The Way Forward – Part 2

In Sura Isra Allahﷻ mentioned two historic events.

وَقَضَيْنَآ إِلَىٰ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ فِى ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ لَتُفْسِدُنَّ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مَرَّتَيْنِ وَلَتَعْلُنَّ عُلُوًّا كَبِيرًا

فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ أُولَىٰهُمَا بَعَثْنَا عَلَيْكُمْ عِبَادًا لَّنَآ أُو۟لِى بَأْسٍ شَدِيدٍ فَجَاسُوا۟ خِلَـٰلَ ٱلدِّيَارِ وَكَانَ وَعْدًا مَّفْعُولًا

ثُمَّ رَدَدْنَا لَكُمُ ٱلْكَرَّةَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَمْدَدْنَـٰكُم بِأَمْوَٰلٍ وَبَنِينَ وَجَعَلْنَـٰكُمْ أَكْثَرَ نَفِيرًا

إِنْ أَحْسَنتُمْ أَحْسَنتُمْ لِأَنفُسِكُمْ وَإِنْ أَسَأْتُمْ فَلَهَا فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ لِيَسُـۥٓـُٔوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَلِيَدْخُلُوا۟ ٱلْمَسْجِدَ كَمَا دَخَلُوهُ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَلِيُتَبِّرُوا۟ مَا عَلَوْا۟ تَتْبِيرًا

عَسَىٰ رَبُّكُمْ أَن يَرْحَمَكُمْ وَإِنْ عُدتُّمْ عُدْنَا وَجَعَلْنَا جَهَنَّمَ لِلْكَـٰفِرِينَ حَصِيرًا

Isra 17: 4- 8    And We warned the Children of Israeel in the Scripture, “You will certainly cause corruption in the land twice, and you will become extremely arrogant. “When the first of the two warnings would come to pass, We would send against you some of Our slaves of great might, who would ravage your homes. This would be a warning fulfilled. Then ˹after your repentance˺ We would give you the upper hand over them and aid you with wealth and offspring, causing you to outnumber them. If you act rightly, it is for your own good, but if you do wrong, it is your own loss. “And when the second warning would come to pass, your enemies would ˹be left to˺ totally disgrace you and enter the Temple ˹of Jerusalem˺ as they entered it the first time, and utterly destroy whatever would fall into their hands. Perhaps your Rabb will have mercy on you ˹if you repent˺, but if you return ˹to sin˺, We will return ˹to punishment˺. And We have made Hell a ˹permanent˺ confinement for the disbelievers.”

In the first instance, in 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylonians besieged Jerusalem which fell after a 30-month siege, following which the Babylonians systematically destroyed the city and the First Temple. The Kingdom of Judah was dissolved and many of its inhabitants were taken as slaves to Babylon. The second siege of Jerusalem of 70 CE was the decisive event of the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), in which the Roman army led by future emperor Titus besieged Jerusalem, and following a five-month siege, the Romans destroyed the city and the Second Jewish Temple and enslaved and deported the survivors. There were no Jews left in Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem was thoroughly sacked by the Romans. Buildings, homes, and walls were torn down, leaving the city in ruins. The level of devastation was such that Josephus claimed that those who visited the city after its destruction could scarcely believe it had ever been inhabited.

In this period mentioned in the Qur’an, it was the Bani Israeel who were the Khair Ummah of the time. Allahﷻ said that they were living lives of disobedience and refused to repent, so Allahﷻ allowed His warlike slaves to enter the holy city and destroy it and enslave the Muslims. Allahﷻ didn’t say that this was because of what the people in Jerusalem were doing, but because of what the Bani Israeel where doing generally wherever they lived. That is why many scholars have quoted these Ayaat and said that Jerusalem is a meter to check the health of the Muslim Ummah. This is also what Sayyidina Omar ibn Al-Khattab (R) mentioned in his letter. Today as we see what is happening in Filastine we must reflect on how we may be the reason it is happening. Like excess cholesterol harms the heart, not the mouth or stomach, our actions can cause results elsewhere.

To understand this logic let us look at another famous incident, the disobedience of the archers in Uhud. Rasoolullahﷺ  put 50 archers on the small hill near Uhud and gave them specific instructions: ‘Protect our backs. If you see us being killed don’t come to our aid. If you see us winning, do not join us. If you see the vultures flying off with us,