Al-Hafiz Yunus Omotayo
Journalist, Missionary of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at of Nigeria, and Chairman, Muslim Writers Guild of Nigeria. (E-mail: al-hafiz@thetruth.ng)
An array of both immediate and remote factors stimulated this piece. On February 1, 2022, Amnesty International released a damning report titled “Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: a cruel system of domination and crime against humanity.” The investigation details how Israel enforces a system of oppression and domination against the Palestinian people wherever it has control over their rights. This includes Palestinian living in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OTP), as well as displaced refugees in other countries. (1)
Particularly, the comprehensive report sets out how massive seizures of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer, drastic movement restrictions, and the denial of nationality and citizenship to Palestinians are all components of a system which amounts to apartheid under international law. This system is maintained by violations that Amnesty International found to constitute apartheid as a crime against humanity, as defined in the Rome Statute and Apartheid Convention. (2)
Remotely, over the centuries, particularly, both the 20th and the 21st, the Middle Eastern Israeli-Palestinian region has been a hotbed of incessant inter-racial, inter-religious and international crises, conflicts and wars the ominous impacts of which have not only continued to bedevil the socio-political conditions and landscapes of the region, but have also polarized the larger world with resultant jeopardy to global peace and harmony.
Historically, the bone of contention in the Israeli-Palestinian crisis initially was: who are the rightful aboriginal owners of the Holy Land of Palestine: the native Arab Palestinians or the Jews? The debates, the crises and the wars on this question spanned the centuries, in fact, the millennia, which preceded the modern 20th century. Then, during the course of some historical moves made by certain Euro-American powers backing the Zionist movement from roughly the late 19th to almost mid-20th centuries, the issue shifted to: why should or should not the Jews in the Diaspora be re-settled and granted statehood in the Holy Land? Subsequently, since the Euro-American sponsored UN’s creation of the State of Israel in 1948 till date, the incessant crises and wars have been revolving around not only the issue of: why should or should not the Arab Palestinians be granted autonomous statehood status in the Holy Land, but also: what geographical area should or should not the boundary of such a state cover? This is the crux of the monster.
Importantly, “the essence of this case”, as Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad [rta] maintained, “is that a conspiracy of the Western powers, in which the defunct League of Nations and subsequently its successor, the United Nations actively participated and the government of Britain and the U.S. played the pivotal role, resulted in the emergence of a Jewish state in Palestine which no standard of justice, international law, or the Charter of the United Nations would have sanctioned. They could not have moved a step towards the creation of Israel without the active connivance of these powers. Anyhow, this fateful decision was taken and, ever since, this region has been a scene of armed conflicts and a hotbed of international intrigues.” [3]
Observably, one emerging fact from the above is what Professor Ismail Raji Al-faruqi referred to as a “three-cornered affair, involving the Muslim World, Western Christendom and the Jews.” [4] However, there is no gainsaying the fact that none of the three worlds locked in the crisis can be seen to have been pathetically victimized and bedeviled by its devastating consequences much more than the Muslim-dominated Palestinian camp. Little wonder that Al-Faruqi further starkly declared that “the problem of Israel confronting the Muslim World today has neither precedent nor parallel in Islamic history. The Muslim World has tended to regard it as another instance of modern colonialism, or at best, as a repetition of the Crusades. The difference is not that Israel is neither one of these; but that it is both and more, much more.” [5]
Notably, the past decades have seen a number of failed peace processes initiated by the Superpowers as well as numerous never-to-be-implemented UN’s resolutions on the crisis. Woeful developments which many observers believe are largely due to the fact that their initiators are themselves the masterminds of, and complicit in, the whole monster. Similarly, the decades of Palestinians’ strategic resort to suicide bombings or martyrdom operations have merely always left the Palestinians with greater devastating consequences.
Now, as the conundrum further exacerbates and the Palestinians stand at a crossroad where future prospect seems almost not foreseeable, the self-imposing questions confronting the Palestinians, in particular, and the global Muslim world, in general, are: Why has Palestinians’ continuous looking towards the Western or Eastern Superpowers or the UN for solution failed to bring about the dire freedom? What should be the ultimate move? By highlighting the Palestinians’ and Muslim world’s neglected obligation, this piece interrogates and recommends the missing link in the struggle towards actualizing the freedom of the Palestinians.
The Age-Long Most Disputed Land of Palestine
The land of Palestine, located in the Middle East, witnessed the first recorded form of civilization in human history in the city of Jericho which was established ten thousand years ago. Ever since it was inhabited by the Canaanites and the sea immigrants named Philistines who integrated with them later on. [6] The land, previously known as the land of Canaan, took the name of the new settlers and came to be known as Palestine. [7]
Prophet Ibrahim [Abraham] came to this land around the year 1900 B.C.; in narrating this story the Torah called the area “the Land of Canaan”, admitting the existence of a civilization on the land prior even to the coming of Prophet Ibrahim, the great grandfather of Arabs and Jews. His grandson, Yaqoob [Jacob or Israel], from whom Jews descended migrated with his children from the land of Canaan to Egypt, where they stayed until 1250 B.C. in which Moses took them to the Holy Land.[8]
The history of the Jews in Palestine started during this period, between 1250-1000 B.C., but they managed only to settle in a few areas around Al-Quds [Jerusalem] and in the north. From that time, the reign of Prophets Dawud [David] and Sulayman [Solomon] started, marking the real beginning of Jewish reign over Palestine. The reign of the two Prophets lasted only for 80 years [1004-923 B.C.] [9]
It was thereafter invaded by the Assyrians, the Romans, the Jews, the Moguls, and the Christian crusaders. Since the seventh century, most of its population [the descendants of the ancient Canaanites] embraced Islam and joined successive Muslim rule until 1917, the year of the collapse of the Ottoman State, when Palestine came under the British Mandate that undertook to facilitate the realization of the Zionist dream of creating Jewish home in Palestine. [10]
From the above, it is glaring why the whole Holy Land, particularly, Jerusalem, is of huge socio-religious and historical importance to both Israel and the Palestinians. It contains sites sacred to the three major monotheistic faiths – Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
Prophecies and Fulfillments – A Combined Reading of both the Scripture and Cosmic Events
Any objective endeavour to examine the Israeli-Palestinian crisis should begin from an objective assessment that focuses on a combined reading of both the scriptural references and cosmic events. The isolation of the two would invariably lead to futile efforts on the part of anyone that ventures into unraveling the missing link in the struggle for the ultimate establishment of a Palestinian state.
As Malik Badri noted in his foreword to Jerusalem in the Quran, “The Zionists have continuously referred to distorted scriptures from the Torah and other Biblical material to justify their atrocious behavior and to motivate the Jews to establish a State of Israel that extends from the Nile to the Euphrates with Jerusalem as its capital. For example, David Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, is quoted to have said, “The Bible is our deed to the land of Israel.” Muslim scholars, on the other hand, have largely failed in refuting Zionist claims from authenticated historical and religious sources and have also failed to accomplish their religious responsibility in clearly documenting this question from the Holy Qur’an and the Blessed Ahadith of our beloved Prophet (PBUH).” [11]
The Quran’s Recap of the Grand Prophecy
It is curious to note how the Holy Quran made very striking prophecies about both the remote and current cosmic events of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. Firstly, the Quran declares: “And We revealed to the children of Israel in the Book, saying, ‘You will surely do mischief in the land twice, and you will surely become excessively overbearing.” [Quran, 17:5] “This verse”, Hadhrat Mirza Bashirud-Din Mahmud Ahmad [ra] noted, “shows that it was foretold in the Book of Moses that the Israelites would disobey and defy divine commandments twice and twice would they be visited with punishment. The word al-Kitab [the Book] here means, the Book of Moses – the Bible.” [12] Accordingly, we can find the referred Moses’s warning to the Jews in Bible’s Deuteronomy 28: 15; 49-53; 63-64.
The First Destruction and Exile of the Jews
“So when the time for the first of the two warnings came, We sent against you some servants of Ours possessed of great might in war, and they penetrated the innermost parts of your houses, and it was a warning that was bound to be carried out.” [Quran, 17:6]
Making reference to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Hadhrat Mirza Bashirud-Deen Mahmud Ahmad [ra] maintained in his commentary of the Quran that the first disaster befell the Israelites after David, and the second after Jesus. It appears from the Bible that the Jews had become a very powerful nation after Moses and in the time of David they laid the foundation of a mighty kingdom which continued to flourish for some time after his death in its old might and glory. Then it fell prey to gradual decay and about 733 B.C. Samaria was conquered by the Assyrians, who annexed the whole of Israel north of Jezreel. In 608 B.C. Palestine was ravaged by an Egyptian force under Pharaoh Necho and the Israelites came under Egyptian sway. In the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made his first invasion of Palestine and carried off some of the Temple vessels, but the city was spared the rigour of a siege. In 597 B.C., also the city was invested and fell victim to a severe famine. The rebellion of Zedekiah, however, caused a second invasion in 587 B.C., and after a siege of a year and a half, the city was taken by storm. King Zedekiah fled from the city but was taken prisoner. His sons were slain and his eyes were put out and he was bound in fetters and carried off to Babylon. The Temple, the King’s palace and all the great buildings in the city were burnt down, the chief priests and other leaders were put to death and many people were carried off in captivity. [13]
The First Return of the Jews from the Diaspora
“Then We gave you back the power against them, and aided you with wealth and children, and made you larger in numbers. Now, if you do well, you will do well for your own souls; and if you do evil, it will only go against them…..” [Quran, 17:7]
Again, citing authorities of both the Historians’ History of the World and the Jewish Encyclopedia, Hadhrat Mirza Bashirud-Deen Mahmud Ahmad [ra] showed how the Jews fared well in exile. Most of them were employed on public works in central Babylonia and many among them eventually gained their freedom and rose to influential positions. Their faith and religious devotion were renewed; the literature of the kingdom was studied, re-edited, and adapted to the needs of the reviving community, and the hope of restoration to Palestine was preached and cherished. About 545 B.C., This aspiration took a more definite form. Cyrus, King of Media and Persia, had by this time attained to dominion over the whole uplands of Asia as far as the shores of the Aegean Sea. The Jews made a secret agreement with him and helped him to conquer Babylon. The city surrendered to his army without resistance in July, 539 B.C. As a reward for their services Cyrus permitted the Jews to return to their country, and also helped them in the building of the Temple. In 538 B.C. Cyrus proclaimed the rebuilding of the Temple as his divine mission but the work was not started till the following year. The Judean, Sheshbazzar (a Governor under Cyrus) brought back to the Temple vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away and prepared to undertake the work at the expense of the royal purse. A large body of exiles returned to Jerusalem (Ezra 1: 3-5). The work of rebuilding the Temple steadily progressed and it was completed in 516 B.C. [14]
The Second Destruction and the Exile of the Jews
“So when the time for the latter warning came, We raised a people against you to cover your faces with grief, and to enter the Mosque as they entered it the first time, and to destroy all that they conquered with utter destruction.” [Quran, 17:8]
This verse speaks of the Jews’ second relapse into iniquitous and evil ways and of the punishment which befell them in consequence. They persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him on the Cross and stamp out his Movement. So God afflicted them with a terrible punishment when in 70 A.D. the Roman forces under Titus swept the country and amid circumstances of unparalleled horror Jerusalem was destroyed and the Temple of Solomon was burnt down. [15]
More precisely, as Dr. Saleh’s History of Palestine shows, the Romans controlled the area in 63 B.C. They kept the Jewish autonomy over Jerusalem intact until 6 A.D., when they assumed direct control over it. The Jews revolted between 66-70 A D, but the Romans brutally suppressed this revolution and destroyed Jerusalem and its new Temple built by Herod. The Jews revolted again and for the last time in 132-135 A.D. The Romans responded more aggressively aiming to end any possible future instability to be brought by the Jews. They destroyed the City that they replaced by a new one built over the area and called it Aelia Capitolina. They placed the statue of Jupiter, the Roman god, over the ruins of the Temple of Herod. By this time, the effective Jewish presence in Palestine came to an end. …from that time, 135 A.D. and until the beginning of twentieth century, the Jews did not have any form of physical ties with Palestine or Jerusalem. [16]
The Holy Quran and the Jews’ Second Return from the Diaspora in the End Time
The Holy Quran declares thus: “And it is an inviolable law for a township which We have destroyed that they shall not return. Until when Gog and Magog are let loose and they shall hasten forth from every height.” [Quran, 21: 96]
One possible way to paraphrase the above verse is: and it is an inviolable decree upon Jerusalem Township which has been destroyed that its exiled citizens [the Jews in Diaspora] shall not be re-settled back in the Holy Land until the emergence of and facilitation by the Gog and Magog Superpowers who shall dominate all spheres of world affairs. The historical developments analyzed below should justify this interpretation.
As mentioned in the foregoing lines, Palestine, and Jerusalem in particular, was thoroughly destroyed and its citizens, the Jews, exiled in 135 A.D. and scattered abroad where they continued to face further exiles in the Diaspora from one clime to another. For instance, “they were turned out of Portugal and Spain. They were driven out of England in 1290. They were twice pushed out from France, once in 1306 and again in 1394. They were exiled from Belgium in 1370 and from Czechoslovakia in 1380. Holland drove them out in 1444, and Italy turned them out in 1540. Germany pushed them out in 1551. Russia exiled them in 1510.” [17] And modern history has documented the 20th century anti-Semitic Holocaust perpetrated by the German Nazi government. Thus, for almost two millennia, was fulfilled the divine decree that the Jews shall not return to the destroyed township of Jerusalem.
However, as the context of the above Quranic prophecy shows, the exile of the Jews was destined to continue until the appearance of Gog and Magog nations who would facilitate their re-settlement back to the Holy Land. This however raised some intriguing questions like: who are the Gog and Magog and have they appeared? If they have, has the prophecy of the resettlement of the Jews in the Diaspora through their effort been fulfilled?
Identifying the Gog and Magog
It is noteworthy that the Holy Quran mentioned Gog and Magog at two different places. First, in the foregoing Quran, 21: 96, and second, in the verse of Al-Kahf where it says: “They said, ‘O Dhu’l Qarnain, verily, Gog and Magog are creating disorder in the earth…” [Quran, 18: 95]. The Traditions of the Holy Prophet [saw] are replete with references to them too. Particularly, a Tradition made prophecy about their appearance in the latter days amid the encounter of the trio of Dajjal or the anti-Christ, the Promised Messiah and the Gog and Magog thus: “…..The Messiah will then come to people whom God has shielded from the Anti-Christ. He will wipe away the dust from their faces and will inform them about their grades in Paradise. While he will be so occupied, Allah, the Exalted, will send revelation to him: I have created some people whom no one will be able to fight and withstand. Therefore, lead these, my servants, to Mount Sinai. Allah will then raise Gog and Magog and they will spread out leaping across every barrier of land and sea …..” [18]
The 19th century saw an astonishing unraveling of the identity of the Gog and Magog when a Muslim divine, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad [as] – who claimed to be the fourteenth century Islamic Reformer and the Promised Messiah and Mahdi – identified, by means of divine revelation and powerful deductive reasoning, the surging Euro-American Superpowers to be the representation of Gog and Magog. He amazingly declared thus:
“I have also proved that it is essential for the Promised Messiah to appear at the time of Gog and Magog. Since Ajij, from which the words Gog and Magog are derived, means ‘fire’, God Almighty has disclosed to me that Gog and Magog are a people who are greater experts in the use of fire than any other people. Their very names indicate that their ships, trains and machines will be run by fire. They will fight their battles with fire. They will excel all other people in harnessing fire to their service. This is why they will be called Gog and Magog. These are the people of the West, as they are unique in their expertise in the use of fire. In Jewish scriptures too it was the people of Europe who were described as Gog and Magog. Even the name of Moscow, which is the ancient capital of Russia, is mentioned. Thus it was preordained that the Promised Messiah would appear in the time of Gog and Magog. [19]
He further expatiates that,
“on the one hand, it is proved from the Bible that the Christians of Europe are Gog and Magog, and, on the other, the Holy Quran has mentioned specific signs concerning Gog and Magog which can only be applied to European powers, as, for instance, it is written that they will scale every height, i.e. they will overcome all other powers and be supreme in all worldly matters. Similarly, it is also mentioned in the Ahadith that no country will be able to stand up to them. Thus, it is conclusively established that these powers are Gog and Magog. To deny this is sheer obstinacy and opposition to God’s Word. Who can deny that in accordance with the Word of God Almighty and the explanation of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) these are the people who, in their worldly power, are superior to every other people. They have no equal in the art of war and statecraft. Their inventions and machines have established new patterns, both of war and in worldly comforts and luxuries. They have brought about an amazing revolution in the culture of mankind and have displayed such mastery in statecraft and in providing equipment for war and peace, as has no parallel since the creation of the world.”
“Thus, centuries after the prophecy of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the rise of European powers is the event in accordance with the sign specified in his prophecy. As God has disclosed the meaning of Gog and Magog and events have proven that a certain people fit the signs that have been mentioned, refusal to acknowledge this would be denial of an established verity. No one can stop a person from persisting in his denial, but every just-minded one who is a seeker after truth would, on being informed of all these particulars, testify with full confidence that these people are Gog and Magog.” [20]
How Gog and Magog Facilitated the Return of the Jews
As Malise Ruthven and Nanji Azim opined, there has been an “age-old yearning of Jews to return to Eretz Yisrael, the land promised by God to the Prophet Abraham. Modern Zionism built on this tradition, seeing salvation from persecution in the acquisition of land where a Jewish sovereign state could be created.” [21]
Hence, after centuries of living in a Diaspora, the 1894 Dreyfus Affair in France shocked Jews into realizing they would not be safe from arbitrary anti-Semitism unless they had their own country. In response, Jews created the new concept of political Zionism in which it was believed that through active political maneuvering, a Jewish homeland could be created. Zionism was becoming a popular concept by the time World War 1 began. [22]
Earlier, in 1878, the first Jewish settlement was established at Petah Tikva. During the First World War the British made contradictory commitments to Arabs and Jews. They promised an independent state to the Sharif of Mecca, whose sons Faisal and Abdullah led the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Turks, while allowing the establishment of a national homeland for the Jewish People in Palestine. [23] This commitment was enshrined in the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917 which was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Lord Rothschild. It reads in part thus: ‘…His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this objective…’ [24]
In 1917-18, a British army led by General Allenby defeated the Turkish army and liberated the Holy Land of Muslim rule. [25] Following this development, and based on the Balfour Declaration, the League of Nations entrusted the United Kingdom with the Palestine Mandate in 1922. [26] From 1919 to 1948 Britain ruled over the Holy Land on the basis of the Mandate conferred by the League of Nations. During this period of time the world witnessed the massive emigration of European Jews to the Holy Land. [27] Meanwhile, a plan for dividing Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, which followed an uprising by Palestinian Arabs beginning in 1936, was suspended on the outbreak of hostilities in 1939. [28] Furthermore, the tremendous German hatred of the Jews for their betrayal in the first world war (the German Jews made a deal with Britain that they would get USA to enter the war in support of Britain if Britain, in turn, would promise to give them the Holy Land when the war was won) and the resultant rise of Hitler led to such wholesale persecution of the Jews dramatically increased the Jewish emigration from Europe to the Holy Land. [29] Consequent upon the conspiracy by some Euro-American supper-powers, a 1947 UN partition plan providing for Arab and Jewish states “each entwined in an inimical embrace like two fighting serpents,” in the words of one official, was accepted by the Jewish leaders but rejected by the Arabs. On May 14 1948, the British withdrew [from Palestine] and on the following day Israel’s independence was recognized by the major powers. [30]
Thus did the twentieth century witness the return of the Israelite Jews to the Holy Land after almost 2000 years of exile. But, by whose help? Indeed, it was brought about by the Euro-American Superpowers – the Gog and Magog – to fulfill exactly the Quranic prediction of history! “Israelite Jews,” says Imran Hosein, “have now ‘returned’ to reclaim the Holy Land after their divinely ordained 2000-year exile. This has occurred exactly as the Qur’an declared 1400 years ago that it would happen at the ‘End Time’.” [31]
More so, this historical development further fulfilled another Quranic prophecy: “And after him We said to the children of Israel, ‘Dwell you in the land; and when the time of the promise of the latter days comes, We shall bring you together once again.” [Quran, 17:105] Commenting on this verse, Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad [rt] writes, “The destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, by the Romans tolled the bell for the death of the Jewish state. From then on the Jews were scattered throughout the world moving on from country to country. It is this state of ultimate diaspora to which the above verse refers when it declares that one day the Jews will be gathered from all over the world and once again they will be assembled in the Holy Land. It is a covenant of God which shall be fulfilled. We have already seen the fulfillment of this promise on such a wide scale as has never been witnessed by man before. Never in the history of the Jewish people after any diaspora were they brought back from all the countries of the world as it happened in the recent past after the creation of the state of Israel. [32]
Israel’s Occupation versus Arabs’ Futile Wars of Liberation
The fact of the unprecedented havoc brought upon the Palestinians by the past over seventy years of Israel’s forceful, continuous and ever- expanding occupation of the greater percent of the Holy Land in the face of Arabs’ futile and armed struggle and resistance have always evoked pathetic situation.
Right from the Israeli-Arab war that took place in the post-creation of the Israeli state, the new state survived simultaneous but poorly coordinated attacks by the armies of the surrounding Arab states, leaving it with more territory than had been awarded to it under the UN plan. Transjordan—later Jordan—gained control of a part of Palestine, including East Jerusalem, which contains shrines sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Attacks by Jewish irregulars, such as the massacre of Palestinian villagers of Deir Yassin in 1948, prompted the flight of thousands of Palestinians, creating the refugee problem which would fuel subsequent wars in 1956, 1967, 1973, and 1982. The third Arab-Israeli war, in June 1967, left Israel in control of Sinai, Gaza, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights, with Israel subsequently annexing Arab East Jerusalem and planting Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories.
Limited military success achieved by the Egyptians in the fourth Arab-Israeli war in October 1973 emboldened the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to make his historic visit to Jerusalem in 1977. This initiated the process that culminated in the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty at Camp David in 1979, followed by disengagement agreements with Syria and a treaty between Israel and Jordan in 1994. The Palestinian problem, however, remains unresolved. Although the Palestine Liberation Organization, under its chairman Yasser Arafat, recognized Israel’s right to exist in 1988 and achieved limited autonomy for Palestinians in Gaza, Jericho, and other parts of the West Bank under the 1993 Oslo accords, the Islamist organizations, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, reject the peace process. Continuing Jewish settlements, terrorist attacks on civilians (including suicide bombings), and Israeli measures such as the creation of a Berlin-style wall between Israel and the West Bank and the targeted killings of Palestinian leaders, have made the prospects for peace increasingly difficult. [33]
Interrogating the Missing Link
Having experienced decades of subjugation this far amidst successive failed peace processes brokered by the Western powers; and having experienced continuous failure of armed resistance, what should be the way forward for the Palestinians?
It is disappointing noting the various strategies that have so far been proffered by various Muslim scholars and leaders in this respect. For example, as if ignorant of what the reality has invariably been, one of the prominent writers on this crisis, Imran Hosein, could still persistently make a global appeal to the global Muslim world on the following proposed armed-resistance strategy. He wrote thus:
“The first is that Jerusalem and the Holy Land should be dearest of all to their hearts – as dear as Makkah and Madina – and the struggle to liberate the Holy Land from the abomination of the secular Euro-Jewish State of Israel should be the dearest of all struggles (of liberation) for the Muslim. If a Jew can leave USA or Europe or Russia and join the Israeli Defense Force and participate in the armed oppression of the Muslim and Christian Palestinian people in the Holy Land, then a Muslim should also have the same freedom to leave wherever he resides in the world and join in the armed resistance of the oppressed in the Holy Land. … It is, in fact, a minimum tangible expression of faith in today’s world that Muslims should at least have the desire in their hearts to participate in that armed resistance (Jihad) in the Holy Land. Muslims should be warned, however, that as soon as they publicly declare their belief that the State of Israel will be destroyed by a Muslim army, and express the hope that they would be members of that army, they would eventually be intimidated and even arrested in order to silence them and make of them an example which would intimidate others. Secondly, the financial and other resources of the Muslim world should be directed primarily to assist in the cause of the liberation of the Holy Land from oppression.” [34]
Gog and Magog are War-Indomitable – A Prophetic Declaration
It is surprising how the collective mind of the mainstream Muslim world could be so oblivious of the clear prophecy of the Holy Prophet Muhammad [saw] which states that no human being would be able to defeat Gog and Magog in warfare. This particular prophecy reads thus: “While he [the Promised Messiah] will be so occupied, Allah, the Exalted, will send revelation to him: I have created some people whom no one will be able to fight and withstand. Therefore lead these, my servants, to Mount Sinai. Allah will then raise Gog and Magog and they will spread out leaping across every barrier of land and sea.” [35]
The Necessity of Aligning with the Mahdi-Messianic Movement
Now, the question is: what is the missing link, the prophetically recommended ultimate Islamic strategy which the Muslim world must adopt to decimate the menace of the Gog and Magog? The answer lies in the underbelly of the following statement of the Holy Prophet of Islam [saw] thus:
“Then the Prophet of Allah, the Messiah, and his companions will turn to Allah, the Exalted, and will supplicate Him so that Allah will create a germ in the necks of the people of Gog and Magog in consequence of which they will all die suddenly one day. Thereafter the Prophet of Allah, the Messiah, and his companions will descend from the Mount but will not find a hand’s breadth of space free from the corpse of the followers of Gog and Magog and their stink. Then the Prophet of Allah, the Messiah, and his companions will supplicate Allah, the Lord of honour, and He will send birds like the necks of Bukhti camels which will send down rain whereby every dwelling whether made of clay or of hair will be cleansed and become like a mirror. The earth will be commanded to produce its fruits and to regain its blessing, so that a whole group of people will be filled by eating of one pomegranate and will be able to take shelter under the shades of its leave. Milk will be so blest that the milk of one she-camel will suffice for a large company and that of a cow will suffice for a tribe and that of a goat will suffice for a family…” [36]
Evidently, the above Prophetic prophecy clearly links the emancipation of those wallowing under the domination of Gog and Magog superpowers to the prayers and leadership guidance of the Promised Messiah (as). As mentioned before, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad [as], based on divine revelation, claimed to be the Promised Messiah and established the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat as his Mahdi-Messianic movement. Subsequently, he declared the emerging Western powers as the Gog and Magog, and forcefully warned the Muslims to beware of their temptations and take shelter under his Messianic fort. He also launched his array of divinely inspired Messianic agendas, some of which, particularly, concern the Arabs. For instance, he declared thus: “My God has given me a glad-tiding in respect of the Arabs, and has instructed me through His Revelation to look after them, guide them on the right, and set their affairs straight. And God willing, you will find me successful and victorious in this task.” [37] Specifically, and again, based on divine revelation, he declared that his global victory for Islam will assume its complete manifestation within the period of the first three centuries proceeding the time he proclaimed his mission. [38]
Sadly, majority of the mainstream Muslim world rejected him and declared him an impostor, a liar and an anti-Christ etc., while continuously looking towards heaven in anticipation of the physical descent of the ancient Jesus Christ [as] about whom they have established an entrenched traditional belief of his ascent to heaven. Given to literalist interpretations, they are also awaiting a Messiah that would launch bloody war against the Gog and Magog, just as the Jews of Jesus Christ’s time were expecting the descent of a Messiah who would wage bloody war against the Roman Imperialist government of the time and help them establish their Jewish kingdom. However, against their wish, such bloody Messiah did not emerge and, ever since, the Jews continue to anticipate their fantasized Messiah even though global circumstances have changed completely.
Consequently, since preponderance of the modern-day mainstream Muslim world has not believed in Hadhrat Ahmad [as] as the Promised Messiah, they could neither accept his identification of the Western powers as the Gog and Magog nor his declaration of peaceful and spiritual warfare. This also informed the reason why in the early 20th century when the Palestinians began to sell their lands to the Jews, the Second Successor to the Promised Messiah, Hazrat Mirza Bashirudeen Mahmud Ahmad (ra), forcefully warned them against such development, but they did not listen. Would that the Arabs had listened to the Mahdi-Messianic voice!
However, the forgoing analysis has clearly established the fact that the protracted Israeli-Palestinian crisis has transpired and continues to transpire within the purview of divine predictions, almost all of which have already seen their cosmic fulfillments: [1] we have witnessed the proclamation of the descent of the Promised Messiah and the establishment of his Mahdi-Messianic movement in the 19th century; [2] we have seen the emergence and domination of the Gog and Magog nations and the globalization of their civilization which has become entrenched since the last 20th century; [3] we have seen the Jews been brought back to Palestine through the effort of Hadhrat Ahmad’s identified Gog and Magog – the Euro-American Powers; [4] we have seen scientific and technological warfare advancement achieved by the Gog and Magog nations and how they have become indomitable in the face of the combined forces of the Arabs.
In the circumstance, human logic, reason and rationality demand that, after all the cosmic events have fulfilled the Quranic and Prophetic prophecies, the Palestinian Arabs in particular, and the global mainstream Muslim world, in general, should now understand and appreciate the primacy of forging alignment with Hadhrat Ahmad’s [as] Mahdi-Messianic movement so as to benefit from the prophesied Messiah’s ultimate divine guidance and prayer for the global decimation of Gog and Magog’s menace, paving the way for the eschatological triumph of the religion Islam, the will of Allah. This is the ultimate Islamic-oriented link to solving not only the Palestinian issue but also the general challenges confronting the Muslim world of our eschatological times.
In the final analysis, this writer is compelled by the ongoing rejectionist attitude of the preponderance of the mainstream Muslims to conclude that, until then when the Muslim world will realize and embrace this simple truth, let the Mahdi-Messianic movement continue its silent but steady and peaceful in route to the world!
End Notes
1. Amnesty International (2022), Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians: a cruel system of domination and crime against humanity. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/5141/2022/en/
2. Ibid
3. Ahmad, Mirza Tahir, The Gulf Crisis and the New World Order, [2009], Islam International Publications Limited, UK, pp. 215-6
4. Al-Faruqi, Ismail Raji, Islam and the Problem of Israel, Islamic Council of Europe, p. 5
5. Ibid, p. 5
6. Saleh, Dr. Mohsen Mohammed, History of Palestine – A Methodical Study of the Palestinian Struggle, Al-Falah Foundation, p. 5
7. Ibid, p. 5
8. Ibid, p. 19
9. Ibid, p. 19
10. Ibid, p. 5
11. Hosein, Imran, Jerusalem in the Quran, Masjid Dar-AlQuran, Long Island, New York, USA, foreword
12. Ahmad, Mirza Bashirud-Din Mahmud, The Holy Quran, English Translation and Commentary, [2002] Nazarat Nashro Ishaat, India, vol. 3, p. 14
13. Ibid, vol. 3, pp. 1412-1413
14. Ibid, vol. 3, p. 1414
15. Ibid, vol. 3, p. 1415
16. Saleh, Dr. Mohsen Mohammed, History of Palestine – A Methodical Study of the Palestinian Struggle, Al-Falah Foundation, pp. 21-22
17. AbdulAziz, Maulana, Jewry in Historical Perspective, in Misbahul Islam Faruq’s Jewish Conspiracy and Muslim World, [1992], Islamic Publications [PVT] Ltd, Pakistan, p. 15-16
18. Zafrullah, Muhammad Khan, Garden of the Righteous, [1996] Islam International Publications Ltd, UK, Hadith no. 1814, p. 305
19. Ahmad, Mirza Ghulam, Essence of Islam, [2005], Islam International Publications Ltd, UK, vol. 111, p. 305; Ayyam-us-Sulh, Ruhani Khazain, vol. 14, pp. 424-425
20. Ibid, vol. 111, pp. 307-308; Chashma-e-Ma’rifat, Ruhani Khazain, vol. 23, pp. 83-88
21. Malise Ruthven and Nanji Azim, Historical Atlas of Islam, [2004], Harvard University p.162
22. Rosenberg, Jennifer, The History of the Balfour Declaration, www.thoughtco.com/balfour-declaration date retrieved: 26/12/2017
23. Malise R. and Nanji A, Op. Cit. p. 162
24. Rosenberg, Op. Cit.
25. Hosein, Imran, Jerusalem in the Quran, Masjid Dar-AlQuran, Long Island, New York, USA, p. 65
26. Rosenberg, Op. Cit.
27. Hosein, I. ibid p. 65
28. Malise R. and Nanji A. Op. Cit., p. 162
29. Hosein I. Op. Cit., p. 65
30. Malise R. and Nanji A. Op. Cit., p.162-163
31. Hosein I. Op. Cit., p. 65
32. Ahmad, Mirza Tahir, Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge and Truth, [1998], Islam International Publications Ltd, UK, p. 597
33. Malise R. and Nanji A. Op. Cit. p. 162-163
34. Hosein I. Op. Cit., p. 9
35. Zafrullah, Muhammad Khan, Garden of the Righteous, [1996] Islam International Publications Ltd, UK, Hadith no. 1814, p. 305
36. Ibid, p. 305
37. Ahmad, Mirza Ghulam, Hamamatul Bushra page 7, Roohani Khazain vol. 7, p. 182
38. Ahmad, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam, Tadhkiratush Shahadatain (The Narrative of Two Martyrdoms), {The London Mosque} p. 63-64
