Over 100 people attended Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain’s latest event entitled ‘who will stand for Al-Quds’.A brief introduction to the topic provided some much-needed context and explained how this should not be treated as a Palestinian issue but rather one concerning all Muslims. Palestine is an integral part of our ‘Aqeedah’ due to it being:

• the land of the Anbiya (a.s)
• our first Qiblah
• the place of the ascension of Muhammad ﷺ to the heavens
• the 3rd holiest place of worship in Islam.

Following the introduction, Mazhar Khan took to the podium and addressed the following points:

Attaining the correct understanding of the reality is the crucial first step towards finding the correct solution. As Muslims, we shouldn’t just regurgitate what the West say, or we degrade ourselves by becoming a mere echo chamber of the status quo.

The issue has nothing to do with the location of the Zionist entity’s capital, nor is it an Arab-Jewish problem or one of 2 states, i.e land-sharing and co-existence.

There is one problem and one problem only – the illegal occupation of Muslim land from 1917 to 2018.

The history of the problem that led us here

The problem began long before the birth of the Zionist entity. It was and still is, no secret that the objective of the west was to destroy the Ottoman Khilafah so as to destroy Muslim unity. They acknowledged that Muslims were an obstacle to their global trade and the implantation of an artificial entity in Palestine was thus in accord with keeping the Muslims divided to achieve this. It was nothing to do with Jewish suffering at the time – anti-semitism was known to be part of the very fabric of European culture – rather was everything to do with Capitalism.

The role played by the Arab rulers

The rulers across the newly-divided Muslim world were complicit in aiding the colonialists from day one.

The tragic reality is that there was no way the west could have achieved what they desired without the treacherous collusion of the Middle East rulers.

Just how the west would never be able to enact their designs on the Muslim world today without the rulers’ active cooperation.

Even before the creation of the Zionist entity,

• King Abdullah of Jordan openly agreed to the idea of its existence
• King Hussein of Jordan even went as far as to fly back from his holiday and provide £1M compensation to a family of Zionist occupiers after their daughter was killed – where was this aid for the Muslims massacred in Gaza, Jenin or Hebron?
• Saudi Arabia has just weeks ago pledged its support for an alliance with the Zionist entity in its hopes to weaken Iran
• Erdogan’s rhetoric regarding his own embassy in Jerusalem tacitly accepts the existence of the Zionist entity and actually fast-forwards the colonialist agenda of a two-state solution

The various solutions offered

Boycott:
Although we should all naturally have a distaste for purchasing goods originating from illegality, the reality is that even if all Muslims were to boycott Zionist goods, it will not remove the Zionist occupation.

Lobbying our MP’s:
To lobby individuals housed within the institution that perpetrated this calamity to begin with, is counter-intuitive and downright audacious.

Make du’a (alone):
If this truly was the solution, then Muhammad (s.a.w), Salahuddin Al-Ayoubi (rh) or any of the courageous leaders of our past, would not have undertaken any relevant action other than that of du’a.

Two-state solution:
First and foremost, the Islamic sources define such a solution as haraam. Secondly, state sovereignty would remain firmly in the hands of the Zionist entity, with the Palestinians being afforded the right to menial administrative abilities.

A one-state solution:
Muslims simply do not accept naive and rose-tinted calls for airy-fairy cohabitation under one state as long as they ignore the backdrop of illegal occupation, death and destruction. Also, we already have more than 20 useless states that have degraded the Ummah enough, why would we want another?

Muslims don’t want to ‘free Palestine’ exclusively, rather to free the Ummah and world at large from the shackles of Capitalism via the one and only solution applicable – the Khilafah state.

The way forward – examples from the life of Salahuddin

Salahuddin’s story came at a time where political division within the Ummah was rife. The political division amongst the Muslims had opened up doors for treachery and collusion, with some of the surrounding areas trading with the crusaders – just as we see is the case with the Middle Eastern rulers today.

At the time of Salahuddin, there were rampant ‘Aqeedah problems – in the form of the Isma’ili Shia presence in Egypt at the time. Was the next decade of his life assigned to becoming an ‘Aqeedah-rectifying missionary? No – due to understanding that political disunity was the root to rectifying its byproducts. Salahuddin grew up amidst a political environment – his father, uncle and wider family holding posts of military commanders, generals and politicians.

This amalgamation of a strong attachment to Islam alongside political and military exposure, naturally led him to seek the politics Islam requires from us and understand the implications of Muslims living under one ruler.

The core issue wasn’t the crusaders, nor was it the ‘Aqeedah of those around him. Ten years went on solving this root issue, after which the rectification of deviant beliefs, wider unity and liberation of Al-Quds fell together quickly and seamlessly.

Only unification under the Khilafah once more will resolve the issue of Palestine, as well as Kashmir, Iraq, Syria and all our other lands that are facing destruction. The story of Salahuddin and our history at large should be a source of enchantment for us, of the promised Khilafah Rashidah yet to come, of the promise of Allah (swt) and of us being the men to re-establish Khilafah and liberate Palestine once more.