Lessons From Palestine

Lessons From Palestine

And we ask Allah to make us among them. Allahumma ameen. My brothers and sisters, I don't need to tell you what's going on. Everywhere you look and everywhere you see and everything that you hear today points to one thing — the oppression that the Palestinians have been going through.

As Muslims, how do we react to this? And I'm sure every khutbah that you will listen to or see online or even witness is going to be about Palestine, because that's how important it is to us as Muslims. As Muslims that live away from Palestine — some of us, even myself, are not from Palestine. But why is it the Quds area, or the people of Palestine and what they're going through — why is it so important to us?

In order for us to love and care about something, we have to know more about it. What is the main reason why we as Muslims go behind the Palestinian movement? Why do we as Muslims support the Palestinians and their cry to be free from oppression?

The Importance of Al-Quds and Palestine

First and foremost, the importance of Al-Quds and Palestine. The importance of it is set by our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the Qur'an itself. During the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, before the Qiblah was the Ka'bah, the first one was Al-Quds. This was the place of Isra and Mi'raj. Allah has done miracles in this.

Isra and Mi'raj is a very definite point of the life of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Al-Quds itself is named as a place that is mubarakah — blessed — as Allah says in Surah Al-Isra. So as a Muslim, caring for what's going on over there, and hoping that that land is free in our lifetime — that is connected to my faith. Because this was the place where the Prophet ﷺ led the other anbiya in salah. And nothing is out of coincidence for Allah. It is the third holiest place in our tradition and our religion.

The Ummah Is One Body

The second reason why it should move our hearts — whatever is going on over there, whatever you're hearing — it's because the Muslims are one body. Whenever you see a people going through oppression, whenever you see people going through injustice — there is no way I can summarize in 20 minutes what's going on for the past 75 years. The unjust division of the lands in 1947. The Nakba of 1948. The loss of Al-Quds in 1967. The fleeing of the settlements from Gaza in 2005 — and the list goes on.

But today, what has happened this past week — this has not been going on since October 7th by the way. This has been going on for a long time. And those that tell you otherwise have not looked into history.

But what's going on today is another level. And we mourn with the Muslims and we do what we can. But in order for us to do our best, to do the most that we could, we have to understand what it is that we are supporting — the brothers and sisters, the women and children, the innocent lives of the families over there. We are all of the ummah of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

And just imagine — if you don't do anything — when the ummah of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ testifies in front of the Prophet ﷺ that "I was in trouble, but your ummah did nothing, Ya Rasulallah" — what are we going to say to our Habib ﷺ?

So it is narrated by Nu'man ibn Bashir that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said in a hadith — muttafaqun 'alayhi, this is the most sahih you can get:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6011; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2586)

The ummah of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the ummah of the believers — the believer is somebody that has iman in their heart, somebody that has faith in Allah. And if you're moved even by a little bit from what's going on, that's a sign of iman. That is a sign of iman in your heart.

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ says that the family of the believers, the family of those that have iman in their hearts, is like the body. When the body is sick, and when the body aches, and when the body is hurt — one part of the body is like that, and the rest of the body will lose its sleep, the rest of the body will be restless. When you have a broken arm, the rest of your body follows suit. When one part of your body is sick, the rest of the body tries to recuperate. This is the homeostasis of the body — when one part is sick, the other takes care of it.

And this is what the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: we as an ummah need to act like that. So whenever we feel helpless, whenever we feel like that's too far — no, no, no, no. We're all bound by the ummah of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. And nothing is too far for us if we are underneath the ummah of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

What Can We Do?

So when you have this inkling in your heart, and when you have this inkling in your body that you want to do something, there's a lot you can do, even despite us being miles and miles and miles away. There's so much that you can do. And I want this khutbah — because first and foremost, I cannot do justice, as I said in the beginning, to advocating for the people of Palestine. I cannot do that in 20 minutes. You cannot do that in one hour. You cannot do that in even one day maybe. You cannot erase the oppression that's been going on for years.

1. Du'a — The Weapon of the Believer

What we can do as khateebs, what you can do as somebody that has family and friends around you — number one, number one, number one: silah al-mu'min — what is it? Al-du'a. The number one thing that we should be doing to help somebody that is out of our physical reach is to make du'a for them.

We should not underestimate the power of du'a. Du'a was the thing that the anbiya had. The prophets of Allah were put in trials harder than what we imagine today. But the thing that they had was du'a — and their du'a was so powerful that it got them through any trial they were put through. Al-du'a, silah al-mu'min.

When we are facing oppression, when we are facing these difficult matters, we have to make du'a to Allah. Because du'a is powerful — but not only powerful, the One that you're making du'a to is the most powerful and the most in control.

And that leads me to my next point. When somebody makes du'a, we cannot give up hope that Allah will answer our du'a. I will say that again — we cannot give up hope that Allah will answer our du'a.

You see so many things going on — the media saying this, the media saying that. By the way, we know that this is a classic tactic done by those that are oppressing others. The oppressors today are not the first to do that. Fir'aun did that to the people of Musa عليه السلام. When the magicians came and they submitted to Musa and Allah as their Rabb, Fir'aun said to the magicians that he himself hired, "Are you going to submit to Allah in front of me?" — we know the story. "I will cut off your ears, I will cut off..." — we know the story.

When the oppressors are being told the truth, and they're told that they're in the wrong, they deny and deny. They would rather claim that they're doing the right thing. As Allah says in the Qur'an:

When the oppressors are being told, "What you're doing is wrong — what you're doing is actually spreading fasad, corruption, evil, chaos" — they will say: إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُصْلِحُونَ — "No, no, no, we're not doing that. We're just trying to spread goodness, we're muslihun." But Allah says: أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْمُفْسِدُونَ — rather, they are the ones who are spreading corruption. There are no ifs and buts about that. وَلَٰكِن لَّا يَشْعُرُونَ — they are the ones who don't recognize it.

So when we make du'a to Allah, know that Allah is aware. إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ — Allah is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. And He says in Surah Ibrahim:

Allah says — O Prophet — do not think that We are unaware of what the zalimun are doing. Don't think they're doing it and ask "Where is Allah?" No, no, no — Allah is aware. إِنَّمَا يُؤَخِّرُهُمْ لِيَوْمٍ تَشْخَصُ فِيهِ الْأَبْصَارُ — Allah is only delaying them. Don't worry. Allah is only delaying them to the day where in front of them will be maybe a hundred times worse than whatever they've seen or what we've seen today.

So the first thing, brothers and sisters — remember, remember, remember. An amanah that the people who are suffering today have upon us is that we make du'a for them in our most private moments. That we make du'a for them day and night. When we wake up at 4:30 a.m. — alhamdulillah, Fajr is very late now — when we make du'a for our families, when we make du'a for Allah to protect us, spare a du'a. Don't even "spare" — plan a du'a for them. Because a du'a of tahajjud, as Imam Shafi'i says, is like an arrow that doesn't miss its target — a hundred percent, every single time, bullseye. When you make du'a in tahajjud, it never misses. Allah's plan is Allah's plan. It will come to fruition whenever He wants. We have to believe in that.

2. Education — Know What You Are Supporting

The second thing that we have to do is educate our families. Education is the root of knowledge and the root of character. What you believe in, the way you carry yourself, the way you are with these issues — the less you know, the less sturdy you are. The more you know, the more you're aware, the more planted your feet are, the better a tree you can become, the more at service you can be.

Educate yourself. Educate your brothers and sisters. Educate your family. If they don't know, don't tell them it's complicated — it's really not. Mufti Kamani, our beloved teacher, once said in his halaqa this past week that his children were asking him, "Abba, what's going on with the Palestinians and their oppressors?" So what he did was he took them home, sat them down, and watched two hours of footage of the oppression going on to these people. It's not complicated. Education. We have to educate ourselves and those around us.

Do Not Lose Hope in Allah

Through these two things — du'a and education — internally, we cannot lose hope. Because if we lose hope in Allah, what is there left to hope for? The people of Gaza, the people of Palestine — they never lose hope in Allah.

When I look at the people of Palestine, it reminds me of their perseverance. It reminds me of the character of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. I'm sure we've all seen different things online. But there was a video of a man whose home was destroyed. The person asked him, "How are you doing?" The man smiled — this is going on right now — the man smiled and said: alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah. Nasib. Nasib. "Alhamdulillah, I'm doing okay. Whatever has happened is nasib — it's written, it's ordained for me. This is what Allah wanted for me. Alhamdulillah rabbil alameen."

When you have iman in your heart, the whole world can be empty. The whole world can be on fire. You can be thrown into a fire, thrown into the rubble, thrown into chaos. But when you have iman in your heart, nothing will shake you. Just like this man — when he said alhamdulillah, he said it with a confident smile. It's nasib. Because the One who gave it to me knows what I'm going through. And the One who gave it to me knows what the outcome of all this is. I don't know — but I know it's from Allah, and that's enough for me.

The Lesson of Ta'if

This reminded me of the incident of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ when he was in Ta'if. The people of Ta'if kicked him out. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ described Ta'if as a day that was only less harder than the day of Uhud. Aisha رضي الله عنها once asked the Prophet ﷺ, "Was there a day harder for you than Uhud?" And he said, "Yes — Ta'if."

The Prophet ﷺ was driven out by the people — not just humiliated, but physically thrown out, with blood spilling from his body. He had nobody left. He went to the city in hopes of finding people that might protect him, believe in him, and be with him. But he was embarrassed, humiliated, and physically hurt walking out of that city.

And if you ever read the du'a of the Prophet ﷺ that he made when he left Ta'if — wallahi, it will break you.

(Du'a of the Prophet ﷺ at Ta'if — recorded in Sirah Ibn Hisham and referenced in Sahih al-Bukhari)

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was just like that man — who has nothing around him, whose house is gone, whose family is gone — yet he could say alhamdulillah. He was on the same iman. When the Prophet ﷺ made du'a to Allah right when he exited Ta'if — humiliated, physically hurt, nobody around him — he complained:

"Ya Allah, I am weak. I have nobody. Ya Allah, who did you leave me to? Did you leave me to these people that have power over me and want to oppress me?"

The Prophet ﷺ faced similar environments — hostile people towards him. But the reaction of the Palestinians is similar to that of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. And this is why Palestine will never remain under oppression. They will always win.

The Prophet ﷺ said: "Ya Allah, if this is what you want from me — as long as you are not angry with me, فَلَا أُبَالِي — I do not mind whatever you put me through. Put me through anything, Ya Allah, as long as you are happy with me. But Ya Allah, وَلَكِنَّ عَافِيَتَكَ هِيَ أَوْسَعُ لِي — your mercy is easier for me. So have mercy upon me."

The way the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ admitted to Allah: "Ya Allah, this is all because of you, no problem — just be happy with me." Alhamdulillah. Nasib. That's a lesson we can all learn. No matter what the state of our dunya is — if the internal is with Allah, nothing can shake you. Nothing should. And Allah will always be with you.

Summary: What We Must Do

So don't lose hope. The people that are going through oppression — they did not lose hope. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ did not lose hope. Allah hears us. Allah hears the du'a. Allah hears your efforts. Our responsibility is to do as much as we can.

First and foremost again — du'a and education. Equip yourself with the right information. Know how to sift through the wrong information. Raise awareness online. Make du'a for them in the tahajjud time. And make this a start of you always being on the side of those that are oppressed.

Do not let anybody gaslight you into victimizing the oppressed. Never again. We will not allow that to happen to us.

Du'a

May Allah protect those in Palestine. May Allah protect Al-Quds. May Allah ease the affairs of the ummah of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. May Allah have mercy upon the ummah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. May Allah allow us to see a free Palestine before we pass away.