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Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam (1882– November 20, 1935) (Arabic: عزّ الدين القسّام‎, ‘Izz ad-Dīn al-Qassām) was an influential Islamist preacher in the British Mandate of Palestine. He founded and led the Black Hand, a Palestinian group, from 1930 until his death in 1935.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Involvement in the 1921 Syrian revolt 3 The Black Hand group 4 Influence 5 References 6 Further reading

Al-Qassam was born in Jebla, in the northern Syrian district of Ladhiqiyya. He was educated at Al-Azhar University and was associated with the Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Al-Qassam was a key figure in the 1921 Syrian revolt against the French and was sentenced to death after its failure. He fled from Syria to 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.

In 1930 al-Qassam organized and established the Black Hand, an anti-zionist and anti-British colonialism militant organisation. 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 own anti-Jewish policy; he secretly encouraged it and apparently extended financial aid to al-Qassam and his organization.^[1]

When the Mufti rejected his plans to divert funding for mosque repairs towards the purchase of weaponry, Qassam found support in the Arab Nationalist Istiqlal Party. Qassam continued to attempt an alliance with the Mufti in order to attack the British but failed as the Mufti who headed the Supreme Muslim Council was still committed to a diplomatic approach at the time. Qassam went ahead with his plans to attack the British on his own. After the killing a Jewish policeman, British police surrounded al-Qassam in a cave near Jenin and killed him.

Although al-Qassam's revolt had no success, radical organizations gained inspiration from his revolutionary project. He became a popular hero and his grave became a place of pilgrimage.

The military wing of Hamas (the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades) is named after him. The Qassam rocket is named after the brigades who use them.

• Ted Swedenburg, "The Role of the Palestinian Peasantry in the Great Revolt (1936-1939)," reprinted in Hourani, Albert H., et al., The Modern Middle East (I.B. Tauris, 2004), pp. 467-503. ISBN 1-86064-963-7