A Lesson from Gaza and Bosnia: Trust Only Yourself and Your Nag

By, Spahic Omer

The Gaza tragedy is teaching us many invaluable lessons. One of them is that whenever the evil of the allied forces of falsehood is unleashed, it recognizes no international code of law, conscience, authority, convention, or reference frame, except what rages inside its own diabolical universe. There is no sanctity, honor, or principle that it is ready to uphold. Everything seems inconsequential and futile. Take the often-laughable roles of the United Nations (UN), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Arab League, and to some extent, even the International Court of Justice as an example.

Like the rest of us, they can only watch, talk, meet and issue meaningless resolutions that represent nothing to the criminals on the loose. Indeed, doomed are those who depend on these bodies for their survival. The situation is akin to a blockbuster movie where a smartcriminal is consistently a step ahead of corrupt law enforcers. However, unlike movies, it is unknown how long the Gaza episode will last, who the hero or heroes will be, and how they will ensure a happy ending for the oppressed.

Prioritizing a global Muslim self-reliance 

If Muslims do not take the reins of their existential trajectory into their own hands, nobody will. As a Bosnian proverb goes “uzdaj se u se i u svoje kljuse!” which means “trust only yourself and your nag (old and worn-out horse).” Not only that, but several divine commandments also emphasize the same point. The Qur’an is explicit that Allah will help only those who help Him (His cause) (al-Hajj, 40), that if the believers help Allah (His cause), He will only then help them and plant firmly their feet (Muhammad, 7), and that Allah will change the condition of a people only after they change what is in themselves (al-Ra’d, 11).

Muslim communities worldwide should learn from the events in Gaza. By means of Islam, they should prioritize self-reliance and also seek support from their fellow brothers and sisters through solidarity and cooperation strategies, regardless of their location. The remaining possibilities are uncertain and can only provide additional support at most. Initiatives are advised to commence on a small scale and then progressively expand to form partnerships at a regional level, with the ultimate goal of establishing global organizational collaborations. In the face of a rampant evil and its devil-incarnate actors, only such an approach can work. Synthetically created blocs, associations and pacts are virtually useless.

It is better for a community to possess even little of its own than to hope in vain for a much that lies somewhere else. The former is a recipe for living and dying honorably, whereas the latter guarantees the opposite. Indeed, freedom and a sense of purpose are the greatest assets that both a person and society can have. 

The Qur’an thus instructs Muslims in the context of the first and certainly most decisive battle in the history of Islamic civilization, the battle of Badr: “And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know (but) whom Allah knows. And whatever you spend in the cause of Allah will be fully repaid to you, and you will not be wronged” (al-Anfal, 60).

The case of Bosnia

For one, I hope the people of Bosnia heed this advice. Surrounded by the ever-expanding yokes especially of Serb nationalism – whose evil and bloodthirst are on a par with those of Zionism, perhaps even superseding them, as history testifies – when push comes to shove, there is extremely little room for maneuvers. Unfortunately, very few people ever came to help or support the Bosnian Muslims against the Serb savagery and its criminals, and, as unflattering as it is, the same trend is expected in the future.

Thoughtlessly pursuing empty promises and hypocritical pats on the back from the Western world, while progressively losing touch with the Bosnian and Islamic identities, may soon reach a breaking point. People may come to understand that, after all, robberies are not the same as fair exchanges, but it might be too little, too late. There might not be much of either the “self” or “nag” remaining to have faith in and rely upon.

The Bosniaks should reflect on the role – or lack thereof – of the UN and the leading Westerngovernments during the 1992-1995 aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina. These entities imposed and strongly enforced an arms embargo, which favored the Serb and Croat aggressors in carrying out their demonic plans for the country. The Bosniaks had significantly fewer resources compared to their enemies, who had access to the Yugoslav People’s Army rich arsenal and support from neighboring Serbia and Croatia. The embargo aimed to quickly end the aggression, after which all parties involved, both directly and indirectly, would benefit from the spoils.

People should also remember that the Srebrenica genocide, considered Europe’s worst atrocity since World War Two, was a result of the UN peacekeepers failing to fulfill their duties on the ground. The genocide occurred two years after Srebrenica was designated a United Nations “Safe” Area. 

The list of international betrayals can continue endlessly. Ultimately, what the Bosniaks were able to secure from the attempted aggression was solely thanks to the bravery and dedication of the Bosnian army and the people in general, guided by a visionary and competent leadership. If it weren’t for their sacrifices, and if the case was entirely up to the international community and its official bodies, there will be no Bosnia and Herzegovina as we know it today, a free, self-governing and democratic country, where each community can exist with liberty, harmony and efficiency.

Gaza as a wake-up call

The unfolding genocide in Gaza, committed by the illegal geopolitical entity of Israel and its Western masters led by the US and UK, demonstrates to what extent Muslims have been duped into dishonoring themselves and believing others. It was all part of a game in which the role of Muslims was no more than that of puppets. Now that all masks of the West have fallen off and when the West-Israel axis of evil is ready to take the last shreds of honor and self-sufficiency from Muslims, many Muslims will be happy to resist, but there are no gloves left to be taken off.

Divested of everything: their religion, history, identity, civilization, self-esteem and honor,Muslims have no more tools at their disposal. It is like being suddenly undressed in public. To make matters worse and more paradoxical, the little that Muslims have ever had waswasted on decades of self-destructive mutual quarrels, subversions and wars. 

The present West-Israel crusade is roaring over the Muslim civilizational wastelands, following a series of internal conflicts of attrition that only resulted in the paving of the way for the current apocalypse with Gaza as its epicenter. It is utterly embarrassing and perfidious that perhaps the most gruesome anti-Islam and anti-Muslim campaigns in human history take pace in a milieu that is surrounded by hundreds of millions of Muslims, and nothing can be done. Not a soul can deny that choosing to remain idle and helpless is an act of treason against heaven, conscience and humanity.

Historically, Muslims have repeatedly failed the cause of Palestine, but now they have a chance to make amends. Unfortunately, this opportunity is slipping away. It seems that no lessons have been learned and no progress has been achieved. There may not be any more opportunities for redemption.

Muslims are only to be blamed

This is a damning realization for which Muslims have only themselves to blame. Couldn’t Muslims cognize anything from history with regard to the character, purpose and objectives of the West and its overblown civilizational legacies? How is it that they failed to see that, after blindly imitating Western models for over a century and a half, the Muslim civilization’s progress has mostly been a case of taking one step forward and two steps back? Even the ostensible successes turned out to be no more than poisoned chalices. After many years of compromising their values, there is little to show that is noteworthy and in line with Islamic principles. What most Muslim governments have is an abundance of means and capacities to make sure that their societies remain misguided, restrained, submissive and simply dormant.

Why didn’t Muslims listen to and believe the counsels of Almighty Allah that neither Jews nor Christians will approve of them until they follow them and their ways (al-Baqarah, 120); that no matter how much they may love them – conform to them and dance to their tunes – they will never reciprocate adequately, as long as Muslims live by their Islamic worldview and Islamic behavioral standards (Alu ‘Imran, 119); and that the only circumstance in which the opponents of Islam will become more accommodating and consider Muslims as supposed allies is when Muslims are led astray from Islam and persuaded to invent or import other belief systems as substitutes (al-Isra’, 73)?

How ironic is it that the Western governments Muslims industriously worked on emulatingand pleasing for ages are complicit in the Gaza genocide; that the Western colleges and universities Muslims were desperate to send their children to – as a matter of fact not to become good, but confused and disoriented, Muslims and in service of Western interests – are either acquiescently silent or happy to justify the wholesale slaughters of Gaza; and that the Western socioeconomic institutions Muslims thought are their partners are instrumental in validating and reinforcing the West-Zionism causes?

The only silver lining in the misfortune of Gaza 

It is finally dawning on Muslims that they are left in a lurch, by themselves and their professed allies. They have lost their Islam and prospects, without earning anythingworthwhile in return. It goes without saying that only someone who is identity-less and vision-less can engage in such an absurd trade. However, if there can be any silver lining in the Gaza catastrophe, it is that the same be turned into a school for the rest of Muslims. The brave, faithful and honorable people of Palestine can teach the rest of us about the actual meaning and value of freedom, sovereignty, humanness, courage, pride and character. Simply put, they can teach us how to live both consequentially and respectably.

While the most of the Muslim world is incapacitated and caged, the people of Gaza are “free” and bent on determining their own destiny. While the rest are passive and afraid, the heroes of Gaza fearlessly stand up to the greatest evil humanity has ever known. They truly “live” life and its foremost ideals, putting to shame the proponents of so-called civilizations, as well as their own Muslim brethren who claim to be living in accordance with the teachings of Islam. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who is on the right side and who is on the wrong side of history, and who will be remembered as noble winners and who as miserable losers and traitors.

If Gaza is the reason that Muslims ultimately wake up and start mending their ways as much in relation to Islam as to their civilizational development, that would act as the sole consolation, no matter how small, amidst the continuing calamity. Only then could one say that everything has not been lost. Only then, furthermore, could Muslims look directly into the eyes of the people of Gaza with a degree of pride and satisfaction, seeking forgiveness for the past misadventures and promising that the same will never happen again.

Light versus darkness

It follows – as the last point – that only under such circumstances could the evil of the West-Zionism league be repelled and tamed. This is because darkness can subsist only in environments that lack light. As soon as light arrives, though, darkness disappears, because the two cannot coexist. The existence of light is real, whereas the existence of darkness is fictional (in actual fact, darkness’ imaginary existence signifies merely the absence of light.) And when the two with their respective life systems and followers are pitted against each other, it is always light that clearly prevails. 

Almighty Allah discloses this dynamic by stressing that the objective of sending Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and revealing the Qur’an as the sole guide and light was to take people from the state of darkness to that of light (Ibrahim, 1), and that the active presence and functionality of truth and its light lead to the automatic disappearance of falsehood and its infinite darknesses (al-Isra’, 81).

Indeed, the essence of Islam as truth and light serves as the most formidable weapon for Muslims in their battle against falsehood, darkness and all their possible forms, which encompass Zionism and Western imperialism. It is high time for Muslims to realize that other alternatives are sham and are likely to be advocated only by their adversaries.***

(Dr. Spahic Omer is Associate Professor in the Department of History and Civilization of AHAS KIRKHS, IIUM.)

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