As each Muslim ruler one by one turns their back on Palestine, we need to keep in mind 10 facts that make Palestine something that should reside in our hearts. In these dark days we should not forget the importance of Palestine.
The first fact: the first Qiblah of the Muslims was towards al-Quds, and Allah (ﷻ) took His Messenger (ﷺ) on a night journey to al-Quds one year before the Hijra. Allah (ﷻ) described the land surrounding the Furthest Mosque as being a blessed land. Allah (ﷻ) says:
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلًا مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ
“Praise be to He who took His servant in a night journey from the Sacred Mosque to the Furthest Mosque whose precincts We have blessed.” [TMQ 17:1]
Allah (ﷻ) has made Masjid Al-Aqsa the third holiest place after the Sacred Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, for which people travel to. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Do not set out on a journey except for three mosques: the Sacred Mosque, Al-Aqsa Mosque and my mosque.”[Sahih Bukhari] This obliges the Muslims to be more anxious to preserve them and defend them.
The second fact: Palestine was brought under the rule of Islam between 634 and 637 CE and remained firmly under the domain of Islam until the creation of the Zionist entity. It was Abu Bakr (RA) who began the campaign: “Oh people. Allah (ﷻ) has blessed you with Islam, has honoured you with jihad and has preferred you with this deen over the people over all other deens so prepare oh slaves of Allah – prepare to attack the Romans in Sham” (Tareekh Damash ibn Asakir).
The third fact: the land of Palestine was conquered via military expedition which means its lands are subject to the kharaj tax where the revenue generated from the land go to the Bayt al-Mal and are for the benefit of the whole Muslim Ummah.
The fourth fact: the Zionists usurped Palestine by force and despite decades passing by, this does not alter the fact that that an occupation continues today. The Shari’ah has decreed that such land needs to be liberated and the length of time this takes does not alter this principle.
The fifth fact: although a Muslim would be permitted to surrender some of his assets or land by way of sale or gift, he would not however be allowed to surrender an Islamic land to a foreign state, even if he owned the right to benefit from the land or even if he owned the land. He would be forbidden from handing it to a foreign state. This is also one of the established Shari’ah rules.
The sixth fact: if the rightful owner of the usurped land or property were weak and unable to recover what has been usurped from him, and if the usurped property were of the type which he would not be allowed to surrender, the solution would be one and the same, which is to strengthen himself and prepare sufficient force in order to teach the usurper a lesson and recover his rights. Allah (ﷻ) says:
وَأَعِدُّوا لَهُم مَّا اسْتَطَعْتُم مِّن قُوَّةٍ
“And prepare for them whatever you can in terms of force…” [TMQ Al-Anfal 8:60]
The seventh fact: al-quds has a status along with the haramain in shar’iah making them superior and blessed over all over lands in the world. Allah (ﷻ)blessed al-Quds.
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلًا مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ
“Praise be to He who took His servant in a night journey from the Sacred Mosque to the Furthest Mosque whose precincts We have blessed.” [TMQ 17:1]
The eighth fact: the responsibility of recovering al-Aqsa and Palestine includes all the Muslims all over the world; it is not only the responsibility of the people of Palestine. This responsibility is not only confined to al-Quds and Palestine, it is rather a Shari’ah rule applicable to all the Islamic land usurped by the disbelieving countries. However, the issue of al-Quds and Palestine is more of a duty due to the status we mentioned earlier. The principle concerning the apportioning of responsibility is that it falls upon the nearest, then the nearer and so on, and if the sufficiency is not established then the responsibility is spread further and so on, until the sufficiency is fulfilled, even if this meant the participation of all the Muslims all over the world.
The ninth fact: the fragmentation and the divisions through borders between Islamic lands are not acceptable in Islam. These are acts of the colonialist Kuffar who tore apart the Muslims and their lands so as to facilitate their domination over them on the basis of “divide and rule”. It is forbidden for the Muslims to continue in this division, with over 40 statelets. The Zionist entity would not have usurped Palestine, nor would the Western powers have dominated the Muslims, had they been one single state under the banner of one single Khalifah.
The tenth fact: the American government is an enemy to the Muslims, as are the British and the French. Any country who sympathises with the Zionists and assists them in their belligerence and usurpation of Muslim land, would be regarded as enemy of the Muslims. The American government’s enmity towards us as an Ummah is not confined to their support of the Zionists in usurping the land of Palestine, they themselves are usurping aggressors. Their aggression in the war against Islam is evident, their usurpation of the resources of the Ummah and support for tyrannical rulers is a firm continuous policy. The rest of the colonial and belligerent Western countries are the same as America. The way to deal with them is to consider them as enemies. It would be naive and shallow minded to treat them as friends. Allah (ﷻ) says:
إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ فَاتَّخِذُوهُ عَدُوًّا ۚ إِنَّمَا يَدْعُو حِزْبَهُ لِيَكُونُوا مِنْ أَصْحَابِ السَّعِيرِ
“Truly Satan is an enemy to you, so treat him as an enemy.” [TMQ Fatir 35:6]
