A test for all

يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ هَلْ أَدُلُّكمْ عَلَى تِجَـرَةٍ تُنجِيكُم مِّنْ عَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ - تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَتُجَـهِدُونَ فِى سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ بِأَمْوَلِكُمْ وَأَنفُسِكُمْ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ - يَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَيُدْخِلْكُمْ جَنَّـتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا الاٌّنْهَـرُ وَمَسَـكِنَ طَيِّبَةً فِى جَنَّـتِ عَدْنٍ ذَلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ - وَأُخْرَى تُحِبُّونَهَا نَصْرٌ مِّن اللَّهِ وَفَتْحٌ قَرِيبٌ وَبَشِّرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

As Shaf 61:(10. O you who believe! Shall I guide you to a trade that will save you from a painful torment) (11. That you believe in Allah and His Messenger, and that you strive hard and fight in the cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives, that will be better for you, if you but know!) (12. (If you do so) He will forgive you your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow, and pleasant dwellings in `Adn (Eternal) Paradise; that is indeed the great success.) (13. And also (He will give you) another (blessing) which you love, help from Allah and a near victory. And give glad tidings to the believers.)

Brothers in Islam, I have no option but to talk about what is happening to our brothers and sisters in Palestine, especially in Gaza Strip. But I am not going to waste my time from this pulpit criticizing the atrocity carried out by the state of Israel which has gone way beyond any of our imagination as human beings. It is more sensible for me to address our attitude as a Muslim nation towards the sufferings endure by our brothers and their families in the place what is now known as the most crowded prison on the surface of the earth.

I was tempted to talk about this issue after listening to very diverse responses we receive when we organized events such as rally, fundraising and prayers to support our Palestinian brothers. Most responses were very positive, including from non-Muslims who looked at the atrocity as a humanity crisis. However, some of our fellow Muslim brothers responded to the call in a manner that make you wonder whether they are humans or not let alone whether they are Muslims or not.

To put things in perspective, let us understand that what is happening now is actually parts of Allah’s scenario or sunnatullah. Listen to these following ayats in which Allah tabarakta wa ta’ala says,

وَقَضَيْنَآ إِلَى بَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ فِى الْكِتَـبِ لَتُفْسِدُنَّ فِى الاٌّرْضِ مَرَّتَيْنِ وَلَتَعْلُنَّ عُلُوّاً كَبِيراً

Al Israa’ 17:(4. And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Scripture: "Indeed you would do mischief in the land twice and you will become tyrants and extremely arrogant!''
And,

وَلَوْلاَ أَن كَتَبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْجَلاَءَ لَعَذَّبَهُمْ فِى الدُّنْيَا وَلَهُمْ فِى الاٌّخِرَةِ عَذَابُ النَّارِ - ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ شَآقُّواْ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَمَن يُشَآقِّ اللَّهَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ

Al Hashr 59: (3. And had it not been that Allah had decreed exile for them, He would certainly have punished them in this world; and in the Hereafter theirs shall be the torment of the Fire.) (4. That is because they opposed Allah and His Messenger. And whosoever opposes Allah, then verily, Allah is Severe in punishment.)

It is crystal clear here that Allah has decided in his scenario for the play of this world that the Jews will be powerful and make destructions on the surface of this planet arrogantly. Allah has also decided to let them to spread injustice and corruptions and spare them from punishment in this world. But why Allah does that?

… ذَلِكَ وَلَوْ يَشَآءُ اللَّهُ لاَنْتَصَرَ مِنْهُمْ وَلَـكِن لِّيَبْلُوَ بَعْضَكُمْ بِبَعْضٍ

Muhammad 47:(4. … Thus, and had Allah so willed, He could have taken vengeance against them;--but (He lets you struggle) so as to test with one another.

We believe (and we have to) that if Allah wishes, He azza wa jalla can stop this easily. He could have destroyed the state of Israel with all of their weaponries and killed all of them this very minute as we speak. But Allah is not going to do that because He wants to test us through this fitnah or trial. In another verse, Allah says,

وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ حَتَّى نَعْلَمَ الْمُجَـهِدِينَ مِنكُمْ وَالصَّـبِرِينَ وَنَبْلُوَ أَخْبَـرَكُمْ

Muhammad 47: (31. And We will surely, try you until We know those who strive among you and the patient, and We will put to a test all your affairs.)

By letting this fitnah continue, Allah puts us to a test. Our responses, our attitude towards the suffering of our Palestinian brothers and sisters define the level of our belief or eeman. In particular this is a test against Allah’s statement:

إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ
The believers are but a brotherhood.

It means, all of us are brothers in Islam. It doesn’t matter if you’re black, white or coloured, Arab or non-Arab, we are all united in a big family called Islam. The Messenger of Allah SAW said,

«الْمُسْلِمُ أَخُو الْمُسْلِمِ لَا يَظْلِمُهُ وَلَا يُسْلِمُه»
(The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim, he is not unjust with him nor does he forsake him.) An-Nasa'i collected this Hadith.

Here Rasoolullah SAW suggests the consequence of brotherhood in Islam; that is, not only you prevent yourselves treating your fellow Muslims unjustly, but also if you see them being treated unjustly, if you see them being bullied and harassed, you don’t sit back and relax and do nothing about it. In another hadiths, the Prophet SAW points out,

«مَثَلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِي تَوَادِّهِمْ وَتَرَاحُمِهِمْ وَتَوَاصُلِهِمْ كَمَثَلِ الْجَسَدِ الْوَاحِدِ، إِذَا اشْتَكَى مِنْهُ عُضْوٌ تَدَاعَى لَهُ سَائِرُ الْجَسَدِ بِالْحُمَّى وَالسَّهَر»
(The parable of the believers in relation to the kindness, mercy and compassion they have for each other, is that of the body: when an organ of it falls ill, the rest of the body responds with fever and sleeplessness.) in Sahih.

There many other hadiths with similar message. But back to the responses we received when the call was made, the most typical response was, “Well it’s not going to make any difference anyway. You can go down the street and scream on top of your voice; they are not going to listen. You can collect money and buy food and medicine; they block all access.” Some events used Allah’s words as an excuse for not doing anything. “Well, Allah has decreed this going to happen, even if you pray all night long and dry up your tear, Allah will not change his decision.”
My brothers in Islam, Allah never weighs up our effort according to the outcomes or results.

لاَ يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلاَّ وُسْعَهَا لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ رَبَّنَا لاَ تُؤَاخِذْنَآ إِن نَّسِينَآ أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا

Al Baqarah 2: (Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that (good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned. "Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error.'')

It is very important that we do something to the best we can do and leave the rest to Allah to decide the outcome. لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ, You are rewarded for the effort you put in!! In addition to this, Muslim recorded that Abu Hurayrah RA said that the Messenger of Allah SAW said,

«مَنْ رَأَى مِنْكُمْ مُنْكَرًا فَلْيُغَيِّرْهُ بِيَدِهِ، فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَبِلِسَانِهِ، فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِع فَبِقَلْبِهِ، وَذلِكَ أَضْعَفُ الْإِيمَان»
(Whoever among you witnesses an evil, let him change it with his hand. If he is unable, then let him change it with his tongue. If he is unable, then let him change it with his heart, and this is the weakest faith.)

In summary, despite the belief that the atrocity committed by Israel towards our brothers in Palestine is Allah’s decree, we have to help our suffering brothers to the best of our ability. This is not only a test of their patience but it is also a test for all of us. Our responses to the test will define the level of our eeman.

Barakallahu li walakumbil aayati wazzikril hakiim, wa taqabala minni wa minkum tilawatahu, innahu huwassamii’ul ‘aliim.