Assalamualaikum my dear,

How are you? How has these past 2 week been for you?

Can you believe it - we have been watching a genocide playing live for the last year. We’ve been watching our brothers and sisters go through devastation and horror that we thought were impossible before for over a year now.

Every week, the images get worse. This past week we saw the horrors of fires in hospital tents. The type of nightmares we can’t conjure even in the darkest parts of our dreams.

The thing is, we know this is the battle to free Al Aqsa. And we know it is going to be a long battle ahead. 

But sometimes…the reality of it is too raw.

And sometimes, in these moments…your mind wanders. It wanders to the darker thoughts. The small whispered thoughts that say - will we ever win? Is this our new reality then?

You want to shut them out but your mind feels the need to shout it out louder. It keeps trying to draw conclusions based on what it sees. The tangible.

In those moments, our mind forgets that it’s not always about the tangible, or the seen. 

That is the whole point of the Quran and keeping our connection close to it. That is why the Quran is filled with examples of the reality beyond the seen. It is there to remind us to anchor our faith in the Unseen rather than the seen.

And on that note, I wanted to share with you one of the examples of the Quran that I’ve been clinging to when my mind wanders.

It is the story of Talut and Jalut.

Talut and Jalut

For those who don’t know, the story of Talut is actually the prequel of the story of Dawud and Jalut (or the story of David and Goliath as more commonly known). Talut was the commander of Dawud (as)’s army and he had been sent with an army to defeat the army of Jalut - an oppressive army causing havoc all over. No one had ever defeated Jalut’s army before, but this army set out to.

The army Talut had initially was huge. But Allah wanted to test the armys sincerity. So on the way to the battlefield, the people were ordered to not drink more than a handful of water from the river they were crossing. Many ignored his command, even though they knew it was from Allah, and drank the water. In their eyes, they’d been travelling for so long and they needed water. They didn’t understand why they shouldn’t.

So they drank, ignoring the command of Allah, and in turn abandoning their people.

And so this huge army turned into a small handful. And this small army, who were resolute in their faith, made their way to the battlefield.

Do you know how these people of faith were described as by Allah to us?

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I’ve read these verses many times. And I've connected it to the moments of Seerah many times before - from the battle of Badr and the Trench to the Battle of Hunayn.

But this might’ve been the first time I connected it to the reality we’re living.

This past year, it feels like we’ve seen this story of Talut play out in real life.

We see all the players of this story in our reality too.

We've seen the might of Jaluts army with their propaganda machines, the unconditional support from the most powerful countries, and the victim card played.

We’ve seen the people of Taluts army - the ones who call themselves Muslim but are so consumed with their own desires of thirst for this life - for money, power and fame, that they’re ok going against the command of Allah and their own people to fulfil that thirst.

And then, we’ve seen the true believers - people who really know there’s a life after this life - the Palestinians themselves. They have stones, shaky wifi and the Muslim countries backs turned towards them. Yet they stand strong, sharing only messages of hope and reward.

The verse I cling to

My favourite part of this story is a conversation that happens within this faithful army on their way to the battlefield.

The people within this army, as they grew closer to the battlefield, couldn’t help but be afraid.

They knew they were a small army with a few tools and resources and…they were scared.

A few of them cried out in helplessness -

‘We have no strength against Jalut and his army.’

But do you know what the others replied to them?

I love this line. This is the line I cling to anytime a slither of doubt crawls into my mind. Allah preserved this line in His Book as an example to the Prophet (pbuh) and his companions and He preserved it for you and me. He preserved it for us to remind us that this is a fact of this life.

The ones who comes out victorious are not the one with more - more people, more technology, more power. Although, to our limited knowledge that’s what makes sense, this preserved statement reminds us - victory is given to who Allah decides. Allah is above all that we see as invincible. His Power is beyond all that.

And we know the rest of the story - how a young nameless boy, Dawud (as), brought down this ‘invincible’ vicious commander with his stone and catapult. How this small army gained complete victory as the enemy began to flee.

So Sis, what’s next?

As you reach the end of this story, your heart feels at ease. Yes, victory will come from Allah, that is for sure. Allah has promised us that and His promise is the truth.

But…that’s when we arrive at the true question - if victory for the Palestinians is coming for sure, where do I stand when it comes?

In this story of oppressor and oppressed, there are only two sides. Which side of the story am I?

Which side of the story does my Lord above see me on?

Does He see me in the group of Jalut - aiding them with my wallets and my silence?

Or does He see me in the group of Talut - those who were sure of their meeting with their Lord and fought for them like it?

Or, and this is the scary one - does He see me in the group of the unfaithful soldiers of Taluts army - those who set out to fight for the people of Palestine but ended up succumbing to their own desires of comfort and ease?

A year ago, we had so much passion and fire in our actions - from boycotting to protests to dua. But where are we now?

Am I boycotting like I did before? Or are my desires and comfort for this world weakening my resolve to boycott, like those people of Talut who drank from the river.

Am I advocating like before? Am I making dua like before?

Am I doing enough?

Honestly, this is a reminder for myself more than for you. Yes, what has been happening in Gaza is horrifying and tears at our hearts.

But I need to channel these emotions in a way that is pleasing to our Lord.

I need to do my bit in this story.

I pray Allah protects us from being of those who succumb to their desires for this world and makes us of those certain in meeting Him.

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Until next time,

Thasneema 🌻