The distressing situation in Palestine is a cause of deep pain for Muslims all over the world. Nu’man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with them) reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: مثل المؤمنين في توادهم وتراحمهم وتعاطفهم، مثل الجسد إذا اشتكى منه عضو تداعى له سائر الجسد بالسهر والحمى” ‏(‏‏(‏متفق عليه‏)‏‏)‏ ‏ “The believers in their mutual kindness, compassion and sympathy are just like one body. When one of the limbs suffers, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever”. [Bukhari and Muslim] In this hadith the Prophet (peace be upon him) was describing the Ummah which is now two billion people across the globe. He observed that when one part of the body is afflicted the whole body suffers because we are so connected with each other. Palestine is one of the major limbs of our Ummah, so when Palestine grieves and suffers, we feel her pain. This pain is even more acute because we are aware that Bait al Maqdis is our holy land, the place where the Prophet (peace be upon him) ascended to the heavens. The first qibla for Muslims was Palestine. Part of our belief as Muslims is to believe in the six articles of faith and one of these is to believe in destiny. Destiny can be good or bad. Our destiny is to defend Masjid al Aqsa as it is sacred for us. How do we as Muslims deal with the situation? The atrocities and suffering endured by the Palestinian people have flared up with upsetting regularity, with the indiscriminate destruction of their homes, hospitals and churches, attacks on worshippers in one of our holiest sites during the most holy days of the Islamic year. We have seen the tragic and unending loss of lives, men, women and … Continue reading Peace does not come with violence and peace does not come without dignity