Lessons from Gaza - and beyond

The Gaza Massacres tested the entire Ummah. Below are some lessons I learned as a Muslim American.

1. Believers never lose hope
The believers see the darkness and oppression in the world with the light of Iman. This empowers the believer to see the Will of Allah in every situation. In the prophetic incident of al-ahzab, the believers were scared when the mighty armies of Arabia moved to destroy them in Madina. But their trust in their Lord made them believe in His promise of eventual triumph over oppression. At that darkest time, the prophet received the promise of Allah that the message of Islam will eventually reach Persia and Rome. The hypocrites were particularly surprised by such a lofty promise when they could not even go to the bathroom, for fear of being attacked by the enemy. But the Will of Allah stands today as it stood at the time of the Prophet. We must never lose hope or despair.


2. Passion and High emotion need to be directed.
Our community is rightfully angry about the massacres in Gaza. When directed in the right channel, this anger can be a great force pushing us forward towards our noble goals. When not directed, it can turn into an unhealthy, or even destructive flood that moves us backwards, sow disunity amongst us, and makes detractors of Islam and Muslims happy. When suppressed, without an outlet, it can lead to depression, frustration, and a desire to give up. We must open many positive channels for our community to express this emotion in the right way, in order to help us move forward in a positive direction: humanitarian assistance, political engagement, media training, legal solutions, educating the Muslim community and larger society; praying to Allah and getting closer to Him; committing to Islam, doing dawa, learning about our religion, learning about our realities in America, and more.


3. One Body, different reactions
Our Ummah must stand as one body. However, like a body, the parts of the body will react to the pain in different ways. It is possible, and sometimes necessary, that each Muslim group or country will have a different stand and will contribute to our challenges in different ways. In a war, you need soldiers, physicians, engineers, eyes, cooks, etc…. It may be that the soldier and physician are running in what seems to be opposite directions, but all with the same goal in mind. In the seerah, there were times that the Muslims in Mecca, Madina, al-Habasha and the men of abu-baseer (after Hudaybiya) had strikingly different plans, all serving Islam. Strategies that may be the best for one group (for example doing lots of rallies), may not be the best for another group.

4. American Muslims are in a unique position
Without the support of America, Israel cannot continue to oppress Palestinians. American Muslims are well positioned to educate the public and change the policies of our government in a direction that can be fair and brings all points on the table. Although we are few in numbers, we are in a unique position to make a real difference. We must learn how to capitalize on this opportunity, and we should not waste it. The single most useful job that American Muslims can do today for their Ummah and for all humanity is: get our act together, and become an Islamic voice for justice, in America.

5. Amidst high emotions, we must maintain an Islamic stance towards the Jewish People.
(a) Muslims are justifiably angry against the oppression and injustice committed by Israel, for many decades, towards the helpless Palestinian population. However, we are not against all Jews. We are against the injustices committed – whether by Jew, Christian, or even Muslim. We can no longer tolerate unjust calls in our midst that define all Jews as evil. This is as racist as the Islamaphobes who declare all Muslims as evil.

(b) We need to realize that there are many Jews who are against atrocities committed by Israel. These Jews are courageous, and are targeted by many in their own community. Even in the midst of detailing mistakes made by some “People of the Book”, Allah recognizes that among people of the book (as among any people) are trustworthy individuals (Aal Imran). Although we may not agree in all details, we still have to recognize their courage in the difficult stand that they take in their community to stand against Israel’s injustices.

(c) In Islam, standing up for Justice is not intended to happen only when Muslims are affected. Allah commands that we stand up for Justice with any people who are oppressed. Allah demands that we stand up against injustices even if committed by our own. In particular, it is important for Muslims to recognize that the holocaust is a terrible injustice that happened in the world. Not hundreds, or thousands – but Millions of Jews were unjustly massacred or displaced in the holocaust. Had true Muslims been empowered at that time, we should have done all we can to stop this massacre that can only lead to more destruction. Muslims today have to recognize this as a painful reality in our human history. We need to remember and cherish our Muslim history when Jews (and Christians) were living in peace in Muslim Spain for centuries. This was recognized by Jewish historians as the time of renaissance of the Jewish People.

6. We must engage with others
The prophet engaged non-Muslims in His Dawa project. The tribe of Bani Hashim and leaders such as Abou Taleb supported the prophet, not because they were Muslims, but because they agreed with the prophet in some human principles: freedom of religion, freedom of practice, freedom from injustice and oppression, etc… The prophet welcomed their contributions, and accepted that they stood on common ground on some issues. The prophet was willing to sign up on the pact of “al Fudoul”, which stood with the oppressed, whatever religion he may be. We must recognize the many friends we have in America, and that we will be much stronger in accomplishing our goals when we partner together

7. We must not lose focus of Islam’s priority
The main objective of Islam is to deliver the message of Allah to all humanity: dawa. This is why Allah sent thousands of prophets. This is why He created us. This is the reason why prophets, and men of nobility sacrificed, were tortured and killed. In this context, the hierarchy in terms of objectives is (a) knowledge of creator, (b) sanctity of life, and (c) the sanctity of any land or structure. This is why according to the prophet, the killing of an innocent person is more serious than the destruction of al-Ka’ba (ie: human life worth more than any physical place). Furthermore, Allah determines that to seduce humans away from their lord is worst than killing them (al fitnah akbar min al-katl - AlBakara). We are living in a world that is yearning for guidance from the Creator, and we must not lose focus on Islam’s foremost priority, which is to call humans to Allah and to introduce His Light to them. We are living in a country where the majority is seriously ignorant about Islam, although many are seriously interested to learn about it. We need to focus on our priority of delivering the message of Allah in this land. We are living in a place where many are tempted away from their creator. The prophet saw that he could not help the torture and killing of his companions safya and Bilal, and did not take unwise steps to free them because he his priority was not to do anything that would endanger the ability to deliver His message to all the people. We cannot lose our focus and our priority.

8. At the end, Injustice will not stand
This is a promise from Allah SWT. Sooner or later, the weapons of oppression and injustice will wither against the Truth. We have to believe in the promise of Allah SWT. The question is what will our role be, not whether or not Allah’s promise will stand. When a man came to the prophet angered by the oppression, torture and killings in Mecca, the prophet reminded him that this is the path of all prophets. He reminded him to be patient and to persevere on the right path. Many years later, this injustice was removed, after Allah tested the believers. We need to find the energy from amidst the darkness and channel it towards satisfying its Creator. This is the way to guarantee the promise of our Lord.