A University Student Frustrated by Gaza Events... What Should I Do?
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah, dear brothers.
Students' Frustration with Gaza Events: Diagnosing the Problem
It is noticeable that many university students are experiencing a state of paralysis with the events in Gaza, as well as high school and middle school students, those who have a sense of belonging to their nation. If one of them follows the news, they feel frustration and oppression. If they distance themselves from the news, they feel as if they are betraying and abandoning their brothers in Gaza and Palestine.
Look, brothers, what is happening undoubtedly creates a sense of oppression in everyone who has faith and life in their heart. To see your brothers being treated this way while you cannot fight alongside them and devote your wealth, time, and self. I truly have a psychological reluctance to publish words, even though some brothers say, "Publish what will make us patient and raise our morale." However, I still find reluctance due to the oppression we feel towards these events.
Cohesion in the Face of Despair
Nevertheless, dear ones, we must gather our scattered selves, stand together, and not sit frustrated and desperate. Certainly, this is not the servitude that Allah extracts from us under such circumstances.
What encouraged me to publish this word were two situations:
The First Situation: Medical Students in the Afflicted Country
The first is that one of my friends, a medical student in one of the afflicted countries, told me, "We receive our lectures remotely, and although there are three hundred medical students in our batch, only twenty of them open the lecture." When we published a survey, we found that these students' concerns about their country coincided with their concerns about Gaza. Brother, you can imagine the future awaiting the country if this is the state of its medical students.
The Second Situation: A Medical Student in Gaza
The second situation was sent to me by one of the brothers in a medical group, consisting of a picture of a conversation in which a medical student asked one of the doctors yesterday: "Peace be upon you, Doctor." The doctor replied, "And peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Which university, my sister?" The student answered, "From the Islamic University in Gaza, we do not have regular classes due to the war. We were supposed to start surgery, but the war happened. We were supposed to have three weeks of surgery residency, we do not go out or come in, our time is literally being wasted. So, I opened something to study to distract my mind and wait a bit, hoping that Allah will remove this calamity."
Look, brothers, this sister in Gaza is under bombardment, expecting bombardment at any moment, yet she wants to develop herself in her surgical studies. This sister reminds us of the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "If the Hour is about to be established and one of you has a sapling in his hand, if he can avoid its establishment until he plants it, let him plant it."
Positivity and Anticipation in the Decrees of Allah
Our Lord, the Almighty, wants us to be positive, to be anticipatory. And our Prophet (peace be upon him) teaches us that if you start a beneficial matter, do not leave it even if the Hour is about to be established, complete it, continue in it. Therefore, I wanted to whisper these words to my student brothers in any beneficial science, medicine, and others.
Everything that happens, my brothers, is part of the decrees of Allah, the Almighty. And to know the value of this conviction when we say, "All of this is part of the decrees of Allah," so you know what "all of it is part of the decrees of Allah" means, imagine the alternative situation. Imagine a situation where something in this universe happens contrary to the will of the Lord whom you worship, far be it from Him! At that time, you have the right to be worried and afraid. But the matter is not like that, rather, everything that happens is by the decree of Allah the Wise, His decree for a wisdom: {To test you, which of you is best in deed.}
You need to think: what is the best deed that my Lord loves from me in such circumstances? What are the servitudes that Allah the Almighty extracts from me with this Muslim nation?
The Role of Students in the Nation's Continuous Battles
During this turmoil, the nation does not fight one battle in one cause, but the nation witnesses continuous battles that will not stop. This makes it the duty of the youth not to be paralyzed and petrified while waiting for the result of one of the battles. May you not be paralyzed and petrified while waiting for the result of one of the battles.
Our shortcoming in what we are in as university students or even any students of beneficial knowledge, any students of beneficial knowledge in the university, is wide, because as I mentioned repeatedly, it is not appropriate to limit beneficial knowledge to universities. Our shortcoming as students of beneficial knowledge contributes to weakening our nation on other fronts in other battles: the battle of awareness, learning, and professionalism to fill the gaps in the body of the nation and its building, the battle of enriching the nation so that it does not need others until it can boycott its enemies and their goods and medicines.
If we remain frustrated and paralyzed, we will remain dependent on nations for our food, clothing, medicine, and all other matters.
Turning Pain into Mastery and Work
Turn your pain for your brothers into mastery and dedication in your studies, and sincerity in your intention, hoping that if a door is opened to aid your brothers in Gaza and Palestine, you will aid them with what you have learned as a doctor, nurse, engineer, media person, or otherwise. If Allah prepares another battle, I hope with your learning and mastery that you will have a role in it.
The enemies of the nation want to make you feel helpless so that you surrender. What angers them the most is that the Al-Aqsa Flood raised the morale of the Muslims, dispelled their despair and frustration, and made them feel capable. One of their most important goals in destroying Gaza now, one of the most important goals of our enemies in destroying Gaza, is to destroy this faith-based moral state among Muslims, for they know very well its danger to them and their enslavement of the peoples.
So, beware, young brother, if our brothers in Gaza worked like some of us who are frustrated, desperate, and sitting, they would not have been able to do what they did. But they exerted their utmost within their capabilities until Allah prepared the means for them.
Lessons from Steadfastness and Challenge
Take heed from the six prisoners, remember them? The six Palestinian prisoners who escaped two years ago on 9/2021 from Jilboua prison in northern Palestine, although it is one of the most heavily guarded prisons, with strict security, yet they were able to dig a tunnel and escape from it.
Once again, our appropriate place is yours and mine is to fully support our brothers with ourselves and our wealth. Okay, if we cannot, we must exhaust our capacity and energy in supporting them from our place as much as we can, and at the same time, we do not neglect the front on which each of us stands.
I consider that the current battle is the beginning of victory by the permission of Allah, even if we go through a painful labor in which Allah tests those who believe, Allah tests those who believe. Therefore, your nation needs your knowledge in the upcoming battles that will be crowned with victory, honor, dignity, and empowerment by the permission of Allah.
Your feeling of the value of what you are doing makes you continue your work no matter the circumstances, and all of you hope that Allah will use you in one of the major battles of Islam, in addition to what He will use you for in the foreseeable future for the benefit of your nation and its enrichment against its enemies. And remember the saying of your Prophet (peace be upon him): "Seek what benefits you and seek help from Allah and do not be helpless."
Conclusion: Balancing Study and Support
In conclusion, dear young brothers, do not let the support of your brothers in Gaza with what you can do distract you from mastering your studies or work, and do not let your studies distract you from supporting your brothers. And consider the reward of mastering study and work, and intend it as worship to Allah the Almighty, hoping that with the blessing of this worship, Allah will use you in the complete support of the Muslims, even if it is later.
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.