Epigraph:
“You who believe, uphold justice and bear witness to God, even if it is against yourselves, your parents, or your close relatives. Whether the person is rich or poor, God can best take care of both. Refrain from following your own desire, so that you can act justly –– if you distort or neglect justice, God is fully aware of what you do.” (Al Quran 4:135)
“The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” Martin Luther King
Collected and written by Zia H Shah MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times
The terrorist attacks of the October 7 by Hamas clearly violated the Islamic principles of taking innocent civilian lives to be sacred and not dragging women and children into war.
Yet many of the 1.6 billion Muslims and 16 million Jews look at the existence of Israel through a Quranic or Biblical lens.
The 1.6 billion Muslims are praying for political solutions of the conflict and independence and dignity for the Palestinian. My heart bleeds at the plight of the innocent Gazans today. More than a billion strong Muslims are at least praying for a ceasefire or at minimum humanitarian ceasefire and yet 30 days after the terrorist attack of Hamas and start of the war, none is in sight.
Is God dead?
In every Western country and the Eastern countries, who live in the shadow of the West, there is constant emphasis on secularism to keep governance away from the religious issues.
Yet, we find, religion dead and center, in the Israel-Hamas war or in finding a political solution for the 15 million, Jews, Muslims and Christians living in Israel, West Bank and Gaza. All three Abrahamic faiths have big stakes in the Holy Land.
For this article let us stay with Judaism and Islam only.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israelis were united in their fight against Hamas, whom he described as an enemy of incomparable cruelty. “They are committed to completely eliminating this evil from the world,” Netanyahu said in Hebrew. He then added: “You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible. And we do remember.”
There are more than 23,000 verses in the Old Testament. The ones Netanyahu turned to, as Israeli forces launched their ground invasion in Gaza, are among its most violent—and have a long history of being used by Jews on the far right to justify killing Palestinians.
As others quickly pointed out, God commands King Saul in the first Book of Samuel to kill every person in Amalek, a rival nation to ancient Israel. “This is what the Lord Almighty says,” the prophet Samuel tells Saul. “‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
To know the full context of this verse, please read the chapter 1 Samuel 15.
Noah Lanard highlighted in a column in Mother Jones: Forty-seven percent of Israeli Jews said in a poll conducted last month that Israel should “not at all” consider the “suffering of the civilian Palestinian population in Gaza” in the next phase of fighting.
There can definitely be a more balanced and compassionate reading of the Old Testament. In fact, I wrote an article decades ago: True Fasting: A Message of Compassion and Love from the Old Testament.
The Holy Quran repeatedly claims that God is ever present in the human history.
But, is He playing dead right now, while dozens of innocent children are being killed by air bombing in Gaza every day and dozens were killed by Hamas on October 7, in Israel, according to the media reports?
Indeed, Moses is mentioned more often in the New Testament than any other figure from the Old Testament, and he is mentioned a record 136 times by name in the Quran.
The Quran repeatedly mentions in the Quran that He liberated the Jews from slavery in Egypt under the guidance of Moses. Let us just examine two narrations:
Then We revealed Our will to Moses, ‘Leave with My servants by night, for you will be pursued!’ Pharaoh sent messengers into the cities, proclaiming, ‘These people are a puny band –– they have enraged us–– and we are a large army, on the alert.’ So it was that We made them leave their gardens and their springs, their treasures and their noble dwellings–– We gave [such] things [later] to the Children of Israel. Pharaoh and his people pursued them at sunrise, and as soon as the two sides came within sight of one another, Moses’ followers said, ‘We shall definitely be caught.’ Moses said, ‘No, my Lord is with me: He will guide me,’ and We revealed to Moses: ‘Strike the sea with your staff.’ It parted–– each side like a mighty mountain –– and We brought the others to that place: We saved Moses and all his companions, and drowned the rest. There truly is a sign in this, though most of them do not believe: your Lord alone is the Almighty, the Merciful. (Al Quran 26:52-68)
Moses said, ‘My people, if you have faith in God and are devoted to Him, put your trust in Him.’ They said, ‘We have put our trust in God. Lord! Do not make us an object of persecution for the oppressors. Save us, in Your mercy, from those who reject [Your message].’ We revealed to Moses and his brother: ‘House your people in Egypt and make these houses places of worship; keep up the prayer; give good news to the believers!’ And Moses said, ‘Our Lord, You have given Pharaoh and his chiefs splendor and wealth in this present life and here they are, Lord, leading others astray from Your path. Our Lord, obliterate their wealth and harden their hearts so that they do not believe until they see the agonizing torment.’ God said, ‘Your prayers are answered, so stay on the right course, and do not follow the path of those who do not know.’ We took the Children of Israel across the sea. Pharaoh and his troops pursued them in arrogance and aggression. But as he was drowning he cried, ‘I believe there is no God except the one the Children of Israel believe in. I submit to Him.’ ‘Now? When you had always been a rebel, and a troublemaker! Today We shall save only your corpse as a sign to all posterity. A great many people fail to heed Our signs.’ We settled the Children of Israel in a good place and provided good things as sustenance for them. It was only after knowledge had come to them that they began to differ among themselves. Your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection regarding their difference. (Al Quran 10-84-93)
Exodus 12:40, in the Bible, declares that the Israelites were in Egypt for 430 years, yet evidence from other biblical texts suggests a much shorter sojourn. The Jews were in slavery in Egypt for 300-400 years.
God was fully alive and participating in human history at the time of Moses, according to the Quran. This was 13th century BC as noted in the Quranic verses about Moses and Pharaoh above.
Has God died since then?
The Quran summarizes the Jewish history from before the time of King David till 70 AD, when the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans:
We declared to the Children of Israel in the Scripture, ‘Twice you will spread corruption in the land and become highly arrogant.’ When the first of these warnings was fulfilled, We sent against you servants of Ours with great force, and they ravaged your homes. That warning was fulfilled, but then We allowed you to prevail against your enemy. We increased your wealth and offspring and made you more numerous –– whether you do good or evil it is to your own souls––and when the second warning was fulfilled [We sent them] to shame your faces and enter the place of worship as they did the first time, and utterly destroy whatever fell into their power. Your Lord may yet have mercy on you, but if you do the same again, so shall We: We have made Hell a prison for those who defy [Our warning]. (Al Quran 17:4-8)
God was fully alive and well, at least, until 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple.
Then God was very alive when He showed up and revealed Himself to the Prophet Muhammad, may peace be on him, in the seventh century in Arabia. Let me suggest two biographies by Karen Armstrong: Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet, and one by Prof. John Adair: Video and Book Review: The Leadership of Muhammad by Prof. John Adair.
One of the biographies by Karen Armstrong is available in YouTube:
But, has God died since then?
He was found alive as late as 1948, when He allowed the formation of the state of Israel. He had prophesied in the seventeenth chapter of the holy Quran, named after Israelites, as Allah talks about the Prophet Moses, the Jews then and the Jews now:
And truly, in the past, We gave Moses nine manifest Signs. So ask then the children of Israel. When he came to them, Pharaoh said to him, ‘I do think you, O Moses, to be a victim of deception.’ He said, ‘You know well that none has sent down these Signs but the Lord of the heavens and the earth as so many evidences; and I certainly think you, O Pharaoh, to be a ruined man.’
So Pharaoh resolved to remove them from the land; but We drowned him and those who were with him, all together. And after him We said to the children of Israel, ‘Dwell ye in the land; and when the time of the promise of the latter days comes, We shall bring you together out of various peoples.’ And in truth have We sent it down and with truth has it descended. And We have sent you Muhammad only as a bearer of good tidings and a Warner. (Al Quran 17:101-105)
So, God was alive and participating in human history as late as recent decades, as he gathered Jews from all over the world into the state of Israel.
As of March 2023, Israel’s population stands at approximately 9.73 million. Jews make up the majority at 73.5% (about 7.145 million individuals). The Arab community, spanning various religions excluding Judaism, accounts for 21% (around 2.048 million).
The 1.6 billion Muslims or at least the better informed and sensitive among them are praying for ceasefire but none is in sight at the time of writing of this article on November 5, 2023. Did God die in 1967 war or the more recent wars waged by US in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya?
Epilogue
I am not discounting the human efforts being made by all peace loving citizens of our global village for innocent lives. These should continue. But, I do not see a final resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict without understanding God’s role in human history, in the past, in present and in future. Justice and peace will be restored in the Middle East only through God’s Providence guiding human actions.
At the present time, what I see is that the Muslims have to transform some of their sentiments of concern for the civilian Palestinians and other Muslims into long term focus on development of their morality, spirituality, social and political spheres and last but not the least, science and technology.
Exodus 12:40, in the Bible, declares that the Israelites were in Egypt for 430 years, yet evidence from other biblical texts suggests a much shorter sojourn. The Jews were in slavery in Egypt for 300-400 years.
Allah saved the Jews from slavery and extinction, but, He waited for three to four centuries. Allah may take a long time to come to the rescue of the Palestinians and giving them a free homeland. No wonder, he reminded Moses and it is mentioned in the Quran:
Moses said to his people, ‘Seek help from Allah and be steadfast. Indeed, the earth is Allah’s ; He gives it as a heritage to whomsoever He pleases of His servants, and the end is for the God-fearing.’ (Al Quran 7:128)
Allah’s time scale is different from that of humans and His ways are sometimes not our ways. He is the Hidden and the Subtle. In the same Surah that He had predicted the formation of the state of Israel. He had offered them two choices, one of justice and the other of arrogance and persecution. The choice was given in the description of the destruction of the First and the Second Temple:
We declared to the Children of Israel in the Scripture, ‘Twice you will spread corruption in the land and become highly arrogant.’ When the first of these warnings was fulfilled, We sent against you servants of Ours with great force, and they ravaged your homes. That warning was fulfilled, but then We allowed you to prevail against your enemy. We increased your wealth and offspring and made you more numerous –– whether you do good or evil it is to your own souls––and when the second warning was fulfilled [We sent them] to shame your faces and enter the place of worship as they did the first time, and utterly destroy whatever fell into their power. Your Lord may yet have mercy on you, but if you do the same again, so shall We: We have made Hell a prison for those who defy [Our warning]. (Al Quran 17:4-8)
Allah has warned in so many words that if nations resort to corrupt or unjust ways, He will respond sternly as He did against Pharaoh in the time of Moses and then against the Jewish tribes, when they manifested corruption in later centuries.
We have all heard of good and just Jewish voices in the present day conflict. To name a few Senator Bernie Sanders, Prof. Bernie Sanders, and Noam Chomsky.
Time will tell us how the actions of the hawkish and the dovish Jews will play out in the decades to come and those will shape and direct the Providence of God. If there is overall justice Allah will follow one course and if overall picture is of persecution of others by the state of Israel, Allah will have a different course and continue to play His role in the human history as He has for the last 6-7 millennia, starting with the Prophet Adam, followed by Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, Jesus, John the Baptist and finally Muhammad, may peace be on all of them.
I have previously written about possible pluralistic solutions for the conflict: Why Did Muhammad Fly to Jerusalem? and How can we build the Third Temple together?
Whether Allah will support a two state solution or a one state solution is anyone’s guess. I do not have a crystal ball.
We can only think, plan and act with our current state of knowledge and understanding.
But, one thing is certain that just like the Jews have to follow justice as noted in the above verses from a chapter of the Quran named after them, so do the Muslims. They have been advised by Allah in the Quran:
You who believe, uphold justice and bear witness to God, even if it is against yourselves, your parents, or your close relatives. Whether the person is rich or poor, God can best take care of both. Refrain from following your own desire, so that you can act justly –– if you distort or neglect justice, God is fully aware of what you do. (Al Quran 4:135)
This verse in the past has been suggested by Harvard Law School as a landmark in the human history of justice: The Quran Applauded as a Landmark Contribution to ‘Words of Justice’ by Harvard.
As Allah wants mankind to be absolutely just so is He. He is not dead and His justice is not dead. His time scale is slow and his plan is subtle. His justice will wake up one day, at His own will, in decades or centuries to come, to dictate a just solution to the present day conflict.
When genuine human efforts will truly resonate with God’s will and Providence, a real and long term solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict will arrive!
Additional reading and viewing
Urdu Video: Javed Ahmed Ghamidi’s Analysis of Hamas-Israel War
Historic And Religious Background of Conflict Between Israel & Palestine | Javed Ahmed Ghamidi
Video Interview of Prof. Jeffrey Sachs: How Israel is harming itself?
Categories: Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Quran, The Muslim Times
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