The Gaza Call – From Dr Salah Abdel-Haq to Peoples and Rulers of the Muslim Nation
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Praise be to Allah; and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and all his kinsfolk, companions, and followers.
﴾ Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory. [They are] those who have been evicted from their homes without right - only because they say, "Our Lord is Allah." And were it not that Allah checks the people, some by means of others, there would have been demolished monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques in which the name of Allah is much mentioned. And Allah will surely support those who support Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might. ﴿ (Al-Hajj: 39-40).
O Muslims!
O free people of the world!
O all heads of Islamic states and governments!
I am addressing you today as the war on Gaza has approached its sixth month, and the calamity in the besieged Palestinian Strip has become so dire that would make our hearts explode and break up. The brutal Israeli aggression has gone beyond all imagination, including: killing, demolition, displacement, and starvation. The aggression has left tens of thousands of Palestinians as martyrs and injured, displaced more than two million people, where hunger is almost killing them, and demolished hundreds of thousands of homes, schools, hospitals and places of worship, in a genocidal war that is considered the ugliest in our modern and contemporary history and a humanitarian catastrophe that is shameful to the whole world.
While all this is happening, the official reactions of our Arab governments are below the level of duty and the volume of the disaster. Our Arab armies are still pending a decision that will never come from outside the conscience of the nation. Our peoples are still calling on the rulers to adopt positions that would express them and force the aggressors to stop their aggression, and the enemy’s embassies are still open in our countries. The occupying entity's food and weapons still pass through our lands, and our borders that are supposed to protect us, they are unfortunately protecting the enemy from our rage, where the peoples are unable to respond to the call of duty. Such situation has let the wolves of the jungle seclude themselves with a piece (of land) that is the most precious in our faith and to our nation. The question is: Did the borders remove our bonds and destroyed our unity? Where is the pride of the Arabs? Where is our covenant with Allah? Where are the joint defence agreements with the brothers of religion and the protectors of the Al-Aqsa Mosque?
By Allah, it is a revealing war that has exposed every deception intended for our nation, where isolating peoples from the will of liberation and the duty of support (to Palestinians) is pure deception.
I address my call to the Arab rulers to work hard to stop the fighting: in particular, to Egypt, the state that has sovereignty over the Rafah crossing; to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has a high status in the Islamic world; and to Jordan, the eastern neighbour of Palestine.
There are so many actions that could be taken in this regard, including: stopping the fighting and opening the Rafah crossing to the humanitarian aid, which is the least we can do in support of Palestine, as you (the Arab rulers) are the decision-makers who are accountable before Allah and history for the lives that are being lost every day. Establishment of normal relations with the usurping and aggressing entity is unacceptable in our religion, and it does not express the conscience of our nation or the will of our people, and we must work to isolate it (the Israeli entity) so that Palestine and our holy sites will be liberated from its aggression.
O peoples of the Islamic world!
While the aggression has extended for a long time, and we have become accustomed to hearing news of it, I call upon you not to stop following the tragedy and not to tire of talking about it, so that the world would keep hearing about it.
Gaza must not starve while we are full; it will not die while we are living, without feeling panic; and we will not have a good life or stable conditions until our brothers are safe and the war ends. So, you should exert every possible effort and provide anything, no matter it is cheap or expensive.
Make the acts of worship and obedience (to Allah) during the holy month of Ramadan as means of nearness to Allah, so that He may relieve this distress. Meanwhile, do not let worship and acts of obedience to Allah prevent you from fulfilling your duty. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "He who equips a warrior in the way of Allah (will get the reward of the one who has actually gone for Jihad); and he who looks after the family of a warrior in the way of Allah will get the reward of the one who has gone for Jihad".
The mujahideen in Gaza and Palestine are part of us and we are part of them, and supporting them financially, politically and in the media is the duty of every Muslim. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “No (Muslim) man will desert a man who is a Muslim in a place where his respect may be violated and his honour aspersed without Allah deserting him in a place where he wishes his help; and no (Muslim) man who will help a Muslim in a place where his honour may be aspersed and his respect violated without Allah helping him in a place where he wishes his help.”
Remaining silent is a sign of injustice and darkness; and the passive neutrality is sin and woe, as supporting the oppressed has been enjoined by Allah from above the seven heavens; and the supplication of one who has been wronged is raised by Allah above the clouds and for which the gates of heaven are opened. Then, the Lord says, ‘I swear by my might that I will certainly help you, though it be after some time’.
O Muslims! have confidence in Allah’s victory and the justice of your cause, as the liberation of Palestine is a fair cause
And you may know that Allah has power over all things, and that Allah surrounds (comprehends) all things in (His) Knowledge. The strong never remains strong, and the weak never remains weak
The demise of Israel was decided by the Holy Qur’an, as Allah Almighty says: ﴾… Then when the final promise came, (We permitted your enemies) to sadden your faces and to enter the Mosque (of Jerusalem), as they had entered it the first time, and to destroy with utter destruction all that fell in their hands.﴿ (Al-Isra: 7).
And you may know that Allah’s promise of victory to the believers will inevitably be fulfilled, whether in a long or short time.
﴾ Allah has promised those who have believed among you and done righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession [to authority] upon the earth just as He granted it to those before them and that He will surely establish for them [therein] their religion which He has preferred for them and that He will surely substitute for them, after their fear, security,…﴿ (Al-Nour: 55)
And you may know that regret and loss are among the consequences of allegiance to enemies and rushing after them.
﴾ So you see those in whose hearts is disease hastening into [association with] them, saying, "We are afraid a misfortune may strike us." But perhaps Allah will bring conquest or a decision from Him, and they will become, over what they have been concealing within themselves, regretful.﴿ (Al-Maida: 52)
So, it is better for the believers to pay attention to the good they have; not to forget that they had ruled the whole world for centuries, where justice used to prevail there; and to work to restore the glory of Islam, where the first thing is the strong faith and trust in Allah’s Sharia, and a unity that would restore our nation’s strength and revive the glory of Islam and its culture.
The battle of Al-Aqsa Flood has revealed that there is a great civilizational gap between Islam and the West, where that battle has aroused the conscience of the living world and exposed the injustice and brutality of Western civilization, compared to the values of true Islam, its justice and mercy. So, we should be proud of our religion and be aware of the precious values that are in our hands and give good tidings to the world about them.
Allah Almighty said: ﴾ And We have not sent you, [O Mohamed], except as a mercy to the worlds. ﴿ (Al-Anbiya: 107)
In conclusion, I call on every Muslim across the world to take practical action to support our brothers and to instill hope and pride in the souls of Muslims. Operation Al-Aqsa Flood has revived the lost meanings of pride within us; and it gave us hope that victory is near. These signs of Allah have become clear to us. We will never abandon our brothers. Perhaps Allah will bring us victory soon. Allah Almighty says: ﴾ If Allah should aid you, no one can overcome you; but if He should forsake you, who is there that can aid you after Him? And upon Allah let the believers rely. ﴿ (Al-Imran: 160)
And may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and all his kinsfolk, companions, and followers.
Allah Is the Greatest, and Praise Be to Allah,
Dr. Salah Abdel Haq
Acting Muslim Brotherhood General Guide
(Friday, 19 Ramadan 1445 AH / 29 March 2024 AD)