On Gaza inhuman barbaric massacre Concerning the affairs of your Muslim brothers and sisters
By: Mufti Sheikh `Abdul-Majeed Hamid Subh
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Concerning the affairs of your Muslim brothers and sisters. May Allah Almighty help the oppressed people in Gaza to re-gain their stolen rights.
What is happening now in Gaza is nothing but an inhumane barbaric massacre. Therefore, it is the role of every person, Muslim and non-Muslim, to spare no efforts to help the oppressed and alleviate their suffering. Muslim scholars should guide people in helping the oppressed; they bear a huge responsibility in this regard.
In his response to your question, Sheikh Mohamed El-Moctar El-Shinqiti, Director of the Islamic Center of South Plains, Lubbock, Texas , states:
First and foremost, Muslim scholars must mobilize the Muslim masses to do whatever they can to stop the Israeli atrocities against the people of Gaza. Those who can fight must do so, and those who can only give money must do so.
Scholars must also expose the hypocrisy of Israel and America. The people of Gaza are under an illegal occupation according to international law. They have been besieged and starved for a long time, and instead of receiving relief from the world, they are now being annihilated by the Israeli army that is supplied with American military technology.
The Israelis are currently proving to the world that the blood-thirsty sacredness of their Old Testament ancestors is still acceptable in their ideology:
"In the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them… as the Lord your God has commanded you." (Deuteronomy 20:16–17)
"When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations … then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy." (Deuteronomy 7:1–2)
Muslim Scholars and intellectuals need to show the world the roots of this barbarity, and make the whole world understand it in plain language.
Moreover, Sheikh `Abdul-Majeed Subh, a prominent Azharite scholar, adds:
I am very sad that many Muslim scholars are lagging behind in carrying out their duty towards Gaza and its people.
I commend the stance of scholars who severely criticized the oppressive war on Gaza, and asked Muslims to assist the oppressed people there by all possible means.
Scholars should explain the many dimensions of this crisis, explaining its roots and historical background.
In short, scholars should lead people and guide them in assisting the oppressed people in Gaza by all possible means and through all legal channels.
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Role of Individuals and Governments Toward Palestinians
By-Mufti Dr. Sano Koutoub Moustapha
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
It is the duty of Muslims to help their oppressed Muslim brothers and sisters, especially in these critical times. Individuals and governments alike should exert their utmost efforts to help the oppressed Palestinians. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said, "Each of you cannot be a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself" (Al-Bukhari).
Responding to the question, Dr. Sano Koutoub Moustapha, professor of jurisprudence and its principles at the International Islamic University, Malaysia, states the following:
I believe that all Muslims must do their best to assist oppressed Palestinian people in all possible ways. They must remember them in their supplications. It is a duty upon every Muslim to do so.
As for the specific role of Muslim individuals and governments, I believe that there must be coordination and cooperation between the people and their governments. Certainly, no Muslim individual or decent government would like to see more pain and hardship for the Palestinian people. Therefore, there must be cooperation and strategic move from peoples as well as governments in order to assist the Palestinians in these difficult times.
In other words, individuals must donate as much as they can to the Palestinians, and the governments -- including the Palestinian government -- must find political solutions to this crisis. The interest of the Palestinian people must be above all other interests and considerations.
Muslim leaders should do their best to uproot the causes and sources of this unjust and unfair punishment of Palestinians. Political ideologies and agendas should be put aside for the sake of hungry, thirsty, and oppressed Palestinians.
All individuals and governments must do whatever they can to help the helpless Palestinians by assisting and donating to the legal authorities, either in cash or in kind or even in spirit. It is a sinful act to see fellow Muslims living in hunger and hardship without lending them a helping hand.
May Allah be with the Palestinian people and reward those people who will put an end to this critical and human crisis.
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In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger
It is the duty of every Muslim to help ease the suffering of his fellow Muslim brothers and sisters in every part of the world where Muslims are oppressed, especially in Palestine. The least thing a Muslim can do in this regard is to beseech Allah to ease the suffering of his fellow Muslim brothers and sisters in Palestine and to grant them victory over their enemies.
Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states the following:As Muslims it is our religious duty to show solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are suffering in Palestine, Kashmir and every part of the world; we must also show solidarity with the oppressed in any part of the world regardless of their religious or racial or ethnic affiliations.When we come to specific ways of translating this solidarity into practical steps, I can classify them into long term and short term measures.
Short term measures:
1. We must offer charities for the relief of the suffering. While doing so it is important to feel the pain and suffering they are going through right now as if we ourselves were being personally hurt.
2. We should recite Qunut An-Nazilah. This is the kind of special prayer recommended in time of calamities and tragedies. As a community we must close our ranks and pray from our hearts for the brothers and sisters who are suffering most terribly; it is our duty to pray to Allah to grant them victory and relief. Qunut An-Nazilah can be recited both individually and collectively. While reciting it collectively, it is best that we choose to read it during Fajr, `Isha' and Jumu`ah Prayers. There are two valid ways of reciting Qunut; it must be done in the last rak`ah, either before going to ruku` after finishing the recitation or after rising from ruku` and saying ‘rabbanaa laka al-hamdu’, and prior to going to prostration; both are perfectly valid options.
Here is a sample of
Qunut An-Nazilah in transliteration:
“Allaahumma innaa nasta`eenubika wa nastaghfiruka Wa nu’minu bika wa nuthnee `alaykaWa nakfuru wa naturuku man yafjurukaAllaahumma iyyaaka na`budu walaka nusallee wa nasjuduWa ilayka nas`aa wa nahfiduNarjoo rahmataka wa nakshaa `adhaabakaInna `adhaabaka al-jidda bi al-kuffaari mulhiqAllahumma `alayka bi as-ssahaayinah al-mu`tadeena al-mujrimeenaAlladheena istabaahoo al-hurumaati wa qataloo wa sharradoo al-mustadh`afeen fee Filasteen,Allaahuma innahum laa yu`jizoonakaAllaahumma rabba al-mustadh`afeenUnsur al-mustadh`afeen (three times)Allaahumma arinaa feehim `ajaa’iba qudratika Allaahumma ij`al tadbeerahum tadmeeran alayhimWa ij`al jundahum jundan `alayhimWa ij`al sijnahum sijnan `alayhimAllaahumma unsur al-mustadh`afeen fee kulli makaani (three times)Allaahumma unsurhum nasran mu’azzaran (three times)Alllaahumm irham ummata Muhammad (three times)Allaahumm farrij `an ummati Muhammadin (three times)Allaahumma yaa muqalliba al-qulooba thabbit quloobanaa `alaa al-haqqAllaahumma ij`alnaa hadeen muhtadeenAllaahumma salli wa sallim `ala nabiyyika wa rasoolika Muhammadin wa `alaa aalihi wa sahbihee ajma`een.”
“O Allah, We seek Your help; we beseech Your forgiveness.We affirm our faith in You; we praise You.We reject and abandon everyone who forsakes You.O Allah, You alone do we worship; unto You alone we pray, and before You alone we prostrate in worship.Unto You alone we strive and implore.We cherish hope in Your mercy; we fear Your chastisement.Most certainly, Your stern punishment will overtake those who reject the truth.
- Allah, we ask Your help against the aggressive Zionists who have committed crimes (against the oppressed), who have violated the sanctities, and killed, and dispersed the oppressed in Palestine.
- Allah, they cannot overwhelm You.
- Allah, You who are the Lord of the oppressed,
Help the oppressed (against their oppressors).
- Allah, show us Your miraculous powers in dealing with them (i.e. the aggressors).
- Allah, make their plans a plan for their destruction.
- Make their armies a source of their own defeat.
- Make their prison a prison for them.
- Allah, help the oppressed against the oppressors in all parts of the world.
- Allah, have mercy on the Ummah of Muhammad.
- Allah, bring relief to the Ummah of Muhammad.
- Allah, You are the twister of hearts, make our feet steadfast on the path of truth.
- Allah, make us all guides unto truth and make us rightly guided.
- Allah, bless and send peace on Your Prophet and Messenger Muhammad and his entire family and Companions.
Long term efforts: As for long term efforts, they must include analyzing the reasons for our downfall and despondent state as well as seeking to remove them through concerted and methodical efforts and strategies. We cannot expect our condition to change through erratic, hysterical outbursts; we must become proactive instead of acting out impulsively. As the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “There is no intelligence greater than planning”. Stated differently, we must plan and work out strategies methodically and systematically; let me list a few points in this regard:
- We must organize our priorities and seek to mobilize the spiritual and intellectual and other resources of the community to strengthen the Ummah and protect it.
- We must prepare a new generation of trained professionals and experts who would protect us against the misinformation and deliberate cover up and false propaganda in the media.
- We should reach out to other communities and cooperate with all the peace-loving people, regardless of their religious or ethnic affiliations, and work for the cause of truth and justice and fundamental rights of all fellow citizens and human beings.
- We must recapture the essential universal, ethical values and ideals of Islam and accentuate them, rather than being ossified on dogmas and rituals.
- The Ummah cannot be mobilized for the higher ideals of Islam so long as the Minbar (the pulpit from where religious speeches are given) remains a dead piece of wood. We must remember that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) trained an entire generation of leaders from the University of Minbar.
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