Person
A Palestinian leader who collaborated with the Nazis; the SS Handschar division was a small part of the Muslims who fought in the war.
What it means
Haj Amin al-Husseini (1895–1974) was Mufti of Jerusalem, a Palestinian nationalist opposed to Zionism, who lived in Germany during the war and helped to recruit Bosnian Muslims for the 13th Waffen-SS “Handschar” division in 1943. The division’s record included mutiny and desertion by many of its soldiers.
Often misunderstood as
That the Muslim world was allied with the Nazis.
What the sources say
Millions of Muslims fought for the Allies, in the British Indian Army, the Red Army and the Free French forces; tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslims joined the Partisans. Albanian Muslims sheltered Jews on the principle of besa, a pledge of honour, and Muslim families in Bosnia hid Jews, among them the one who kept the Sarajevo Haggadah. The mufti’s collaboration is condemned by most Muslims as an act of a political leader and not a duty of the faith.