The Israel- Palestine conflict

Hamas & the PLO- Fatah

 

The Israel-Palestine conflict remains one of the most pressing and deeply entrenched crises in modern history. Palestinians have a legitimate right to live in peace in the land they have inhabited for centuries. However, the colonialist Zionist enterprise has systematically deprived them of their basic human rights, confiscating land and expelling native inhabitants to make way for Jews born in America, Europe, and other parts of the world. Israel has established an apartheid system against the native Palestinian Arabs, with laws protecting Jewish citizens exclusively while offering no legal safeguards for non-Jewish populations - yet it still prides itself on being the only democracy in the region.

Palestine: 'The Blood of Sacrifice'

 

 

THE CRY FOR PEACE

Secluded from the World,

I hear the cry of Innocence,

Being stripped of Life,

Heart-wrenchingly calling for Help;

 

Enough, Enough, Enough!

No more pain, please!

 

Like animals to Almighty God’s Altar,

Their blood has become

The Blood of Sacrifice;

 

Martyrs they have become,

For the Love of Truth & Justice;

Arab 'Winter' and the Euro 'Spring'

 

The Arab Spring is a term used to tag the wave of protests and civil unrest that swept the Arab world back in December 2010 when a street vendor in Tunisia, Mohammad Bouazizi set himself on fire when the police came to seize his vegetable stall after his failure in obtaining a permit to exercise. He furthermore faced harassment and humiliation by a municipal officer and her assistants.

 

He unfortunately set himself on fire as an open defiance against the autocratic regime, and this act of his was hailed by the West as a mighty sacrifice for democracy in the Arab world and he and those who followed his example to self-immolate themselves - nearly a dozen of them in Egypt, Algeria and Mauritania – were granted such praiseworthy titles such as “heroic martyrs of a new North African and Middle Eastern revolution”. This was published in the New York Times, in the article “How a single match can ignite a Revolution” published on 21 January 2011 by Robert F. Worth.

 

This act which the world deemed as a sacrifice for democracy is in fact suicide which is highly condemnable in Islam. No matter how hard a situation may come upon man, he has no right to take the life which does not belong to him. This act of suicide may be deemed by the West as a heroic act but unfortunately it is not so! Islam encourages revenge as per the same degree of torture that one undergoes, reaffirming the Mosaic Law “an eye for an eye” but being more just and lenient in its application. Islam is the Best Model, the Middle Way, between the extreme and the laissez-faire. The leaders who don’t follow the tenets of Islam while proclaiming themselves as Muslim States are accountable in the worldly court of justice as well as the Divine Court of Justice, but no Muslim – I clear and firmly state – NO MUSLIM SHOULD EVER TAKE HIS OWN LIFE! No matter how hard a situation gets, Allah has forbidden His servant to take this satanic step towards self-destruction.

Hatred Towards Muslims

 

The Suffering of the Body of Islam Worldwide- 3

 

All of us, Muslims, are going through the greatest test of our existence. The attacks of the non-Muslims who have hatred towards Muslims (I am not talking about those who respect Muslims or those who are open-minded towards Islam and Muslims)... So, the heads of state who are at the head of the great countries of America, Europe, China, etc., have great hatred towards Islam and what Islam represents. If Jews and Christians were true Jews and Christians in practice, then they would have understood the monotheism of Islam and the teaching of the one true God to Whom Muslims turn and pray.

 

They know that Islam is a true way of life (Deen), a way of life that Allah created naturally for man [and not just for humans, but for jinns too], but due to the fact that they are blinded by their lust for power and greed to accumulate wealth and children, and to establish falsehood instead of truth, then the truth of Islam becomes a threat to them. And so, they come up with plan after plan to exterminate Islam, and reduce the number of Muslims on earth by exterminating them – us, Muslims – and taking over our wealth and land. The peace pact which dates back several hundred years is then broken, not respected, or after the conquest of countries as in the colonial era, where the countries of the world ended up agreeing not to conquer any other countries and preserve what was already in their possession – i.e. they will keep those countries and not try to take over other countries. But greed and wickedness make certain dictators abandon this pact to do what they want.

Tears of the Muslim Ummah

   

In his Friday Sermon of 12 April 2024~ 02 Shawwal 1445 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International, Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Al Mahdi Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius, spoke movingly about the plight of several Muslim communities around the world. In China, the communist regime is applying repressive methods to eradicate the cultural memory, social practices, and religious consciousness of the Uighur Muslims of Xinjiang. Likewise, in Myanmar, the Rohingya Muslims are facing worst forms of violence and ethnic-cleansing at the hands of the Buddhist extremists and the military junta. Elsewhere, several Muslim minority communities are facing the onslaughts of anti-Islam forces. Majoritarian, ethnic-nationalist parties in some countries, as well as the secular fascists in other lands, are equally united in their hatred of Islam, and they scheme to restrict the basic human rights and cultural identity of the Muslims in their midst. It seems as though other religious groups, dominant as they are today in their lands,  are mortally afraid of what the future holds for them as Islam gradually spreads in these lands incrementally. On the other hand, in Muslim nations such as Yemen, Syria and the Sudan, civic conflicts and internecine warfare have taken a toll on entire Muslim communities, with unending violence devastating every day life in these societies for years altogether, leading to large scale forced displacement and migration. 

In the killing fields of Gaza and elsewhere in the occupied territories of the Palestinian people, Israel's relentless bombing campaigns over the last six-months have murdered more than thirty five thousand persons- a large majority of them children and women; hundreds of thousands more became displaced in the land, with thousands critically injured while entire hospitals and housing buildings stand destroyed, making human life virtually intolerable in the land. And yet, the people of Palestine patiently awaits the dawn of their liberation from the clutches of their racist oppressors. Hazrat Khalifatullah's speech concludes with a long, heart-felt prayer to the Almighty God for the destruction of the forces of evil, and for the alleviation and edification of the suffering Muslims of the world, Insha Allah, Aameen.    

Read the Friday Sermon Below:

The End of Israeli Excesses

 

In his Friday Sermon of 19 April 2024, Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius reflects profoundly on the state of the world from a spiritual perspective. No people have a permanent monopoly over divine favours by virtue of their special claims of pious ancestry from God's prophets and messengers. Divine blessings and favours on particular communities are crucially depend upon their good conduct and sincerity of purpose vis-a-vis Divine commands, including prohibitions. When a people deviate from the right path by ignoring ethical standards and moral considerations in their affairs, and thereby commit excesses in the land in pursuit of dominance without any limits, the rejection of God of these sinful ones will reflect in their great fall, and the rise of another people in their place in the new cycle of history.  Hazrat Saheb (aba) illustrates these vital spiritual themes with reference to the delusions and excesses of the extremist Zionist-entities in the ancient land of Palestine/Israel today. 

Read the Extracts from the Sermon Below:       

'Today, the Muslim world is suffering terribly. Muslims around the world are no longer united like before during the lifetime of our beloved Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). Today everyone prefers to protect their own skin and enrich themselves from the deaths of innocent people. So-called Muslim countries are “Muslim countries” in name only and each strives to please the International Islamophobic Community to exclude thousands of innocent people from their action plans. These plans which were to be for the construction and propagation of Islam throughout the world, are today reduced to a competition to enrich themselves and arm themselves with bombs and other weapons of attack in order to blackmail other countries in the race for power and wealth.

The call of Allah and His prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has no effect on them. Hearts are closed to mercy and compassion. For example, it has been almost 77 years since Israel was declared an independent state following a UN vote on the partition of Palestine. And since then, it has become a major power in the Middle East.

 

Israel has fought around fifteen wars against the Palestinians, including the so-called “Six Days” War in June 1967, which resulted in the occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, as well as the Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai. Israel then unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem, then the Golan, decisions denounced by the international community. Today Israel is seeking by all means to monopolize a country, a state that is ultimately not its own. The Jews who came to Palestine seeking refuge for the first time decades ago aimed to take Palestine and exterminate the Muslims of Palestine. After receiving socio-political and military aid from the United States of America, as well as the UN, extremist Jews who dream of an “Aliyah” (emigration to the Promised Land) renounced their own humanity to ransack the lands and houses and other properties of Muslims and take them into their possession. But this Promised Land is promised to the true believers of Abraham and all the prophets of his [biological and spiritual] lineage. If Jews deviate from the divine teachings, then no promise is attached with them. On the contrary, this promise is for those who truly submit to the will of God, the Most High. From the line of Abraham was born Ishmael (as), his eldest son, and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

 

It is clear that the true religion of all the prophets of God [Allah], the One, is Islam [Complete and peaceful submission and obedience to Allah the One]. All the prophets of Allah since the creation of the Universe have been monotheists. It is the only religion or way of life that is acceptable to God. Those who turn away from this truth find themselves deprived of these blessings. Unfortunately, the followers of the Israelite prophets (derived from Israel – the prophet Jacob [Yaqub]) had let go of the Rope of Allah, namely, His commandments including His prohibitions, and they only followed their own imagination and neglected the recommendations of prophets like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. They were an ungrateful people as Allah describes them to us in the Holy Quran.

 

So, with the delusion that this Promised Land was still theirs, extremist Jews sought by all means to gain access to Palestine to claim this Land as their own. But Allah has another plan. The religious sites where His memory is celebrated, He will certainly protect, and all those who protect these sites with courage, faith and hope in His mercy will be greatly rewarded in the afterlife. The trials accumulate but this does not mean that Allah has abandoned His followers. He certainly tests them and uses them as models – models of patience and virtue – to the world.

 

Intruders and oppressors will certainly be punished. There is a set time for everything. The decree of Allah is like this.

 

Today we see people, peoples who never stop fighting among themselves - Two brother nations. Here we have the image of good and evil, of God and Satan. Those who want to grab land and wealth just to enrich themselves, and use the “Aliyah” as an excuse to trash Muslims and storm the world, well, let me tell you, their time is now counted. Soon Allah will swallow them up in the earth like the rebellious people of old who disobeyed the prophets.

 

The Muslim countries – so-called Muslim countries – but which help the oppressors of Muslims to win wars for their own profits; well these are traitors in the eyes of Allah. Let us remember the peace treaties that were signed with Arab countries neighbouring Israel: Egypt in 1979, under the terms of which this country recovered the Sinai in 1982, and Jordan in 1994. Israel is considered the first military power in the Middle East and the only one in the region to possess nuclear weapons. Since its illegal establishment in Palestine, Israel has received nearly US$300 billion from the United States.

 

Israel continued to occupy the West Bank but unilaterally evacuated the Gaza Strip in 2005, controlled since 2007 by the Islamist movement Hamas. Around 450,000 Israeli settlers live in civilian settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law. Israel faced two uprisings (intifada) by Palestinians in the occupied territories in 1987 and then in 2000. The first concluded with the signing in 1993 in Washington of the Oslo Accords with the PLO on autonomy in the territories.

 

From the start of the war in Syria in 2011, Israel was careful not to be drawn into the conflict, but it campaigned against the presence of Hezbollah and Iran, which intervened alongside the Bashar al-Assad regime, and had accused Tehran of wanting to establish itself militarily in Syria with a view to threatening its security.

 

It had struck, especially from January 2017, “thousands of Iranian and Hezbollah targets,” according to a former Israeli chief of staff. Former American President Donald Trump had then adopted a policy of unwavering support for Israel since taking office, breaking with decades of American diplomacy in the Middle East.

 

In December 2017, he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, provoking the anger of the Palestinians and the disapproval of the international community. On 25^th of March 2019, he signed the decree officially recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

 

The country is governed by fundamental laws which act as a constitution and are voted on in parliament. In 2018, parliament adopted a law defining the country as “the nation-state of the Jewish people”. The law, which gives Jews the “unique” right to self-determination in Israel, was denounced as “discrimination” in particular by the opposition and the large Israeli Arab community.

 

We see here that despite the disapproval of the international community, nothing is concretely done to restore their rights to the Palestinians, to Palestine. Muslims are consciously crushed, mutilated and killed so that the Muslim generation dies out in Palestine, where they are forced to leave their land and thus the Jewish, Israeli oppressors will take over Palestine as a whole.

 

But fortunately the Israeli Arabs who are the descendants of the Palestinians who remained on their land after the creation of Israel support the Palestinian cause.

 

May Allah come to the aid of Muslims and protect their sacred places and destroy the power-hungry thieves and tyrants who steal land solely because of their thirst for power and money. Jews believe that they are still the beloved servants of Allah, but they lost this status when they let go of Allah’s rope and associated others with Allah. They broke pure monotheism and Christians also followed suit. Today, Muslims, true Muslims who are monotheists and who have not yet fallen into the trap of the West, it is they, it is we who are the true heirs of the prophets of old, and the day will most certainly come when Allah will give us our rights. The truth must prevail, Insha-Allah. Just as the world witnessed the end of Ariel Sharon and the dictators and oppressors of Muslims, the world will witness the end of Israel, and of the leaders who govern that state, and of all those who aid and support it. Insha-Allah, Ameen.

Gaza: Ceasefire Now

 

Given Israel’s prolonged military occupation of Palestinian Territories since the 1967 war, and its grossly unfair and unjust treatment of the 5 million Palestinian people desirous of national freedom, human dignity and basic rights; the deception, duplicity and betrayal that marked its state conduct even after the signing the Oslo Peace Agreements with the Palestinian national movement in the early 1990s, especially its high crime of obstructing the emergence of a viable and independent Palestinian State in the illegally-occupied and confiscated territories; the October 7 declaration of 'Operation Al Aqsa Storm' by the Hamas military wing marks a transformational moment in the wider region.

 

Seeking to avenge its sense of national humiliation over the killing of over 300 soldiers and around 800 civilians as well as hostages taken away into Gaza, Israel lost a sense of proportion in its war against Hamas, unleashing rampant bombing of Palestinian cities and villages- including schools, hospitals and UN refugee camps; displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians from their habitats; killing thousands of innocent children, women and the aged. The already long-besieged enclave of Gaza- the largest ‘open-prison’ in the world with Israel controlling entry and exit points of the Strip-  is now facing a humanitarian disaster with the blockade of even essential food, clean water, medicine and fuel. 

The attitude of the United States, as well as the European states betray their indulgence of Israeli military excesses against the civilian population in the occupied territories. As against the fundamental rules of international law and the demands of international humanitarian law, Israel somehow seems to have an exception crafted into the rules of conduct when it comes to equal application. Such glaring injustice invites resistance, one way or the other.  Against the backdrop of the ongoing bombing of the Palestinian territories, and collective punishment of the people by Israel, leaders of Arab States assembled in Egypt to share a message of peace and prudence to the international community; outlining the immediate steps required to address the conflict, as well as the contours of a shared future for Jews, Christians and Muslims in the region. Reproduced Below is the full text of Jordan’s King Abdullah II remarks at Cairo Summit for Peace on 21 October 2023.      

Imam Mahdi: A Message for Humanity

 

In a special communication issued on 23 October 2023, Imam Al Mahdi of this era and the Holy Founder of the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International, Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius, addressed human kind and Muslims at large, especially his disciples and followers in the Jamaat- for the benefit of all those who wish to take to the straight path by the will of God, the Lord of all people. This vital message calls attention to recent revelations Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) received from God Almighty. Further, the special message provides an assessment on the behavioural attitudes and motivations of important nations vis-a-vis the ongoing Palestine-Israeli conflict, and on the calamities happening in the world.   

Based on his Divinely-gifted deep insight on international affairs, the Sheikh-ul-Islam (aba) cautions thoughtful people against the dangers facing humanity when man deviates from the Just Way, start violating the rights of others and curbing their freedoms and interests for unfair advantages, and even commits excesses against fellow men in pursuit of property and riches. A hardening trajectory in sectarian emotions and vengeful group feelings take the shape of simmering national conflicts, and escalating violence in certain regions can verily lead to a third world war with its horrendous consequences for humanity at large. Given the grim and dire prospects of whole-scale turbulence everywhere for a period of time, Hazrat Saheb (aba) counsels the faithful to take stock of food, medicine, and other basic needs of life and to save money for community /collective purposes- indeed, we need to be prepared to deal with issues of war-induced shortages and deprivations, including the protective needs of women and children; everyone is urged to proactively take steps, individually and collectively, to address likely challenges of a world turning upside down.  

 

Read Extracts from the Message Below: 

The following are the recent revelations received by the Khalifatullah (aba) on 22 October 2023 after Esha prayer:

 

Inna-Hudallaahi wa huwal-Huda. Wa ummirna lin-nuslima li Rabbil-Aalamin.

Allah’s Guidance is the true Guidance. We have been commanded to submit to the Lord of all the Worlds.

'Zalzala Azim' and 'Fath-e-Islam'

 

According to Divine Promise- a grand prophecy preserved in the Holy Qur'an-, the religion of Allah as taught by the Holy Prophet of Islam (sa) shall prevail on, and dominate over, all other so-called ideologies of life in the fullness of time. Yet, ironically, several Muslim communities around the world face glaring existential challenges at the hands of the disbelievers today; anti-Muslim forces in different nations are seeking to destroy Muslim communities. The mass expulsions and genocidal violence orchestrated against the Muslims in Palestine, Bosnia, Central African Republic, the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, the Uighur Muslims in China, etc. are emblematic of the grave challenges of identity, dignity and rights of people who believed in Allah (swt) and followed Islam as their religion. Palestine is a symbol of the oppression and destitution, slavery and subjugation that the Muslim Ummah stares in their political fortunes in our times. 

In his Friday Sermon of 18 November 2022~23 Rabi’ul Aakhir 1444 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al  Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius closely reviews the continuing  great injustice in Palestine, and also other internal challenges facing the Muslim Ummah in establishing the Faith and its majesty on earth. Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) cautions the Muslim Ummah about the painful consequences of the lack of unity and joint position within the Ummah on common threats and challenges. Narrow self-serving positions, economic interests, national pride, sectarian prejudices and schisms keep the Arab/Muslim world busy in their own silos, blissfully oblivious of the challenges facing the Ummah. In the meanwhile, other powers, like the Satan, can sense opportunities, easily mount and sustain their assault on Islam by picking sides among the believers, as they find the House divided on multiple fault lines.  Be that as it may, Hazrat Saheb (aba) warns the world that anti-Islam forces will not be able to 'finish' Islam through their maverick plots and conspiracies. The chosen messenger of Allah (swt) in this era foretells that the pharaohs of this era will also meet with Divine vengeance when they seek to destroy His religion, and the predominance of His servants and the religion of Allah will unfurl a new dawn in this world, Insha Allah, Aameen.  

The Wider Plan of the USA in favour of Israel

 

Ever since the creation of Israel, Palestine has become a symbol of unjust oppression. Innocents in millions have since then been debarred from their homes and properties. Peace which was their right was snatched away from them when their motherland became the object of a deep war and division.

 

In one way or another, on a daily basis we hear about the horrors committed against the Palestinian people – heart-breaking and sad; it is such a situation which brings tears to the eyes. They are oppressed in all forms and live in an open prison.

Faith: 'Muslims under Trial'

 

In his Friday Sermon of 04 November 2022 ~09 Rabi’ul Aakhir 1444 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius calls attention to a very sobering lesson for all true believers in every era: the future and good fortune of a people is linked to their piety and righteousness in life. Likewise, according to sacred spiritual wisdom preserved in the Holy Qur'an, when a people become lawbreakers and deviates from Divine teachings, the quagmire of misguidance, misfortune and enslavement would engulf them in a cycle of never-ending despair and disaster. 

According to the profound wisdom and prescient assessment of the Holy Prophet (sa), fatal flaws can encircle a people under trial when they let go of the true spirit of Faith, embrace materialism and splinter into different sects and political groupings. When they drown in immorality and injustice; worship money and ease; neglect the poor, and oppress the defenceless; become enamoured of other cultures even at the price of one's Faith and corrode the strength of its values through frequent disputes, schism and factional feuds; they themselves will be complicit in external intervention in internal affairs, perpetuating the vicious cycle of degradation of faith and moral fibre and consequent national decadence. Pointing to a sacred tradition of the Holy Prophet (sa) on the aforesaid theme, Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) observes in this discourse that each one of the signs of decadence is discernible in the dire state of our world today, especially in the predicament of the Arab nation.        

 

Reflecting on the continuing Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories- including East Jerusalem [the land of the holiest Masjid Al Aqsa]- without any fair deal for the people under subjugation for over half a century, and the recent events involving Arab leaders facilitating Israel's integration into the regional rivalry against Iran, in the backdrop of US- scheming in the region; Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) notes the searing reality that despite their public statements, the Arab leaders in the ring show no real commitment to the cause of the Oppressed, as they are more concerned about their own narrow interests of power and pelf. The agony and misfortune of foreign occupation and the humiliation of subjugation today is a grim reminder of the ways in which Divine vengeance engulfs a people under trial, observes Hazrat Saheb (aba) in the discourse.

Israel: A Racist Bully

 

Israel & U.S under Fire 

Israel’s attempt to justify its recent brutal assault on Gaza rings hollow to anybody familiar with events in Israel, where the government of Israel, backed by anti-Arab racists, has systematically, cruelly, and persistently violated the basic human rights of the Arab population. Like I told you last week in my sermon, Human Rights Watch, a global NGO with many Jewish leaders, has condemned Israel for crimes against humanity. 

Israel behaviour puts US President Joe Biden’s administration, which professes a foreign policy based on human rights, under the spotlight. If that commitment is genuine, the administration should support an independent UN investigation of Israeli human rights violations against the Arab population and suspend military aid to Israel until the inquiry is completed and the human rights of the Palestinians are secured. 

The Agony of Palestine

'When they enter a country as conquerors, they destroy it and disgrace and humiliate its elite citizens. And these (people) too will do the same'.   (27:35)

The Zionist entity's military conquest of Palestine and the establishment of the Jewish State of Israel in 1948 created profound consequences for the over a millennium-old Arab way of life in the land. The 'Nakba' (the Palestinian Catastrophe or the destruction of the Palestinian society in 1948) forced millions to leave their homelands and live in exile as refugees or stateless migrants. With the 1967 war, more Arab territory came under Israeli occupation, and the Arabs living in their own lands became a subject people at the hands of the occupying forces (the State of Israel), and the humiliating political, religious  and national conditions continue to engulf the people even after half a century. It is manifestly unacceptable that a State (Israel) perpetrates racist/apartheid policies under their administration. Under international law, the right to national self-determination is a fundamental right of all enslaved peoples who are either under colonial subjugation or foreign occupation. Indeed, the Palestinian people deserve their freedom from slavery and national liberation. [Inset: Israeli soldiers stand guard as Palestinian demonstrators gather during a protest against Israeli settlements in Beita town near Nablus [Mohamad Torokman/Reuters/Al Jazeera]

The recent explosive political situation obtaining in the Occupied Territories of Palestine- Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem -is indicative of the widespread distress the Israeli policies anchored on the dispossession of the Palestinian peoples of their land are causing. While Israeli security and well being is being privileged in media bytes from influential leaders, the everyday struggle of the Palestinian people for dignity and rights and freedom continues to be ignored and trampled upon with impunity. In his Friday Sermon of 09 July 2021~27 Dhul-Qaddah 1442 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius speaks movingly about the precarious situation of the Palestinian people and the need for the international community, especially the United Nations, to "force Israel to end the occupation and find a solution to the endless acts of violence which claim innocent lives on both sides [Muslims-Jews – Palestinians-Israelites]."

Read the Friday Sermon Below:  

The Middle East on Short Fuse

Based on recurring Divine inspirations and special Messages in recent times, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hadhrat Khalifatullah  Munir Ahmad Azim (atba) of Mauritius is inviting the world's attention to the looming dangers lurking beneath our troubled global order. These Divinely-inspired warnings can be read in his recent Friday Sermons, shared also through this Blog. When they look at, read up and reflect on these profound words intimating about the extraordinary dangers facing our small world; knowledgeable Muslims will remember the prophecies contained in the Holy Qur’an, as well as in the Prophetic traditions on the portents/events of the End Times. Ahmadis among them will also remember the dire warnings lefty behind by the Promised Massih (as) in the last century and also the unfulfilled aspects of those grim prophecies concerning the Later Days. 

The World at the Brink

There is little doubt that humanity is at the brink of Disaster(s) in our times. World nations are facing multiple dangers of an existential proportion: of environmental degradation, species extinction and the grim prospect of nuclear annihilation. The unsustainable consumption patterns in the industrialized world have also produced the irreversibly great danger of global warming and climate change, as science now confirms. The devastating consequences of this drastic change in weather patterns would be felt everywhere. Indeed, climate change threatens as it comes home not just in the main lands of the industrial world, but even the inhabitants of remote island nations who had done nothing comparable to  to bring about the whole problem. 

Likewise, powerful nations have arrogated to themselves ‘total security’ of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and they threaten other nations that defy their dictates. So much so that countries like North Korea seek nuclear capability as a security imperative; triggering global fears of a nuclear war in the not so distant future! Short of being fully wiped out from the very face of the earth through the aforesaid blinding passions of riches and excesses, the unbridled armament race among the nations has the potential of promising a veritable Hell on Earth for those of us- the hapless common humans- who are condemned to live amidst all these dangers.

The multilateral system, forged after the Second World War, is bedevilled by multiple crises and it seems incapable of providing effective solutions to the manifold challenges of global governance- poverty and rising inequality;environmental degradation; the arms race and the quest for nuclear weapons; internal conflicts and terrorism; racism and xenophobia, national chauvinism and Islamophobia, etc. International institutions and organizations are designed in such a way that these works to protect the entrenched interests of the Big Nations, rather than seeking to sub serve the larger cause of global justice and equity. These organizations largely ignore the real concerns of the poorer nations when they raise their experiences of political injustice and  colonial exploitation. 

The Future of Jerusalem

The city of Jerusalem holds profound significance to the spiritual imagination of billions of people around the world. For the city and its precincts are intimately connected to the sacred memory of a long chain of Divine servants and events mentioned in the Holy Scriptures of three great religions-Judaism, Christianity and Islam. 

For the Jewish people, Jerusalem is the heart of the Promised Land blessed and gifted to their pious ancestors by the Lord Almighty. The grand prophecy in the Qur'an reads: "And after him We said to the children of Israel, ‘Dwell ye in the land; and when the time of the promise of the latter days comes, We shall bring you together out of various peoples.’ [17:105] 

For the Christians, the city is sacred for being the venue of all the major events in the life and preaching of Jesus Christ (as). For the Muslims, the city holds spiritual significance for a variety of reasons, including one of the most important events in the spiritual life of the Holy Prophet (sa), ie., the Isra’ Mi’raj- the Night Journey and Ascent to the Heavens: when Allah (swt) caused the Prophet (sa), in the space of a single night, to journey from Makkah to Jerusalem and from there to heaven and back again. The Qur’an states: “Glory to Him who made His servant travel by night from the sacred place of worship to the furthest place of worship, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him some of Our signs: He alone is the All Hearing, the All Seeing”. (17:02)

It was during the Holy Prophet’s journey from the site of the ancient Jewish Temple in Jerusalem through the seven heavens that he encountered many Judeo-Christian prophets and finally came before the Exalted Presence: “until he was two bow-lengths away or even closer” (53:10). This mystical vision of the Holy Prophet (sa) clearly pointed to the deep connections of Islam to the Jewish and Christian prophetic heritage and Jerusalem came to be the first Quibla, direction of prayer for the Muslim community for many years- contributing to its sacred status in Islam. Through Divine revelation (2: 144-45), later of course, the Sacred Mosque in Makkah became the permanent direction of prayer for the Muslims.    

Ariel Sharon: ‘Troubled legacy of a bulldozer’

The passing of Ariel Sharon, the war criminal-politician of Israel, is a grim reminder of the continuing injustice and impoverishment of the brave Palestinian people under conditions of racial apartheid and colonial enslavement in their own homeland, now known as the Occupied Territories. Sharon literally got away with murder and mayhem he unleashed against countless innocent civilians of Lebanon and Palestine, thanks to the support of the worldly powers that sustained his politics. Yet, he spent his last years of life in this very world in a condition of “neither living nor dead” in which no worldly might could be of any help or succour to him.  In an article published in the Hindu Newspaper (India) on January16, 2014, distinguished scholar Vijay Prashad points out that the eulogising pabulum that greeted Ariel Sharon’s death ignored his history as a harsh military leader with a record of many atrocities.

We reproduce the Essay for the benefit of our readers:

The settlements, for Ariel Sharon, were an instrument to make life so miserable for Palestinians that they would eventually quit the remainder of their lands