KEYNOTE SPEECH
SPECIAL ENVOY OF THE PRIME MINISTER TO THE MIDDLE EAST
YB Dato’ Seri Tuan Guru Haji Abdul Hadi Awang
In Conjuction with
The Launching Ceremony of The Aid4Palestine Campaign
3rd Syawal 1442 / 15th May 2021
LIBERATION OF PALESTINE: THE CONTINUOUS STRUGGLE
Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,
الحمد لله وحده، صدق وعده، ونصر عبده، وأعز جنده وهزم الأحزاب وحده. أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك وله الحمد وهو على كل شيء قدير. وأشهد أن محمدا عبده ورسوله البدر الدجى والسراج المنير. اللهم صل وسلم وبارك على حبيبنا وشفيعنا وإمامنا وقدوتنا محمد إمام المتقين وقائد الدعاء المجاهدين، وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين، ومن صار على نهده إلى يوم الدين. أما بعد.
The Eid al-Fitr celebration this year happened in such a challenging situation, particularly for the Muslims. We are facing a challenging modern-day Ahzab siege with violent attacks and raids on Ghazzah (Gaza) - a small territory that is given special attention in order to defeat the Hamas movement and Tanzim Jihad; both of whom were labelled as Islamist.
Alhamdulillah, all Palestinian groups are able to stand united regardless of their political doctrines. All groups that are a part of the plural society in Palestine, consisting of Muslims and Christians have joined hands to overcome these violent raids. Raids that are undoubtedly given the green light by world superpowers who are supplying all sorts of weapons to Israel.
They have been receiving a steady supply of weapons from the moment the state of Israel received international recognition during the beginning of its establishment, including weapons of mass destruction that are banned by international law. Israel is protected and is given immunity against international law, is entitled to security protection by the United Nations, and is protected by veto powers, particularly the Western superpowers.
Despite these strict security measures, they claim to be fighting for peace. In reality, however, they have only been acting and pretending in an attempt to hide their support for the savage and brutal government under the guise of peace. They have been murdering Palestinians regardless of their genders and ages and are even breaking into houses of worship, mosques, and churches, fuelled by their extreme Zionist ideology fanaticism.
This ideology becomes the core formation of the Israeli state and its success in appointing leaders after leaders from among their own ever since its inception until today. These are the leaders trained by the Zionists in various methods to build an empire of Jewish fanatics in order to exert their influence on the whole world. This is included in the grand plan of the Freemason movement, and the progress is monitored by the Zionist movement that has the ability to control the political atmosphere of major world powers.
They are able to dominate the media, organisations, and international economy, including the United Nations Security Council and the World Bank. With this mastery, they are able to employ various techniques.
In this current situation, we should be supporting the uprising of the united Palestinians, not only in Gaza but in every corner of Palestine. Not only in the West Bank, but in every inch of the illegal Israeli state. Palestinian Arabs, both Muslims and Christians alike have risen.
We are very pleased when the Arab people living in the vicinity of Palestine have been supporting the move with strong enthusiasm, unlike their spineless governments. This was mentioned by Prophet Muhammad PBUH:
"لَا تَزَالُ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْ أُمَّتِي عَلَى الدِّيْنِ ظَاهِرِيْنَ، لِعَدُوِّهِمْ قَاهِرِيْنَ، لَا يَضُرُّهُمْ مَنْ خَالَفَهُمْ إِلَّا مَا أَصَابَهُمْ مِنْ لَأوَاءَ، حَتَّى يَأْتِيَهُمْ أَمْرُ اللهِ. وَهُمْ كَذَلِكَ،" قالوا: "يَا رَسُوْلَ اللهِ وَأَيْنَ هُمْ؟" قال: "بِبِيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ وَأَكْنَافِ بَيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ."
“A group of my Ummah remains prevalently committed to the truth: defeating their enemy, not harmed by those who disagree with them, nor those who let them down, nor the adversity that befalls them, until Allah’s will and support comes to them while they are in that situation.’ The companions asked: ‘O Messenger of Allah, where will they be?’ Prophet PBUH said: ‘In Bayt al-Maqdis and its vicinity.” (Narrated by Ahmad 22320)
The Israeli Zionist have miscalculated their steps, just like stirring up a hornet’s nest, by raiding the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, evicting Palestinians from their houses to be inhabited by Jewish immigrants, as well as raiding the Al-Aqsa Mosque. These immigrants are given weapons, permitted to use the weapons while being protected by Israel’s police and armies, yet the Arabs are fighting with bare hands, rocks, and no weapons. Still, they refuse to give up.
They thought they are able to defeat this rising group, proving the sayings of Prophet Muhammad PBUH. There have been demonstrations and uprisings in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and areas in the vicinity of Palestine to support the Palestinian struggle. Until now, only several countries have publicly shown their support for Palestine in protesting against the establishment of Israel.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is the most open about it and it is admitted by Palestine itself. Iran provides both weapons and financial supplies, as well as their military leaders to assist Palestine. I would like to mention; within the leaders, there are al-Syahid Mustafa Chamran, Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. They are directly involved in wars in Palestine.
As for the so-called Sunni, some of them were rewarded with the position of the heads of the governments. These governments were established by the Sykes-Picot Agreement after the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate which is why they are very much indebted to the superpowers for their service.
These superpowers put them on a throne to govern. These heads of the governments are also showered with wealth from Western facility technology to extort the abundant natural resources from their lands. They are given money, wealth, and luxuries, but it is not to assist the struggle of the Palestinians in fighting the enemies of Islam.
These days, these people are manipulated as tools in weakening and crippling the rank of the Muslims, in addition to stopping the rise of the Muslims as promised by Allah SWT:
﴿يُرِيدُونَ لِيُطۡفُِٔواْ نُورَ ٱللَّهِ بِأَفۡوَٰهِهِمۡ وَٱللَّهُ مُتِمُّ نُورِهِۦ وَلَوۡ كَرِهَ ٱلۡكَٰفِرُونَ٨﴾
“They seek to extinguish Allah's light (by blowing) with their mouths, but Allah shall spread His light in all its fullness, howsoever the unbelievers may abhor this.” (Surah al-Saff: 8)
This inextinguishable light of Islam has sparked the rise of Islam around the world, including in our country, India, Pakistan, Central Asia, and Turkey which was once a major world power, as well as in Northern Africa. Now, Turkey and Iran have risen to become a superpower that will never submit to the East and the West. We expect Iran and Turkey to combine their Islamic strength to overcome this new challenge.
Alhamdulillah, the clashes that happened in Palestine and Gaza are largely in favour of Palestine. Israel fails to subdue Hamas and Tanzim Jihad. As a matter of fact, there was a series of airstrikes, but it was retaliated by all Palestinian groups using the weapons given to them.
They launched a counterattack into Israel which is something that has never been done all this time. This is only an airstrike. The only determiner of whether a war is won or lost is the ground attack. We are waiting for the moment the ground attack will occur.
We see how Israel is hesitant and afraid to launch a ground attack. They are afraid of being trapped by the sophisticated weaponry of the Palestinians, not to mention the weapons owned by Iran, Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon.
They cannot even overcome the existing military assets in Palestine. In fact, the so-called Iron Dome defence system to protect Israel from rocket attacks can be penetrated by Palestinian attacks using their sophisticated weaponry.
For that reason, there is a high probability of a call to a ceasefire by America and other major world powers to influence the Islamic and Arab countries to accept it. The purpose is not to establish peace, but to save Israel. The effort is underway now.
We hope that the victory will keep increasing over time so that we can show that Islam is the strength of this ummah that must be upheld.
Now, the Palestinians are mourning the loss of their martyrs. People from across the border have also lost a number of their own who fell as martyrs amidst the ongoing transgression; states like Iran, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, for instance, had suffered the loss of some of their people as martyrs in defending Palestine.
What do we, who used to brag in the name of sect etc, have done in confronting this great enemy of Allah? Allah had mentioned in the Quran:
﴿۞لَتَجِدَنَّ أَشَدَّ ٱلنَّاسِ عَدَٰوَةٗ لِّلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱلۡيَهُودَ وَٱلَّذِينَ أَشۡرَكُواْۖ ... ٨٢﴾
“And you will certainly find that the people most hostile against the believers are the Jews and the ones who ascribe partners to Allah...” (Surah al-Ma’idah: 82)
There is no question that the word Jews in the above verse is referring to the pro-Zionist Jews for there are a number of anti-Zionist Jews who oppose the establishment of the state of Israel. They are the ones who deeply study their holy book, and know that the establishment of the state of Israel will only bring misfortune and lead to the destruction of their own nation by the hand of the Muslims before the day of Judgment.
The Muslims must have faith (in this prophecy). Look for them in the books of hadith, like the Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and Sunan al-Sittah. They will find in there many authentic hadith narrated by Sunni scholars, as well as hadith that are considered weak only because there were Shia scholars in their chain of narrations.
Sunni scholars have been united in defending Islam since the early times. Jamaluddin al-Afghani, Muhammad ‘Abduh, Rashid Rida, Sultan ‘Abd al-Hamid, Ayatollah Kashani, Hasan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, Navvab Safavi, Abu al-A‘la al-Mawdudi, and several others such as Dr. Burhanuddin al-Helmy, to name a few, had been cooperating in protecting Islam against the Zionist from the moment the Israel state was first established in 1948 until today.
In retrospect, Malaysia has played a very courageous role since the beginning of the establishment of the Federation of Malaya in 1957. The government at that time, led by Almarhum Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj RH, had courageously invited the Mufti of Palestine, Syeikh Mohammed Amin al-Hussaini, and leaders of the Palestinian movement who were previously banned by Western countries from getting visas to travel to the rest of the world for not supporting the Allied in which Zionist was a part of during World War II.
Syeikh Amin al-Hussaini’s refusal to render his support to the Allied cost him his mobility. However, in 1960, I still remember it vividly despite being a teenager at that time, Almarhum Syeikh Amin al-Hussaini was invited by the Malaysian government to Malaysia to deliver a speech during the first Musabaqah al-Quran in Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur.
This is a recognition of the Palestinian struggle by the Malaysian government. At that time, the terms ‘Fatah’, ‘Hamas’, ‘Tanzim Jihad’, and the ‘Palestine Liberation Organization’ (PLO) had not yet existed. Alhamdulillah, today, many Palestinian movements start to emerge and double in just a short amount of time in Palestine. Despite being divided in their approach owing to the unique political influence in their surroundings, all of them are against Israel.
Alhamdulillah, in the wake of these recent happenings, they are able to see eye to eye. Alhamdulillah. We hope that the Islamic governments including the Government of Malaysia will proactively rise to support the struggle of the Palestinians in defending their sovereignty and moral and to fight against the greatest villain in the history of mankind - the pro-Zionist Jews, a cursed nation who had slain the prophets and messengers of Allah.
Thus, we should take heed of the verses that we repeat in every rak’ah of prayer:
﴿إِيَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِينُ٥ ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ٦ صِرَٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنۡعَمۡتَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ غَيۡرِ ٱلۡمَغۡضُوبِ عَلَيۡهِمۡ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ٧﴾
“You alone do we worship, and You alone do we turn for help. (5) Guide us to the straight path. (6) the path of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace (the truthful, the martyr, and the virtuous), not of those who have incurred Your wrath (the Jews), nor of those who have gone astray (the Christians). (7).” (Surah al-Fatihah: 5–7)
The above recitation is repeated in every rak’ah of prayer, including the funeral prayer with no rak’ah. Unfortunately, most Muslims are blind to the Quran to the extent of being incapable to comprehend it. If only they are aware of this, their spirit would definitely be burning after this recent event.
Finally, let us all Muslims extend our respective contributions in response to the call of Allah SWT:
﴿وَمَا لَكُمۡ لَا تُقَٰتِلُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡمُسۡتَضۡعَفِينَ مِنَ ٱلرِّجَالِ وَٱلنِّسَآءِ وَٱلۡوِلۡدَٰنِ ٱلَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَآ أَخۡرِجۡنَا مِنۡ هَٰذِهِ ٱلۡقَرۡيَةِ ٱلظَّالِمِ أَهۡلُهَا وَٱجۡعَل لَّنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ وَلِيّٗا وَٱجۡعَل لَّنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ نَصِيرًا٧٥﴾
“Why should you not fight in God’s cause and for those oppressed men, women, and children who cry out, ‘Lord, rescue us from this town whose people are oppressors! By Your grace, give us a protector and give us a helper!’” (Surah al-Nisa’: 75)
Allah is the Protector and we are His servants. Therefore, we are obligated to answer the call of Allah according to our respective positions. Whoever is on the battlefield, fight the battle. Whoever is able to supply a weapon, supply the weapon. Whoever can afford to give money, give the money.
Even those who are considered the weakest and can only sit on their prayer mats, pray to Allah for victory. Allah SWT and Prophet Muhammad PBUH had promised that all of these deeds will be rewarded. We will be rewarded just by contributing.
I guess this is the end of my speech. Let us pray so that Allah SWT bestows the strength of faith, sincerity, and steadfastness to our brothers and sisters in Palestine who are sacrificing their bodies, souls, families, children, property, and all worldly blessings, including the cut-off water supply. This is what we called as sacrifice.
We also pray so that Allah accepts all donations, accepts their martyrs, heals the wounded, injured, and sick, has mercy on those who have passed away, and destroys the enemies of Allah among the non-Muslims and the hypocrites who roamed among the Muslims.
وبالله التوفيق والهداية، والسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته.