To Our Chainsaws!

Praise be to Allah (swt), and blessings upon the Prophet Muhammad (saw)

Whatever [of their delicious date producing] palm trees you may have cut down, [O com-mitted muslims], or left standing on their entrenched trunks, was [done] by Allah’s consent, and in order that He might confound those who are degenerate. [Al Hashr, 59:5]

To our chainsaws! Together, let us cut down the palm trees behind which the Zionist enemy hides, an enemy of Allah, guilty of crimes against humanity and of atrocities against a part of the Ummah, our Palestinian brothers and sisters. In doing so, we will have the honour of joining the army of Muhammad (saw) and will, insha Allah, be rewarded.

And so, anyone who has done an atom’s weight of good shall behold it; [Al Zalzalah, 99:7]

For more than three years, we have witnessed every day in Gaza widespread persecution, sorrow, destruction, loss of human life, loss of homes, food insecurity, emotional harm, and trauma of every kind. These atrocious events should remind us of the position the Prophet Muhammad (saw) took when faced with the betrayal of Banu Nadir, and how he forced them to yield through an economic blockade.

Surah Al-Hashr in the Qur’an reminds us of the Muslims’ trial with the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir. They were one of the tribes that had signed an initial peace treaty, a non-aggression pact, with the Muslims of Madina, which allowed the Muslims to live in relative security. For various reasons, the Banu Nadir broke the terms of this treaty and began relations with the idolatrous Quraysh, who regarded the Muslims as their enemies. The Banu Nadir were prepared to act as a satellite group opposing the Muslims on behalf of the Quraysh, going back on their treaty and concluding a new one with the enemy.

This was a betrayal and a deception, which left the Muslims with a difficult choice. The choice was to offer the Banu Nadir the option of going into exile and leaving the city, so as to at least secure Madina’s political order. The Muslims would allow the Banu Nadir to return each year to harvest their precious palm trees. They refused. It was at that point that Muhammad (saw) ordered the siege of their fortresses, which were protected by palm trees.

The Jews, who had taken refuge in the fortresses, waited for the Prophet (saw) to leave once provisions ran out. The Islamic army waited for days. But the Jews did not leave the fortresses. After this long wait, the Prophet (saw) devised a strategy: the date palms that protected the fortresses would be cut down, thereby striking at the economy of the Jews of Banu Nadir. When the trees were cut down, the Jews were devastated. They had to go into exile. This event is proof that boycott is permissible, even obligatory, in the face of the massacre of our brothers and sisters in occupied Palestine, the blood of a Muslim being, according to Muhammad (saw), more sacred than the Kaaba and its surroundings.

Symbolically, these palm trees today represent the barriers behind which Israel hides. Among these trees, in the front line, stands America, which supplies weapons to Israel to perpetuate the genocide. Among the other palm trees are so-called international law, the complicit European Union, the impotent United Nations, whose resolutions Israel perfidiously ignores, the International Court of Justice, unable to enforce its arrest warrant against the war criminal of Tel Aviv, and the hundreds of countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Morocco and Saudi Arabia, on whom Israel can count for its defence.

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]

There are, however, other palm trees that cannot withstand the chainsaws, and which we are obliged to cut down in our effort to defend our Palestinian brothers and sisters against persecution and ethnic cleansing. These are thousands of consumer products, such as burgers, coffees, soft drinks, chocolates and sports shoes, whose manufacturers finance the genocide. There is that French hypermarket involved in financing the genocide. There are those who shamefully exploit the genocide for marketing, such as Zara and Adidas. There are also the many companies, including insurance companies that invest in BlackRock, and banks such as HSBC that invest Muslims’ pension plan funds in Elbit Systems, both of which are arms manufacturers for Israel.

Let us remember the story of Thumamah, the leader of Yamama, from whom the Quraysh obtained their supply of wheat grain. Upon his conversion to Islam, Thumamah decided, on his own initiative, to stop trading with those who persecuted the Prophet (saw). This action was nothing other than a boycott, to weaken the enemy.

The first lesson to draw is that Thumamah imposed an economic boycott on the Quraysh without seeking the Prophet’s (saw) permission beforehand. Let us also note that the Prophet (saw) never asked Thumamah why he had boycotted them. He (saw) never declared the boycott to be haram.

The boycott of Israeli products to put economic pressure on that country is thus justified. This action teaches a lesson to firms that indirectly support the genocide and the massacre of Muslims. It also demonstrates the unity of Muslims in the face of oppressors and confirms to the Palestinians that the Ummah stands in solidarity with them.

To those who say that the permission of Muslim leaders is needed before boycotting, we point to the action of Thumamah. Must we seek permission from those who recognise the Zionist occupiers’ right to exist, from those who use their armies to protect the border with the Zionists, from those who impose a blockade on Rafah, from those who betray the Ummah under the Abraham Accords, from those who, to please their masters, change fatwas as they change socks, from those who support normalisation with Israel, from those who look on impassively as our children, our mothers and our brothers are massacred, from those who watch the genocide while inviting women of loose morals to perform on the lands of the Haramain?

Stop, the Ummah has had enough of your pretences.

These events also teach us that we can take part in defending our brothers and sisters in Palestine by cutting down the palm trees too, that is, the sources of the Israeli economy. Faced with so many acts of betrayal, it is our duty to contribute. Applying pressure on a targeted entity is recognised as a form of boycott. When Muhammad (saw) besieged Banu Nadir, it was a form of economic pressure on them. To our chainsaws.

Let us arm ourselves with our chainsaw of boycott and cut down the Zionists’ trees. Every Israeli product that enters our home is a tree to be cut down. We can join the ranks of the Prophet (saw) by striking the Zionists where it hurts most, their economy.

[…] and never will Allah allow those who deny the truth to break through the committed muslims. [An Nisa, 4:141]

May Allah help and guide us.