As the Ummah emerges from the Gaza Massacre, we must recognize that the root cause of the problem is the Capitalist foreign policy. It is this policy that established the state of Israel and by which the West supports the treacherous Muslim rulers as a way to ensure that the Ummah remains dominated by Capitalism. Only through the re-establishment of the Khilafah Rashidah in the Muslim lands can Islamic rule be restored and the people of the region return to living in peace, justice, and security.
The Israeli massacre in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of over 1,300 people and injuring over 5,000. Amongst the dead are over 300 children. The damage caused by the 22-day bombardment is estimated to be $2 billion. As the ruins in Gaza smoulder, stories of atrocities continue to emerge.
According to IslamOnline, Israel killed a 4-year girl, Shahd, and then kept firing at the family to prevent them from retrieving her body, which was eaten by dogs. When her brother, Matar, and cousin, Mohamed attempted to stop the dogs from eating her, they too were killed by the Israelis. (May Allah سبحانه وتعالى grant them Jannah.). The horror of this incident captures the essence of the tragedy in Palestine.
Palestine: An Ongoing Tragedy
The latest events of Gaza highlight the importance of resolving the issue of Palestine. The recent slaughter serves as a painful reminder of the many other massacres that have occurred at the hands of Israel. For example, Israel killed over 20,000 people in the span of 4 months when they bombed Lebanon in 1982. This compares to 21,182 Jews that died in creating the criminal state of Israel over a 120 year period (i.e. from 1882 to 2002)[1].
This only gives us an idea of the death toll, but in no way begins to describe the daily torture of living under Israeli occupation, such as facing humiliating checkpoints and severe economic hardship. With great sadness, we realize that this situation has persisted for over 60 years. As a result, we must examine the roots of the conflict and advocate only those solutions prescribed by the revelation of Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
Islam: The Correct Basis of Examining the Issue
Firstly, we must recognize that Palestine is an Islamic issue. Palestine became a jewel in Muslims’ history since the time Allah سبحانه وتعالى linked it with His Holy Mosque (in Makkah), when He سبحانه وتعالى carried His Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم by night from the Holy Mosque to Al-Masjid Al-Aqssaa. Allah سبحانه وتعالى revealed:
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلاً مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ لِنُرِيَهُ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ البَصِيرُ
“Glorified be He Who carried His servant by night from the Holy Mosque (al-masjid al-haraam) to the Far Distant Place of Worship (al-masjid al-aqssaa) the neighbourhood of which We have blessed.” [TMQ 17:1]
Allah سبحانه وتعالى has made Palestine a blessed land. He سبحانه وتعالى connected Muslims’ hearts to Bayt ul-Maqdis by making it our first qiblah (direction) of prayer.
As a result, the only way for the Ummah to view Palestine is from an Islamic perspective. We must work with the Ummah to refute calls from the Muslim and Arab rulers who first attempted to reframe the issue as an Arab one, then as a Palestinian issue, and now as Gazan issue! Nationalism is an evil idea that has been a source of destruction within the Ummah. Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم said the following about nationalism:
“Leave it. It is Rotten.” [Bukhari & Muslim]
The disbelieving colonial powers, such as Britian and France, relied heavily on nationalism to destroy the Khilafah. They first incited the Greeks, Serbs, and other Christians living in the Khilafah to rebel against the Uthmani Khilafah. Then they used the same tool to drive a wedge between the Arabs and the Turks. This was one of the primary tools to destroy the Khilafah, which paved the way for the establishment of Israel.
Israel: A Capitalist State or a Jewish State?
The plan to implant a “foreign body” into the heartland of Islam was envisioned in 1907 by the British in the Campbell-Bannerman Report, which stated:
“There are people (the Muslims) who control spacious territories teeming with manifest and hidden resources. They dominate the intersections of world routes. Their lands were the cradles of human civilizations and religions. These people have one faith, one language, one history and the same aspirations. No natural barriers can isolate these people from one another … if, per chance, this nation were to be unified into one state, it would then take the fate of the world into its hands and would separate Europe from the rest of the world. Taking these considerations seriously, a foreign body should be planted in the heart of this nation to prevent the convergence of its wings in such a way that it could exhaust its powers in never-ending wars. It could also serve as a springboard for the West to gain its coveted objects.”
After World War II, America displaced Britain as the Capitalist superpower and worked to dominate the world. They, just as the British before them, saw the Middle East as an area to colonize. In 1944, the US State Department openly declared that the Middle East was “a stupendous source of strategic power, and one of the greatest material prizes in world history”. Their policy to acquire this “prize” (which does not belong to them!) includes both the support of the treacherous rulers and Israel. During the 2008 presidential race, Obama made it clear to all that his administration would continue to unequivocally support the criminal state of Israel. In his speech before AIPAC he said: “As President I will implement a memorandum of understanding that provides $30 billion in assistance to Israel over the next decade, investments to Israel’s security that will not be tied to any other nation.”
Realizing that the creation of Israel is a product of Capitalist policy is a critical matter for the Ummah. With this understanding, we realize that the overall objective of such a policy is to steal our resources, prevent our unity, and ensure that our Ummah remains subservient to Western domination. Conversely, failure to make such a realization will result in some to rely on the US, UN, Britain, or Canada for solutions – instead of recognizing that the ideology that these nations carry is the very source of the problems!
Attaining this perspective also helps us to understand exactly why the Muslim and Arab rulers were dithering around calling for summits and failing to lift a finger to help the Muslims of Gaza. America and Britain have purchased these rulers to implement their policies. They recognize that such puppets are the key to implementing their policies within the region. As US assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East Edward Walker testified before the House of Representatives committee on March 29, 2001:
“…Mubarak plays a core role among those who call for peace in the region and he condemns openly the calls for violence against Israel-calls to fight the Jews-and to use oil as a weapon. He spoke opposing the economic boycott of American goods and recently he supported our efforts to preserve balance in the Security Council…”
Therefore, the US and European policy of assisting Israel is only one of the many means to ensure that the Ummah does not implement Islam and challenge the hegemony of the disbelieving colonial powers.
Khilafah: The Key to Liberating Palestine
The issue of Palestine is something that is close to the heart of the believers all over the world. Muslims yearn to see the area liberated from the tyrannical rule of Israel. In order for that to happen, the Muslim Ummah must remove the corrupt rulers and replace the current regimes with the Khilafah Rashidah. As Rasul’Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
“Indeed, the Imam is a shield, behind whom the Muslims fight and protect themselves.”
[Muslim]
This requires us to work on the Prophet’s صلى الله عليه وسلم method to re-establish the Khilafah. We must work within a party structure, as Allah سبحانه وتعالى revealed:
“Let there be from amongst you a group that call for goodness.” [TMQ 3:104]
Within this structure, we must work to culture ourselves as the Sahabah were cultured by Rasul’Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم in the house of al-Arqam ibn Abi al-Arqam. The goal of this effort is to ensure that our hearts and minds become filled with nothing but Islamic concepts. That is, we must evaluate all ideas and actions based on the hukm of Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
We must then interact with the Ummah with the goal of changing her thoughts and emotions in order to make the Islamic Aqeedah her sole reference point. For example, we should challenge and debate those that call the Ummah to adopt international law (i.e. based on secularism or the UN) when seeking a resolution to Palestine, Kashmir, Chechnya, Somalia or any other affair of the Ummah.
We must also seek nusrah – the support from the people of power and influence in the Muslim lands. These people may currently be stuck in the Capitalist mindset, but we should remember that the Islamic Aqeedah has the power to change the hearts of the likes of Umar bin Al-Khattab رضي الله عنه and the leaders of Al-Aws and Al-Khazaraj (i.e. the 2 tribes living in Medina that gave nusrah to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم). We should remember that Umar رضي الله عنه was on the way to kill the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم when he accepted Islam and that Sa’d ibn Mu’adh رضي الله عنه and Usayd ibn Hudayr رضي الله عنه were planning to expel the Muslims from their land. In fact, Usayd رضي الله عنه when he approached Musab رضي الله عنه threatened him with death if the Muslims did not leave. However, when Musab رضي الله عنه explained Islam to him, it is narrated that the peaceful glow of Islam could be seen on Usayd’s رضي الله عنه face! Therefore, we must work as Musab رضي الله عنه worked and call the current people of power to Islam with full knowledge that Allah سبحانه وتعالى does indeed have the power to guide them, if He سبحانه وتعالى so Wills.
Once the Khilafah Rashidah is re-established in the Muslim lands we can work to reverse the occupation initiated by the disbelieving colonial powers and carried on by the Zionists. Only when the Islamic State is established can the Muslims, Jews, Christians, and others return to living in peace, justice, and tranquillity – just as we did before the West invaded and implanted the foreign entity in our lands.
A Call From Gaza
The following excerpt is from a letter sent by our sister Umm Taqi from Gaza during the bombing:
“In all this there is no one but Allah سبحانه وتعالى that can save us. Don’t forget us because you are all that we have now. Your sadaqaat is not reaching us, and when they open borders it only reaches a few who can do nothing with it because we risk our lives just to buy food. They will kill anyone, anyone even if he is a five year old child carrying food for his family. We want to live from the sweat of our men, not from the sweat of others because we are dying.
Keep up the work of Allah and pray and work for the victory that will come soon and rescue our ummah everywhere inshAllah.
May Allah سبحانه وتعالى make us steadfast in our deen, during struggle and during ease. Ya Allah bring us the victory soon and re-establish Islam as the authority by which we live, Ya Allah send us the sons of Salahudeen, the army of Islam to rescue Mohammed’s صلى الله عليه وسلم ummah from the oppression under which we live. Ya Allah protect our children and remove the Zionists from our land. Ya Allah witness today that we account our rulers, we pray that you return our true leader the Khaleefah soon. Ameen.”
1. Norman G. Finkelstein: An Introduction to the Israel-Palestine Conflict