Um Yasser… Idol in the School of Resistance

Um Yasser… Idol in the School of Resistance

She said yes... for better or for worse... in sickness and in health... she was his wife..

Day and night, she was there to support him and take care of him, and he was there too... to look after her, and push her only forward to become a better woman.

She was armed with the weapon of faith and love, and she remained steadfast all the way to the end, where she rested in peace side by side with the love and beacon of her life.

Um Yasser, a name with so many connotations that one cannot but pay tribute to the wonderful person she had been, whether in her personal life or in the support she had constantly expressed to her husband's path of resistance.

With Sayyed Abbas Moussawi, she believed it was her duty to help the poor, guide the lost, and urge on attending the school of resisting the "Israeli" enemy.

"Um Yasser herself was a school", said Hanaa Moussawi, Sayyed Abbas' sister. "She impersonated Islam, the Muslim woman, with all her wisdom, faith, patience, and thirst for knowledge", Hanaa described.

Hanaa recalled that when Sayyed Abbas proposed to marry Um Yasser, she was very young, still she accepted the humble economic situation of her husband who was still a young scholar.

"She was keen to learn from Sayyed Abbas Moussawi, believing he was her teacher, brother, father, friend, and everything in her life. She was able to absorb Sayyed Abbas' personality".

In this regard, Sayyed Abbas was very supportive, the sister further recalls, stating that during their stay in Iraq, he always urged Um Yasser to pursue her studies and enhance her knowledge.

"Sayyed Abbas helped with the house chores so that she can have extra time to study and attend lectures. He was trying to make her ready for all possibilities, especially that she had the capacity to play an important role in spreading the true teachings of Islam", Hanaa clarified.

"In Iraq, she was a student of Bent al Huda as-Sader and other important scholars, and in a few years, she was able to attain intensive studies", she added, further describing Um Yasser's keenness to deeply understand the concepts of Islam.

"She harvested the patience illustrated back then in their days in Iraq. It was the beginning of her life with Sayyed Abbas", Hanaa added.

Highlighting her unprecedented role in spreading the teachings of Islam, Hanaa narrated that after they came back to Lebanon, they established an Islamic school in Baalbek for women, the first firm to offer Islamic teachings for women in Lebanon.

"Although I was a young girl, I still remember her busy productive life; she used to make use of every second. This emerged from her responsibility that she took with good faith, even the hardships she witnessed in her life with Sayyed Abbas".

Moreover, Hanaa recalled how her students talked about Um Yasser, being their role model and mother; they were all touched by her personality, and all those whom she taught, felt her modesty and respect.

"Um Yasser held the responsibility of the young and old, whether in the family or surrounding her, and not once did she seem affected by the circumstances that were around her", Hanaa went on to say.

The school of resistance, a major aspect of this family's life; the leader's sisters describe how Um Yasser played an important role in spreading this back-then fresh notion.

"It wasn't only Sayyed Abbas who implanted this notion in the souls of their kids and close ones; she also had a very important role in this regard", Hanaa clarified.

"Back then, people were still not very familiar with the little saving piggy banks to help the resistance, but she used to lecture her children and people about the importance of such a baby step in supporting the resistance."

Hanaa stated that Um Yasser always encouraged the children on this issue, also when it came to the military resistance; she wished her children would someday be martyrs.

"She constantly encouraged her children to be proud of their father's work, and sometimes she sent her children with Sayyed Abbas so they would feel the true spirit of resistance", she said with pride.

On her part, the leader's other sister, Mounira, who happened to be Um Yasser's childhood friend, recalled the special moments she had had with Um Yasser elaborating on her special traits.

"She was the only one who really knew Sayyed Abbas. She completed him", Monira stated.

"In Lebanon, during the times when Sayyed Abbas was not available to help people in their affairs, Um Yasser was there to fill his place and help the people through all means possible", Monira further affirmed.

"All the people who have met Um Yasser fell in love with her personality and character".

She retold a story about a person who was touched by Um Yasser's character and rhetoric, "Once, a relative of my husband met her, and for two hours they debated on many issues related to Hizbullah, politics and even religion, and he was very content that he had met her".

"After her martyrdom with Sayyed Abbas and their son Hussein, he started coming to our house to revive her memory; Um Yasser left behind great effect in his heart, and every time he remembers her, he cries, and now he hopes he had never met her because of the pain her loss caused him", Monira asserted.

The leader's sister; Um Yasser's friend, described her concern to prepare her children for the path of resisting the enemy, which their father was facing.

All the children were steady on this sacred path. Monira recalled how Hussein, the youngest of Sayyed Abbas' children, and who was martyred with them, was touched by his father's path.

"He always played the role of the resistance fighter who would never be afraid of the"Israeli " enemy", Monira added.

A wife of a leader, whose mere concern was to serve the people and the cause of defending their rights, was hand in hand and step by step with her husband, until she was martyred...with him.

Together they began this path, and together they ended it, and today, their children, and thousands of those who were touched with their sacrifices, vow to continue this path in acing perfection, in the school of resistance.