SCHOLARS ON GAZA

(Those to whom the people said: “Indeed the people have gathered against you, so fear them.” But it increased them in faith, and they said: “Sufficient for us is Allah and He is the Best disposer of affairs.” So they returned with favour from Allah and bounty, no harm having touched them. And they pursued the pleasure of Allah, and Allah is the Possessor of great bounty.) [Āl-‘Imrān: 173-174]      

We, the Muslim and Christian religious figures in Syria, strongly condemn the barbaric aggression of the Israeli occupation against our people in the Gaza Strip – those who are imprisoned and besieged. We strongly rebuke the international silence in the face of the incessant killing and destruction that has engulfed Gaza in this barbaric war and Zionist aggression – an aggression that is unprecedented in history; targeting women, children, elderly, and the young; destroying Mosques, schools, universities, and even mere stones.      

We demand that the Arab and Islamic nation and the international community use all of the means at their disposal to put pressure on Israel in order to put and immediate end to this aggression. This attack is a wholesale slaughter of an entire people that first started with a blockade, forced starvation, and terror, and concluded with the mass targeting of the land and its people. It [Gaza] has been abandoned by the so-called international legal resolutions, and it is facing internal and external conspiracies because it refuses to succumb to the occupation or surrender to humiliation and siege.      

The Arab and Islamic people seek to awaken the consciences of the feeble Arab regimes that have colluded with the Zionist enemy. They seek to awaken them from their heedlessness while they witness Palestinian blood being shed for the sake of honour and what is right, and for the sake of the Mosques and Churches.      

What is taking place in Gaza illustrates the feebleness and cowardice of these nations, and is a practical example of Allah’s words: ( Those to whom the people said: “Indeed the people have gathered against you, so fear them.” But it increased them in faith, and they said: “Sufficient for us is Allah and He is the Best disposer of affairs.”) History will show no mercy to those who take part in shedding the innocent blood of the besieged Palestinian people.      

The Zionist enemy that is gathering all of its barbaric military might – of both land and air – in this open war in attempt to force Gaza to agree to its conditions will reap only regret and loss. They will not weaken the resistance of a people who pursue freedom, security, and peace. Even though today Gaza is on fire and its skies are filled with black smoke and the exhaust of missiles, the day will inevitably come when the sun of freedom will rise upon it and the spring of victory and aid will come.      

Defeat lies not in the martyrs who have fallen or the great material losses; defeat lies only in surrender, humiliation, and losing one’s moral compass and way. Triumph lies in giving victory to the correct beliefs: faith in Allah, martyrdom, resistance, and aiding the principles of truth and justice.      

May the people of Gaza and all of the resistance fighters and frontline guards be congratulated with the glad tidings of the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa-salam who said: “There shall never cease to be a group among my nation that is victorious in the religion and overpowering their enemies. They shall not be harmed by those who abandon them – except the injuries they receive – until the affair of Allah [the Last Day] comes and they are upon that.” They [the Companions] asked: “O Messenger of Allah! Where are they?” He replied: “They are in Bayt al-Maqdis and its surrounding areas.” In another narration, he said: “They shall fight near the gates of Damascus and its surrounding areas, and near the gates of Bayt al-Maqdis and its surrounding areas. They shall not be harmed by the abandonment of those who betray them, and they shall be victorious until the Last Hour.”      

As scholars and religious figures – both Muslim and Christian – we strongly urge our Arab and Islamic nation in these dark days to unite upon a common word, and assist our people and our brothers in the Gaza Strip. This entails giving victory to the land of Palestine and both its Islamic and Christian sacraments, and liberating Jerusalem, al-Aqsā, Bethlehem, and the sepulchre from the impure Zionists – in accordance with Allah’s words: (If they seek your help in the religion, then you must help them.) [al-Anfāl:72] and in accordance with what is found in the Bible.      

Furthermore, we strongly urge the people of Syria entire – both men and women, young and old – to participate with their brothers in their Jihād by defending them with supplications and humble entreaties to Allah, the Glorified and Exalted, that He grant them patience and steadfastness, and that He makes this event a proof for them and not against them on the Day of Judgement. We also encourage the people to participate and aid their brothers in Gaza with their wealth, and to remember the words of the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa-salam: “The believers in their mutual love, mercy, and affection, may be likened to one body: if one part of it suffers, the rest of the body suffers with fever and sleeplessness.”      

We value the stance of Syria, under the leadership of President Bashar al-Asad; a stance that has called and continues to call for a unified Arab stance, and for a unified Arab and Islamic position on the world stage in order to work out all possible solutions without allowing the Zionist entity to increase its occupation and wipe out the spirit of resistance. The smallest step that can be taken is a complete severing of all relations with this entity, in addition to the President’s call for an emergency meeting of the Arab Summit in order to take the appropriate measures to stop this aggression against the people of Gaza.      

We ask Allah, the Exalted, to make firm the hearts and feet of our brothers in Gaza, and to grant their mothers and wives patience, and to accept their martyrs, and to make them the key to this Umma’s victory – and that is easy for Allah. (Indeed, Allah defends those who believe. Indeed, Allah does not like every treacherous and ungrateful person. Permission to fight is granted to those who are fought because they were wronged, and indeed Allah is able to grant them victory. They are those who have been evicted from their homes without right – only because they say: “Our Lord is Allah.” And were it not that Allah checks the people, some by means of others, there would have been demolished monasteries, synagogues, and mosques in which the name of Allah is mentioned. And Allah will surely support those who support Him. Indeed, Allah is All-Powerful, Exalted in might.) [al-Hajj:38-40]