Roya Pour Bagher
After 18 months of the Zionist regime’s relentless genocide in Gaza, some Sunni scholars have called on all Muslim countries to intervene militarily, economically, and politically to end the aggression. Ali al-Qaradaghi, secretary general of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), made the statements on the social media platform X. Backed by 14 other prominent Muslim scholars, his statement slammed the failure of the Arab and Islamic governments to support Gaza and called it a major crime according to Islamic law. He further added that any form of support for the Zionist regime is forbidden. The committee, therefore, explicitly issued a fatwa requiring an air, land, and sea blockade of the occupying entity. Meanwhile, the Egyptian Grand Mufti declared the issuance of such a fatwa as “irresponsible.” Another Egyptian Salafi cleric, Yasser Burhami, also rejected the IUMS fatwa, describing it as contrary to Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with the Israeli regime.
However, the important question is: Where is the response to the fatwa? There is still no military intervention led by the much capable Arab states to stop the genocide in Gaza. More importantly, is it not time for Arabs and Muslims to form their own resistance and give a helping hand to Gaza, so that the current resistance factions are no longer isolated or constrained in their efforts? This is not a farfetched phenomenon. The Quran mandates fighting the oppressors for the weak.
“And what is wrong with you that you fight not in the cause of Allah and for those who are oppressed among men, women, and children whose cry is: ‘Our Lord! Deliver us from this town whose people are oppressors, and raise for us from You one who will protect, and raise for us from You one who will help.’” (Holy Quran, 4:75)
Rising against tyrants is a reality both we and our ancestors have witnessed. After the Israeli regime was forced into a ceasefire by the resistance Hezbollah in Lebanon in November 2024, illegal Israeli presence persisted in some villages of South Lebanon. The residents of the South, both men and women, received neither orders nor weapons—they marched to their lands and confronted the Israeli tanks with their own bodies. This went on until the occupiers retreated from some of the villages—sacrifices were made to accomplish this. Another example witnessed in the time of our youth is the fatwa issued by Ayatollah Sistani in June 2014 for every able-bodied Iraqi to defend Iraq from ISIS terrorists. A resistance formed, today known as People’s Mobilization Forces (PMF), with ordinary citizens responding to the religious command. Sacrifices were made, but they succeeded in defending their land and protecting their people while ISIS ran rampage in other countries.
One cannot ignore the fact that the very resistance factions that have been militarily, economically, and politically supporting Palestine for decades came to birth by standing up to their respective oppressors. Today’s resistance factions were born from the ashes of tyranny. Some did not even possess any military capabilities. Years of protest rooted in Quranic principles of justice and resistance against tyranny led to an Islamic revolution in 1979 in the now Islamic Republic of Iran. Both courageous men and women flooded the streets all over the country. Protests that were turned into bloodshed are still commemorated today. The mind-boggling aspect was that the leader of the revolution was in exile while guiding the nation to resistance and revolution. This is to show that where there is a will there’s a way. Iran’s Islamic revolution inspired other noteworthy revolutions and resistances like the South African revolution that ended apartheid and the formation of the resistance in Lebanon, Hezbollah. After decades of fighting apartheid, the regime was toppled through mass protests after Nelson Mandela’s trip to the Islamic Republic of Iran, where he met Ayatollah Khamenei, a man he later referred to as his “Leader” during an official visit to the country in 1992. Inspired by Ayatollah Khomeini’s movement, Hezbollah was formed in 1982, which led to resistance against the Zionist occupation and liberation of Lebanese lands.
Did Libya and Algeria not witness resistance against colonization? It was the Sanusi resistance, rooted in Sufi principles, that fought Italian colonization for decades in Libya, and witnessed hundreds of thousands of sacrifices. Although it was only until 1951 that Libya gained independence, the struggle against colonization remains a pivotal chapter in its history. In Algeria in 1832, it was Abdelkader al-Qadir al-Jazairi, an Islamic scholar and military leader, who organized a resistance against French colonization for 15 years.
Indeed, resistance against tyranny and oppression is not a far-fetched phenomenon. One can see its presence today and in various time periods in history. Movements have been successful even without weapons. However, a price must be paid and the people need to be willing to pay that price. More importantly, the overreliance on governments, especially at times it is clear that the government is a foe, not a friend, and is openly helping the Zionist regime, must be discarded. Instead, people need to rely on themselves and their abilities in helping the oppressed Palestinians. As the Holy Quran says, “…Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves” (13:11). Moreover, if no action is taken, the consequences will inevitably reach them.
On March 18, 2025, the Yemeni leader of the Ansarullah movement, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, gave a similar warning to other Arab countries who are sitting idly by as the Israeli regime presses ahead with its brutal attacks on the Palestinian resistance. He said the Zionist aggression would extend undoubtedly and without restraint if the Palestinian cause is liquidated.
This is also a warning given to us Muslims by the Holy Quran:
“And fear a trial which will not strike those who have wronged among you exclusively, and know that Allah is severe in retribution” (8:25).
In other words, an even bigger price will be paid if people do not mobilize and take action against the expansionist Zionist regime. From the villages of South Lebanon, where unarmed civilians marched against Israeli tanks, to the fatwa of Ayatollah Sistani that birthed Iraq’s resistance, the lesson is written in blood: When people rise, oppressors fall. The question is: Will certain groups in our ummah fire at will, or let the flames consume them next?
Roya Pour Bagher is a news writer based in Tehran, Iran.
