What Gaza Can Teach Us About Unity
When you assess the history of the Muslims who came before us, our success and our losses were largely dependent on one thing: Unity (or the lack thereof).
As a community united by faith, we have repeatedly risen to the challenge of oppression and being outnumbered, by our reliance on Allah, and our cohesion as a community. But it is when we turn against ourselves and each other that our strength dissipates and we are overcome by weakness.
Through the recent horrific increase in aggression in Gaza, I find myself being painfully reminded of this reality. As an Ummah, we cannot move a single stone unless we “hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided” (Quran 3:103).
What we witness through the character of the Palestinians in Gaza is nothing short of astonishing - a standard we should all hold ourselves to. Despite the lack of assistance from any power in the world, Palestinians have a strength in their community like none other. They look after one another, and do everything they can for their community; no questions asked. And they do all of this despite the immense hardships they are actively facing. However we as a collective distant community - yet Muslims all the same, are often caught up in fruitless debates, and things that will not further our success as an ummah. We can see this displayed in the attitudes of Muslims online, who focus more on “clickbait” and demeaning one another to garner attention, as opposed to actually working to unite and uplift our community.
Daily, we see Palestinians finding ways to be innovative to help one another, simply because they have reached a height of faith that aligns with maintaining good community ties and looking out for those around you, versus the western ideology of cantering to yourself. Conversely, when we think of what the world looked like when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, it was every man or woman for themselves. People were fighting over resources before any scarcity even took place. Yet in the height of a famine and lack of any viable resources - Palestinians are still looking out for one another in any way that they can.
And yet we find ourselves wondering why with 2 billion Muslims in the world, we still cannot put even a single pause in the atrocities being committed against our brothers and sisters in Gaza. We have become like the foam on the sea - mighty in number but weak in our resolve and organization. We have all the resources needed to impact and even stop this massacre, God willing. Still, until we learn to come together despite our differences and rectify what is in ourselves, we are likely to continue running in circles. This is not to say we should feel hopeless, rather we should feel inspired and called to action, knowing that Allah has given us all the tools we need to succeed in this life and the next, but it is up to us as a community to bring each other back to reality, and come together as a force like the Ummah that we once were.