http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230490522616&pagename=IslamOnline-English-AAbout_Islam%2FAskAboutIslamE%2FAskAboutIslamE
Name of Questioner
John - United Kingdom
Title
Why Do Muslims Support the Palestinians?
Date
30/Dec/2008
Question
Why do Muslims who are not Palestinians and not Arabs get so angry and worked
up about what is happening in Gaza (Israel's air strikes) now? Last time I
checked, supporting Palestinians is not the sixth pillar of Islam.
Topic
Human Rights
Name of Counselor
Shahul Hameed
Answer:
Salam, John.
Thank you for your question.
The answer to the question can be simply put thus: It is because Islam more
profoundly than any other religion has taught its followers to be the upholders
of justice, that they cannot tolerate the kind of brutal injustice inflicted by
the Israelis.
And here is Allah's command about justice:
*{O you who believe! stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even
as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be
(against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts
(of your hearts), lest you swerve, and if you distort (justice) or decline to
do justice, verily Allah is well- acquainted with all that ye do.}* (An-Nisaa'
4:135)
This verse, among others, emphatically teaches Muslims to establish justice as
witnesses for Allah (God). And Allah Almighty warns us against the tendency to
follow our own lusts which may prompt us to avoid doing justice.
Any sensible person can see that justice is the key to world harmony and peace.
Indeed human equality and justice are the bases on which all human rights are
founded. This is a fact acknowledged by all those who value human dignity.
Whereas we can see that Zionism denies human equality, as it is founded on the
racist idea that by birth the Children of Israel as "God's Chosen People" are a
cut above the rest of the world. They claim that the Land of Canaan (Palestine)
is promised to them exclusively by none other than God Himself.
In fact, their own Torah says that the Land of Canaan is given to Abraham's
"seed" (Genesis 17:8-9), who should reasonably include all the children of
Abraham. But from the angle of Zionist interpretation, Abraham's firstborn
Ishmael and his children have no right to the Promised Land.
What is funny is that the "secularist", postmodern "civilized" world led by the
self-styled upholders of "democracy, freedom and human rights" supports, for
all practical purposes, the racist claim that YHWH (God) about four thousand
years ago had granted to the Israelis exclusive right to Palestine now occupied
by the Zionists.
And the State of Israel illegally founded on Arab land in 1948 is allowed to
hold hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs ransom. Their atrocities began
with the massacre of over 250 Palestinian men, women and children of Deir
Yassin committed by terrorist gangs led by Menachem Begin.
And then on they brutally murdered thousands of Palestinian men, women and
children and destroyed their homes, farms, shops, and other workplaces ignoring
world criticism.
In the West Bank and Gaza, the Israeli government inflicted collective
punishments on the Palestinians such as curfews, house demolitions, and closure
of roads, schools and community institutions. Hundreds of Palestinian activists
were deported and tens of thousands of acres of Palestinian land were
confiscated.
Torture of Palestinian prisoners has been a common practice, and scores of
people have died in detention from abuse or neglect. And Israel has built
hundreds of settlements on Palestinian land and permitted hundreds of thousands
of its own Jewish citizens to move there, defying international law. (Karen
Armstrong: The Battle for God (Harper Collins, London, 2001).)
The systematic occupation of more and more of Arab land by Israel has been
going on all the while. It was made easy for Israel to do this by the United
States. It is interesting to note that Israel goes on changing its border as it
needs more and more land for its planned expansion at the expense of the
Palestinians.
The "Intifada" (the Uprising) and the recent "martyr-operations" of the
Palestinians is the last ditch battle of a people for their basic human
rights.. But the world media distort the facts to tell the world a different
story..
The Americans who support the racist claims of Israel have no qualms at all in
bankrolling and arming the Israelis to deny the Palestinians their birthright
to their homeland. Speaking of the present siege of Gaza by Israel, Ramzi
Kysia, a member of the Free Gaza Movement writes:
"Because of the siege, eighty percent of families in Gaza are now dependent on
international food aid just to be able to eat…. Running water is now available
to most households for only four to six hours a day. Sewage treatment centers
no longer function properly….The humanitarian condition of the one and a half
million men, women, and children illegally incarcerated in Gaza is now at its
worst point in the last forty years of Israeli occupation." (Ramzi Kysia, Gaza:
Breaking Into a Prison)
Patrick O'Connor, an activist with International Solidarity Movement states
about Gaza: "The conflict here is driven by the imprisonment of a people -- the
theft of their land and the denial of their basic rights. Israeli policies, and
US complicity, are feeding desperation, and dimming hopes for achieving peace
any time soon."
And now the Israelis have started bombing heavily populated residential
neighborhoods in Gaza, massacring hundreds. And the "civilized" world looks the
other way.
The foregoing clearly highlights the plight of the Palestinians; and all
dignified humans have a duty to uphold their cause. And the Muslims of the
world – Arab or non-Arab – are proud to do this duty of supporting their
hapless brothers and sisters in Palestine in their struggle for freedom.
You can not just look for the external statements of creeds in assessing the
worldview of a people. In order to understand what it is about Islam that makes
Muslims such staunch supporters of the Palestinian cause, you have to first
understand the essence of the teachings of Islam.
The first pillar of Islam states that "there is no God other than Allah".
This essentially means that all humans created by the same One God, are one –
that all humans are equal. And so there is no question of any Muslim worth his
or her name acknowledging the claim of one set of people asserting that God has
given them the right to trample on the rights of others..
For this reason if any Muslim is complacent and quiet about the Israeli
atrocities against the Palestinians — and indeed, any racism of any kind — he
or she effectively denies that God is One! And thus that person rejects the
first and foremost creed of Islam.
And also note that after the unity of humanity in general, comes the unity of
those who acknowledge the essential unity of Divine Message as well as our
accountability before Allah as the Final Judge of our life in this world..
This in fact, is the religion of Islam taught by the prophets of God and
perfected by the final Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
The world community of the followers of the final messenger of God, Muhammad,
is known as the Muslim Ummah. And the Palestinians belong to the Muslim Ummah,
and so their pain is our own pain.
I hope this answers your question. Please keep in touch.
Salam.
Useful Links:
Palestine Holocaust: What Can Religion Offer?
The Biblical Roots of the Palestinian Problem
The Palestinian Question
When Mere Sympathy Doesn't Do the Trick (Speak Up)
For any personal reply, please reply me [email protected]
Thanks a lot for your time.
BeJustPeace
N.B.: I never mail any advertisement or spam - so if you get somethine like
this from this account, please forgive me as sometimes, people may spam using
my ID. Wish you all the best. RESPECT.
