Our Choice

It's time for my healthy reminder of standing up for what is right. I’m in no mood for euphemisms or lacy words so here’s the deal- let us all take a huge leap of faith in our struggle against the Zionist murderers of Israel. The atrocities of their recent actions were so blatant that if they failed to open the eyes of skeptics, I don’t know what will. Accounts of different individuals from different nations, all testifying with consistency as to what truly happened surely beat the laughable, garden variety of the Israelis. These brave souls are living testimonials of the struggle we should all sign up to, and whilst it is quite obvious that most of us are not setting sail on a freedom flotilla anytime soon, there are so many other things we can do that we have not actually done for the cause.

Have you checked yourselves- how important is Palestine to you? If it is so important, you won’t be moaning about how stressful your life is every couple of hours on Facebook, or counting your dough for how much you can spare to dole out after you’re done with new clothes and accessories. You won’t be condemning the Zionists today, and worrying about matching your outfits for the next wedding of your friend the day after. You won’t be reading the main breaking news today and then stop getting involved, until the next shocking massacre comes along.

You’ll feel pain and anger inside of you, unabated by food or sleep. You’ll twist your head inside out thinking of what you can possibly do to be part of the cause. You’ll voice out your opinions and let others know where you stand. You’ll strive to improve yourselves and succeed in your current endeavours, in hope that soon you’ll be able to actively help your brothers and sisters to fight for what is right.

By improving ourselves, I really do mean by making significant improvements in our daily routine- notably our ibadah. Let’s begin with the five prayers- do we pray as soon as the azan are sounded, or do we choose to do our cooking and washing and chatting first? Do we seek to perform jamaah prayers whenever we can (and for men- going to the mosque)? Do we even try to get up at night for tahajjud? Do we unfailingly include our Palestinian brothers and sisters in our every dua’? Do we call people to do good and denounce evil? Do we observe patience with people who often get on our nerves? These are some of the important things which need to be addressed within ourselves to make us become stronger muslims, muslims who can unite as a jamaah and fight against these bigheaded bullies.

And then of course, there’s the boycott. I personally do not understand why many people (muslims included) deride this. If you think it just won’t carve a dent on Israel’s economy, think again. If the whole Malaysia boycott coca-cola for example, there won’t be a market for it there and millions of dollars of profit will be lost. Isn’t that huge? If you think this is something new, not done in the time of the prophet and the companions- look, this is modern-day war. And Israel’s greatest weapon for war, is their control of world economy. Period. (edit: here's an example of an economic boycott done by Thumamah ibn Uthal r.a., a ruler in Yamamah, during the time of Rasulullah s.a.w. He wasn't stopped by the prophet s.a.w. until the rulers of Quraish sent a letter to him pleading him to ask Tsumamah to lift the boycott as they were under the Hudaibiyah treaty, which he did. Bottom line: Economic boycott existed and was relevant during the time of Rasulullah s.a.w.)

How deep is the deception of these people to mold the minds of today’s generation in defining good and bad. Those cheap Mcdonald’s burgers made from leftover beef- what do you get from eating 'em? You lose your money (which are spent on building weapons to kill the Palestinians, by the way) and get atherosclerosis. Doesn’t sound like a hot deal to me. I know some of the products are kind of difficult to avoid because we essentially use them every day, but come on, you don’t have the determination of steel to avoid Starbucks? What a joke. Don’t even dare to talk about sacrifice when worldly pleasures are more important in your heart than Al-Akhirah.

The most compelling lesson that I learned from reading the novel Ayat-ayat cinta a couple of years back was the part where Fahri was detained in prison for a crime he did not commit, and his wealthy wife wanted to use her ‘connections’ (and money too, if I’m not mistaken) to get him out. The beautiful reply from Fahri just struck me right in the chest. He said that for the average people, that might be a permissible option in a dire crisis, but not for ‘people like us’. People like us. And the most beautiful thing is, these people, the chosen ones, are not exclusively selected at birth- not by their bloodlines, wealth, good looks nor intelligence. Anyone can strive to be that kind of person in the eyes of Allah. It’s our choice, really, to be the average joe, or the great warrior.

And finally, the Palestinian cause is not only for the Muslims to uphold. People of the world, if you’ve got eyes and you can see, give me a good argument on why we shouldn’t oppose what Israel is doing today. I see lots and lots of people from the western countries actively protesting against this humanitarian crime, but I fail to see the same spark from fellow Malaysians. My friends, the outcome of this struggle will shape the future of the entire world, not the Muslim world alone.

I apologise if I sound harsh and too direct, it’s just that I’ve encountered so many funny remarks and ideas lately which just hit me at how ignorant and ridiculous people can actually be. Also, as a strong reminder to myself because, hard as I try, I know I can try harder. May Allah guide us all.