When the news came out that around 1,000 Israelis had been killed on 7 October, I thought to myself… the Israeli government won’t stop until they kill ten times as many Palestinians. But how wrong I was!
Today is the 321st day into this brutal, savage, and murderous war unleashed on the innocent people of Gaza.
Atrocity after atrocity
We are now approaching the massacre of 50,000 innocent Palestinians, and there are eyewitness accounts from doctors who have returned from Gaza describing the sight of children with gunshot wounds to their heads.
The vicious Israeli army has now killed 116 journalists — one of the biggest massacres of journalists in any acute timeframe. [1]
We have seen with our own eyes, the desecration and mutilation of corpses; Israel has damaged or destroyed at least 16 cemeteries and over a thousand masājid across Gaza.
As for medical facilities, 33 out of 36 hospitals have been damaged or destroyed, with food and health supplies still blocked.
The Israeli army continues to loot, and take innocent Palestinian hostages, not just in Gaza but all around Palestine.
They kill their own — remember the report?
Despite three escaped Israelis in Gaza being unclothed and waving a white flag while walking towards the border, that didn’t stop the Israeli army — the most immoral army in the world — gunning down their own people. [2]
So what chance do the Palestinian people have? No chance, according to extremists amongst them.
In their view, every single person in Gaza is Hamas, and even their children deserve to be killed, because if they don’t — they claim — they will grow up and want to kill them. Therefore, there is no such thing as an innocent person in Gaza, and they should all be killed or displaced.
And whilst this is going on for everyone to witness, the Israeli government continues to lie and twist facts, and throw their lame accusations of human shields and anti-Semitism.
If you think carefully enough, you will notice that every single accusation that comes from the Israeli government is in fact a confession of their crimes.
But this is really not unprecedented.
2024 marks the 76th year into their campaign of forced displacement, murder, and land annexation by this illegitimate, Islamophobic, and racist Israeli state.
Why I am telling you these things
I’m telling you these things so that, in your heart, you correctly calibrate the important concerns and issues for you as a Muslim.
That you see the allies of this genocide for who they are, and that going forward, we must use the issue of Gaza as the criterion in defining our relationships:
- Drawing clear boundaries between friends and foes
- Demarcating who we do business with and who we boycott
- Guiding who we elect to be our representative in this country.
We have an obligation of brotherhood, the mu’min does not forget or forsake his brother, as the hadīth declares.
Palestine goes beyond an Arab cause
You’ll be mistaken in thinking that the Palestinian cause is just an Arab cause, or just a regional cause.
No! The people of Gaza are not only defending themselves, their lives, and their properties.
- They are defending the sanctity of our sacred lands.
- They are defending the honour and glory of our religion.
- They are even defending us, as British Muslims, thousands of miles away.
Let us open our eyes, the Israeli government is amongst the biggest funders and sponsors of Islamophobia around the world.
Listen and read the works of Professor David Miller, who was recently exonerated for pointing out this fact.
View Companies House records that show the original name of EDL, The English & Jewish Defence League (EDL) Limited. [3]
Why was it called this? Because the Israeli government knows that to continue to kill with impunity, it needs to shut down Muslims around the world.
Politicians who do not care about us
Some of our own politicians are on the Israeli payroll, and some of them even have dual citizenship. But we are not privy to the details because they don’t want us to know.
As rightful citizens and British Muslims, the sad reality is we don’t have politicians who look out for our best interests.
They don’t care about us; they don’t even care, for example, if we are visiting our families in Gaza or elsewhere in Palestine and end up being killed or incarcerated by the Israeli army.
So, if this is the case, why should we care about them? And how can we forsake our brothers and sisters?
Encouragement from people of Gaza
The people of Gaza have sacrificed their homes, wealth, and lives.
They’ve stood firm to defend their land and uphold the religion of Ibrāhīm (ʿalayhi al-Salām) whilst proclaiming loudly and proudly, “lā ilāha illa Allāh, wa-Allāhu akbar”.
They have taught us that regardless of how much they are battered, shattered, scattered, or splattered, they will continue to praise Allah, glorify Allah, worship Allah, and trust Allah alone.
They would define their allegiances on the basis of Allah and His Messenger, unlike many of us. Why is this?
Allah (subḥānahu wa ta’āla) is greater than the most powerful kings and presidents. He is stronger than the strongest armies and superpowers. And He is the Alleviator of our fears and our worries.
As such, we should do the same in everything we do, especially when it comes to making decisions that directly, indirectly, or even emotionally go on to addressing the dhulm (ظلم) of the dhālimīn (ظالمين).
Attitude toward elections
When a Muslim elects a person to be his representative, to be his agent and his spokesperson, he should be thinking about what Allah (subḥānahu wa ta’āla) wants from him.
For us as Muslims to be concerned about this new government taking away our benefits or making it difficult for us to bring over our families from abroad, or stopping the NHS from covering our medical expenses, these are really petty and undignified concerns.
In all honesty, I see it as no less than betraying the people of Gaza and the religion of the Prophet ﷺ.
We should have trust in Allah, that He will provide, and we should be ready to sacrifice just like the people of Gaza.
Of course, the Muslim is not gullible — the results of the July election have not changed anything materially, as we are decades behind having the infrastructure to effect change.
But know that just as the conventional politicians and representatives rejected us, and rejected decency and basic human values, our voice and our ballot was a rejection of their rejection.
Our political demonstrations
We petition and reject the status quo; we reject our taxpayer money being used to fund or support this foreign and evil regime.
And as for our demonstrations, we demonstrate for one of three things:
- So that our hearts don’t die, because the heart that doesn’t command good and doesn’t demand stopping evil is a dead heart.
- To give encouragement and hope to the Muslims in Gaza and around the world.
- To speak truth to power.
We are not fanciful or gullible; we know the elite will continue to do what they want to do, but anything and everything that is halal and good to do to stop their evil, we must do.
Life is a transaction
You either live for the Dunya and sell the Ākhirah, or you buy the Ākhirah and sacrifice the Dunya.
The Prophet ﷺ said,
كُلُّ النَّاسِ يَغْدو، فَبائعٌ نَفْسَهُ، فَمُعْتِقُها أَو مُوبِقُها”؛ رواه مسلم
“All men go out in the day to sell themselves, either setting themselves free — through that transaction — or destroying themselves.” [4]
Which would you prefer: selling the Dunya for the Ākhirah (the eternal life to come)… or selling the next life (Paradise, if Allah wills) for the temporary life of the Dunya?
The Prophet ﷺ said,
الكيِّسُ مَنْ دَانَ نفْسَه، وعَمِلَ لما بعدَ الموْتِ
“[But] the intelligent person is the one who takes himself to account before being accounted and works for the life to come.” [5]
Do not let anybody conceal or obfuscate the obvious.
What is happening in Gaza is straight-up colonisation, and straight-up genocide, and let no two people have an opinion about that.
We are not here to support one political party. We are here to support the Palestinians because, right now, that is the Ummah’s biggest human tragedy.
A parting thought
I started this article with a thought, so let me share with you another one.
Imagine this scene in five years time, when the leaders of the two major parties stand in front of your screen asking you to elect them to be your representative.
It is like a wolf standing in front of a flock of sheep saying,
“Vote for me and, if elected, I promise to be a vegetarian!”
It is at times like this that we must channel our emotions and rage into knowledge and wisdom. And we do so by going back to the Sīrah, because that is our guiding light.
We should feel proud in having the very best role model that Allah sent down to us in the conduct and life of the Prophet ﷺ.
We learn from the Sīrah that life is full of calamities, and tragedies are part and parcel of īmān. The more beloved you are to Allah (subḥānahu wa ta’āla), the more difficult this life will be.
Our Prophet ﷺ was tested in every way
If anybody would have had an easy life because of their īmān, it would be our Prophet ﷺ.
But Allah tested him (ﷺ).
Allah tested him with family, some of his own relatives were violent and antagonistic towards him. He tested him with children, the Prophet ﷺ lost six of his children in his lifetime.
And Allah tested him (ﷺ) with poverty; there were months where basic food was very scarce. He (subḥānahu wa ta’āla) tested him with war, the Prophet ﷺ was physically assaulted, and his people tried to assassinate him.
So Allah tested him (ﷺ) in every single manner, despite being the most beloved to Him.
From the Sīrah, we learn that just because life becomes difficult, it does not mean Allah has abandoned you.
On the contrary, perhaps it is because Allah loves you that He is testing you to raise your ranks. Just as Allah gave comfort to His Prophet ﷺ, we, too, should take the same comfort.
مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى وَلَلْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لَكَ مِنَ الْأُولَى
“Your Lord has neither abandoned you, nor has He shown you any anger.” [6]
We must be optimistic that the future will be better than the past. And we learn from the Sīrah that difficulty will only be removed after pain and suffering.
فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا
“For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease [i.e. relief].” [7]
There must be the ‘usr (hardship), and then the usr (ease) follows.
We may not always “see” success
We learn from the Sīrah, that in the process of victory, before it is achieved, not everybody will see that victory.
There were many of the Sahaba who lost their lives in early Makkah, many who lost their lives before the conquest of Makkah, but none of them are losers. They are all winners. None of them are failures, they all succeeded.
We might not see success, but as long as we give 100 per cent, as long as we try our best to bring about a better situation, then that is our victory; our personal victory.
And that victory is what is important to us. As for the communal victory, it will come but I might not see it, you might not see it.
The point is whether we see it or not, is not our goal. Our personal victory is our goal, and that is determined by whether we contributed towards a better situation.
Allah has already promised to us the communal victory and the people that are being persecuted for sure will be free, and the inheritors of the land.
وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مِنكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ كَمَا ٱسْتَخْلَفَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ ٱلَّذِى ٱرْتَضَىٰ لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًۭا ۚ يَعْبُدُونَنِى لَا يُشْرِكُونَ بِى شَيْـًۭٔا ۚ وَمَن كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْفَـٰسِقُونَ
“Allah has promised those who have believed among you and done righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession of the Earth, just as He granted it to those before them.
“And that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has preferred for them, and that He will surely substitute for their fear, security, [for] they worship Me, not associating anything with Me.
“But whoever disbelieves after that — then those are the rebellious and sinful.” [8]
Source: Islam21c
Notes
[1] https://cpj.org/2024/08/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/
[2] https://www.npr.org/2023/12/15/1219695220/israel-soldiers-mistakenly-kill-hostages-gaza
[3] https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07678022
[4] Sahīh Muslim, 223; https://sunnah.com/muslim:223
[5] Tirmidhi; https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:66
[6] al-Qur’ān, 93:3
[7] al-Qur’ān, 94:5
[8] al-Qur’ān, 24:55
