Safiyyah Haqq
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
“And, what is the matter with you that you fight not in the cause of Allah and [for] the oppressed among men, women, and children who say, Our Lord, take us out of this city of oppressive people and appoint for us from Yourself a protector and appoint for us from Yourself a helper?”
Surah Al Nisa, 4:75
ISLAM: THE PINNACLE OF ACTIVISM
It is clear that many Muslims today have distanced themselves from the movement for Palestine, taking a comfortable backseat while others assume their positions at the forefront. As followers of Islam, which commands us to “encourage what is good and forbid what is evil” [Surah Al Imran, 3:104], our passivity has disgraced us
Understandably, many Muslims are concerned about the danger of potentially risking their Islamic principles by engaging in activism, a space currently dominated by secular leftist groups, however this cannot be taken as an excuse to remove ourselves from the activism sphere but as an incentive to reclaim Islamic activism, and to take accountability for our own failure to put ourselves on the frontline from the beginning in the stand for justice, as is commanded by Allah S.W.T. In other words, if we wish for the movement to be more Islamic, we must become the change we want to see. After all, activism has always been part and parcel of Islam, with many important figures including Dawud A.S., Musa A.S., Muhammad ﷺand Husayn R.A., dedicating their lives to fighting in the way of Allah S.W.T to establish justice.
Rather than learn from our history and emulate these figures, we have allowed ourselves to succumb to a quietist, individualistic version of Islam. We listen to many, perhaps well-meaning but ultimately misguided Muslim scholars and speakers who restrict their da’wah to the individual, forgetting that individual and collective Islamic growth is supposed to happen together; that the aim of da’wah, according to the Qur’an and Sunnah, has always been collective action leading to individual betterment. Instead, we hear the partially-correct, individualistic refrain that ‘Palestine will not be free until we improve ourselves’. Likewise, we have allowed our prayer rooms and our masajid to become isolated, apolitical, empty shells, stripped of their historical role as hubs of collective religious and political learning and organising. We have reduced our Islam to ritual acts of ibadah, turning the Qur’an solely into a memorisation task rather than understanding and applying it as the guidebook it was meant to be. As Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, “The Qur’an was revealed so as to act by it. But people have taken the recitation as the action”. Similarly, it is reported that Umar ibn Al-Khattab R.A. said: “Do not be fooled by one who recites the Qur’an. His recitation is but speech – but look to those who act according to it.” [Al-Khatib, Iqtida Al-’Ilm Al-’Amal p.109]. True imaan disrupts the status quo. True imaan translates to action.
DISCONNECTED SCHOLARS AND TRAITOROUS RULERS
Often these same scholars take it upon themselves to go even further in pacifying the Muslim masses, preaching Madkhalism, blind obedience to the ruler, which elides the fact that there is no obedience to the ruler when there is disobedience to Allah.
While there is no doubt that Western governments are not submitting to nor leading in accordance to Islam, with their colonialist and imperialist past and present, today this is also the case in the majority of so-called Muslim countries. Saudi Arabia, prior to Al Aqsa Flood, was on the brink of normalisation with ‘israel’ and on August 7th 2025 sent a shipment of arms to the zionist entity, mercifully stopped by Genoa port workers. The U.A.E. is a prime holiday destination for genocidal ‘israeli’ tourists while it simultaneously endorses and profits from another genocide in Sudan. Egypt maintains the siege on Gaza in partnership with ‘israel’ by profiting off of Palestinians wishing to evacuate, proclaiming their inability to do anything to allow aid to enter, blocking the recent Sumoud Convoy movement attempting to reach Rafah to break the siege, and most recently, signing a $35 billion gas deal with the zionist entity. Jordan imprisons Muslim activists trying to awaken the consciousness of the Muslims and blocks protestors marching towards the border, all the while sending fresh produce to ‘israel’ as Gaza is forcibly starved. Arab and Muslim countries, among them Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkiye, Egypt, joined the call for Hamas to disarm. Which of these actions suggest that a single of the so-called Muslim rulers is obeying Islam and worthy of allegiance? Let us heed the warning from the heart of Gaza:
“We say this for the record, with all bitterness and pain, before all the people of our nation: O leaders of this Islamic and Arab nation, O its elites and major parties, and O its scholars, you are our adversaries before Allah Almighty. You are the adversaries of every orphan, every bereaved mother, every displaced, homeless, bereaved, wounded and starving person. You are burdened by the blood of tens of thousands of innocents who were failed by your silence.”
Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, July 18th 2025
It is unfortunate that we must question what is left of the reliability of many of our scholars and institutions, but when Islamic institutes as prestigious as Al-Azhar retract basic statements condemning the starvation and genocide of Gaza and the silence of Muslim governments, it is our duty to do so; to maintain the integrity of our Islamic principles. We live in a time of fitan, where too many scholars proclaim the necessity of obeying leaders to ‘keep the peace’ (there can be no peace without justice), issue fatwas about the boycotting of ‘israeli’ products being haram, give khutbahs controlled and monitored by the nation state. Too many of our scholars have become mouthpieces for corrupt Muslim governments, fulfilling their state-given duty of subduing and sedating the Ummah.
Abdullah ibn Amr reported: The Messenger of Allahﷺ said: “The majority of the hypocrites of the Ummah are its reciters”
Musnad Ahmad 6633
Abu Dhar said: “I was with the Prophetﷺ one day and I heard him saying: “There is something I fear for my Ummah more than the Dajjal.”
I became afraid and asked: “Oh, Rasul Allah, which thing is that?”
Heﷺ said: “Misguided and astray scholars.”
Musnad Ahmad (5/145) 21334 & 21335
In this state of spiritual rot, fatwas issued by the International Organisation of The Supporters of the Prophet and later by the International Union of Muslim Scholars calling each and every capable Muslim to jihad go ignored or scoffed at for being out-of-touch and “irresponsible” by some, such as the Grand Mufti of Egypt. Too many of our scholars have tarnished the high regard in which they were held by betraying and abandoning the Prophetic example of activism and fighting against injustice. In the words of Dr. Farah El-Sharif, “A true Muslim does not make tyrants feel good about themselves.”
Ibn ‘Asakir narrated from Zayd bin Aslam from his father that the Messengerﷺ said:
“Jihad will remain sweet and green as long as rain falls from the sky, and there will come a time upon the people in which the recitors from them will say: “This is not the time for Jihad.” So whoever lives to see that time, then this is the best time for Jihad.”
Heﷺ was asked: “O, Messenger of Allah! Will there be people who actually say this?”
Heﷺ said: “Yes, those who have been cursed by Allah, the Angels, and all of the people.”
Mashari-ul-Ashwaaq by Ibn Nuhaas, Vol 1 p. 110
It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah ﷺsaid: “One who died but did not fight in the way of Allah nor did he express any desire (or determination) for Jihad died the death of a hypocrite.”
Sahih Muslim 1910
It was narrated from Tariq ibn Shihab that the Prophetﷺ said: “The best form of Jihad is a word of truth before a tyrannical ruler”
Sunan al-Nasā’ī 4209
And our Creator knows our weaknesses, our tendency to stray towards the easier path, and guides us back to him; to the straight path:
“Fighting has been made obligatory upon you believers, though you dislike it. Perhaps you dislike something which is good for you and like something which is bad for you. Allah knows and you do not know”
Surah Baqarah, 2:216
THE TRAP OF SELF-SAVIOURISM
Among the Muslim community in the West, there is a pervading fear of Islamophobia, police arrests, and damaged reputations. This fear has only heightened since the beginning of Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7th 2023 and it brings with it an obsessive, unrelenting stream of apologia and denouncements from some within our community. Why is this? Who are we seeking acceptance from? Why are we betraying the honourable Palestinian Resistance for a seat at the oppressors’ tables? After hundreds of years of destruction and plunder of our lands at the hands of the West, continuing to this day in Palestine and elsewhere, why are we still attempting to emulate and assimilate with them?
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, we have incapacitated ourselves by weaponising these fears of discrimination and rejection. We have rendered ourselves incapable of considering sacrificing any of our comforts for the sake of Allah S.W.T. We have shackled ourselves before the police, and the corrupt Western systems behind them, even had a chance to do so. The reality is this: we hold huge privilege as Muslims residing in the West and, though racism and anti-Muslim sentiments undoubtedly exist, their impact on us pale in comparison to the impact of ‘israeli’ settler colonialism and genocide of the Palestinians. Thus, it is incumbent upon us to shed our victimhood and sacrifice our privilege for those who are truly oppressed. As Mohammed El-Kurd questions in his latest book, Perfect Victims: And The Politics of Appeal, “What is that fear, anyway, compared to the fear of dying of starvation, of being flattened under a military tank, of being suffocated under the wreckage, of being the lone survivor of your family, of your heart breaking for the millionth time? What is that fear if not theatre?”. After all, “how shameful is survival if won only in solitude?”.
As a result of this self-saviourism, we find ourselves at a standstill, having imposed a ceiling over our heads which restricts us to ‘respectable’ means of activism, namely: charity dinners, regularly-scheduled social media reminders, and du’a. My intention here is not to minimise the dire need for humanitarian aid in Gaza but to remind us that Gaza is not primarily a humanitarian cause but a political and religious liberation struggle. Moreover, my intention is not to belittle du’a, the weapon of the believer, but to remind us that du’a is intended to be the complement to tangible action, as taught by the Prophet S.A.W.; not its substitute.
Anas ibn Malik reported: A man said, “O Messenger of Allah, should I tie my camel and trust in Allah, or should I leave her untied and trust in Allah?” The Prophetﷺ said, “Tie her and trust in Allah.”
Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2517
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri reported: The Messenger of Allahﷺ said, “Whoever among you sees evil, let him change it with his hand. If he cannot do so, then with his tongue. If he cannot do so, then with his heart, which is the weakest level of faith.”
Sahīh Muslim 49
Our Muslim brothers and sisters in Gaza have consistently been calling out to the Ummah to recognise and put into practice the teaching that Islam is not only about ritual ibadah, but a way of life which, if lived striving in the way of Allah S.W.T. (jihad), is ibadah in itself. On March 22nd, 2025, just 2 days before his targeted assassination, Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat posted to his social media accounts: “Your stand in front of the Zionist terrorist occupation’s embassies and in the streets of your countries is more rightful and necessary than supporting Gaza with just prayers in the prayer niche.” It is key that we do not misunderstand Hossam to be diminishing du’a – the imaan of the Palestinians, particularly those in Gaza, far exceeds ours — but exemplifying the words of the Qur’an: “Stand firm for justice as witnesses for Allah even if it is against yourselves, your parents, or close relatives […] Do not let your desires cause you to deviate from justice.” [Surah Al Nisa, 4:135]. There are many Ghazzawi who echo this sentiment, among them another Palestinian journalist and Hafiz-ul-Qur’an Abubaker Abed, who writes in The New Arab:
“Dear Muslims, we never asked you to ease our suffering with bottles of water or food parcels. You misunderstood Islam when you chose this path. Sadly, you only act with Israel’s approval, as you’ve been unable to lift the ongoing Israeli blockade on Gaza for over 20 days.
You should have stood with us in the fight against injustice and oppression, not passively stood by. This is what Islam and the Quran teach us. Don’t just offer us well wishes while we continue to be slaughtered en masse.”
Remaining passive and palatable to the very institutions and systems which endorse the genocide of our people in a self-serving attempt to save all those adornments of this dunya which are so precious to us, namely our status and safety, is a betrayal of the tenets of Islam and nothing less.
At every step, Allah S.W.T. reminds us that there is nothing that he values more than spending in his cause, through whichever means are available to us. Let us raise the ceiling. Let us challenge ourselves to expand our capacity instead of limiting ourselves to our current capacity. Let us escape this stasis.
A STARTING POINT
Finally, if fear is still to remain our only motivator to act, then let it be fear of our Creator, a facet of the true believers, rather than of his creations. From the grandfather speaking over the bodies of his martyred grandchildren, “Tell the Prophet Muhammed ﷺthat his Nation has failed us.” to the grieving mother who cries out “May God take revenge on you, O Israelis, and take revenge on you, O Arabs. We support Masjid Al-Aqsa and yet we found no one to support us.” to the father testifying that “We blame no one but the Muslims. They are the catastrophe. Our catastrophe is caused by the Muslims and the Arabs.” to Abu Obeida’s condemnation of the “shameful abandonment by brothers of blood, Arabism, and Islam”, there is no doubt that we are culpable for our passivity in the face of such grave oppression and it is in this context that we must face the sobering warning of the Prophet ﷺ: “Beware of the supplication of the oppressed, for there is no barrier between it and Allah.” [Sahih Bukhari 4347]. Let us ask ourselves truthfully, have we done enough for our oppressed brothers and sisters to believe ourselves exempt from their du’as?
Abu Bakr reported: The Messenger of Allahﷺ said, “Verily, if people see an oppressor and they do not seize his hand, Allah will soon send His punishment upon all of them.”
Sunan Abu Dawūd and Al-Tirmidhi 2168
While our contributions and sacrifices are little in comparison to those of our brothers and sisters in Palestine and of their noble and honourable armed Resistance (may Allah S.W.T. bless them and their efforts), we can at the very least heed their calls to action, among them popular rallies after the Jumu’ah prayer, dedicating ourselves to the boycott of ‘israeli’ goods and participating in direct action against ‘israeli’/‘israel’-linked companies, particularly arms suppliers. When Abu Obeida tells us that, with all the heaviness and steady resolve of a mujahid who has been resisting his and his people’s oppressors for years, “We absolve no one of responsibility for this bloodshed. We exclude no one who has the ability to act, each according to their capacity and influence”, there is nothing left to hide behind. We must offer our careers, our wealth, and our time to fighting in Allah’s cause and thereby aiding the oppressed.
“O you who have believed, if you support Allah, He will support you and plant firmly your feet.”
– Surah Muhammed, 26:7
Safiyyah Haqq is an Indian Muslim university student in the West. She is a reader, writer, and artist focusing on Islam, the Resistance, and decolonisation. She aims to educate and organise Muslims in her community.
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