04/04/2025
An Open Letter to Scholars and Leaders in Times of Genocide — Dr. Asim Qureshi
I penned this open letter to Islamic scholars and leaders, to consider their seeming absence in the midst of 18 months of genocide. This is my heartfelt plea to them, to move beyond limiting themselves to du’a and charity appeals.
We are told by the Prophet saws, that our scholars are the inheritors of the Prophets, but why do they hold themselves back by saying that they need to teach the people their religion, when the religion is also to stand up for justice?
The reality is this: I am sure that if I placed a bullet on a table, and told every single one of our scholars that this bullet was destined for the head of a Palestinian, unless they picked it up and put it in their pocket, none would hesitate to confiscate the bullet.
So we have to ask ourselves, where are we in relation to stopping the supply lines that provide oxygen to the machinery of Zionist violence?
I was listening to a charity pitch during tarawih by a famous Muslim speaker. He was asking for donations to educate Palestinian children - otherwise how can they move on with their lives? But brother, how can they move on under the occupation, even with all the schools?
Our charity is needed. But it is ultimately being sent to subsidise the Zionist genocide. The Zionists destroy infrastructure - so the ummah enters into an abusive relationship to rebuild that infrastructure - never to stop the occupier.
I’m sorry to be blunt, but only being involved at the level of publicly encouraging others to donate to Palestine and to make du’ā is the easy choice. To call to that alone is a choice that comes as a byproduct of fear.
This fear is one that was forged in the global War on Terror — and one that occupies the hearts of many ulamā today. The fear is natural, but the debilitating nature of it in our a scholars is a major concern.
This fear produces a spiritual dissonance - one in which Allah is taught as being the almighty and the One over whom none can exert power - yet in practice our scholars haven’t internalised His power in the face of potential repercussions.
My open letter makes some recommendations to scholars on how they can be more involved - be more brave and be more present for the Palestinian cause, especially through supporting groups like Palestine Action - they are needed at this time more than ever.
Islam21c
Muslims look to their ulamā for leadership, but this genocide has heightened the sense of absence.
