A practical outline to help the people of Gaza, for our mothers and sisters

By: Sister Muqaddas Ghumman

October 7, 2023 changed the world and split it into two camps. those on the side of humanity, morality, truth and justice and those against all these values that the human race holds dear. As time passed and the war prolonged, to our horror, those of us with Palestine found ourselves powerless against the plans of the crusader-zionist alliance. feeling myself further marginalised by being a woman I implored Allah SWT in Duas desperately searching for something, anything that could be of help to the Palestinians. Alhamdolillah Allah answered my Dua and blessed me with an opportunity to listen to a talk by Dr. Naji (Hamas representative) addressing the mothers and sisters of the ummah with a practical outline to help the people of Gaza.

There was a Q & A session too. People usually ask questions like How does aid get into Gaza? Who funds Hamas? But my questions were different. Inspired; I yearned to ask what has made Gaza so resilient? What is the source of their faith and courage? Subhanullah my questions were answered and i learnt that the tarbiya of the people of Gaza was from the Quran. Being able to hear it all from someone within the heart of the resistance movement was so inspiring that i felt it was a responsibility to spread the word. This is also one way to support the resistance; to be their voice. So the following are the key excerpts from the session with Dr. Naji: Today Gaza is the battleground of Badr! It maybe tiny on the map but its representing the entire ummah against the global imperialist forces

The question is ... Where am I in this battle and what's my role?

THE VISION

As a mother, the entire capital of the ummah is in your hands. You must rise up to the times like the mothers of our aslaaf, special mention of the mother of Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal. When he was 10 years old she would wake him up in the last part of the night for tahajud then take him for the fajr congregation. Halaqas of ilm often followed the fajar Salah and she would wait patiently for her son as he absorbed deen from these gatherings. She was a widow and he was her only son but that didn't stop her from sending him to study abroad. She devoted her life to the islamic tarbiya of her son. Ahmad bin Hanbal became the great imam as we know him to be because of his mother’s vision. The mother of Imam Shafai showed the same commitment in raising her son as an ummatti of the prophet(s).

So, if a woman wants to do something for Gaza she can do it even if she’s just at home by raising Muslim children on islamic values. a community that is raised on islamic values is a means of nusrah (help) for the Palestinian cause.

 A SOUND AQEEDAH

The mother is a madrasa! The home is a madrasa! And the journey starts from the aqeedah. Aqeedah or creed that transcends the realm of thought and manifests as action. Don’t teach with words but teach with your actions.

FOCUS ON AKHIRA

Raising an ummah of strong character begins with Muslim parents. Parents who have the hereafter on highest priority. The vision of Muslim parents for their children must be distinct from the parents with worldly aspirations. Take choosing a career. Usually, a career is chosen based on how much money it can earn. But this choice can be made from another parameter; the need of the ummah. Gaza has its own home-grown doctors, engineers, English teachers (for example Rifat al Areer) who wrote the epic poem that goes.."if i must die you must live to tell the tale".  But clearly these professionals want the reward of akhirah by contributing to the needs of the ummah.

TRAINING OF THE “SELF”

The people of Gaza are trained to sacrifice for Islam. Their struggle is not a nationalist struggle but a struggle for Islam by the liberation of Al-Aqsa. Mothers bear children with the spirit that Aqsa is in need of sons. Fathers sacrifice their lives to protect their children. Occupation, migration, living in refugee camps with meagre means, captivity sometimes prolonged for decades, martyrdom are constant milestones in the life of a Palestinian (co-incidentally these are also constants on the path of a life of struggle for Allah as outlined by the Quran). So, parents should train their children to sacrifice. Start this training early.

REFORMERS; NOT JUST PIOUS

The ummah doesn't only need pious people but it needs reformers because the piety of the pious is for himself whereas the reformer also exerts effort on others. So, the mothers of Gaza try to raise reformers or musliheen (مصلحین) instead of just sauliheen (صالحین) .

MASJID AND QURAN

Surprisingly, Hamas was founded by a quadriplegic Quran teacher who focused on the young boys coming to the mosques. The generation of resistance which has grown old fighting the occupation was raised on the Quran. Its verses circulating in their blood and part of their bones. The two essential ingredients in shaping the steadfastness of the Gazans are:

• Masajid-inhabited not just by the men but by women too. Its normal for women to gather at mosques and study deen.
• Hifz of the Book of Allah-the value and love of the Quran and its memorization is evident in Gaza. The rest of the world live streamed them as they recited verses while baking bread, undergoing surgeries without anaesthesia, sitting on top of the rubble of their destroyed homes and giving hope to each other. True guardianship of the Quran is more than just preserving the arabic text...it's in contemplating over the verses, implementing them and sharing them in the community.

CONNECTING TO THE UMMAH

Who are the ideals of our children? They should be from our aslaaf; the true heroes.  One of achievements of the aqsa storm was the fact that it has changed the ideals of muslims and non-Muslims alike; Abu Obeidah in place of Ronaldo and Messi!

Connecting to the ummah is also sunnah. Knowing them and their conditions will build a bond with them.

RELYING ON ALLAH

Tawkil on Allah is a part of faith but adopting the means doesn't go against tawakul! Infact we are ordered to in the Quran...

For instance, when the occupation came up with the Merkavah tank, it was touted as invincible. However, the engineers of Gaza had faith in Allah and researched. They discovered a weakness that the tanks radar can’t detect anything within 150 m diameter near it. So, the resistance started planting explosives at zero distance from the tanks. Also, a Merkavah tank costs 3.5 million dollars but yaseen 105, built by the Gazans which costs just 200$ is able to destroy it.

This is the end of the guidance shared by Dr. Naji that day. The 7th of October has changed the world but the real question is… has it changed me? Have i understood the importance of the Quran? This war feels like a last chance to prepare before the wheels are set in motion for the end of times.

May Allah help us to help ourselves (Ameen)

About the Author: Sister Muqaddas Ghumman, a traditional Muslim housewife, is a frequent contributor to Nida e Khilafat. She is also actively engaged in homeschooling projects.