Gaza one year on: a Muslim's reflection
It has been officially one year since the start of the 'war' in Gaza. Since October 7 of last year, more than 41,500 Palestine have been killed by Israel; majority of the victims being women and children.
As a Muslim, seeing these atrocities being committed to my Muslim brothers and sisters in Palestine breaks my heart. How many times can a Muslim watch on YouTube, X, and on television the atrocities committed before they start loosing some hope? Or before they ask "What else can be done?"
This it a topic that can make anyone, Muslim or non-Muslim, depressed and saddened at the state of the world. In this article I want to share some of the Quranic verses and Hadiths that have helped me see a sort of light in the darkness that is the 'war' in Gaza. These are the Quranic verse and Hadiths that I have returned to numerous of times throughout this year and these were the verses and Hadiths that I reflected the most about.
The purpose of this article is not to share statistics or talk about politics. The purpose of this article is to see the Quranic verses and Hadiths of the Prophet that shed light on how to view hardships and difficulties in the world. How to better grasp with the difficulties life can throw at us. I hope that these verses can bring some positivity into your life, whether you be Muslim or non-Muslim, as it has for mine.
The Lord Never Forgets
The first Quranic verse that I want to share with you is in which Allah states in the Quran: "And your Lord never forgets" (Surah Maryam: 64). Imam Shafi'i, one of the greatest scholars of Islamic Jurisprudence, has said that this verse in the Quran "should terrify every oppressor and comfort the oppressed."
This verse speaks to both the oppressor and the oppressed. In terms of the oppressed, no matter where you are, no matter how lost you may feel, Allah is always watching and he never forgets. Many times Palestinians, no matter how hard things got, would always mention Allah. They make the shahadah, the declaration of faith that is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Messenger or a different prayer to God. They mention Allah because they fully believe in their hearts that Allah is all-hearing and all-seeing and that Allah will never forget the pain and suffering that they are going through. They know that at the end of the day, even if they were alone, they have Allah with them.
On the flip side, Allah also reminds the oppressors that he will never forget about the vile actions that they have done. No matter how powerful they are, no matter if they 're-write' history for people in the future to forget about the atrocities that they did, Allah never forgets.
We Muslims believe that after everyone dies, we will be judged by Allah for the actions we did on this earth. If we did good and believed in him, then Allah will reward us with paradise; if, however, we did evil, we will be punished for it. This is the main point of Allah not forgetting. On that day, Allah will remind everyone, whether they be the oppressed or the oppressor, what they did. He will remind the oppressor of their evil acts and question them and judge them for those acts that they may have even forgotten that they did. He will also remind the oppressed of the patience they had and the reward that they will have for turning towards God and for not giving up.
He will ask the oppressor why they did their evil acts; and he will praise the oppressor for having patience for their suffering. On that day, no matter how many years the oppressors have lived and how many times they thought they 'got away with it,' Allah will make sure to reward and punish people accordingly.
For those Palestinians who believe in Allah and have patience, Allah will not forget; but for those who cause pain and suffering, Allah will also not forget. This verse brought me a lot of comfort knowing that even in all this darkness, one day, true judgment will come both to the oppressed or to the oppressors. The oppressed may feel hopeless, and the oppressor's may feel powerful, but no matter who you are, Allah never forgets. I hope our actions are ones in which we are happy for our lord not forgetting.
A beautiful Hadith
In terms of the Hadith, the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessing be upon him) has said that on the Day of Resurrection there will come someone who has lived the most luxurious life will be brought to God and will be dipped into Hell for a very brief second. After that he will be asked "have you enjoyed any pleasure?" He will say "No, I have never enjoyed any pleasure." Then another man who suffered the most amount of hardship and trouble in this worldly life will be brought to God and will be dipped into Paradise for a very brief second. He will be asked "Have you suffered any hardship?" He will say " I have never suffered any hardship or trouble" (Hadith).
This is a beautiful Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad. Imagine a Palestinian child whose parents were murdered right in front of them, he sees his friends dying left and right, and his final moments on this world was him slowly dying from a gunshot wound. Then imagine that this child is taken to Allah and is simply dipped into paradise for just a fraction of a second and all of that pain and suffering is forgotten. Not only is it forgotten, but he is filled with a sense of bliss and happiness that he has never once felt in his life before.
Then imagine a soldier who has fun shooting and murdering innocent civilians. Not only does he enjoy it, but he is rewarded for it. His final moments on this earth is him in his mansion laughing at the evil deeds he did. Then imagine he is taken in front of Allah and is dipped into hell for just a fraction of a second and all those moments of laughter and contentment not only are forgotten, but are then filled with dread, despair, and anguish like he has never felt before.
I returned to this Hadith many times during this one year 'war' in Gaza. The Prophet Muhammad is telling the believers that no matter how bad things get and no matter how hard one's life is, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Not just a tiny light, but a light that completely encapsulates and and lights the darkness from before. This is the light for the believer who is oppressed in this world. On the flip side, imagine being in a light and suddenly all of that evaporates into darkness. All that light and enjoyment gone. This Hadith I believe gives the most optimism for the oppressed while also giving the most pessimism for the oppressor. It is a beautiful Hadith that can be seen and analyzed in so many ways; but most importantly, gives hope to the hopeless.
What can we do? The Quranic solution.
The final Quranic verse I want to leave you guys with is when Allah states in the Quran "Verily, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves" (Quran, Ar-Ra'd 11). Sometimes hearing and seeing about the killing and horror that is happening in Gaza, we on the outside might feel hopeless. Essentially, what can I do to help them? How can I, in Saudi Arabia right now or someone in America or in Europe do to help the Palestinians?
Allah states clearly that Allah will change the condition of the people unless they first change themselves. There is a famous story during the time of the Prophet Muhammad in which during a battle (The battle of Uhud) the Prophet told some archers not to leave a specific hill under any circumstances. They can only leave once the Prophet tells them to leave. However, long story short, the archers did disobey the Prophet and it was due to that disobedience that the Muslim's lost that war.
The moral of the story is that victory, of any kind, does not come just by strategy, acting smart, or playing your cards right, it also, and most importantly, comes from obeying Allah and his Prophet and doing good acts. It comes from being good to one's neighbors (as the Prophet mentioned in a famous hadith), loving for another what you would love for yourself love, (hadith), and to pray the 5 daily prayers and to fast Ramadan and so on. Islam does not, in any way shape or form, take a Machiavellian approach of lying, deceiving, and sneaking one's way into victory; it is very clear, change yourself to be a better person, and Allah will change your condition for the better.
If we all change just one thing about ourselves, whether that be being nicer to our friends and families, to being kind to our parents, praying our 5 daily prayers if you are a Muslim, or even research more about Islam whether you are a Muslim or not, I think, as per the verse from the Quran, Allah will change our condition.
Conclusion
I pray for the people of Gaza that they are alleviated from their hardships. While this article did not deal with the politics of the conflict, I wanted to make an article that at least brought some positivity into this somewhat bleak time. Whether you are Muslim or non-Muslim, I hope you enjoyed these verses and Hadiths and I hope that we can all explore the more beautiful verses of the Quran and Hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad as well.