Gaza Under Attack — how to REALLY help Palestine
How can we make a real difference
Ramadan 2014 has seen Israel restart their now annual Ramadan campaign of bombing Gaza en masse with relentless, mercilessly brutish force, causing increasing numbers of Muslim casualties and fatalities with their atrocities.
Naturally, the usual combination of the sheer injustice and oppression of the attacks in conjunction with the predictably deaf, dumb and blind Western media stance on the issue has infuriated and riled Muslims to a rampant furore, seeking justice for their subjugated, oppressed Muslim brothers and sisters. We have seen a spate of protests in every big city, and almost non-stop social media buzz of support, donation, appeals and emotive image after image of the blood-soaked, injured victims of Gaza. May Allah grant each and every one of them peace, sabr and strength in these times, Ameen.
Yes, the injustice rankles hugely. Hundreds of Palestinians are now martyrs (and counting), most of whom are innocent civilians, and you still read headlines that say: “Israel is under attack”. The narrative is crafted to portray that there are two equal sides; however,the truth is there is only an oppressor and an oppressed. It amplifies the effect of a rocket that leaves very little damage, but they trivialize the effect of an F-16 bomb dropped on a house in densely populated area. Israel is always acting in ‘self-defence’ or ‘compelled to respond’.
What do we do?
It was Desmond Tutu who said ‘if you stay silent in times of injustice you have sided with the oppressor…’ Everyone feels the need to do something. And whilst we feel helpless to an extent, we know that we cannot remain idle and do nothing. So we are driven to support and help the cause. Hashtags like #prayforGaza will trend on Twitter. The donation hotlines for the big charities will ring off the hook. Our prayers are filled with thoughts of the beleaguered Palestinians. The social media campaigns calling for a boycott of Israeli products are rehashed, revived and retweeted. Some say you need to take to the streets to protest. Many send around e-petitions. Others simply change their profile pictures to a message of support.
All well intentioned, no doubt. And all will have their reward from Allah insha’allah.
But does this really help the cause?
We need to take a step back and look at things laterally.
There is nothing ‘wrong’ or ‘bad’ with this flurry of activity per se. The issue however is that it is driven through pure and utter emotion. It’s topical, it’s trendy, it’s ‘the’ thing to talk about. We are not thinking strategically. Activity and energy alhamdulillah is good. However, it is disorganised. There is no direction. And worst of all, we are fickle. Not doubting anyone’s intention or sincerity at all, but it is essentially rinse and repeat. We go and protest and proclaim our disgust, and the bombs still drop. Then a ‘ceasefire’ will occur… all goes quiet and the activity dies down. Then the next attack occurs and the cycle starts again…
To put it bluntly, that’s the reality our current state. We are rats, dancing to the Pied Piper’s merry tune… that is if we do not THINK about what we are doing. We are just expending energy on mediocre and ineffective endeavours.
So, what do we need to do?
Begin with the End in Mind
One of the most famous self-help and personal development books of recent times is the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. One of those 7 habits was ‘Begin with the End in Mind.’ If we apply that to this situation, we as Muslims are extremely blessed in that we have been given the Qur’an and Sunnah, as a guide for us.
Many scholars are now of the opinion that all of the minor signs of the Day of Judgement have now passed and that we are in the last age. So, what does the ‘end’ look like with regards Palestine, according to the hadiths?
Quoting “Explaining Israel’s Mysterious Imperial Agenda”, by Sheikh Imran Hosein:
“You will fight the Jews and you will defeat them (to such an extent that even) a stone would speak (and would say): Oh Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me so come and kill him!” Bukhari and Muslim
This means that eventually, nothing can avert the eventual fulfilment of the Prophet’s (SAW) prophecy that Islam’s armed resistance to Israeli oppression would eventually be successful. On that day of success, when even the stones would speak, Islam would have triumphed over all her rivals.
Tomorrow’s triumph of Islam would be the triumph of those Muslims who today are demonized as terrorists and are gleefully hunted down by nearly all so-called Muslim governments and armed forces.
However, way before that happens, we need to realise that there are many steps that will need to occur. We are nearing the transition from Pax Americana towards Pax Judaica, i.e. where Israel would replace the United States of America as the ruling state in the world. This process is already well underway given the mysterious events of the past few years, with the Arab Spring, ISIS to name but a few… When that occurs, a Jew will eventually rule the world from Jerusalem and claim to be the true Messiah. However he would not be Isa, but he would be Dajjal, the AntiChrist!
Israel may over the foreseeable future expand their borders from the Nile to the Euphrates and to rebuild Solomon’s temple at the site of Masjid al-Aqsa.
But if indeed Israel are going to be the next ruling state, and if indeed Dajjal is going to rule from Jerusalem (and we know from divine prophecy this to be the case), it helps one to contextualise and make a little more sense of what is going on. Which leads on to the next point, nicely.
Connecting the Dots
The next problem is that we do not seem to connect the dots on any of these issues. We don’t look at history, we don’t look at contemporary affairs, we certainly don’t look at eschatology (study of the end of times). So essentially, every isolated incident brings about this wave of emotion.
Let’s take a quick look at history.
In a nutshell, how did the USA become the ruling state in the world today, taking over Great Britain’s long-held mantle? To put it as brief as possible, it it was through the culmination of a World War, and coming into to help the struggling ‘Allies’ in WWI. That is where the baton was handed over. Before the World War took place, however, there was a mysterious turn of events never before seen which started with the Archduke Ferdinand’s assassination…
Some of the events happening in the Middle East certainly have the same level of sinister mystery.
Will an obviously increasingly weakening USA be usurped as ruling state by an imperious Israel in a future World War III, in the not so distant future? Perhaps.
As for current affairs, Sheikh Imran Hosein has encapsulated the events of the past few days as concisely and rationally as ever:
“The attack on Gaza at this time was pre-planned. The deaths of three teen-aged Israelites was most convenient — indeed too convenient. The objective of this vicious assault during Ramadan is to so inflame Muslim public opinion around the Muslim world that the ranks of ISIS would be filled to over-flowing with volunteers. As ISIS gains in momentum, the Zionist-controlled information media would then launch their propaganda offensive to convince mankind that Islam is becoming a threat and a menace to mankind, and that something must be done to save the world from Islam. That will open a door for Israel to step up and launch her pre-planned wars to decimate the Arabs.” — Sheikh Imran Hosein
Puts a whole different slant on things, right?
That was just setting the scene. It obviously does NOT mean that we are not hurt by what is going on, or that one should do nothing, just because this is destiny. No, of course not.
At the end of the day, there is still mass bloodshed and the people of Palestine ARE being massacred. Our duas and prayers MUST be with them.
But we need to remember the difference between the POLITICAL reality and the PROPHETIC reality. We need a more measured and more strategic response.
The Positives
I do not mean for this article to be a rant, nor overly critical. There are some very good points in the response to what is going on.
The fact we feel compelled and in such strong empathy is a damn good thing. It means that the heart has iman, it is alive and feels the pain that the rest of the Ummah is facing. After all, we all know the hadith where:
“The Believers, in their mutual love, mercy and compassion, are like one body: if one organ complained, the rest of the body develops a fever.” Bukhari & Muslim
Secondly, it is probably the only time that Muslims, no matter their sect, colour, creed or beliefs unite on a common cause. NOTHING unites Muslims more than Palestine. Alhamdulillah.
How can this energy be channelled better?
1. Let’s be honest and be prepared to hear some home truths
The well-known civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. said that in order for people to condemn injustice, they must go through four stages. The first stage is that people must ascertain that indeed injustices are being perpetrated. In his case, it was injustices against African Americans in the United States. The second stage is to negotiate, that is, approach the oppressor and demand justice. If the oppressor refuses, King said that the third stage is self-purification, which starts with the question: “Are we ourselves wrongdoers? Are we ourselves oppressors?” The fourth stage, then, is to take action after true self-examination, after removing one’s own wrongs before demanding justice from others. — Purification of the Heart, Hamza Yusuf
This quote is very relevant here. First we need to look at ourselves. We have continually asked for justice from our oppressor, and it has been refused. So let’s go on to stage three. Are we wrongdoers and oppressors ourselves?
Where was our action before when the Zionists were invited to buy up the land of Palestine, or when the bogus paper money system was happily accepted by Muslims all over the world? Have we been loving the privileges that came from this glamorous world to such an extent that perhaps we were neglectful of our duties to our Lord?
Maybe a reason for the suffering of Muslims all over the world is the result of not rejecting the system at its initial stages. Perhaps we should deal with the fact that many Muslims of the world have lost and are losing their Islam and Allah may be responding?
2. Focus on your own backyard and fix that first.
Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad puts it beautifully and succinctly in this short clip. Nail on head.
The ONLY way we can make a difference is to rebuild our own societies so that they have clout, credibility and cohesion. That they are powerful and united and have a vision. Only then will you be able to make a difference that has impact.
3. Stop sharing pictures of our dead brothers and sisters. Please.
This short video from Sheikh Hamza Yusuf tells us simply that we should not, no matter what, share such pictures with all and sundry on social media. It does nothing except desensitise us to these horrors, and stirs up the emotional frenzy that ensues.
4. Stop wasting energy on fruitless protests
The reality of the Palestine situation in the West is people get passionate about it but have no idea what to do about it. So you end up with a group of passionate and awake Muslims that have no goal and no direction. So they think… let’s protest! That’s the thing to do to get our voice heard, right?
Whilst I do get the whole idea about protesting, and showing solidarity with your fellow brothers and sisters etc, I am struggling to recall the last time a ‘peaceful protest’ actually made a difference in the Muslim world.
People will say ‘we need to spread awareness’. Yes great, I agree. But once you spread awareness then what? What exactly is the goal of spreading awareness? Is it so people attend a protest? If so, what is that going to achieve and how? When?
Any parameter for change that has been put in place by the very powers you are trying to fight against is NEVER going to bring about any change.
We need to go back to the drawing board and say “right, protesting has done bugger all, what now?”
5. Boycott either all-or-nothing
I am in two minds about boycotting. The reason for this is that we always pick and choose what to boycott. NO to Israeli dates, we shout from the rooftops, whilst posting another status on Zionist-owned Facebook from our Israeli-made Intel processor powered laptop.
That £10 you donate to Palestine is nothing compared to the thousands you willingly hand over to Israel over the course of the year, with every Starbucks coffee you slurp. Either sacrifice and instigate a proper boycott or stop being deluded.
You wouldn’t believe the number of brands that have factories in the occupied areas. Or the celebrities that donate and endorse such causes. All these big companies are able to do whatever they want because we’re giving our money to them on a plate to be part of some “cool” culture. In some cases we are literally signing away our lives to them just for a loan. That’s why no matter how much we try we just can’t do anything effective. Because the people and companies we don’t want to support already have our support.
So if you do want to go down the boycotting route, then we have to do what Gandhi did. A complete and absolute boycott of the institutions that are enabling this injustice. Not just picking and choosing things you won’t really miss. How about some REAL sacrifice, a mass boycott. These institutions that enable this type of oppression and injustice only exist because we, you and I, are choosing to allow them to exist by using their services and putting money in their pockets. And we do that because of ‘Wahn” i.e. the love of dunya and fear of death. Shaytaan threatens us with poverty and we listen, and become busy in becoming consumers and working to the bone. That’s why we are numerous in number yet weak like the foam of the sea, as per the famous Hadith.
Whenever people talk about boycotting they start talking about how we need to donate money so when Israel bombs a hospital we can build a new one. But hang on a minute — we need to work towards stopping those bombs in the first place. The way to do that is by changing our strategy.
6. Identify the root cause of injustice and act accordingly
The root cause of the injustice in the world today is usury and the pure capitalism model we have adopted, where pure profit reigns over people and Allah’s creation, at great cost.
One of most effective economic weapons we do have at our disposal that we could potentially use very meaningfully is to stop using zionist-engineered paper and digital currencies which are used to enslave/oppress mankind (at least in the economic dimension) and to return back to using sunnah money i.e. gold dinar, silver dirham.
Fading out from the banking system is a strategy if executed holistically and correctly would allow the Islamic communities to grow stronger and build a solid foundation, whilst removing Muslim contribution to the Zionist monetary system and its derivatives such as the entertainment industry, food industry etc.
7. Start practicing Sacrifice and Self-Sufficiency
Gandhi established self sufficient villages and educated his people to stop putting money into the pockets of the East India company. We all know what happened there in the end.
Islam came to rid the world of all injustices,. not just the one in Palestine, nor just for Muslims. In the Qur’an and Sunnah, we have all the tools we need to be able to do so.
Imagine a world where the Muslims started to work together. Where they all traded with one another, bartering, exchanging skills and resources with one another. Completely self-sufficient, sharing of knowledge, of ideas, of skills. Where we are reliant on one another, NOT on a system that is designed to perpetuate these problems further.
What are the steps we can take to do this? This is by no means an easy DIY guide, but steps that some people have taken towards committing to this lifestyle.
1. Limit your TV-watching. Freedom of independent thought will come from reducing the time spent on this mass source of ill-indoctrination. Read more.
2. Attempt minimalism. Begin by reducing frivolities in your day-to-day. Concentrate on the necessary versus the non-essential.
3. Retain as much cash as possible (for now), and try to pay for goods using cash wherever possible. Try not use your debit (and definitely not a) credit card. Using one’s debit card or any electronic money will only increase the “virtual” money supply, thus creating more inflation (i.e. more riba). Try and become debt neutral if you are able to do so.
4. Store any excess of money in gold/silver or dinar/ dirham.
5. Try to become an entrepreneur and to be free of the 9-5 lifestyle. Remember, if you follow a more minimalistic route, your costs will decrease significantly therefore the profit you need to earn is actually not that much. We tend to spend our paychecks for the simple fact — we have the money — even though a large majority of it would be classed as non-essential.
6. Buy halal and tayyib foods directly from the producers, and visit the local markets. It should not contain preservatives or GMO. Select local veggies that can easily grow without chemical fertilizer. Establishing connections with local farmers can help one source natural, wholesome food.
7. Restore leisure activities to ones which bring the family unit together at home, not those reliant on your entertainment centre, PlayStation or Internet.
8. Grow your own food/ medicine in the garden, and start trade-in with locals/ neighbours, whilst promoting sunnah money where possible.
9. Eventually, if you have follwed the above and are ready to do so, you could try and find a place to do hijrah, build a hut and grow foods. Hopefully by then your mentality will be ready to face challenges in a village.
10.. Acquire the essentials needed — electricity, energy, internet etc for the village.
11. Create jobs and an economy between each other, through skills exchange and bartering
12. Network with other villages: import/export and learn from one another.
And all along the way, pray, pray, pray. Which leads me on to the next point…
8. Become better believers
This is absolutely key. We need understand the times we are in, and to ask for Allah’s help. The closer we are to Him, the more our prayers will be answered and
So how can we start?
First of all, it is no use criticizing the Zionists if we have not changed our dressing, our entertainment and our culture to that of our beloved Prophet (SAW). We cannot persist in living the consumerist lifestyle set up to make them thrive, and then cry foul when they eat us alive! The change that is needed is not in Washington, Tel Aviv or London. It is in the homes, nay, the HEARTS of every single reciter of the Shahadah.
If we all purified our hearts, reconnected with the Qu’ran and made abundant zikr, whilst keeping away from fitnah and fasaad, we will surely see the help of Allah descend. As long as we are mindful of what is prophesied to happen, and the fact that will happen regardless, if we behave like true Muslims, then Allah has promised us His help. We must believe this.
In light of our brothers and sisters who are suffering, what have REALLY done to invoke Allah’s help for them? Raising awareness, protesting and insulting Zionists etc is not helping, they are who they are after all.
The question is ‘who are we?’
Can we undergo a lifestyle change this Ramadan?
Can we avoid sinning? Can we forego riba? Overconsumption? Zina? We have to try.
By all means, if you really really want, do the protests, do everything that you have to do to make your heart feel happy and emphatic and like you’ve taken some action.
But at the same time you must also do whatever you can to quell the beast from within.
9. Finally, do powerful, ‘proper’ dua for Allah’s help
This short clip from Nouman Ali Khan and Omar Suleiman, along with notes can help us to ensure we are making as powerful, effective and sincere a dua as possible. Allah is the all merciful, and truly answers the prayers of those he loves. Make a change in yourselves and strengthen your duas.
I would love to believe that finally Muslims will do something about the oppressed that will drive REAL change, and that finally we can start behaving and acting like a unified Ummah.
I’m not hopeful. I pray I’m wrong, but we’ve seen periods of heightened emotions from Muslims time after time, and ultimately, the nafs and shaytaan always take over.
However, I hope this article was food for thought. There will be many this article offends. That is not my intention. If your intention is truly based on how to effectively help the people of Gaza (and ultimately yourself) and not just what you want to do to have a good feeling in the pit of your stomach, we need to go back to basics. It will be a long stretch to get there, but ultimately a necessary one.
Further reading:
