Photo: Palestinians evacuate in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a house, in Gaza City, May 30, 2025
What a challenge Allah has given to His three Abrahamic religions in Gaza! From the perception of Arab states siding with those who are murdering 2.3 million of our brothers and sisters to the endless fights in Muslim tribal communities pre-election, which even burst into fisticuffs at the mosque on Eid.
And the endless intellectual conflict between hating the evil of Zionism while resisting anti-Semitism. Surely the Lord of all worlds has given us a great test.
One of my teachers at this time was a sister in Gaza, Dina, whom I was supporting. She told me we must be grateful for the test Allah has sent because it teaches us sabr (“thank God and you will gain a lot, a lot. Patience is the key to relief for our lives and our unknown destiny”).
She was my angel. The Occupation took her and her bub.
In my own life, last year was very significant. I joined a network investigating the local Zionist lobby, which made me a target. They have huge secret groups dedicated to destroying pro-Palestinians.
The CEO of one such organisation called the counter terrorism police and lied that I had made a bomb threat. So in the middle of Ramadan, my home was full of a dozen armed, masked men turning everything upside down.
It was obvious intimidation, but followed by video death threats from IDF commanders, and they wrote my name on a bomb and dropped it on a school “in Shayne’s name.”
Then they sent me the video of the children in pieces. There was defamation and doxxing, my kid stopped talking to me and one day, a miracle happened, just as I thought I would go under.
A man I didn’t know, the best criminal lawyer in the country, called me and said, “I want to help you because you are my brother.”
I do believe that our stories were written 50,000 years before creation, that God can only do good, and that everything happens because it is supposed to. I’d also say if there is no love in a word or deed, there is no Islam in it.
And I believe the martyrs of Palestine are unalive but not dead because they are with Allah awaiting that great day.
We are witness to the end of the Western hegemony and 500 years of colonial incursions and brutality and the end of that perversion of Judaism, Zionism, and its evil influence.
This is the interregnum, the reset, and we all get to help build the world better.
For me, its been a time of miracles and horrors, learning and trauma, and in it all I inched closer to my God. As Dina would say, I’m very grateful for all he has sent.
Many people told me I should have counselling or medication after my trials last year but do you know what the best medicine was for me?
A brother on the other side of the world said, “I will remember you in my prayers.” Hasbiyallahu la ilaha illa Huwa.
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