat, and Simchat Torah, the joyous closing of the year-long Torah reading cycle, one day after the anniversary of the start of the Yom Kippur War on Friday, October 6, and also Shmini Atzeret, the last day of the week-long festival of Sukkot, intensifying the corrupting impact.
4. The execution of Saddam Hussein on the first day of Eid al-Adha after over thirty years of dictatorship, an event marked with irony and taken as a justified ending, while the West marked his capture over Christmas in 2003.

This practice of “date warfare” is not just a means of conducting military or ideological operations; it is a form of psychological warfare, where opponents feel the weight of defeat even on days meant for celebration.

The “Game of Dates” allows events to be re-lived and amplified by associating them with these memorable occasions. When victories are tied to significant dates, they become anniversaries to celebrate and remember. When defeats are tied to significant dates for the opponent, the sting of the loss is felt that much deeper, adding a psychological layer to the ideological struggle.

Dates on which attacks on Muslim armies have maximum effect:

1 Muharram (Hijri New Year)
Eid al-Fitr (first day)
Eid al-Adha (first day)
Ramadan, especially 1st day and the last ten nights
Hajj days. These days have the highest impact because war is forbidden.
Ashura
Mawlid an-Nabi (the birthday of Muhammad)
Anniversaries of Muslim military victories against the Crusades, the Mongols and the Persians.

If any of these days falls on a Friday, the psychological impact of attacking on such a day is compounded. If Muslim holy days are repeatedly violated, the jihad army draws down onto itself the humiliating reputation of being unable to defend the sanctity of the holy days, or to punish those who violate such sanctity.

For Sunni Muslims, Ashura celebrates Islamic triumphs, while for Shi’a Muslims, it is a day of mourning, a remembrance of defeat and loss. The day of Ashura is of greater significance for the Shi’a than for the Sunni. To attack a Shi’a army on a significant date might not have the same effect as on the Sunni, because of the role of sacrifice associated with an Imam. The Shi’a will interpret their faith and their sacrifice to be the same as those of the Imam and hence claim another form of victory.

Author’s reflection: As a former Muslim apologist, I myself often planned to schedule my public rebuttals and debates on dates that would hold significance for my ideological opponents. For example, I aimed to publish content that might challenge or humiliate opponents on dates that they considered holy or significant, like Christmas or Easter. [Recall the Easter jihad massacres of Christians, e.g., Sri Lanka, and the jihad mass-killings at Christmas markets in Europe, Ed.]. The goal was to disrupt the spiritual significance of these dates, hoping to implant seeds of doubt or discomfort.

As my views shifted, I took this “Game of Dates” into reverse da’wah. My articles on the failure of jihad by word, as well as my own repudiation of my past Islamic arguments, were intentionally published on Islamic dates such as the beginning of Hajj, the Islamic New Year, Ashura, the first day of Ramadan, and Laylatul Qadr, [undetermined within the last ten days of Ramadan, Ed.]. I now devote time every Friday, as well as on major Islamic holidays, to publish content aimed at refuting ideological extremism and bringing awareness to the flaws in militant da’wah efforts.

I requested that this article be published on a Friday.

Picture credits:

Screenshot from https://x.com/clashreport/status/1713943839352734134