Dr. Abdul Karim Meqdad
The duties towards any cause are magnified by its holiness and its great status. Since the cause of al-Aqsa Mosque is linked to the faith of the Muslims, it reached the highest and noblest ranks. Al-Aqsa Mosque, apart from being a house of Allah Almighty, is the first Qibla of Muslims, the second mosque placed on earth for people and it is the third mosque in terms of the reward of prayer, which is mentioned in the holy Quran. In addition, it is the spot of blessing that radiates on its surrounding lands, places and houses. Thus, al-Aqsa Mosque is associated with everything that is holy to the Muslims, qibla, Quran, prayer and blessing.
Without exaggeration, this is the greatest issue that Muslims’ efforts must be focused on. The nature of the duties varies according to the abilities and capabilities of the people. The ruler or the Muslim sultan is responsible for specific duties that are different from the duties of the general Muslim community and these are different for the specialists from intellectuals, media and creative people, which we refer to briefly in this article.
1.The duty of governments, and the official Islamic authorities towards al-Aqsa Mosque:
The duties of the Arab and Islamic governments towards al-Aqsa Mosque are varied:
- Supporting the resistance of the Palestinian people in its various forms:The right of the people under occupation to defend their lands is one of the rights guaranteed by all religions, laws and international organizations. It is therefore incumbent on governments in the Islamic countries to help the Palestinian people in defending their lost rights. This support is not limited to one form, but it includes also the support of weapons, money and political positions, especially that the forces of evil in the world, led by the United States is doing its best to support the Zionist occupation. As well as they have to provide money to support the steadfastness of the Palestinians in Bait al-Maqdis and all their whereabouts, whether in Palestine or in the diaspora, especially as they are subjected to the worst forms of extortion from the Zionist enemy in its ongoing process of Judaizing Palestine and al Aqsa. Furthermore, they should cooperate together to support the adoption of UN resolutions that support the Palestinian people to achieve their rights of freedom, return of land, liberation of the prisoners and the return of refugees.
ii.Rejecting the normalization with the Zionist enemy: Islamic governments must undertake to halt all forms of normalisation with the Zionist enemy. In addition, their legal systems must include clear texts that criminalize the act of normalization and consider whose is doing so as a criminal according to the law. Instead of opening embassies and diplomatic representation offices for the Zionist enemy and making economic and cultural agreements with it, the governments of the Islamic countries must launch boycott campaigns not limited only to the economic activities, but include all the political, cultural and sports forms until the Zionist enemy become isolated.
iii. Including the Palestinian cause in the curricula: Islamic regimes and governments should also include courses, publications, and activities with an educational dimension emphasizing the Islamises of the Palestinian cause. Moreover, they need for joint collective work to liberate Palestine, and return the rights to their people.
- The duty of people and Muslim masses towards the Palestinian cause:
The will of the people will remain the heart of this nation and the will of their rulers and politicians and as far as they raise their voice and preserve their causes, their governments then will response to them. Hence, the duty of the peoples and the masses is huge. The most important of these duties:
- Understanding the reality of the conflict and knowing the nature of the case:Understanding the nature of the conflict between the Palestinians and their Jewish enemies is the most important duty relating to the people. The conflict is between the right holder (the Palestinians) and the aggressor (the Zionists), between the defenders of their land and sanctities and the violator. The conflict has no relation to a sect, race or gender. As well as they must know the nature of the Palestinian cause, and the Palestinian people did not sell their land, and did not abandon any part of their holy places on their own volition. But an international conspiracy was the effects of the occupation of the purest parts of the earth after the displacement of its people. However, the fact is that the international community has conspired against Palestine, which led to the occupation of one the holiest parts on the earth after the displacement of its people.
- Economic boycott:The Muslim people must impose a state of awareness in order to reject any try might contribute to support the Zionist occupation, including the economic boycott of all the Zionist products and whatever is produced by the supporters of the Zionist policies.
III. Drawing the priority attention of the International forums to the Palestinian cause: people must emphasize the presence of the Palestinian cause in all their social and cultural forums. They must participate in all the supporting activities and events. Moreover, they should emphasize the Islamises of the cause, and show solidarity with the Palestinians as they are not alone in this battle.
- Raising the generation to love Palestine and work to serve its cause:In the battle of awareness that targets the Islamic Ummah, people must instil the rightness of the Palestinian cause in their generations. They must teach them that Palestine is an Islamic waqf land for all Muslims, and the duty to liberate it is the duty of the whole Ummah.
- Provide moral and material support:The Islamic Ummah must be behind the Palestinian people in their battle of steadfastness and liberation and provides them material and moral support to preserve the independence of their resistance choice. Which requires the Ummah to provide all forms of support, especially material, to ensure that the Palestinian decision is not subjected to extortion from any of the parties.
- The duty of media professionals and Muslim intellectuals towards the Palestinian cause:
Media is one of the most important and effective weapons in the modern-day. Therefore, who can use it in his favor, can easily win the major battles. Thus, the media professionals and Muslim intellectuals have a set of duties, including:
- Spread the spirit of dignity and honour to the nation:The Islamic Ummah has passed through very difficult conditions on several levels and in different countries which spread the spirit of defeat and surrender. Thus, the media professionals and Muslim intellectuals must impose the spirit of dignity and honor in the nation. They must emphasize the facts that the darkness will be revealed by the day of prosperity, and hardship will be followed by victory because the future is for this Ummah and its great religion.
- Put pressure on decision-makers:As we have mentioned, the media is a strong and influential weapon, and it can affect decision-makers, rulers and politicians. Thus, their political decisions can be in harmony with the popular mood that supports and the Palestinian cause.
iii. Exposing the crimes of the Zionist enemy and its unjust alliances: The Zionist enemy has committed the worst forms of crimes against humanity which are still continuous until the present day. Therefore, the media must highlight these criminal practices of the Zionist war machine and show in public the magnitude of the crime committed against the unarmed Palestinian citizens, which would expose the Zionist propaganda and respond to them, as well as expose the unjust alliances that are behind the scenes which aim to liquidate the Palestinian cause and eliminate it.
- Correcting terminology and concepts:The media has an important role in correcting the terminology, as the process of manipulating the cultural ideas has reached a dangerous level specially when the media speaks about an ‘Israeli’ state next to a Palestinian state, and East of Jerusalem next to West of Jerusalem and reconciliation process which is actually a metaphor for the process of relinquishing most of historic Palestine. Many other concepts must be corrected such as “Coexistence and Peace” and “Security Coordination”, etc.
These are some of the duties of the Islamic Ummah towards the Palestinian cause, which are just the tip of the iceberg. We ask Allah Almightily to guide us and our Ummah to achieve and these duties and adhere to it.
