[News] Words vs. Action: A Supplication for Gaza, and Humanity

[Anti-Imperialist News]

counterpunch.org
<https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/03/15/words-vs-action-a-supplication-for-gaza-and-humanity/>
Words vs. Action: A Supplication for Gaza, and Humanity
Ramzy Baroud
March 15, 2024
------------------------------

Image by CHUTTERSNAP.

‘All we can do for Gaza is just offer our Du’a.” This is an oft-repeated
statement by enraged Arabs and Muslims who feel helpless before the Israeli
genocide in Gaza.

But is it true that only invocations and supplications are possible, as
tens of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are being killed and
wounded by the Israeli war machine?

No. There is much that can be done and, in fact, many people around the
world are already doing it.

In the traditions of Hadith, sayings attributed to Prophet Mohammed, the
most cited reference to the need for action, collectively or individually,
is this one
<https://www.iium.edu.my/deed/articles/alhisba.html#:~:text=%22Whoever%20of%20you%20sees%20wrong,weight%20of%20faith%20(iman).>:
“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.”

Du’a is an invocation, communicated by the heart; it is a Muslim’s
conversation with God. It can be verbalized, or not. In group prayers,
especially during Friday sermons or throughout the holy month of Ramadan,
among other occasions, Du’as can be performed collectively.

The nature of the collective Du’a highlights the priorities of any given
Muslim group, community or even nation. Gaza, Palestine, Al-Aqsa Mosque are
among the some of the main themes, or causes, for which Muslims beseech
God’s help.

“Oh Allah, please free the Al-Aqsa Mosque”, “Oh, Merciful One, stand by the
children of Gaza” or “Oh All Powerful, deliver Palestinians from injustice”
are only a few of an almost endless stream of Du’a that are uttered from
Mecca to Medina to Jerusalem to Kuala Lumpur, to every mosque and every
Muslim home throughout the world.

Du’a is the affirmation in a relationship between man and God, delineating
that nothing would occur without God’s permission, and that a person, no
matter how poor, beleaguered and weakened, can transcend all earthly
relations to speak directly to the highest of all authorities.

“Your Lord has proclaimed, ‘Call upon Me, I will respond to you’,” Allah
says <https://quran.com/en/ghafir/60> in Surah Ghafir, verse 60.

That does not necessarily mean that Du’a is a last resort. Rather, it goes
hand in hand with action. It does not supplant action, but reinforces it.
Collective Du’a is a communal declaration that all Muslims are driven by
similar priorities, those of peace, justice, equality, mercy, kindness and
all the rest.

The dichotomy, however, arises from the fact that many Muslims feel unable
to affect change regarding the horrific fate of Gaza, whether on a small or
a large scale, thus the widespread notion that “all we can do is offer
Du’a”.

I have visited South Africa several times in the past. Each time, I learned
more than I could have possibly imparted. I learned that people’s power is
far more effective, in the long run, than the opposing powers of state
violence. I also learned that no worldly law, especially those that aim at
imposing racist apartheid, can possibly stand against our innate rejection
of social inequality and other evils. Finally, I also learned that when
people rise, nothing can stand in their way.

The latter maxim is as true in the case of South Africa during the
anti-apartheid struggle, as it is now in Palestine, particularly in Gaza.
Of that, famed Tunisian poet, Abu Al-Qasim al-Shabi wrote a hundred years
ago.

“Should the people one day truly aspire to life / then fate must needs
respond / the night must needs shine forth / and the shackles must needs
break,” he wrote
<https://arablit.org/2011/01/16/two-translations-of-abu-al-qasim-al-shabis-if-the-people-wanted-life-one-day/#:~:text=Should%20the%20people%20one%20day,in%20her%20air%20and%20vanish.>,
just before he died at the very young age of 25.

His powerful words also included a caveat, an ominous warning of terrible
things to come: “Those who are not embraced by life’s yearning / shall
evaporate in her air and vanish.”

South Africa did not make the latter choice, nor did Gaza. And every
attempt at crushing these great peoples continued to fail. They remained,
persisted, healed their wounds and fought back.

I always believed that South Africa will play a central role in
international solidarity with Palestine. But, frankly, I had not expected
that the African nation would become so intrinsic, even unparalleled, to
holding Israel accountable for its crimes in Palestine to this extent.

Pretoria’s push <https://www.icj-cij.org/case/192> to hold Israel and its
war criminals to account at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and
International Criminal Court (ICC) continues
<https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/07/world/middleeast/south-africa-icj-israel-gaza-starvation.html>
 unabated.

It was not the sheer military, economic or political power or prowess that
made South Africa a factor in the Palestinian fight for justice. It was the
sheer will of a nation and, subsequently, a government to translate its
desire to achieve a more equitable, just and law-governed international
system into meaningful action.

South Africa could have simply resorted to self-pity, highlighting its
supposed insignificance in the face of more powerful US-western governments
that continue to support Israel, feeding it with all the necessary weapons
to sustain its genocide.

It, too, could have resorted to prayers, invocations and supplications as
the “only thing that can be done”. It did not. To the contrary, it used its
diplomatic leverage and moral authority to articulate one of the most
powerful cases in favor of Palestinian freedom and against Israeli
brutality ever argued before an international legal institution.

It is understandable that many may feel helpless, especially when one
attempts to fathom the enormity of the crime underway in Gaza. Israel might
have not used weapons of mass destruction in the Strip, but it has
certainly applied all of its western-supplied weapons to inflict mass
destruction
<https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147272#:~:text=Gaza%3A%20Massive%20destruction,displacing%20over%201.5%20million%20persons.>
, nonetheless.

But if Gaza has not given up, why should we? Even giving up is a privilege.
Gaza does not have that privilege nor should we grant it to ourselves. Gaza
is fighting for its very survival and we, too, must fight for the same end.

Make a Du’a for Gaza. Let it be your first act as you undertake your quest
for a just world. And make another Du’a for Gaza, to beseech God to reward
your selfless and well-intentioned deeds. And, if you are besieged by
desperation, still make a Du’a, so that you may discover the power to make
a difference, which has always been within your grasp.

*Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He
is the author of five books. His latest is “**These Chains Will Be Broken*
<https://www.amazon.com/These-Chains-Will-Broken-Palestinian/dp/1949762092>*:
Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons” (Clarity
Press, Atlanta). Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the
Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), Istanbul Zaim University (IZU).
His website is **www.ramzybaroud.net* <http://www.ramzybaroud.net/>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20240316/ddcb2d01/attachment.htm>