Given the events unfolding around the globe, from Israeli atrocities being committed against the people of Gaza, to their ideological-twin ISIS, committing massacres in Iraq and Syria, I’m sure many of you have seen the numerous petitions circulating around social media which aims to petition the Western governments to act on behalf of Muslims, to save Muslims.
Not only does this infuriate me that Muslims have started to beg at the door of the same people who have previously oppressed them, but it is also laughably naïve. I apologies in advance for the harsh tone used throughout this piece but before I delve into how this pragmatism is actually conflicting with our belief in Allah, I’d like to firstly make a point about the system that Muslims are trying to lobby.
It is a capitalist system which is motivated solely by profit. This is a well-known fact, but if you really require evidence for this, think of the following: increasing wealth disparity between the rich and the poor, selling off nationalised industry to private companies to increase profits, lowering tax for the rich, and ultimately the corporations who have benefited from the so called ‘War On Terror’. Therefore, trying to lobby a capitalist system driven by profit for a humanitarian cause is useless. Hence you may hear the term ‘selective humanitarianism’ in the media, this is essentially a different term for ‘when profit is involved’.
Secondly, when will Muslims come out of this cycle of being bullied by the West? For those that strongly believe in allying with and seeking the help of the West, do you really not see the irony in trying to lobby Britain to speak up against Israel, a state which they created? Here’s a general rule you can apply to Western intervention: They will only intervene, if their current interest is greater than their previous interest.
How many times have we seen Muslim ‘leaders’rely on the West, only to be overthrown when the West decide their time is up? The entire Arab spring was based on this idea. Do we not see that the West are the ones who created Israel, the West are the ones that plagued the Muslim World with nationalism, the West are the ones that funded and trained Al Qaeda and the Taliban, the West are the ones that uphold and provide weapons to regimes in the Muslim World that oppress Muslims, simply because of interests concerning natural resources. Do we not see how the West for instance, betrayed the Shia revolt during the 90’s against Saddam?
The West are the ones, due to their foreign policies, created all these issues in the Muslim World, and now Muslims are running to the cause of this profit driven machine and trying to find the humanitarian heart within it?
News flash: it does not exist!
We have become pragmatic; essentially abandoning theory for means, which we think, will work by material standards. For example, Muslims allying with the West because they believe they need their superior military might in order to destroy a bunch of bandits like ISIS.
Well here is where I want Muslims to stop. Your pragmatism has replaced your faith in Allah. Islamic history is not a myth, it is a lesson. How many times do we pride ourselves in the 300 at Badr who defeated an army of thousands? How many times do we pride ourselves of the Battle of Hunayn, where the Prophet Muhammad and Ali Ibn Abu Talib stood with a handful of companions against an entire raging army, and were victorious? What is the point in priding ourselves in these Islamic narratives if we do not learn the lessons behind them? The lesson is simple:
Victory comes from Allah alone.
The Quran states in Chapter 2 Verse 249:
“…How many a small company has overcome a large company by permission of Allah. And Allah is with the patient.”
Do we not see this exemplified at the Battle of Khaybar, where the Prophet Muhammad gives the banner to Ali Ibn Abu Talib and through him, with Allah’s permission, the fortress was conquered?
Victory comes from Allah alone, this is our belief as Muslims, so abandon the pragmatism, which has swamped the Muslim communities, and rely on Allah alone for victory. This speaks to all who call for US airstrikes, and who call for Muslim nations to become allies with the West. I am not saying relations with the West should be forbidden, just that our reliance on them to save us from a crisis they created in the first place is absolutely ridiculous.
May Allah keep us firm on Siraat Al Mustakeem.
