Israel is bombing Gaza. Again. In two days, there are 400 dead and 1400 injured. Hospitals overflowing, boycotts, blood, and dead bodies…

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said the Muslim ummah is like one body–if one part hurts, the whole body feels it and responds.

Do you feel the pain?

There are countless websites, emails, etc. that speak about this. We’re not going to reiterate all the points. Read about it here. Those are your brothers and sisters, your mothers and fathers.

So what can we do? Surprisingly, a lot.

Action Items:

  • Make Du’a. Learn about Allah’s Grand Name and use it. Ask Allah, Al-Mujeeb, the one who answers all calls, to alleviate their situation.
  • Donate. Whether you can afford $1000 or $100 or $10, whatever it is, just donate it. Every dollar counts. A good organization to donate through is Islamic Relief Canada; their donation page is here. (Can someone post comments to other reliable organizations inside and outside of Canada?)
  • Tell Your Co-Workers. If you work in a medium-sized or large-size company, email your Human Resources department and ask them if they will match donations. Summarize the cause, and when they reply, forward it to as many people as you feel comfortable with. And just tell people by word of mouth what’s going on!
  • Donate Recurringly. Don’t wait for Israel to bomb again. Decide how much you want to give, and give it–even $10–monthly, or quarterly, or whatever suits your budget. Put reminders in Google Calendar, if you need to–it will email you when you need to donate again (steps to setting up a reminder in the comments).
  • Sign the Avaaz Petition. Politicians and groups do notice these kinds of things–and it just takes a minute to sign. Add yourself to the petition here.
  • Boycott Israel. Israel is not even a legitimate state, to begin with; but I digress. Read this great site here, it summarizes how to identify (and thus, boycott) Israeli products. Economic pressure is one of the most powerful pressures we can apply today.
  • Spread the Word. If you don’t do anything else (except donate), do this. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said: The reward of someone who calls to good is the same as the one who does it, without either of them being decreased in it.

We ask Allah to help alleviate the sufferings of the people in Gaza, to grant them (and their families) sabar, to admit into Al-Firdaus Al-‘Ala those who have died, and to use this incident to revive the true Islamic spirit in the hearts of the Muslims.