Thank you, Gaza!

So much has been said about what we can do for Gaza, and rightly so, because we can never give them their due and the cause of Palestine is ‘Aqīda. But I wish to reverse the approach by drawing attention to what they have done for us, and to offer gratitude to a people whose resilience, īmān, and loss of life is renewing ours worldwide.

The Prophet ﷺ said,

إنَّ أشكرَ النَّاسِ للهِ تبارك وتعالَى أشكرُهم للنَّاسِ

“The most grateful of all people to Allah are those who are most grateful to people.” [1]

Let us trigger this act of worship by saying,

“Jazākum Allahu khayran, people of Gaza. We thank you. We salute you.”

To the indomitable children

Thank you to the children of Gaza!

We’ve seen the 6-year-old boy standing over the dying body of his brother, encouraging him to recite the shahāda,

“Say, ‘Lā ilāha illa Allah’.”

We’ve seen children burnt from head to toe, sat next to their injured fathers who are also burnt, saying to them,

“Stay strong, dad.”

O young sons and daughters, you have shown us through your courage how many of us who claim to be men and women are but children, and you’ve shown us that many children are in fact men and women.

To the inspiring mothers

Thank you to the mothers of Gaza!

May Allah preserve those wombs of yours that have delivered the miracles that the world is in awe of today, and may Allah bless you for raising such a formidable nation.

Hamas is not the target of this war; it’s your tarbiya that they are at war with.

To the intransigent elders

Thank you to the elders of Gaza!

You have reminded us of how beautiful it is when ‘Aqīda and values are transferred from ink on pages of books to blood that flows through arteries and veins.

To the industrious medics

Thank you to the paramedics, doctors, and physicians of Gaza!

You work around the clock, you sleep in your hospitals, you refuse to abandon your patients, you’ve seen what no human could bear, and you are now besieged in your wards.

When you thought it couldn’t get harder, your children — whom you’d left behind for so long — come to visit you at your wards, but in pieces and within body bags.

You fall to your knees, you hug their bloodied bodies, and sob over them for a moment, only for you then to stand back up, wipe away the tears, bury your pain, and continue your duty towards Palestine.

Thank you.

To the intrepid journalists

Thank you to the heroic journalists of Gaza!

You know that your days are numbered for daring to expose the crimes of the occupier, 56 of your colleagues have been killed thus far. [2]

Thank you to those of you who find out live on air that your families were targeted and massacred for merely being your relatives. You cry over them, bury them and, somehow, in a display of unusual resilience and īmān, return to your duties the very next day.

We say, “Thank you”, and we salute you.

To the incredible women

Thank you to the women of Gaza!

You react to the killing of your children by raising your hands to the Heavens, saying,

“O Allah, take from us until you are pleased.”

Thank you, for as your bodies are pulled from the rubble, we notice your attire; you are already prepared in that evening to meet Allah in full hijab, and your message of hayā and commitment to Islam in all circumstances has reached us.

To the invincible men

Thank you to the men of Gaza!

You have removed from the hearts of 2 billion Muslims the fear of any mortal being.

Thank you for reminding us that a people who believe that death is not the end cannot be defeated. Thank you for explaining to us verses from the Qur’ān that we never understood, until after we saw you.

Thank you; we thought that the Ummah had died, but you helped us realise that not only does the Ummah still have a pulse, but that it is brimming with life and īmān.

Thank you; it is from Allah’s immense favour upon us that He chose us to live in a time when people like you exist.

Justice shall prevail

Of Allah’s fixed rules in life is that injustices can only go on for so long before the scales of justice are balanced.

Allah balances these scales in different ways, but what we do know is that those scales shall be balanced.

Bearing in mind your circumstance, skillset, and resources, beware of being a bystander in Palestine’s hour of need. In light of what they have done for you, insist on returning the favour, insist on playing a role in tipping the scales towards justice.

Source: Islam21c

Notes

[1] Musannaf ibn Abu Shayba, on the authority of al-Ash’ath ibn Qays

[2] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/7/israel-likely-waged-deliberate-attack-on-journalists-watchdogs