Q: The situation of our patient, struggling Palestinian sister under the tyranny of those known for treachery and deception - may Allah fight them - makes us truly sad. In fact, it is an extreme disaster for us, as their honor has been violated, their families have been destroyed, and their daughters tortured and exposed. Despite this, they continue to carry upon their shoulders the responsibility of standing on this frontline of the frontlines of Islam against the Zionist enemy. In fact, they also carry the responsibility of raising a generation - rather, generations - of sons and daughters to continue the struggle. So, what is our obligation towards these oppressed women? How can we stand by them on this front and assist them in various ways while simultaneously admitting to our major shortcomings in this? And Allah is the source of help…
A: The Muslim nation is one that is oppressed everywhere in the world, and the burden of this oppression that falls on its men falls even heavier on its women. In fact, the burden on women is generally greater, as she is prone to weakness by her nature from one direction, as well as from the pressures of family from another. So, she was not designed to withstand this subjugation, imprisonment, oppression, or long period of struggle as men are. Despite this, she is rewarded for her patience with Allah.
And our obligation is without a doubt great. Every man is obligated to realize that he has brothers there, and every woman is obligated to realize that she has sisters there. We must come to feel the reality of the brotherhood of faith and that we are like a single body, such that if one limb complains, the rest of the body rushes to heal it. So, the believers are brothers, as Allah mentioned, and our enemy is one. The one who ate the white bull today is the same one who will eat the red bull tomorrow, and the black one the day after. In fact, he might eat them all tomorrow.
So, it is not allowed for us to remain the way our enemies want us to be, and what they want is for every community to be busy only with its own problems and concerns, and to have every community busy with its desires or efforts to acquire more wealth. Our communities are of two types: one type that simply works to make more money, and another that is busy with its desires and wasting of time. Both are extremely dangerous, and distract us from paying attention to fulfilling our obligations towards our brotherhood of faith.
Our sisters are afflicted with things that make one’s body shiver in the blessed, patient, struggling land of Palestine, as well as Iraq, Afghanistan, Kashmir, the Philippines, Eritrea, Somalia, Chechnya, Bosnia, and many other regions. In fact, this oppression even takes place in countries that claim to be free. So, in France - which some refer to as the place from which light emerges and shines over the rest of the world, and Paris is the Capitol of Light, etc. - its secularism, freedom, and human rights have become so constricted despite these empty slogans. They have become constricted around a piece of cloth with which the Muslim woman covers her hair, and this proves that this nation is truly being tested in order for Allah to purify its ranks and to elevate its status.
Therefore, we are facing a test in which we must have practical solutions, and it is not enough to simply cry and grieve and be sad and pained. For example, my sisters, I advise every sister who has a job - even if both spouses work, or they have a sufficient income or job, as the obligation would be greater in such a case - to support a single Palestinian family, and to then turn to the other countries to find out how we can provide them with relief efforts, and how we can fulfill our obligation of sending them beneficial books, tapes, and efforts, as well as the hijab. There are many girls in the nearby Arab countries who would wear the hijab if only they could afford it…
