THE CATASTROPHE

(THE 63rd

ANNIVERSARY OF

AN-NAKBAH)

Let us have the taqwa of Allah

Subhaanahu Wata‘aala as He

should be feared by obeying all of

His Commands and avoiding all of

His prohibitions. May we all attain

the blessings and happiness in this

world and the Hereafter.

Today, let us remind ourselves

of a tragedy that befell upon this

ummah in the last century. This

tragic incident is known as “an-

Nakbah” which means “The

Catastrophe”. This tragedy had

occurred on the 15th of May

1948.

In the afternoon of May 14th

1948, the Union Jack (flag) was

taken down in Palestine and

replaced with the “The Star of

David”. On the following day,

the illegitimate state of Israel was

first declared by its first Prime

Minister, David Ben Gurion.

This horrendous tragedy was

not only the plan of the

International Zionist

Organization, but had the

formal approval of the Western

superpowers and United

Nations‟ backers, namely Great

Britain and the United States.

This event witnessed the

expulsion of 800,000

Palestinians from their

homeland into various refugee

camps until this very day. Their

population has risen to over 5

millions and until today they

have not received proper justice

and defense including from the

Muslim states.

If we feel that the Nakbah

tragedy is irrelevant to us, then

definitely there is something

deficient in our worldview as a

Muslim. What is the basis for

this?

What is significant is the direct

consequence of the abolition of

the concept of one ummah, only

to be replaced with the concept

of “nation state” that was

coerced through several

hundred years of colonialism of

the Muslim ummah.

The only ummah that is

acknowledged by al-Qur‟an is

the only one ummah, as Allah

Subhaanahu Wata‘aala

mentions: “And indeed this,

your religion, is one religion,

and I am your Lord, so fear

Me.” (al-Mu‟minoon 23:52)

Such profound and deep-rooted

effect of the “nation state”

ideology that was introduced by

the colonialists that the Muslims

today no longer recognize those

living beyond the geographical

boundaries as their own Muslim

brethren that must be defended

and protected. Furthermore,

there are even sentiments of

degradation upon other Muslims

of different ethnicities. Due to

this rupture, the unity of the

ummah was demolished, and

essentially that has been the

intent of the enemies of Islam.

The enemies of Islam realized

that the foundation of the

Muslim ummah does not lie

within their economic wealth or

natural resources, but instead

within the strong bond of

brotherhood that is built upon

solid ‘aqeedah.

When the ‘aqeedah is corroded

from their identity, then that

bond of brotherhood that was

firmly built has been

dismantled. As a result, it

became easy for the Muslim

lands to be conquered and

colonized one after the other.

Furthermore, colonialism

continued to lay out artificial

political borders that ended up

in 50 independent Muslim states

and 19 others that are co-joined

with non-Muslim lands.

These Muslim states are only

separated by straight lines that

can be drawn with a ruler, such

in the case of Egypt, Sudan,

Libya, Tunisia, Maghribi, and

other Arab states. Also, the

same scenario with Jordan,

Syria, Iraq, and Palestine.

Moreover, the same for

Malaysia and Indonesia which

had been separated by a straight

line across the Straits of

Malacca in 1824 resulting from

the agreement between the

British and the Dutch. As a

result, the 69 Muslim states

having the population of 1.6

billion is unable to defend their

own brethren in Palestine. In

reality, Palestine is surrounded

by the rich Arab Muslim states

whom are blessed with natural

resources but yet seemingly

unable to take any actions.

The unconcerned attitude and

complacence of the Muslim

ummah towards their brethren in

Palestine is graver than being

just the failure of fulfilling their

need. Palestine is more than just

another territory under the non-

Muslim control.

More significantly, it is a Holy

Land for the Muslims. Perhaps

the Muslim ummah has

forgotten that there are three

Holy Lands in Islam. On top of

Makkah al-Mukarramah and

Madeenah al-Munawwarah,

the third one is actually Bayt al-

Maqdis (al-Quds) which houses

Masjid al-Aqsa. It was the

transit place for Prophet

Muhammad sallAllahu ‘alayhi

wasallam during the incident of

al-Israa‟ and Mi„raaj.

Rasulullah sallAllahu ‘alayhi

wasallam had informed us of

the noble status and virtue of

Bayt al-Maqdis for the Muslim

ummah. This is evident from

various ahadeeth mentioning its

virtues.

Praying in Masjid al-Aqsa is

rewarded 500 times as

compared to praying elsewhere

(other than Masjid al-Haram

and Masjid an-Nabawi).

The Nakbah tragedy was well

planned since 1897, followed by

the British invasion of Palestine

in 1917 that was approved by

the British Parliament after

heavy Jewish lobbying. This

allowed the Jews to enter

Palestine as stipulated in the

Balfour Declaration 1917 and

further dividing Palestine into

Arab and Jewish states per

Resolution 181 of the United

Nation in 1947. Finally, the

aggression and invasion by the

Jewish terrorists in 1948 to

illegally seize the Palestinians‟

lands marked a dark spot to

their grief and pain until today.

The establishment of the illegal

state of Israel in 1948 had paved

way for the complete takeover

of Palestine in 1967. In that

year, Israel had conquered

Gaza, West Bank,

and East of Bayt al-Maqdis

(which houses Masjid al-Aqsa).

Masjid al-Aqsa was surrounded

and controlled by the Jewish

Zionists until today. They had

plotted various plans to

demolish the mosque including

the arson attack on

21st August 1969, and placing

demolition devices underneath

the mosque‟s structures. They

had dug up a tunnel underneath

the mosque and erected their

temple there. All these events

had failed to trigger the Muslim

ummah to collectively fight in

freeing the Holy Land as it was

done by Salahuddin al-Ayyubi

when freeing Bayt al-Maqdis

from the grasp of the Crusaders.

Even more disheartening is the

attitude of some Muslim leaders

towards the Palestinian cause.

While the Palestinians in Gaza

are under tremendous siege that

even led to casualties, they

chose to keep mum on the

matter. The Gazans are faced

with a blockade and denied

access to electricity, food

supply, medical supply, and

other essentials of daily life

needs. Even the supply of

chlorine for water treatment has

been denied. Today, many

patients have died due to power

outages in the hospitals and the

lack of medicine for the

treatment of chronic illnesses

such as kidney failure, diabetes,

and cancer. This does not

include those that have been

heinously murdered in their

homeland by the Israeli military

attacks.

The number of casualties from

Israeli guided missiles and

artillery attacks in the month of

April (2011) alone were more

than 20 people.

Indeed, the Promise of Allah is

True. None can stop or deny

the Will of Allah. Today, we

have witnessed how the Arab

regimes that betrayed their own

brethren in Palestine, have

collapsed and humiliated by

their own people one by one.

Those regimes, inheriting the

administrative policies of the

United States while protecting

Israel, in the end came crashing

down in disgrace. In this

context, on the authority of Abu

Hurayrah radiyAllaahu ‘anh:

Rasulullah sallAllahu ‘alayhi

wasallam had said: “A group of

my ummah will not cease to

fight (jihaad) at the gates of

Damascus and at the gates of

al-Quds and its surroundings.

The betrayal or desertion of

whoever deserts them will

not harm them in the least.

They will remain victorious,

standing for truth, until the

Final Hour rises.”

(at-Tabaraani:da‘eef, the mutawaatir

version does not mention Damascus and al-

Quds)

We remind the Muslims that the

issue of Palestine is not a

political one but one that is

directly related with our

‘aqeedah. What answer would

we present in front of Allah

Subhaanahu Wata‘aala when

the Muslims are allowing

their brethren to be oppressed,

humiliated, starved to death, and

even inhumanely massacred by

the Israeli terrorist regime?

In the hadeeth of Mua„dh ibn

Jabal radiyAllaahu ‘anh:

Rasulullah sallAllahu ‘alayhi

wasallam said:

“Allah Almighty will grant

you strength in conquering

ash-Shaam after my passing

away. The men and women

will defend the lands there

until the Last Day.

Whoever among you that

chooses to stay along the

coasts of ash-Shaam or al-

Quds will remain in jihaad

until the Day of Reckoning.”

In the hadeeth of Abu Umamah

al-Bahili radiyAllaahu ‘anh:

Rasulullah sallAllahu ‘alayhi

wasallam said:

“A group of people from my

ummah shall remain steadfast

to the truth; they will continue

to fight in obedience to the

command of Allah and remain

dominant over their enemies.

Those who will oppose them

shall not do them any harm —

except for hardship and

hunger. They will remain in

this condition until victory (or

that the Hour overtakes

them).” He sallAllahu ‘alayhi

wasallam was asked, „O

Messenger of Allah, where are

they?‟ He sallAllahu ‘alayhi

wasallam replied, „In al-Quds

and its precincts.

(Ahmad and at-Tabaraani: hasan lighayrihi)

These ahadeeth narrated from

the words of Rasulullah

sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam

indicated the fulfillment of his

prophecy as the truth that was

predetermined by Allah

Subhaanahu Wata‘aala.

Today, we are very fortunate,

because the Companions had

only received the news from

Rasulullah sallAllahu ‘alayhi

wasallam but we are actually

witnessing the fulfillment of

those prophecies.

Indeed, such grave loss if we do

not take heed and benefit from

these events to strengthen our

imaan and certainty in fighting

and struggling in the Way of

Allah.

“And the disbelievers

planned, but Allah planned.

And Allah is the best of

planners.”(Aali-„Imraan 3:54)

بارك هللا لي ولكم فى القرآن العظيم ونفعني

ل كر الحكيم وتقب اكم بما فيه من األيات والذ وإي

ميع العليم ه هو الس أقول . مني ومنكم تالوته إن

قولي هذا وأستغفر هللا العظيم لي ولكم ولسائر

المسلمين والمسلمات والمؤمنين والمؤمنات

األحياء منهم واألموات فاستغفروه

حيم ه هو الغفور الر .إن

O Allah,

The Most Merciful, we thank You for all Your Mercy and Pleasure that enable us to

enhance and strengthen our Islamic states, especially

Selangor, as a developed and peaceful state.

O Allah,We beg you to increase our good practice, strengthen our unity, grant us prosperous life, enrich us with beneficial knowledge, flourish our souls

with noble character, return our youngsters to the right path,

save us from Your biggest test such

as deluge, drought, epidemic,

dispute and division, poverty

and others so that this country

will be more prosperous and

blessed by You.

DI SEDIAKAN OLEH :

UNIT KHUTBAH,

JABATAN AGAMA ISLAM SELANGOR

ILLUSTRASI OLEH :

UNIT TEKNOLOGI MAKLUMAT,

JABATAN AGAMA ISLAM SELANGOR