Muslims Politics
For decades, the situation in Palestine has
been promoted as an "Arab"
issue, or a "Palestinian" issue, and Muslims have,
by and large, gone
along with this charade. Such a belief gas proven fatal as
the Zionists have
succeeded in further dividing the opposition to their
occupation of Palestine,
with the inevitable weaknesses that implies. And
yet, paradoxically, with the
latest "peace treaties", between themselves and
Jordan, and with the
Palestinians of Yasser Arafat's Palestine National
Authority (sic), the Zionists
have brought into the open what should have
been obvious all along. Palestine is
an Islamic Issue, and Muslims all over
the world have a duty to care about what
is going on. Failure to do so, to
dismiss it as yet another nationalistic or regional
flash point best left
alone, is tantamount to surrendering the land of Al-Isra
wal Mi'raj to
Zionist control. Why? Consider the evidence. Who are now promoted
as the
demons of the case, the "enemies of peace" as they have been
dubbed by the
world's politicians and media? The Muslims. Under whose rule did
peace
actually exist in the Holy land, with Muslims, Christians and Jews
alike
sharing the land in harmony? The Muslims'. Who are persecuted
mercilessly by
those self-same "peace-loving" regimes? The Muslims! How much
more
evidence do we need before we wake up to what is really happening? We
have heard
how King Hussein of Jordan has been "guaranteed his right" to be
the
guardian of Al-Aqsa, usurping Arafat's tenuous and preposterous claim to
that
honour. And yet what sort of guardian allows his ward to be occupied
and
desecrated by hostile forces? Politics is a dirty business, especially in
the
international arena. It is one of the worst-kept secrets that King
Hussein has
been a regular visitor to Israel over the years for talks with
the Israeli
government. He has also met Israeli leaders in London and other
world capitals
on many occasions. It would be interesting to know, therefore,
exactly what
deals have been agreed behind closed doors leading to the treaty
between Israel
and Jordan. When it is remembered that neither Arafat nor
Mubarak were inveted
to the signing ceremony two points emerge for
consideration. One, any remain-
ing notion of Arab unity is exposed as a
myth, since the three musketeers-
Hussein, Arafat and Mubarak now follow
the motto "all for none and one for
one" Second, the Israelis are mastering
the art of divide and conquer, and
it is not too difficult to see who is
doing both the dividing and the ruling.
Ever since the late King Faisal
of Saudi Arabia declared "Jihad"
against the Zionists, saying that Muslims
should only travel to Al-Aqsa with the
intention of liberating it, the third
holiest place of Islam has been virtually
abandoned by the Muslims.
Occasional visits by Muslims from South Africa (who
have never needed visas
to visit "Israel", the apartheid and now post
apartheid regime being almost
indistinguishable from the Zionists), and some
from Europe and the USA,
hardly demonstrate much enthusiasm for the Prophet's
advice (upon whom be
blessing and peace): "Muslims should only undergo the
hardships of a journey
to visit three mosques - the Haram Sharif in Makkah,
Madinah and Masjid
Al-Aqsa." This has played right into the hands of the
Zionists whose aim
is to destroy Al-Aqsa and build their temple in its place.
Anyone who
doubts this should study the recent history of attacks on the site,
and the
excavations carried out by the Israelis in the name of
"archaeology" but
which are in reality intended to destabilize ancient
buildings. So the fewer
Muslims there the better as far as they are concerned.
While Muslims from
outside Palestine stay away voluntarily, the Muslims of
Palestine are
prevented by force from attending to their daily prayers at the
mosque. How
can the worldwide Ummah accept this? How can we sit back and watch
while
western lackeys like Hussein and his kind bargain away the first
Qiblah?
How can we prepare to face Allah and His Messenger (upon whom be
blessings and
peace) on the Day of Judgement, Knowing that we did nothing to
protect the site
of his miraculous night journey and ascension? We have
already seen the
annexation of Muslim land and mosques; places of work - ship
have been turned
into night clubs, bars and police stations. Not content with
partitioning the
land, the Zionists have done the same to Masjid Ibrahimi in
Al-Khalil; most of
the mosque is now a synagogue. Even the media has played
its role, with Masjid
Ibrahimi referred to as the "Tomb of the
Patriarchs", leading people
to believe that a mosque was never there in the
first place. Can we stay quiet
much longer? Remember, if Al-Aqsa was not
important, surely Allah could have
taken the Prophet to the heavens straight
from Makkah; there was no immediate
need to make the trip to Jerusalem first,
unless it was inten- ded to be a place
of vital importance for Muslims. And
it is. Palestine is the land of the
prophets (peace be upon them all), the
land where many of the Prophet's
companions (may Allah be pleased with them)
lived and died. The soil is soaked
with Muslim blood in defense of human
rights. Can we really accept that
occupation of that land is an "Arab issue"
or a "Palestinian
issue"? Even if every single Arab in the area was a
non-Muslim, we have a
duty to protect Al-Aqsa and the surrounding land. The
place has been crucial to
the Ummah in the past, and it has a crucial role to
play in the future; even a
cursory reading of the Ahadith shows this quite
clearly. Imam Mahdi (peace be
upon him), the second coming of Prophet Jesus
(peace be upon him) and the final
reckoning with Dajjal, Gog and Magog, are
all going to take place in and around
Al-Aqsa. It is that important. For
Muslims to ignore these facts is a criminal
dereliction of our duty and we do
so at our peril. Everywhere in the world,
Muslims are under attack:
Bosnia, Kashmir, Algeria, Afghanistan, Somalia... the
list is long and the
calls upon our resources of time, effort and money are
many. But Palestine
cannot simply be ignored. It is the most important of all
these places and
cannot be abandoned in the name of a false "peace".
Peace without Justice
is no peace at all. Apart from anything else, Masjid Al-Aqsa
is a verse of
the Holy Qur'an. Are we really saying, "O Allah! We don't
want this verse,
let the Zionists have it"? May Allah forgive us! We cannot
rest until Al-Aqsa
is free, and we must let our leaders know this. As long as
oppression
continues in the Holy Land, whether it be from the Zionists or their
puppets,
Muslims must stand firm, holding fast to thed Qur'an and Sunnah. If we
do
not, then Allah alone knows what awaits
us.