Muslims can help ease the suffering of their fellow Muslims in Palestine through the payment of their zakah, charity, yields of their endowments, or even through ill-gotten money which they intend to purify. Allah Almighty says, (…And whatsoever you spend (for good) He replaces it. And He is the Best of Providers.) (Saba’ 34: 39). One of the main duties of the Muslim Ummah is to support Muslim brothers and sisters in Palestine, to provide them with the means to regenerate their power, and support them till Allah grants them victory over the Zionists. An-Nu`man ibn Bashir quoted the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as saying: “You see the believers as regards their being merciful among themselves, and showing love among themselves and being kind, resembling one body, so that, if any part of the body is not well then the whole body shares the sleeplessness (insomnia) and fever with it.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari)
It is stated in fiqh books that it is obligatory upon all Muslims in the East to take up arms to ease the plight of a Western Muslim woman persecuted, because of her religion, by those who have sworn to be enemies of Islam, in case her Western fellow Muslim men’s hands are tied, unable to end her captivity and resolve her difficulty. We call upon all Muslims within the boundaries of the Muslim and the Arab world as well as outside the territories of the Muslim Ummah to leave no stone unturned in helping our fellow Muslim brothers and sisters in Palestine.
We should equip our dear Palestinian brothers with the necessary logistics to grant them victory over their enemy, by creating job opportunities for the unemployed and reconstructing their demolished hospitals, mosques, homes as well as the other institutions razed to the ground.
Supporting our fellow Muslim Palestinians who are persecuted and forcibly driven out of their homelands at the hands of the Zionists is a form of Jihad rather than mere donation.
Dr. Nasr Farid Wasil, former Mufti of Egypt, adds: There is nothing wrong in giving zakatul-fitr (obligatory sadaqah given by Muslims before the prayer of ‘eidul-fitr) as well as other forms of alms to support the Palestinians who are at war with the Zionists in Jerusalem and within the Palestinian territories. Those people are in dire need of food and shelter. It is also permissible to transfer zakah as well as charity from one Muslim country to another in order to support those who are in need, because all Muslim countries are considered one entity. The phrase “in the way of Allah”, which is one of the categories among the recipients of zakah, includes everything that preserves the dignity and honour of Muslims, secures the Islamic call within and outside the Muslim territories, and caters for the needs and support of Muslim soldiers. Financial assistance is necessary in the light of the current plight of the Muslim Ummah nowadays.