In his Friday Sermon of 07 June 2024~29 Dhul-Qaddah 1445 AH, Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius spoke about the persisting, ongoing illegal occupation and annexation of the Syrian territory of the Golan Heights by Israel since 1967/1981. As Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) rightly notes, many blatant illegalities are being perpetuated with impunity by the State of Israel on the lands of its Arab neighbours. Strong economic, military and technological support of the United States provides the material basis for Israeli excesses in the Middle East. Perhaps equally important is the complicity of important Arab leaders who have their own secret relations with the Jewish State even in the midst of the latter's despicable crimes against the Palestinian people, as well as its continued, illegal occupation and annexation of Arab territories, including the Syrian territory of the Golan Heights. Hazrat Saheb (aba) alludes that the enemies of Islam have been able to get away for so long with their manifest illegalities and high crimes against the Muslim peoples in a religious, political and strategic context of manifest internal weaknesses, disunity, and internecine conflicts. Fair-minded people in Europe and elsewhere are increasingly becoming aware of the horrific extend of Israeli/US highhandedness in the Middle East. Be that as it may, it is by reclaiming the true spirit of Faith, including the duties of solidarity, that Muslim nations will be able to discriminate between 'good' and 'evil', and 'friends' and 'enemies' of the Faith and of the peoples in these times. And it is by invoking Allah (swt) through fervent prayers, and by embracing the lawful methods of resistance against injustice that our Faith teaches that we can eventually triumph over the forces of evil- both internal and external- that presently pervade our backyard inflicting much suffering on the Ummah in these turbulent times, notes Hazrat Saheb (aba) in this discourse.
Read the Friday Sermon Below:
The Outrageous & Illegal Annexation of the Golan Heights to Israel
Like I told you in one
of my previous sermon on the subject, disrespect to international laws which
had been established so that from the evolution of colonial times when
countries were in quests of new lands and were allowed to claim certain lands
for themselves, but after a certain point in time, the period of cessation of
land quest came to be so that rights of countries and states are preserved and
respected.
The invasion of the
Zionists of Palestine and the moves of the Israeli Government to claim Palestine
for themselves, as well as the surrounding places like the Golan Heights have
been a headache for International Justice. In the aftermath of the World War I,
when the French and the British carved up the Middle East, the Golan Heights
were part of the French mandate.
And after the mandate
was abolished for the current nation-states, the Golan Heights were naturally
left for Syria. When Donald Trump was the President of the United States of
America, he went forward against all International Laws to unilaterally
recognize Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights. This illegal act by
international law is a very significant development in the road towards an
Apartheid-Zionist landmark one for sure.
Trump’s move was a
clear violation of the second article of the United Nations Charter, which lays
down the main principles of the UN order. According to article 2(4) of the UN
Charter, “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from
the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political
independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the
Purposes of the United Nations.”
But, Donald Trump’s
Presidency became a challenge to the United Nations’ Authority in the
establishment of International Laws and the Rights of Countries by claiming
superiority over the United Nations by officially recognizing the Golan Heights
as Israeli territory. The US thus became the first state to recognize the
illegal occupation. The then President Trump and the Israeli Prime Minister
Benyamin Netanyahu considered this illegal step as a “historic justice” and a
“diplomatic victory”.
At a time when Syria’s
infrastructure has been destroyed, the country fragmented and been set back 50
years on any scale of development with over 800,000 killed, millions internally
displaced and 5-9 million refugees, the ex-US president used trickery of the
days of colonial thievery to lay claim on Syria’s properties. Recognition is
not about a security threat, but daylight highway robbery that has been
underway for 52 years and needed a foreign policy scatter-brained president to
get it completed and “legalized”.
Donald Trump, whose
Jerusalem move drew outrage, recognized Israel’s annexation of the Golan
Heights in a radical overhaul of US foreign policy. This step went beyond
mounting pressure on Palestinians to further Israeli interests. The Trump
administration not only revised Washington’s global role and priorities but
also took the US government’s relationship with religion and politics to a new
level. In other words, the administration’s support for Israeli expansionism
has deep theological roots. According to Christian Zionism, the gathering of
Jews in Israel is a prerequisite for the second coming of Christ and a final
battle between good and evil – to rebuild the temple of Solomon. The world had
witnessed how white supremacy, together with terrorism, resulted in the killing
of Muslims in New Zealand with Crusader symbols. One cannot imagine the outcome
of individual or organized radicalism that feeds off a toxic mix of white
supremacy and Christian Zionism could have.
This was not Trump’s
first attempt at violating International Law. He and his policies have violated
numerous norms of International Law, particularly in the Middle East. The
flagrant one was his decision to transfer the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem, recognizing “a united Jerusalem” as the Israeli capital. Thus, it
contradicted with UN principles and decisions, alienating Muslims worldwide.
The main reasons that
make the Golan Heights important for Israel are security and water. The area is
critical from a geostrategic perspective. In addition, it has rich water
sources. Israel procures one-third of its water needs from the Jordan River and
the Golan Heights. In addition, the Golan Heights, which are one of the highest
points within the region and only 60 kilometres away from Damascus, also
provide a substantial strategic advantage to Israel. In short, both Israel’s
and the US’ national benefits make the Golan Heights, which are under Israeli
occupation, very precious. The Golan Heights have huge strategic importance for
Israel. Just 60 kilometres away from Damascus, those hills are Key to
controlling Syria.
The Golan Heights are
Syrian territory, and nothing can change this reality. Therefore, Trump’s
decision could not legitimize its illegal Israeli occupation. While this move
can bring political benefits for both the US and Israel, it will not bring
peace and stability. Like we have seen, this decision and the previous
Jerusalem decision, even after Trump’s Presidency – which by the way Biden
never annulled! – only increased regional tension and damaged the peace
process. The US and Israel have a morbid agenda for the Palestinian Muslims.
They want complete eradication of the Muslims there, and if in the process some
innocent Jews die, they see it as a sacrifice for the benefit of the overall
Zionist State of Israel. Thieves cannot thrive for long. Like we say in French,
“Cent jours pour le voleur, un jour pour le Maître” (Literally: “Hundred
days for the thieves, One day for the Master/ Lord) – Allah only needs less
than a fraction of a second, quicker than the movement of one’s eyelids to
pronounce His decision. He has the power to overthrow the thieves in the most
abased way.
Allah is testing His
people with the satanic minds abounding this world. Will the Muslims become one
or keep on being divided and letting the lovers of injustice and evils overtake
Allah’s World? The sufferings of all Muslims should be an eye-opener for all of
us who claim to believe in Allah and His Noble and Most Perfect Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh). His rule as prophet of Allah and king of Arabia – albeit a
spiritual one – saw to the expansion of Islam over the world. Islam, not only
as a creed, but as a Way of Life, regulating the lives of people in the most
organised and blessed way.
Today, the Muslims have
lost touch with their inner Islam. They have followed the West in all their
trends and fashion and way of life. Islam is not present in them except for a
few of them. Will the Muslims wake up and see how the West has been able to
crush their Islam for their own benefit?
The time has come for a
change in the situation. Alhamdulillah, many open-minded people – who
are not Muslims – of all the parts of the world are seeing the veracity of
Islam and condemning the attacks of the West and Israel against Palestine and
the Muslims in general. While born-Muslims are still blind to these sufferings,
others are feeling the pain of the crushed Muslims. The time will come when the
West shall embrace Islam in great number. They shall be truer Muslims, Insha-Allah.
As for us, we need to
input our efforts towards the repair of the Highway leading man to Allah. Islam
is that Highway and we must provide our time and invest our efforts towards its
rebuild. While we do not have armaments to give to the defenceless, but we have
our prayers to Allah which are the most powerful of armaments. Don’t you want
Allah and His angels to fight the cause of the true believers? Don’t you want
to see the glory and rise of Islam with your own eyes? Then, the change should
begin with yourselves, and Insha-Allah, you will see this victory.