Woe to the Hypocrites: A Gazan Child's Last Will and Testament
The Gaza Holocaust as the Great Revealer of the Rot Within
Do you smell the stench? No, I am not talking about the smell of burnt corpses. Of the melted flesh melded with the hot, blistering plastic of tents. Of the odor of the heads of pure, blessed children, incinerated in a flash. I do not speak not of the bodies of these innocent martyrs. Nor of the smell of the thousand sickened, starved, tired bodies. For they smell of angelic musk. Of glory, of heavenly eternity.
Rather, what you smell is the stench of “Western democracy.” The rot of those who wage a “civilized”, “legal” slaughterhouse against defenseless refugees. Those who behead sleeping babies in the name of “Western values.” I speak of the reek of Israel and its unchecked murderous criminality. Its barbaric bloodlust. Are these the shining Judeo-Christian values that for so long you have posed as antidotal to Islam’s threat of “radicalism”? Is this your idea of what a democratic and progressive world order is to look like in the 21st century? One in which genocidal mania, arrogance, mass murder and supremacy reign supreme? If the Gaza Holocaust accomplished one thing, it is that any sort of veneer or pretense of morality or superiority of the ‘rules-based-order’ and the nation state system has firmly fallen.
It is one thing to witness the wanton depravity of those openly perpetrating this genocide: the sneering hypocritical politicians in their silk neckties like nooses lying openly on our screens. The corrupt, morally crippled Zionist agents in American politics writing “finish them” on bombs before they fall on babies, women and children in Gaza. God is already exposing the henchmen of Zionist supremacy and they are finally being seen as the pariahs—as the monsters—that they are. They’ve already shown us who they are: that they are full supporters of genocide. Thankfully, on that front, there is no ambiguity anymore.
As a Muslim of Palestinian descent, I am more interested in the chameleons in our midst. Those “brethren” who feign support for the Palestinian cause outwardly, but if you cut them, a Zionist bleeds. The ones named “Muhammad” or “Abdullah” but are in fact so subservient to the Kingdom of Fear—to their own interests and the wretchedness of the status quo—that even a genocide was never a red line for them. The ones who change their color and their tune depending on who is looking. We must direct our attention to those who feed and sustain the parasitical rot from the ugly underbelly with equal vigor as we do towards the active aggressor.
Thus, I speak of a much stronger stench. The stink of those who remain silent in the midst of such atrocities. The nauseous funk of those “Muslim and Arab” leaders and scholars who, for so long, have aided and abetted such base evil with their twisted religious and political jargon while acting all helpless and innocent and have gotten away with their complicity. Those who “decry” and “condemn” but ultimately do nothing to stop the killing machine. To those I say: may every single drop of blood shed in Gaza be on your hands on Judgement Day. May your eyes stare in horror unto the evil of your complicity and may you regret your stances for eternity.
Two months before he got his wish of becoming a shahid inshAllah (martyr), a child by the name of Muhammad Abdulqadir al-Husseini left a will. It was found after he presumably died in a burning tent in Rafah, though it is hard to confirm the details. Regardless, the veracity of the message rings true. In it, he did not write about his family, or measly belongings. He did not write about Israel or America, rather, he gave a scathing last word and addressed “the Arab and Muslim leaders” who let this happen. “May God never forgive you,” he writes.
In his wide eyed innocence and rousing truth-telling, young Muhammad saw it necessary to address those sheep in wolves’ clothing who claim to be “among us”, but who are complicit in this orgy of devilishness as a historical record and a testament to the ages: that the Gaza Holocaust could not have gone on without the support of the turbaned, high and mighty elite. Without the loyal servants of state tyranny in Muslim garb. Without the collusion of callous criminals aiding in the strangulating chambers of white phosphorous and famine, who did absolutely nothing to stop the slaughter.
As a child, Muhammad knew that the blame is on those who stood by in shameful, complicit silence. He also saw it fit to differentiate between the people and their rulers. He gave a nod to the pained masses living under the thumb of oppressive regimes next door, knowing full well that their hearts are with Gaza and the Palestinians. But perhaps he left this letter as a calling cry for them, to stop being helpless, to awaken and to sacrifice themselves for a better tomorrow, just like he and his people have. Perhaps he wanted to show them, that if a little boy could live without fear under bombs, why can’t they?
In truth, this boy had more honor, wisdom and valor than all of the ummah’s leaders combined. Not only does he carry the last name of my own children, he also carries the name of the great Jerusalemite leader and hero Abdulqadir al-Husseini, who was a visionary and a pioneer in Palestinian resistance, as he was among the first to lead a revolt against the British and Zionist colonization of Palestine. For Abdulqadir’s memory and that of the precocious shahid Muhammad al-Husseini in Gaza—whose torn flesh is still warm—we must honor his memory and his will. We must honor and document their legacies of light, to hold them in sharp contrast with the stances of the most treacherous among us.
It must be said without equivocation: the blame of the Gaza Holocaust falls on Muslim leaders and apologetic scholars for decades of duplicity, selfishness and complicity. They are to blame for being the idolaters of our time: for their security states that do more to protect tyrants than innocents. For perpetuating their royalist propaganda, their nationalist slogans, their “Independence Day” parades as idols to be worshipped—as deities in the grip of this Satanic, globalist, cult of death. For their apologia and excuses for evil. For using their titles, ijazas and accolades in Islamic scholarship as a fig leaf for oppression.
They are to blame for their soothsaying lies, for keeping the masses sedated with fear and intimidation while providing cover for genocide. They are guilty of the crime of Pharaoh, by making an idol out of their own regimes and their titles. For deifying themselves as above reproach. For referring to the Palestinian cause in speeches alone, while their hearts harbor fear and succoring favor from their overlords, the henchmen of death.
They are worse than the ones openly and proudly committing this genocide because they are hypocrites, which, according to Islamic theology, is worse than outright disbelief because hypocrites hide behind the falsity of their faith to advance their callous treachery. No wonder the Qur’an refers to them at such great length. The Qur'an addresses the issue of hypocrisy and hypocrites (referred to as "Munafiqun" in Arabic) in several verses, emphasizing their deceitful nature, lack of true faith, and the consequences they will face. I spoke about the linguistic root of the word “munafiq” in a previous post, and explained how the word shares the root letters ن ف ق with the word ‘nafaq’ which means ‘tunnel’. A hypocrite, thus goes from one end of the tunnel to the other depending on what suits him. You might see him on one end today and on the other end tomorrow.
Their deception makes it very hard for timid, well-meaning, docile Muslims to call them to account or identify them, for fear that they might wrong a fellow believer. However, the Qur’an is clear that their actions will speak for themselves and will clearly point to their duplicitousness. If hypocrisy were not a dangerous rot to any Muslim community across time, Allah would not have mentioned it so amply in the Qur’an. For example, someone by the name of Muhammad son of Salman can claim to believe in Allah and the Day of Judgment, but in reality, he does not. His outward expression of faith is merely a facade. This is why, he can uphold the title of ‘Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ while hosting a WWE Smackdown Championship in Jeddah while Rafah’s innocents burn, or colludes with Biden about resuming “normalization” during the genocide, evoking this verse:
And of the people are some who say, 'We believe in Allah and the Last Day,' but they are not believers. They [think to] deceive Allah and those who believe, but they deceive not except themselves and perceive [it] not. (Qur’an 2:8-9)
Another tell-tale hallmark of hypocrites is their double allegiances: they attempt to please both believers and disbelievers, but they belong to neither side truly:
Indeed, the hypocrites [think to] deceive Allah, but He is deceiving them. And when they stand for prayer, they stand lazily, showing [themselves to] the people and not remembering Allah except a little. Wavering between them, [belonging] neither to these [i.e., the believers] nor to those [i.e., the disbelievers]." (Qur'an 4:142-143)
In the Qur’an, the hypocrites are described as having weak, duplicitous characters, with fluid commitments who can easily be swayed and who lack firm belief:
And when they meet those who believe, they say, 'We believe'; but when they are alone with their evil ones, they say, 'Indeed, we are with you; we were only mockers.' [But] Allah mocks them and prolongs them in their transgression [while] they wander blindly. (2: 14-15)
After seeing babies burnt to a crisp, some people are thanking God for hellfire, when previously, they might have thought Divine wrath as being too “extreme” or harsh. The Qur'an also warns of severe consequences for hypocrites:
Allah has promised the hypocrite men and hypocrite women and the disbelievers the fire of Hell, wherein they will abide eternally. It is sufficient for them. And Allah has cursed them, and for them is an enduring punishment. (9:68)
Thankfully, we are told that Allah will expose their true nature and intentions, showing that their deceit will not go unnoticed or unpunished both in this life and the next:
When the hypocrites come to you, [O Muhammad], they say, 'We testify that you are the Messenger of Allah.' And Allah knows that you are His Messenger, and Allah testifies that the hypocrites are liars. They have taken their oaths as a cover, so they averted [people] from the way of Allah. Indeed, it was evil that they were doing. That is because they believed, and then they disbelieved; so their hearts were sealed over, and they do not understand. (63:1-3)
The Gaza Holocaust is making the Qur’an come alive to us, and revealing something that is even more ominous at play: that the inferno is already here. People have already created Hellfire with their own hands in this life before the next. Thus, Divine retribution has already begun: as this tyrannical, archaic, maniacal system gasps for its last breaths, it is only a matter of time until the hypocrites learn that their silence, excuses and collusion can no longer protect them. The too will burn in the wake of this system that sees them as nothing but fodder for empire. As this rotten system withers away, it will make sure to reap the heads of those who have outgrown their usefulness, as it senses its infallible immunity coming to an end.
The masses have finally begun to awaken, but it is too late: the Leviathan will not go down quietly into the night. Rather, its curse is that it will multiply and be replicated in allying locales where they know their unchecked power will continue to stunt and capitulate. Now that this maniacal system is drunk on Palestinian blood, it has become completely blinded to the extent of its own depravity. As this empire of death and lies falls, it will thrash and kill as many souls as it can. It has become so addicted to the steady supply of blood, that it will gladly act as model for other tyrannical armies to duplicate their massive killing projects.
Perhaps the starkest, most poetic earthly retribution as a result of the complicit collusion to the Holocaust in Gaza will be that everyone who stood idly by will likely be next in the line of slaughter.
As veteran journalist Chris Hedges warned in a recent, rousing speech, “we will kill you without restraint and no one will stop us. One day you will all be Palestinians.”As the infernal retribution begins for those who stood by and watched, let them remember the ever-lasting, harrowing words of little shahid Muhammad and every child slain in Gaza who proclaim, “I will complain to the Creator of the Seven Heavens about you.”
(A note of gratitude: this Substack was recently honored with a follow, a recommendation and a pledge by Chris Hedges — he is one of the few morally upstanding, resounding voices of our time. I am grateful for his support.)
