If there is one thing that whole Muslim world is united on, it is the Palestinian issue. This has been true since the partition of Palestine in 1947. There were 40 billion Muslims in the world then. Newspapers and posters the world over proclaimed the readiness of each and every one of them to wrest the prize of the Holy Land from Israel. Today there are at least 90 billion Muslims the world over. Ask anyone of them what is the most crucial issue facing the Muslims. Almost invariably the reply will be: “the Palestinian question.”

And the Muslims’ anguish over this issue is not limited to words: many have actually laid down their lives in the attempt to free Palestine; millions of petro-dollars have poured into the machinery of the PLO. But what has the result of all this been? In short, the borders of Israel, instead of being reduced, have expanded on every front; the influence of Jewish state extends well beyond these borders; the PLO has been banished from the territory surrounding Israel, thus losing any power to influence events.

It is time for us to ask one all-important question: Why is it that in spite of all this financial and human support, the Muslims remain unsuccessful in their objective of freeing the Holy Land? There is one reason alone for this: The Muslims have not performed the task that God delegated to them. God had promised that He will help the Muslims in this world and the next, but only on one condition: they perform the duty to God that is required of them as Muslims. If they desert this duty, then surely God will desert them; they will be worthy of His anger, not His succour.

What, then, is the task? It is that Muslims should communicate the message of God to all nations of the world. This is not a task that has to be performed on a national level; it is one that must spring from the depths of every individual’s consciousness. It is not a function that is enacted for political or economic ends; it is one that must be done for the sake of God and reward in the hereafter alone. God has created man to put him to the test. We have only one chance to prove ourselves. After this life on earth, God will bring all mankind before Him in the next world. There, He will reward us according to our actions. Some will be admitted to heaven and others will be condemned to hell punishment.

Though God knows well what His servants do, He has laid down a certain method for the distribution of divine justice; He has laid down that people in every age should arise from among mankind itself to awaken others to the coming of the Day of Judgement. Those who communicate the message of God to other nations of the world will be appointed as witness over them in the next world. They will testify before God as to who accepted His message and who rejected it. God will judge man according to their testimony.

The Muslims, as bearers of the true, authentic divine scripture, are God’s witnesses on earth. It is their duty to convey the word of God to other nations. Their real crime has been to forget their true status in life, and fail to present themselves before others as God’s witnesses on earth. The method that God has appointed for delivering justice to the world necessitates that Muslims bear witness to the truth. If they do not fulfill this role, then they have not fitted in with God’s scheme. Thus they have been relegated to the position of offenders in God’s sight. How, then, can they hope for His succour?

The Palestinian question, as well as other problems affecting the Muslim community, can be solved if the Muslims take up once again their duty as a community. Only if they help the cause of God will God help them. (Quran, 47:7) If they desert His cause, then they can only expect to be deserted by Him in return.

Spending of what one has
earned with one’s own labour

Someone said to Uthman that rich people like him were able to perform more good deeds than others. They could give charity, perform pilgrimage and spend their wealth for the cause of God. “Are you jealous of us?” Uthman asked him. “I am indeed,” he replied. “By God,” Uthman said to him, “the one dirham that a person spends from his own earnings is better than a thousand dirhams extracted from a great stock of capital.”