"Perhaps those outside Gaza are in greater torment, cut off from the spiritual outpouring and mercy that rains down in Gaza."
I look at the bombed houses, the demolished schools, the burned hospitals, the bulldozed streets, and I ask: Does God see them?
I look at the children trapped under the rubble, while the civil defense men stand helpless before extracting them, as they suffocate and die, and I ask: Does God see them?
I look at those who cannot find their daily bread, those who sleep hungry and wake up hungry; I look at the forcibly displaced, whose bones ache from sleeping on the ground, whose skin has cracked under the burning sun, the bites of mosquitoes, whose muscles are torn from carrying firewood and water buckets, and I ask: Does God see them?
I look at the wounded groaning in pain, without medicine; at those whose limbs have been amputated without anesthesia, unable to move, crying out for medical referrals to restore their hope, and I ask: Does God see them?
The truth is: Yes. God sees all of this.
He sees us, for He encompasses us. While we may think that this tyrannical occupier surrounds us, with their ugly tanks on our land, their warships at sea, and their aircrafts in the sky, the real truth lies in the verse: "But God encompasses them from behind" (Qur’an).
This means the enemy’s surrounding is partial,
limited, temporary, and fading. Whereas God’s encompassing is complete, real,
eternal, and everlasting. There is always divine care and an encompassing you
may not perceive with your human estimation, but God’s encompassing is extended
and unceasing.
If I were to draw Gaza, I would draw a large circle around its map and write upon it: “Under the Encompassing Grace of the Divine.”
And the Muslim
especially does not need evidence to know that God sees all of this.
The Qur’anic verse “Does he not know that God sees?” is mentioned only once in the Qur’an, in Surat Al-‘Alaq, and when I searched for the explanation of this verse, I found that God revealed it regarding, Abu Jahl, who wretchedly he forbade our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ from worshiping his Lord and praying to Him.
It is as if God wanted to say to Abu Jahl: “Do you not know that I see you
and see your disgraceful acts, your injustice, and your transgression against
Me and against the Messenger of God ﷺ?”
It is as if
affirming that “God sees” is not meant for the true believer,
because a true Muslim does not doubt that God sees his
condition.
But the
disbeliever doubts, and so the verse came in this form for Abu
Jahl, because of his disbelief, as a rebuke and warning that God actually sees
him.
But due to the
magnitude of the trial in Gaza, it’s natural for a Muslim to remind him or
herself that God sees his state, and to ask: “Does God see me?”
And to answer
oneself and cry out at the top of one’s voice amid his displacement, hunger,
pain, bleeding, and patience and say:
“God sees me.
You, O Allah, see me. It is enough for me that You see me.
Even if the cameras shut their lenses to me,
Even if the Security Council closes its eyes to me,
Even if the lying human rights advocates avert their gaze away from me,
Even if this entire world remains blind to my genocide:
You see me. My Lord, their Lord, and the Lord of this universe.”
When that
feeling fills your heart, and you know that God is All-Seeing of you,
All-Hearing of you, Encompassing of you, the hardship of the question and
the search for the answer is eased.
In hits you then, and you realize that you must not be like Abu Jahl, blind to the fact that God sees you, but rather, you must be a true believer, a firm Muslim, just as the beloved Prophet ﷺ taught us.
The true believer sees with the Light of God, as the Prophet ﷺ described when he said: “Beware of the insight of the believer, for he sees with the light of God.”
When you reach this level of faith, you begin to see with God’s light. You begin to see divine kindness in the harshest of trials. When you see the martyrs, you see them victorious, alive, having attained the best of both this world and the Hereafter; laughing, being welcomed by our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. They await for those still in this life to know that they are in a better state and to stop grieving over them.
When you see a
destroyed home, like the boat that Al-Khidr made a hole in the Chapter of the
Cave, such that you begin to see every stone that crumbles becomes a source of
reward, elevation, healing, and divine compensation awaiting its owner. When
you see an amputated leg, you think of it as running ahead of its owner in
Paradise, waiting for him there.
You begin to see things for what they truly are.
You reflect on
this world in its true meaning—its root is from dunya,
linguistically meaning low and insignificant.
Someone living inside Gaza might think they are oppressed, deprived, and overwhelmed. But who knows the full truth? Perhaps divine mercy is all pouring upon those living in Gaza—unseen and unknown to them.
Perhaps those outside Gaza are in greater torment, cut off from the spiritual outpouring and mercy that rains down in Gaza due to the lofty status of our martyrs, and those who endure with patience, and sacrifice.
And perhaps, on
the Day of Judgment, all people of the earth will wish they were
among us, because of the immense reward with our Wise, Just,
and True Lord.
Subhan Allah, (glory be), I often reflect on the companions of Badr, the 313 men through whom God changed the course of history and honored Islam.
The Messenger of God ﷺ said:
“And what do
you know? Perhaps God looked at the people of Badr and said: Do as you wish,
for I have forgiven you.”
It means: No harm will come to you for what you do afterward, O people of Badr. It is as if the mercy and forgiveness that descended upon the people of Badr will accompany them to their last breath. This enshrines a profound and special meaning that was not given to anyone else.
This kind of divine favor is given by grace: one does not choose it
for him or herself.
Divine grace is entirely in God’s hands, just as God designates martyrs as in the verse: “That God may take martyrs from among you.” He also chooses the patient, the guided, the pious, and those who see with His light.
O people of Gaza, perhaps God gazed upon us with a gaze of mercy,
and so nothing we do after this great trial will harm us. Perhaps God will have mercy on us through this immense calamity, and
protect us from even greater harm—apparent or hidden—that we do not know. Perhaps God wants to reward us with a great reward that our minds cannot
comprehend, and so our test was great.
This is how we console ourselves, by remembering that this world is a test, That it is worth less than the wing of a mosquito to its Owner. So how could it weigh heavily upon the owned? So be patient, be patient.
For indeed,
with hardship comes ease.
Indeed, with hardship comes ease. (Qur’an)
And it is enough for us that God sees.
And everything with Him is in a perfect measure.
And may peace
and blessings be upon our Master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions.
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