O People of Gaza, Do Not Be Sad

Peace be upon you.

I am ashamed to address the crowns of the heads of our people in Gaza, for they are the ones who teach us. And Allah knows best the oppression that one of us feels from his inability to support them fully with oneself and wealth. But from our brothers in Gaza themselves, they ask us to spread words of steadfastness and clarification, and this is from our meager effort. And indeed, remembrance benefits the believers.

A Story of Steadfastness

I say to my brothers in Gaza, something happened to me that Allah steadied me with a brother, and I hope to be a cause for your steadfastness. One day, I was imprisoned for an article eight years ago, and a thought came to me saying: "Were you, O Iyad, sincere in your intention when you published the article? Did you actually intend to support the religion of Allah and His Messenger peace be upon him and denounce the evil? Or was your intention mixed with the desire for people to praise you for being brave enough to speak the truth? If so, then you have not earned the reward with Allah, and you have not remained safe among your family, dependents, and your respected social position."

I was in solitary confinement, and yet I could still speak to my brothers nearby through the air. So, I confided this worry to one of them, who was wise and pious, as I believe. I said to him, "O so-and-so, this thought comes to me, and I fear it." Then, a cry came from him, my brothers, that echoed in my being and I still remember it until now. He said, "O Sheikh Iyad, I ask you by Allah not to think in this way. This is from the devil. They have imprisoned your body, so the devil came to imprison your soul and break your will. You did it for Allah, and your deed is accepted, and you are rewarded for it by the permission of Allah. So, do not say that again. I ask you by Allah."

And glory be to Allah, I felt at that moment that my deed was accepted by the permission of Allah, and the thought was indeed a whisper from the devil, especially since Allah, in His kindness, sent me this sincere, echoing voice to steady my heart. And now, I come closer to Allah with your steadfastness, O people of Gaza, and my slogan is: "So be steadfast, you who believe."

O People of Gaza: You Did It for Allah

You, O people of Gaza, did it for Allah. You unleashed the flood of Al-Aqsa for Allah. You rallied around your Mujahideen for Allah. And you did not betray them, nor abandon them, nor support those against them because you seek Allah and the Hereafter, as we consider you.

When you hear someone say, "They have brought calamities upon themselves," know that this is the voice of the devil speaking through the tongues of mankind. You are the masters of certainty, so do not allow those whose certainty is weak to sadden you. Be patient, for the promise of Allah is true, and do not let those who do not believe dishearten you.

The Response to the Discouragers

Those who blame you do not understand the meanings of honor, dignity, and sacrifice for the sake of Allah as you do. There is no common language between you and them, so do not pay attention to them. If their words were before the events occurred and their motivation was to assess religious interests, then they would have some validity. But they add to your suffering by bringing sadness and regret upon yourselves.

The devil brings his cavalry and infantry against you. He moves his allies among the disbelievers to bombard your bodies, and he whispers to a group of Muslims to bombard your will. So, if you hear them, remember the saying of our Prophet peace be upon him: "There will always be a group from my nation standing firm upon the command of Allah. They will not be harmed by those who abandon them or those who oppose them until the command of Allah comes to them while they are upon that." And these discouragers have combined abandonment and opposition, so be patient until the command of Allah comes.

Your Mujahideen did not bring calamity upon you, as the abandoners say, but rather you and your Mujahideen have brought the meanings of honor to a complete nation and have set a wonderful example for future generations. Your martyrs, by the will of Allah, are in Paradise, and the prey of your enemy is in the Fire.

Those who bring calamities upon their people are those who fill their lands with debauchery and vice, killing the spirit of Jihad within them. Thus, the youth die from an overdose of drugs or from accidents caused by reckless actions or trivial quarrels. And those who survive have their hearts filled with desires and doubts. These people kill the souls, which is worse than killing the bodies, and the fitnah is greater than killing.

And if your abandoners understood, they would know that this is the time for victory, not the time for blame. But the saying of Allah Almighty applies to them: "Those who said to their brothers, 'If you had obeyed us, you would not have been killed.' Say, 'Then prevent death from yourselves if you are truthful.'"

Everyone will die, but there is a difference between those who live and die as cowards, and those who set an example of honor for future generations, who humiliate the enemy and make his nose touch the dust, and who are a sign from the signs of Allah in sacrifice and steadfastness. So, do not pay attention to the discouragers, for they do not understand these meanings that you live by and the language that you speak.

Everyone will die for one reason or another. In the past months and weeks, the victims of the Turkey and Syria earthquake exceeded fifty thousand, the victims of the Libya hurricane and Morocco earthquake exceeded three thousand, and the victims of the Afghanistan earthquake exceeded two thousand five hundred. And we ask Allah to accept them as martyrs.

But as our brother Professor Muhammad Al-Hami said: "So if death comes to one of us, let it be in a battle where the best of Allah's servants meet in the choicest land of Allah against the worst of creatures in Allah's sight in the most apparent battle between truth and falsehood, so that the word of those who disbelieved may be the lowest and the word of Allah may be the highest." And he is truthful. You, by waging this battle, have chosen the noblest way for your death.

The Trap of Making Muslims Feel Weak

Then you see him linking events together in any way to prove his hollow theory. And these people are also spoken through by the devil, and they do not feel it. He has nested in their weak hearts that nothing in this world comes out of what the West has planned. As if the West has predetermined the fates of creatures so that there is no escape from its fate. And this is the easiest way to control the peoples and break their will, for they will feel that no matter what they do, it will all be in the interest of the Western gods. If we resist oppression, it will be according to the West's plans, and if we support our brothers, it will be according to the West's plans. So, what should we do then?

We do what we can of the causes and prepare what we can of strength, then "And victory is not but from Allah." But if we take the words of the discouragers, we will sit fearing that we are being lured.

Neither the international system nor the Zionist entity nor their lackeys have any interest in what you have done, O people of Gaza, in breaking the entity's prestige in this way, stepping on it, and throwing it in the trash forever in this way, but also the prestige of those who support and protect it. Neither the international system nor the despicable entity has any interest in making Muslims feel that they are capable. This shatters the psychological barriers that they have worked to install in us over decades. And they are the ones who worked on the Shalit deal to consolidate that one of them is worth a thousand of us. Then now, thousands of them are being killed, humiliated, captured, struck with terror, and fleeing.

The West simply excels at exploiting events, but it does not create them all. So, suppose you, O possessor of the theory of the trap, that the entity or its allies knew and planned. Why do you not exploit the events as they do? And strive to turn their schemes against them and be one of the tools of Allah in that, for He is the One who says: "And they plan, and Allah plans. And Allah is the best of planners." But the one who fell into the trap is you, the trap of making Muslims feel weak and incapable, that they cannot do anything in front of their enemy or get out of what has been drawn for them.

So, do not listen, O people of Gaza, to the discouragers, "And if you are patient and fear Allah, then indeed, that is from the matters of determination."

The Importance of Rallying Around the Mujahideen

Rallying around your mujahideen is a cause for Allah's mercy to descend upon you. Your enemies strive to divide your ranks, but they have not succeeded before in Afghanistan, and the result was that they exited defeated and humiliated after twenty years of killing and tyranny. Yet, they failed and were humiliated, retreating in defeat. However, in other instances, they have succeeded in dividing ranks, swaying those with weak hearts, and turning people against each other, as they did when they imposed the authority of shame upon the Muslims in the West Bank. There is no choice but to rally around your honorable ones.

Remember Allah's words regarding what transpired in the Battle of Uhud: The believers saw what they desired of honor and victory over the disbelievers, but they disputed among themselves, and some disobeyed because he desired the worldly life, and thus the calamity befell everyone.

Verses for Steadfastness from Surah Al-Imran

Finally, dear ones from our people in Gaza and Palestine, contemplate these great verses from Surah Al-Imran, as if they were revealed today. Reflect on them in your reality and find steadfastness from your Lord in their words.

Allah, the Most High, says: "And do not weaken and do not grieve, and you are the uppermost if you are [true] believers." You are the uppermost as long as you are believers, patient, and mindful of Allah. Your unity is above those who fight you and conspire against you, even if they do to your bodies what they have done. "And do not weaken and do not grieve, and you are the uppermost if you are [true] believers."

"If a wound should touch you - there has already touched a wound similar to it [to others]. And these days [of varying conditions] We alternate among the people, that Allah may make evident those who believe and [may] take to Himself from among you martyrs - and Allah does not like the wrongdoers. And that Allah may purify the believers and destroy the disbelievers. Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while such trials have not yet come to you as came to those before you? They were touched by hardship and were severely shaken, and were told, 'Make the people believe in what We have revealed to you and they will say, 'Allah is enough for a witness between us and you.' And those before them said it, [but] what did it benefit them?' And to Muhammad is only the conveyance [of the message], and Allah has already made clear to the people the truth about religion, and if they associate others with Allah, He will say, 'I am free from what you associate, and those who associate others with Me will have a punishment of pain.'"

Note, even if Muhammad (peace be upon him) were to be killed, the call will continue, the sacrifices will continue, and the battle will continue. Allah's help for His believing servants will not cease. Remember that as you see your heroes ascend in this battle.

Allah, the Most High, then says: "And it is not for any soul to die except by permission of Allah at a decree determined. And whoever desires the reward of this world - We will give him thereof; and whoever desires the reward of the Hereafter - We will give him thereof; and We will reward the grateful. And how many a prophet [fought] with many a worshipper of false gods and was overcome by them, [but] they did not waver for what befell them in the cause of Allah, nor did they weaken, nor did they yield. And Allah loves the steadfast. And their [i.e., the disbelievers'] statement was not except that they said, 'Our Lord, forgive us our sins and the excess [committed] in our affair and plant firmly our feet and give us victory over the disbelieving people.' So Allah gave them the reward of this world and the good reward of the Hereafter. And Allah loves the doers of good. O you who have believed, if you obey those who disbelieve, they will turn you back on your heels, and you will [then] become losers. But Allah is your protector, and He is the best of helpers. But Allah is your protector, and He is the best of helpers."

May Allah grant you steadfastness and aid us in your victory, and may He unite us as a single, honored nation. Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.