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‘In what state did you come Eid?’

August 13, 2019 at 3:17 pm

Israeli forces attack Palestinians worshippers in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque on 11 August 2019 [Faiz Abu Rmeleh/Anadolu Agency]

“In what state did you come Eid? Are things the same or is there anything new?”

As we welcomed Eid Al-Adha, I recalled this verse from a poem written by Abu Tayyib Al-Mutanabbi (915-965 CE). The state of our Muslim Ummah is worsening day after day, breaking our hearts and tearing us apart. There is no doubt that any Muslim who cares about their religion is sad at how weak, fragile and humiliated we have become. The Almighty has bestowed on our nation more sources of power, wealth and the right path than he did to others, and despite this, it lies defeated before its enemies. The Ummah has been lost for decades, and every time it tries to find its way, it becomes more and more lost and fragmented. By its enemies, I mean those who openly admit their hostility towards Muslims, those who label them as terrorists, and those who no longer shy away from saying publically that Islam is their enemy and fight it under the pretext of “the war on terror”. These enemies are using the Arab leaders, who are concerned only with their positions of authority, as the spearhead of this dirty war.

This year, Eid Al-Adha arrived on the eve of the division of Yemen into two parts, with the separation of the south from the north courtesy of a UAE conspiracy. The UAE armed and funded the separatists, enabling them to seize the presidential palace and state institutions. The government in Abu Dhabi claimed that it had withdrawn from the Saudi-led coalition that has destroyed Yemen, demolished its homes over the heads of their residents, killed thousands of Yemenis, and burned everything in the country. Yemen used to be known as “happy Yemen”, but it is now known as “miserable Yemen”.

READ: UAE calls for dialogue to end violence in Yemen’s Aden

They wanted to erase Yemeni civilisation, which dates back thousands of years, out of hatred and spite. Instead, they drowned in the quagmire largely of their own making.

Eid came with many new but painful things. During the Eid prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Israeli occupation forces stormed in and opened fire on peaceful worshippers. Zionist settlers, who had been gathering all night, were determined to storm the sacred compound and desecrate it. The Palestinian Muslims heard no condemnation of Israeli actions from any country in the world, although these self-same countries proclaim themselves to be the guardians of human rights. The UN was also silent. Why should we criticise them, though, when the Arab League, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab countries all witnessed what happened at Al-Aqsa and did and said nothing. Shame on them. Their silence and lack of action is a disappointment to Al-Aqsa, which is only defended by Palestinian activists.

Palestinians can be seen in the marketplace preparing for Eid celebrations in Gaza on 3 June 2019

Palestinians can be seen in the marketplace preparing for Eid in Gaza on 3 June 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Yes, Al-Mutanabbi, there are new things that happened this Eid, and if you were here, I do not know what you would’ve said about them. India revoked the autonomy of Muslim Kashmir a few days before Eid and claimed that the decision was taken to combat terrorism. The first country that rushed to express its support for India’s move was the centre of Arab conspiracies, the UAE, where all of the plots against the Muslim Ummah are put together, with the help of the US and Zionist intelligence agencies. The UAE also referred to Kashmiris as “terrorists”.

This reminds me of what happened in Timor and how it was removed from the Muslim state of Indonesia and separated under the pretext that the people are Christians. They declared it to be a state, although its population was no more than 900,000 at the time, with the encouragement of the Crusader countries. However, Kashmir, which has a population of over 13 million Muslims, has not been allowed to become a state nor can it be annexed to Muslim Pakistan. Instead, they have deprived it of the bare minimum, some degree of autonomy. Muslims have no defenders nowadays, while during Al-Mutanabbi’s time, with the Abbasids ruling all of these countries, including India itself, were under Islamic rule. This Islamic polity knew no borders or divisions, it was a single nation.

READ: This triumvirate of evil has turned its sights on Kashmir

What can I say? Should I tell you, Al-Mutanabbi, about what is happening in Syria which, during your time, was known as the Levant and was the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate? Should I tell you about the conspiracies to divide and occupy it put together by the Russians and the Safavids, which you were confronting and did not allow to establish a state in the Levant? Shall I tell you how the murderer Bashar Al-Assad, who kills, oppresses and tortures his people because they ask for freedom and dignity, uses his allies Russia and the Safavids against his own people?

Or should I tell you about Libya and the divisive projects plotted by all of the colonial powers, who are trying to take a piece of the country for themselves? They are using their agent, Khalifa Haftar, to attack the capital Tripoli and kill its helpless people who are defending their country and dignity.

A picture taken on April 17, 2019 shows remnants of a rocket and burnt vehicles at the scene of an overnight rocket attack which no group claimed responsibility for so far in the Libyan capital Tripoli. [Mahmud TURKIA / AFP / Getty]

Remnants of a rocket and burnt vehicles at the scene of an overnight rocket attack which no group claimed responsibility for so far in the Libyan capital Tripoli on 17 April 2019 [Mahmud TURKIA/AFP/Getty]

Perhaps I should I tell you about Iraq and Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid state, which Iran, your archenemy that you defeated and triumphed over, has taken control of. Today, Iran has returned to seek revenge and it now has the upper hand in Iraq, appointing presidents who are loyal and report directly to Tehran. One of its leaders has even said that Iran occupies five Arab capitals in Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Bahrain. Yes, Iran, or the Safavid state, as you called it during your time, has basically seized control of these five countries and is now seeking to posses a nuclear bomb.

What more can I say? Everything is painful and there is so much to say, it is like constant gunfire on the wounded nation and no one is treating its wounds. This is the state we are in, Abu Tayyib Al-Mutanabbi.

READ: Saudi, UAE blocked Pakistan issuing statement rebuking India over Kashmir   

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.