Gaza: The Turning Point

Praise be to Allah (SWT) and Blessings on Prophet Muhammad (SAW)

O people! We have created you out of a male and a female and rendered you into [ethnic] derivatives [of each other] and corresponding communities [to each other] for the purpose that you might come to mutually understand each other. […] [Al Hujuraat, 49:13]

Since the ongoing genocide in Gaza, it has been observed, on the one hand, that a large number of people have returned to Allah (SWT), influenced by the resilience and trust of Palestinians, despite their plight. On the other hand, Muslims from around the world have spoken out about a rise in Islamophobia. Whether in Germany, France, the UK or USA, attacks against Muslims have multiplied.

O you who have committed [to Allah’s power]! Do not take the deniers of the truth [pertaining to Allah’s power and authority] for your allies in preference to the committed Muslims! Do you want to place before Allah a manifest proof of your guilt?  [An Nisaa, 4:144]

Gaza is a critical turning point in the history of humanity, similar to the two World Wars.

The White civilisation, especially those who think of themselves as superior because of the colour of their skin, have shown their true colours and have admitted to having looked the other way while women and children were being massacred, while innocents were being imprisoned and tortured and buildings being reduced to ashes. These constitute part of the reason why Gaza is a critical turning point and a terrifying time to live in.

And the [political] Jews and the [political] Christians will not be satisfied with you [O Muhammad] unless you trail their worldview. […] [Al Baqara, 2:120]

Since the end of the First World War, the era of empires had ended, and technology had facilitated the myth of nation states. This notion is based on the idea that all countries are equal, by the mere fact of being members of the United Nations. Let’s not delve into the contradiction represented by the fact that some states are permanent members of the Security Council and have veto power. The decisions taken by the General Assembly are of consultative value only.

The states which are part of the exclusive club that is the Security Council are those which control a major part of the economy and world capital, and which considerably influence other nations.

While being attractive in theory, the nation states that have been created from the fragmentation of the Islamic State has only brought about dishonour for the Ummah.

Countries that constitute the global South, so-called under-developed or developing countries, formerly called third world countries, are where the majority of the world’s population is found. These countries have mostly been under colonial rule and do not have the lion’s share of the world’s economy or power. While they do possess natural resources, they are highly dependent on the West.

The White European civilisation has been founded on the pillars of colonial domination.

Since the Second World War, there has been persistent hints that these European countries keep on considering the Global South as subordinates and that the value of the life of a dark-skinned person is not equal to that of a White person, and that all victims are not equal and that there are those who are worthy, and others less so. They may also believe that every human being is not the same, and that sometimes a genocide is justifiable, especially when the victims are people without importance.

Gaza has lifted the veil on this ambiguity. We live in a world where falsehood has taken maddening proportions. Anyone who refuses to see the genocide in Gaza is either a liar or stupid. There is no other explanation. But Gaza has also revealed the endemic racism that characterises the colonial system. After the two World Wards, the ancient Western colonial powers have done what colonial powers have always done: exploit the labour of dark-skinned people under one form of servitude or another.

Racism is based on fear, of a rise of power, of an explosion of those who are victimised. At the heart of Islamophobia is the consciousness that for the Western civilisation to exert domination, to create a world where the White Man holds ultimate power, there is the undeniable historic heritage of the destruction and dismantling of the Islamic civilisation. Let’s take the myth of the nation state as an example. If a Muslim state is attacked, it is mostly certain that other Muslim states will remain passive, for Muslims have totally adhered to the doctrine of fanatical nationalism.

By contrast, attacking one the colonial powers who have sold us the myth of the nation state is synonymous with attacking all of them. The level of coordination and unity go largely beyond the limits of the nation state, as recent massive Islamophobic protests in the UK have shown. There is an ideological unity which shows that, any doctrine such as genocide, human rights, democracy have an underlying hypocrisy, based on race and religion, fostered by an anxiety based on guilt; that of dominance, control and having a grip on a people.

When Western philosophers used to talk about civic rights and individual rights, they did not include dark skinned people in their vision. They did not intend to extend these civic rights to Amerindians or Black enslaved Africans. They were talking about the rights of the White people, an ideology based on the principle of a racial, religious and ideological collective and not on the myth of the nation state.

Also, the rise in Islamophobia cannot be dissociated from that of right-wing extremism, a return to old colonial clichés. Colonialism has always perceived Islam as a threat and has always targeted Islam and Muslims. There is a persistent remembrance that the main challenge to the surge of White racist civilisation was the Muslim civilisation, which is why Islamophobia and far right are closely connected.

Islamophobia has become an industry financed by the far right, engaged in the production of a whole arsenal meant to discredit Islam: the publication of anti-Islam material, the production of audio-visual clips, fake research by over-zealous Islamophobes, self-proclaimed experts in Islam on TV shows.

Behold, Allah has bought of the committed Muslims their lives and their possessions, promising them Paradise in return, [and so] they fight in Allah’s cause [when fighting is justified], […] [At Tawbah, 9:111]

Today, some Muslims think they can have an impact miraculously, without any profound knowledge. They seem to believe that the mere fact of being a graduate will produce miracles through activism, or even that only prayers are enough, and that people need to pray more. This is not the way. This did not even work at the time of the Prophet (SAW).

Let’s think about the resources that the Companions had to invest. Let’s imagine the energy and the efforts that the Prophet and his Companions had to put in.

May Allah (SWT) help and guide us.