With many petitions floating around yet again about the Al Aqsa Mosque attack by Israeli forces, it is dire that we understand what this act of petitioning the Non-Muslims for aid actually means and if it is permissible, Insha’Allah.
“The believing men and believing women are allies of one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong…” [The Noble Qur’an 9:71]
It is something beautiful when we feel for our Brothers and Sisters across the world. That’s the beauty of Islam, it takes us out of our bubbles and makes us think as a body, Alhamdulillah. Unfortunately, while our spirit is there, our direction is flawed and so we continue in this loop that never ends. It’s Palestine again right now, but soon we will forget, and it will then be another Muslim nation we protest for and petition, begging non-Muslims yet again. How long will we keep picking up causes, doing the minimum, and not really working on ourselves and our own communities to improve the condition of our Ummah, Subhan’Allah.
“Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Shall we inform you of the greatest losers as to [their] deeds? [They are] those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in work.” [The Noble Qur’an 18:103-104]
The majority of us meaning good, just blindly begin forwarding petitions and videos, asking the non-Muslims for help, without thought or having an impact. Our guilt drives us to do this. Our Deen and heart calls to us to do something, to face injustice, to support our Brothers and Sisters, so we have to satisfy that craving. Forwarding a post or a video satiates this hunger for justice, it puts a cap on those feelings, and gives us ease, so that we can move on and go back to our televisions, our insatiable appetites, our Dunya, thinking we have done our part. Pass the buck. And, the cycle continues.
“And never will the Jews and the Christians approve of you until you follow their religion. Say, “Indeed, the guidance of Allah is the [only] guidance.” If you were to follow their desires after what has come to you of knowledge, you would have against Allah no protector or helper.” [The Noble Qur’an 2:120]
Yet, we do not even know the definition of what is truly good according to Allah SWT or what he asks us to do and not do in situations such as these. Would our Beloved Prophet SAW have petitioned the non-Muslims who have no allegiance to us, who have attacked us on many occasions, and who have slowly poisoned our lives and our coming generations with the addictions of consumerism, godlessness, and dopamine highs? Would he want to take them as close friends after what Allah revealed? Subhan’Allah, we know he would not.
Imaam Ahmad and Muslim reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) went out to (the battle of) Badr, and a man from among the mushrikeen followed him and caught up with him at al-Harrah. He said, “I wanted to follow you and join you, and have some of the war-booty with you.” (The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)) said: “Do you believe in Allah and His Messenger?” He said, “No.” He said, “Go back, I do not need help from a mushrik.”
However, we find ourselves so addicted to and impressed of this lifestyle and comfort, that we have forgotten about Allah SWT and our mission. Our destination is not this world, it is the Hereafter, but we prefer to build castles on this bridge and keep putting that awakening inside all of us to sleep again and again by doing the bare minimum, Subhan’Allah.
“And be not like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves. Those are the defiantly disobedient.” [The Noble Qur’an 59:19]
Therefore, we have to realize who we are petitioning and asking to help us. We have been asking this for years and nothing happens. Where are those petitions and calls asking for justice for Kashmir, for the Rohingya, for the Uighur, for Afghanistan, for Syria, for Yemen, for Iraq, for Syria, for Bosnia, and the list goes on and on, Subhan’Allah. Where is our pride and our dignity? More than 50 Muslim countries, 1.7 billion of us across the world, and we have been reduced to begging and pleading. Has Allah SWT not blessed our land with resources and given us strength of mind and body? Are some of the most hardworking people not found in our nations? Allahu Akbar. Why do we not realize these strengths and embrace them? What holds us back? It is our own fault for surrendering ourselves to all the lights and attractions of this world and giving up our Deen. This is further evident in how our most talented and educated lot are leaving our nations in hordes and moving to the non-Muslim countries to elevate their system and strengthen their forces, while our own people suffer, Subhan’Allah. Allah SWT says that the non-Muslims we are pleading with to help us are only friends to one another, they only support one another, no matter what we think, what they may tell us, or how desperate we are to belong, Subhan’Allah.
“O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you – then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.” [The Noble Qur’an 5:51]
We also don’t realize that Allah SWT has given us instructions when it comes to reaching out to them, Subhan’Allah.
He says:
(O Messenger!) Have you not seen those who claim to believe in the Book which has been revealed to you and in the Books revealed before you, and yet desire to submit their disputes to the judgement of taghut (the Satanic authorities who decide independently of the Law of Allah), whereas they had been asked to reject it. And Satan seeks to make them drift far away from the right way.” [The Noble Qur’an 4:60]
In Tafheem-ul-Quran, Abul Ala Maududi explains this further:
“Taghut clearly signifies here a sovereign who judges things according to criteria other than the law of God. It also stands for a legal and judicial system which acknowledges neither the sovereignty of God nor the paramount authority of the Book of God. This verse categorically proclaims that to refer disputes to the judgement of a court of law which is essentially taghut contravenes the dictates of a believer’s faith. In fact, true faith in God and His Book necessarily requires that a man should refuse to recognize the legitimacy of such courts. According to the Qur’an, belief in God necessitates repudiation of the authority of taghut. To try to submit both to God and to taghut at the same time is hypocrisy.”
This clarifies that it doesn’t look good on a Muslim after he or she has believed to beg the non-Muslims for anything, especially when ultimate power belongs to Allah and His Law. By doing this, we are accepting the the judgement of Taghut or one who rules according to laws other than Allah’s, Subhan’Allah.
“O you who believe! Take not as (your) bitaanah (advisors, consultants, protectors, helpers, friends, etc.) those outside your religion (pagans, Jews, Christians, and hypocrites) since they will not fail to do their best to corrupt you. They desire to harm you severely. Hatred has already appeared from their mouths, but what their breasts conceal is far worse. Indeed We have made clear to you the aayaat (proofs, evidence, verses), if you understand. Lo! You are the ones who love them but they love you not, and you believe in all the Scriptures [i.e., you believe in the Tawraat and the Injeel, while they disbelieve in your Book (the Qur’aan)]. And when they meet you, they say, ‘We believe.’ But when they are alone, they bite the tips of their fingers at you in rage. Say: ‘Perish in your rage. Certainly Allaah knows what is in the breasts (all the secrets).’ If a good befalls you, it grieves them, but some evil overtakes you, they rejoice at it…” [The Noble Qur’an 3:118-120]
Then what do we do? First, we have to have the realization and accept the fact that we are weak and have nothing, Subhan’Allah. Stones and loud voices aren’t going to do anything. We have to stop glorifying that just because it makes us feel better. Leaving them with stones to fight with isn’t noble, Subhan’Allah.
It’s us! It is our fault. We have to stop serving our Brothers and Sisters and in turn our dignity as a meal for the world to devour.
Messenger of Allah said: “The nations are about to call each other and set upon you, just as diners set upon food.” It was said: “Will it be because of our small number that day?” He said: “Rather, on that day you will be many, but you will be like foam, like the foam on the river. And Allah will remove the fear of you from the hearts of your enemies and will throw wahn (weakness) into your hearts.” Someone said: “O Messenger of Allah! What is wahn?” He said: “Love of the world and the hatred for death.” (Abu Dawud)
We need power and that will only come from Allah SWT. It’s time to make Tawba. We have to go back, way back…to Makkah at the beginning of the Prophet’s SAW mission. We have to wipe out all the ignorance we have let infiltrate our minds and hearts and begin developing our belief system all over again, as one, on Tawheed following the Sunnah of our Beloved SAW. If we do this, then Allah SWT will give us Madinah and victory!
“Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.” [The Noble Qur’an 13:11]
We have to begin with ourselves, then our homes, then our community, then our nations, Insha’Allah. We have to enjoin good and forbid evil in all it’s forms, even if it is against ourselves and our livelihoods! The men have to rise up and live for the Hereafter like the great Sahabah RA. The women have to rise up to become true supporters like the Sahabiyat RA and bring up generations of warriors who are more concerned with bringing the Law of Allah to our nations than how much dunya they can collect. This will make us a force to be reckoned with, Insha’Allah. With Allah’s support, we can achieve this. This will take great efforts and sacrifice from all of us, but we will have something we can call our own and we will not have to bow to anyone or beg the non-Muslims for aid or attention, Insha’Allah.
Some will say, this will take too much time. I beg to ask, if we had done this when the Khilafah fell one hundred years ago or even seventy years ago when Palestine came under siege, then imagine where we would be now? Has their situation changed with what we have been doing with these wayward efforts of protests and petitions? Go back and watch that video of our Brothers, Sisters and our children screaming while rubber bullets and tear gas is raining down on them! What is different? How about when Al Aqsa was attacked last time or the time before? What about when those beautiful boys were gunned down while playing soccer? What about when those Sisters were punched in the face at a checkpoint? Subhan’Allah, how long will we keep doing it this way? Allah SWT will question each one of us.
Shaykh Hamza Yusuf said, after describing horrific events in the Muslim world happening everyday:
“Until the Muslims wake up, we are just going to be in one nightmare after another.”
Our compliance, our lack of Deen and our lazy efforts haven’t changed a thing. We make du’a, yet we do nothing to convince our Creator that He is our priority and our Master in our everyday lives. We worship money and dunya and then turn to Him to solve our problems. It is like getting hired for a job, not doing a thing your employer asks, then demanding wages! Ya Allah, what have we even done to deserve His Attention?
We have to understand our own setbacks and our psychology. We make du’a against the “evil doers” asking Allah SWT to destroy them having absolutely no self-awareness. Who will be held to account more? Us or them? Who are the real evildoers? Those who have this faith, attest to it on their tongue, but reject it in their actions and deeds creating fitnah? Or, the ones who do not have it, have never claimed it, and make fitnah in the land? We should be very careful pointing fingers when there are three pointing back at us, Subhan’Allah. Three is much, much more than one!
As a speaker once said, “We Muslims make sujood to Allah SWT, but we worship the Shaitan.”
We have done it our way, now let’s do it Allah’s way and turn back to Him for guidance and in repentance. We have to attach ourselves with the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of our Beloved SAW to find our true purpose. It is the only way out of this, otherwise, we will keep suffering like this across the globe and losing our children to the waves of Atheism and self worship, because it is what we have chosen for them with our complacency and gross negligence when it comes to this Deen. This Deen, that Allah chose for us and through which He has promised us victory!
“Allah has promised those among you who believe, and do righteous good deeds, that He will certainly grant them succession to (the present rulers) in the earth, as He granted it to those before them, and that He will grant them the authority to practise their religion, that which He has chosen for them (i.e. Islam). And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear (provided) they (believers) worship Me and do not associate anything (in worship) with Me. But whoever disbelieved after this, they are the Fasiqoon (rebellious, disobedient to Allah)” [The Noble Qur’an 24:55]