Al-Quds (Jerusalem) - the First Qiblah

After the centennial anniversary of Balfour Declaration, President Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the Zionist entity on December 6, 2017 by announcing moving of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This fulfills a resolution approved by the US Congress in 1995 under the Clinton administration. The plan was not implemented for the past 22 years as this was meant to be the final stage of the peace process between the Palestinians and the Zionists.

Regardless of where the capital is, accepting the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders is an acceptance of the illegal occupation of Islamic lands and betrayal of the Muslims. This announcement does not change the reality of Jerusalem. It has been occupied since 1967 and this announcement further adds to the humiliation of the Muslims.

For the past 100 years, the colonial powers such as Britain, France and America collaborated with their puppet rulers of the Muslim lands who have been shedding crocodile tears over the plight of Muslims of Palestine, while behind closed doors exchange laughs with the oppressors.

It was the corrupt Egyptian government that surrendered the Gaza Strip in 1967 and signed a peace treaty with illegal Zionist entity in 1978. It was the treacherous Jordanian government that surrendered Jerusalem and the blessed Masjid al-Aqsa to the occupying Zionists in 1967. It was the treacherous Syrian government that surrendered the Golan Heights to the illegal Zionist entity in 1967, yet fights the Muslims with all its might today. The Saudi government has recently admitted to opened backdoor diplomatic channels with the illegal Zionist entity.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while claiming that this declaration will cross the red-line continues to maintain diplomatic and economic ties with the Zionist entity despite numerous transgressions against the Palestinian Muslims. These Muslim rulers stoke Islamic sentiments when it is convenient to maintaining the status quo and gain political mileage. In reality, they have maintained and protected the Zionist entity. The only reason Palestine remains occupied is because of the collusion of the Muslim rulers.

(مَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْعِزَّةَ فَلِلَّهِ الْعِزَّةُ جَمِيعًا إِلَيْهِ يَصْعَدُ الْكَلِمُ الطَّيِّبُ وَالْعَمَلُ الصَّالِحُ يَرْفَعُهُ وَالَّذِينَ يَمْكُرُونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَكْرُ أُولَٰئِكَ هُوَ يَبُورُ)

“Whoever desires honor - then to Allah belongs all honor. To Him ascends good speech and righteous work raises it. But they who plot evil deeds will have a severe punishment and the plotting of those will perish.” [TMQ Surah Fatir: 10]

Al-Quds is tied to the Islamic Aqeedah. It is the first Qiblah of the Muslims, it is the land of Isra’ and Mi’raj, it is the land in which Prophet Muhammad (saw) led all of the Prophets in Salah, it is the land that was liberated by Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra), it is the land that was liberated by Salahuddin al-Ayyubi from the Crusaders and it is the land that was defended by Khalifah Abdul Hameed II from the Zionists in 1901. The reality is that Palestine is an Islamic land and enjoyed peace and tranquility under Islamic rule. This is Muslim land and no one has the right to give it away.

Muslims should not be asking the Trump administration or any other western government to stop acknowledgment of the capital. It is also futile to ask traitor rulers of Muslim lands to act on behalf of Muslims. Muslims need to view this as an Islamic issue and it is high time that Muslims cast away false, secular and non-Islamic solutions to the issue of Palestine and demand and work for the return of Islamic rule in the Muslim lands under the righteous Khilafah (Caliphate) upon the method of the Prophethood. The Khilafah is the way to unify the Ummah, its resources and forces to liberate and defend the Muslims of Palestine and the rest of the Muslim lands.