The Palestine Letters of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse
Missives of Love and Resistance from West Africa to Jerusalem
* This essay is Part II of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse: Anti-Colonialism in West African Muslim Consciousness focusing on his views on Palestine, Zionism and the imperative of principled resistance. I chose to publish it on Ashura, commemorating Karbala and the ultimate struggle and sacrifice of al-Hussain, whose martyrdom—and those of the countless slain in Palestine—continue to stain humanity’s collective consciousness. May no fear, nor grief be upon the souls of the shuhada’.
By Allah, if I had access to but one Arab country’s power and capabilities, I would have already freed Palestine.
-Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse in a letter to the Arab League
In Karbala, I visited Al-Hussain seeking a means, to his father, the pleased one, seeking Allah. Ali, the father of the two grandsons, the Lion of Muhammad, by whose sharp sword I ward off calamities.
- From the Diwan of Shaykh Ibrahim
“Your eminence Mr. Kamel El-Sharif—Secretary General to the World Islamic Congress for Palestine—I received with much joy your invitation to meet at al-Aqsa on the night of the anniversary of the Isra’ and Mi’raj […] May Allah join us there in the holy sanctuary on the holiest of nights. With peace, Ibrahim Niasse.” — From the collection of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse’s foreign affairs/diplomatic letters, not dated, circa 1969.
When I first laid eyes on this previously unknown letter from Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse to my paternal great uncle, the gentle mujahid, Kamel El-Sharif, my heart raced. I never knew that the two foremost giants who contributed the lion’s share of my spiritual and intellectual formation met under the starry skies of the stairway to heaven in blessed al-Quds. What did they talk about? Was the air heavy with angels and prayers? Did they embrace one another? I like to think that any good I possess today is due to an answered prayer—an ancestral blessing—born out of that auspicious meeting on that special night.
Knowing what they both stood for, I am not surprised they met, let alone in the holiest of sites and the best of nights on the basis of their shared love and concern for al-Aqsa and saving Palestine. The two men solidified their lives’ legacies in service of Palestine as the holy grail of causes. They belonged to a time when it was still the central Muslim struggle. Back then, it was a time of men. A time when there was still a modicum of shame, when even the most corrupt scholars and rulers had to pay lip service—however disingenuous—to the importance of al-Aqsa and greater Palestine. Even though the heart of countless Muslims beat for it across all corners of the earth, today, the establishment leaders and scholarly elites who serve at the pleasure of tyrants and normalizers have colossally and wholly failed and abandoned Palestine.
What we are witnessing today then, is an utter collapse in Muslim moral leadership towards the blatant injustices in Palestine and other repressed communities worldwide. Every single time an innocent child dies of starvation or bombardment, the collective shame of the ummah grows deeper. In this time of weak subservience to the powers-that-be and the dystopic status quo, rulers callously imprison activists, truth-tellers and scholars for simply praying for the Palestinian resistance or even donating to Gaza. This genocide that has persisted for 9 months and counting has gone on unabated due to the rubber stamping from “Arab Muslim” collaborators. For the Palestinian struggle, this moment feels like the abyss of the abyss. I am glad the likes of Izzidin al-Qassam, Abdul Qadir al-Husseini, Shaykh Ibrahim and my uncle Kamel are not around to witness this pitiful moment.
It is no surprise then, that less than a century ago, an Arab freedom fighter in the figure of Uncle Kamel and a larger-than-life Shaykh from West Africa would join forces to co-found the Muslim World League (Rabitat al-alam al-Islami) motivated by the most urgent ummatic concern: the struggle in Palestine. As stated in the previous article, the towering figure of the West African Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse worked tirelessly against injustice and spoke fearlessly in service of the oppressed. He lived and spread knowledge in the tumultuous 20th century; a time when the myth of the “post-colonial” became crystallized. Unlike the Sufis of the 19th century—when colonial encroachment was clearly announced and their destructive motives towards Muslim communities were as apparent as the light of the sun—in the post-Caliphate era, Muslim political leadership disintegrated and people became more divided than ever, drunk on the kool-aid of colonially born nationalism and “independence.” When the dust of disunity firmly settled to sow division in the crevices of Muslim collective consciousness, Shaykh Ibrahim remained firm on his uncompromising principles, truth-telling and walking the Prophetic path of justice and vanquishing the idols of fear.
Shaykh Ibrahim warned of this collective humiliation and collapse in visionary leadership. Reading his clairvoyant words and gleaning lessons from the uncompromising positions of the true rijal (men) of yesteryear are of grave, existential importance today, because they remind us that this endemic complacency is not normal. It never was and never will be. The rousing truth will always pierce through the veils of deception and hypocrisy, no matter how bleak the times.
Through an archive of a vast array of letters from Jakarta to Jerusalem, Shaykh Ibrahim enjoyed a vast global network and corresponded with Arab autocrats, socialists, and resistance leaders alike, but did not bend towards their varying ideological commitments. Rather, he called both Arabs and Africans to Allah without fear or apology. As such, he was spared of the calamitous spiritual malady of nifaq (hypocrisy): of changing his tune depending on who was listening, because he practiced one of the greatest jihads of all; of speaking a just word in the face of a tyrant.
The Palestine Letters1
In what follows, I share excerpts from Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse’s dynamic, commandeering vision for Palestine. He saw the Palestinian struggle as the single uniting cause for the ummah. As an African scholar, he did not shy away from speaking fearlessly to Arab leaders thinking it is “not his place,” instead, he reminded them to take a real stand. If the events of our harrowing moment show one thing, it is the prescience of such advice, given the way in which Arab and Muslim leaders have grossly failed and abandoned the Palestinian people.
Palestine was at the center of his concerns due to the status of the Aqsa mosque and its hallowed grounds. Above all, it is a matter of the preservation of life and dignity not just anywhere, but the very beating heart of the Muslim world: Jerusalem. The blessed meeting point of all the prophets of God. The site of the miraculous ascension. The perpetual, physical reminder that true goodness, true holiness, lies in justice.
Shaykh Ibrahim warned Arab leaders especially of the existential peril of turning their backs on al-Aqsa and Palestine. He presciently cautioned Arab and Muslim leaders that by doing so, they would not only be turning their back on their responsibility, honor and duty, they would be abandoning God in the process. He therefore acted as a proof (hujjah) against them. It is exceedingly clear that by not heeding his advice, this ruinous proof has been established upon them today: they are being shamed in the worst forms of self-inflicted humiliation and degradation for their unfathomable abandonment of Gaza. By allowing the rivers of Palestinian children’ blood flow across the rivers Jordan, the Nile, and the Euphrates, they’ve secured their abode overlooking furious flames in hell.
On a number of occasions, Shaykh Ibrahim met with and wrote strongly worded letters to Arab leaders, reminding them of the imperative of defending Palestine against Zionist aggression. For example, in a letter to Iraqi Prime Minister, Abdul Karim Qassim, Shaykh Ibrahim warned:
Let the Palestinian cause be the only cause you unite behind.
And in another—perhaps one of the most important—letters he wrote on Palestine, a scathing missive directed to members of the Arab League in 1967, after the infamous defeat of the Six Day War:
We do not consider ourselves foreigners to this cause, because even if [membership in] the Arab League does not bind us to beloved Palestine—and even if Arab blood and that of Qahtan (an Arab tribe) does not course through our veins—it is our commitment to true Islam that obliges us to be victors for this just cause, which is an understanding that colonialism and Zionism tried to obscure. They tried to make this cause to be one between Jews and Arabs, one which others have no stake in, but our Islamic consciousness has been watching over and preventing [such failed attempts].
[…]
The enemy in this cause is the global Zionist movement, and to resist such an enemy, such a danger, then it behooves us to counteract it by formulating a global Islamic movement, one that can recruit loyal soldiers from Dakar to Green Island. Recall the name “Israel” is a constant reminder that this callous aggression has occurred in the name of religion. Therefore, it is fundamental that it is fought on the basis of religion, also. Not to mention that Israel’s presence in the minds of all the free people of Africa is a threat to all the ideals and principles Africans have fought against.
We are, therefore, brothers in this struggle and companions in this battle. We call upon you in the name of God, brotherhood and friendship, not to leave your meeting before coming together in a positive, collective, revolutionary plan that will put an end to this shame that our consciousness all suffer from.
For it is as if we are all spiritual refugees, strangers so long as this humiliating defeat persists […] and every Arab and Muslim is to consider themselves in perpetual spiritual and mental exile from the land of dignity and honor, until the victory and opening comes from God.
We do not doubt you can accomplish this task by God’s permission, for each of your countries is able to wipe away this shame if it wishes, for by Allah, if I had access to but one Arab country’s power and capabilities, we would have already upheld justice as it should be upheld and champion the oppressed. Take this cause seriously and enjoin each other in the good and hold firm to the long road of patience, for as you know, Israel has ambitions that extend far beyond raping Palestine and the River Jordan: it seeks to takeover from the River Nile to the Euphrates.
Indeed, the “The enemy uses its pernicious colonial powers to oppress by force, and it is indeed a powerful force. But they cannot withstand in the face of your power that is defended—before all else—by the justness of your cause, your relentless faith, global public opinion that supports you, as well as the revolts that spring forth from your lands and your geographic location. Above all, the spiritual heritage that each of you carry has the power to turn even the worst forms of torment into sweetness because it is in defense of what is Just. The call of justice is beckoning you and when the battle reaches its zenith, remember this: Do not lose heart or despair for you have the upper hand (Qur’an 3:139); and If Allah helps you, none can defeat you (3:160); and O believers! If you stand up for Allah, He will help you and make your steps firm (47:7).
Surely, Allah has tested you with a river, so do not say “oh, it is impossible” but rather say what those who know they will meet their Lord said, “How many times has a small force vanquished a mighty army by the will of Allah. And Allah is always with the steadfast.” When they advanced to face Goliath and his warriors, they prayed, “Our Lord! Shower us with perseverance, make our steps firm, and give us victory over the disbelieving people.” So they defeated them by Allah’s Will, and David killed Goliath. (2:249-251)
A Religious War?
Today, it is a common liberal talking point to rebuff this conflict as a religious one. We keep hearing the refrain that it is “purely political,” (as if the religious is not also political and the political is not also religious, but I digress.) “It is not a holy war of fanatics in the holy land, it is a real estate struggle only,” or “Zionism is not Judaism and it is only a political, fascist ideology.” Sure, those things are partially true.
But—jarring as this maybe to liberal, secular sensibilities—it is also a religious war. Not in the sense of a crusading “holy war”, but rather, a war for the spirit of true faith. Islam is the majority faith commitment of Palestinians and let us be honest, without their faith as an anchor, the people of Gaza would not have been able to withstand even one day of this brutal genocide. They—and native Palestinian Christians—see Zionist aggression as an unjust war on God, prophecy and all that is good and holy.
Most importantly, Shaykh Ibrahim reminds us that “this callous aggression has occurred in the name of religion. Therefore, it is fundamental that it is fought on the basis of religion.” Even if the motivations of Zionists are “political” in nature, they are, after all, done in the name of Judaism and under the banner of the Star of David. It would be madness, then, to look at all of this and simply say, “oh, it is simply political,” when to the perpetrators—they declare everyday with every bomb that falls on a mosque or child—it is a religious war against Islam and Muslims.
Why is this re-framing important? Because by watering down this genocidal war as purely political, we fail to understand the larger dimensions at play here. When we focus on the political, we are too quick to dismiss the anti-Islam animus that drives feeds the climate of genocidal mania in Israel, Europe and the US. We fail to see this as a war on Divinity itself, on human morality, on Abrahamic virtue, and on Prophetic heritage. We fail to take seriously Islam’s untapped universal potential as the final revelation to humanity. We overlook why the Qur’an is filled with stories of the Jewish people—the Bani Israel and Moses in specific—as both a warning and a roadmap for those who reflect. When we dismiss “the religious”, we fail to internalize what happens when a religious community—so deluded by their “chosen people” complex based on theological and racial superiority—that they so easily become the mirror image of their canonical enemy, Pharaoh, whose God-complex led to his ruination.
Ultimately, Christians and Jews—Zionists and non-Zionists alike—need to grapple with their position vis-a-vis Islam and Muslims in a more serious, introspective way. But they are not to blame: they cannot do that when Muslims themselves shrink themselves and play small, afraid to step into the full power of their faith commitment out of fear of retribution.
Why is it a radical idea to suggest that perhaps it is the people of Gaza who are the “chosen people” of God? Not as card-carrying members of the club of Islam, but as the David-esque heroes of our age, who are fighting solo Israel’s Goliathan evil and supremacy that has been fattened up with decades of impunity by the Christian west.
Let us remember that, under Israeli rule, what was once a holy land for all people of faiths, turned not only into a brutal apartheid state, but a graveyard for children. Thousands of them. Are these the true teachings of Judaism and Moses? Are these the principles and ideals of the Abrahamic faiths? Are these the footsteps of Jesus, who himself was a Palestinian Jew? Clearly, there are gargantuan moral and ethical failings at play here which will face a serious reckoning in this life before the next, so it would be foolish and incomplete to underplay the faith dimension of what is happening. As Shaykh Ibrahim put it in a rousing letter to the Muslim world in 1969:
Certainly, by committing these heinous crimes, Israel has proved once again that it does not deserve to remain in al-Quds (Jerusalem), and is not worthy of looking after these holy places. For it knows nothing but evil deeds and treachery.
[…]
Indeed, Israel has declared war on every Muslim worldwide; it has in fact declared war against the Lord of the worlds Himself.
Their crimes will not go unpunished. And Israel did not commit this crime against Islam & Muslims alone. Rather, all the enemies of God are helping it.
However, by the power of God, all of them are rushing towards the same fate: which is their complete destruction & demise.
Ahead of the Six Day War, it is also said that Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse wrote to Abdul Nasser privately and said, “I am ready to amass an army from West Africa and mobilize them for jihad in Palestine,” to which Nasser allegedly replied, “leave this issue to the Arabs.” Thus is the difference between ethnic-based, supremacist leadership and visionary, universal leadership.
Shaykh Ibrahim saw race or ethnicity—whether Arab or African—as irrelevant in the struggle for universal injustice. Thus, Muslims and Arabs have been afflicted with having to face the enemy of supremacist Zionism to test whether they have transcended racism and ethnic chauvinism, or whether they will fall into the same trap as their enemies. Muslims still have a choice: when they are free, will they be Yazid, Nimrod and Pharaoh or will they be David, Moses and Muhammad?
Would they accept the teachings of an African Black scholar, Shaykh Ibrahim and his rousing words on Palestine? Or will they reject the truth just like Bani Israel did based on a sense of inherent superiority? Ultimately, these are the uncomfortable questions that Muslims need to grapple with, to be true inheritors of the Prophetic path of justice.
Love: the Opposite of Injustice
I end this essay by emphasizing that Shaykh Ibrahim’s scathing abhorrence towards injustice, Zionism, colonialism and supremacy was not motivated by hate. Rather, it is love that motivated him. Love for God, love for the good, and love for humanity. Indeed, all true visionaries and revolutionaries fight for love, not hate. Yet what perhaps distinguishes Shaykh Ibrahim’s fearless ethos is his singular devotion to the figure and presence of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
As mentioned in Part I of this essay, Shaykh Ibrahim was one of the most ardent, devoted lovers of the Prophet having wrote many dawawin (anthologies) in honor of the Beloved of God. These poems are sung with beautiful devotion to this day constantly in the city of Madina Baye, the spiritual city he founded in the Kaolack, Senegal, where I just returned from another enriching visit (see below for an example of a recitation).
There, you might be sitting in the maqam (burial site) and be graced by the many nightingales of Madina Baye who specialize in singing Shaykh Ibrahim’s madih (praise) poetry. Interwoven within the dazzling praise poetry, describing the grace and perfection of the Best of Creation ﷺ, you might hear these lines:
I asked my Lord to humiliate very soon
The wicked Israeli gangsters, the foolish ones
And purify for us al-Quds al-Sharif (Jerusalem)
And destroy Eban (Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1966-1974) and Dayan (Israeli Defense Minister who oversaw the capture of East Jerusalem during the ‘Six Day War’ in June 1967) with their cursed necks
Indeed they have fought the prophets Jesus, John and Muhammad
So afflict the Zionists of Jerusalem with every hardship
And liberate for us (Mount) Sinai for the sake of Moses and Muhammad
And Isa and Ibrahim, the men of Lofty Status
—Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse, Diwan Sayr al-Qalb, Harf Lam
There is no contradiction, according to Shaykh Ibrahim, between his ardent love for Muhammadan prophetic perfection and cursing tyrants. Why? It is because of the understanding that abhorring injustice is true Prophetic love in action. His practice of Sufism was not softened or pacified for the Western, liberal gaze, nor was it rendered complaint by co-religionist quietists. Shaykh Ibrahim’s uncompromising commitment to justice came not in spite of his devotion and love of the Prophet, but because of it.
His love for the Prophet and for prophecy enabled him to identify the enemies of prophecy. Those who fight light with darkness and sow evil on earth. He was not a docile Sufi hermit, who spoke only of selfish, interior spiritual development at the expense of communal responsibility and global suffering. He understood Islam as a universal message to humanity and thus acted and spoke like it, with both attributes of Jalal (might) and Jamal (beauty) in one breath. He knew that if Divine love did not bring goodness and change to the world, then it rang empty and hollow. He set an example for what a modern, courageous Muslim freedom fighter and Sufi warrior of the word, deed and pen can look like: one that does not cower in front of tyrannical religious and political authority, but rather, stands tall in Muhammadan love and strength.
This is the principled resistance our present moment so sorely needs. One lit by the fire of fury and Prophetic justice, not submerged by subservience and cowardice. Thankfully, the people of Palestine embody, understand and uphold this idea of resistance and martyrdom as the ultimate act of love. They do not need these reminders. Rather, it is Muslims and Arabs outside Palestine who need to heed these reminders.
May we heed the advice of true Prophetic inheritors and walk courageously in the footsteps of Shaykh Ibrahim and his beloved Palestinian people. And like al-Hussain, may we collectively shun the illusory world of fear and tyranny, so that we can finally be free. May we all be worthy to stand with the Palestinian people when they finally gather at a free al-Aqsa and may we never forget: that every day is Ashura and every land is Karbala.
Amin.
Gratitude is owed to Ustadh Boubakar Niang for collecting Shaykh Ibrahim’s Palestine Letters in one book, entitled Al-Quds wa al-Shaykh Ibrahim: Qissat Ishq Khalida “Jerusalem and Shaykh Ibrahim: an Eternal Love Story”. Published by Rabitat Ansar ad-Din in Cairo, 2020. A copy of the book was gifted generously to me by Ustadh Mustafa Briggs.