I know this has been excruciatingly difficult for you, bro. Honestly, I couldn't imagine. I was 7 years old when Egypt attacked the zionist on October 6th, 1973, and I remember my parents glued to the TV & radio any chance they got. But the impact was nothing compared to this as that was a "conventional" war and Egypt was fighting to reclaim its stolen land, not a lopsided massacre despite Hamas' valiant effort. Can't take anything away from them and for those who can't understand the mentality or reasoning for Hamas to do what they're doing, it's because they're not Muslims as well as are not from the region, so it's understandable. Rarely you'll get someone outside of both those criteria such as
@Davey Crockett , but as we're seeing he's interested in becoming Muslim so he's making the effort to understand this uniquely Muslim and Arab trait, which is why he seems to get it.
I'm going to use your quoted post
@Falcon29 to delve into this concept a bit more for the others who seem to have difficulty understanding how Hamas can do the things they did & are doing, and to accept the blowback in the toll of human loss, the devastation of the entire strip as well as seeing the remarkable resilience of the Palestinian people who've barely complained about what Hamas is doing. The latter is where that uniquely Muslim trait comes in. So I hope you don't mind me using your post for this and I will answer your question another time if you don't mind. About Egypt and why it's not doing the things you mentioned, which is also very understandable. I can't speak much for the other Arab countries, but I will indulge you on Egypt's reason Insha'Allah gimme some time because I want to get past this first as I see it to be important to catch in time. And you know me, I can write a book in a single post no matter how hard I try to keep it short looool. So disclaimer to anyone if you don't want to read the rest.
I had this discussion with
@j_hungary on this thread way back when it all started on the old forum and he couldn't understand what the hell Hamas was thinking knowing quite well not only will their people take a beating like they have, but they'll personally be hunted down in the most evil ways known to mankind. His thinking was purely strategically military with an achievable goal that is calculated based on capability and many other factors that give a higher percentage of success. And without that success, the mission is reconfigured or not even conducted at all because there has to be an attainable, physical & strategic objective while avoiding or minimizing own assets. I told him while that's all fine and dandy but this is different. And while he's looking at it from a military perspective because of his military background, that kind of thing doesn't and cannot apply in this case.
@Foinikas also seems to think along those same lines which is also understandable as I said, despite his super familiarity with Arab culture and warfare/strategy, he's still not Muslim or native.
The concept of fighting فِي سَبِيلِ ٱللَّٰهِ fī sabīli llāh or "in the cause of God" & "for the cause of God" is exactly what this is all about. To understand that one must delve deep into the struggles of Muslims and how the religion teaches you to deal with those struggles.
It's actually plain and simple because it's not so much about strategy and numbers and dissecting probabilities of success or any of those conventional military strategies. It's about fighting for freedom with your faith in God. If your people are oppressed, and they have been for 70+ years under the brutal occupation of the zionist and you have no capability but to fight in your tracksuits with everything you own, it's your obligation. No matter if you have to sacrifice your land, your home even your people, you do it because it is your honorable duty. This is why the Palestinian people who are being slaughtered are not complaining. Instead (
@Davey Crockett you'll appreciate this) they're saying things like Allahu Akbar (well known to everyone) "God Is Greatest", or "Alhamdulillah" (Thanks be to Allah) and "Hasbunallahu wa ni'mal wakeel"
حَسْبُنَا ٱللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ ٱلْوَكِيلُ which is part of a passage in the Qur'an. It means -
‘Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs.’
That last one is really important to understand where it comes to us in Sura'at Al Imran, verse 173. The complete verse is:
ٱلَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّ ٱلنَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا۟ لَكُمْ فَٱخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَٰنًا وَقَالُوا۟ حَسْبُنَا ٱللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ ٱلْوَكِيلُ
"
Those to whom hypocrites said, ‘Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them.’ But it [merely] increased them in faith, and they said, ‘Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs."
This is important to understand the psyche behind such a sacrifice. When Muslims have the obligation to fight oppression and all they have is their own strength and their faith (Iman), that's all they need, and the rest is God's will. It's as simple as that and that is exactly what Hamas is doing and because so much of the world doesn't know this simple fact (or chooses not to understand it), then it's much easier to either label them as terrorists or blame them for being selfish and self-destructive. But in the end, if you really think about it, what else can they do to fight oppression? To fight occupation? To fight for dignity and the dignity of their people even if they must suffer the way they have been. What else is there? I know Hungary had a tough time understanding that, and I don't blame him. Like I said earlier, it's religious and it's cultural and if you don't subscribe to either, it's difficult to understand unless you really open your mind.
I was listening to a podcast by The Mad Mamluks (bunch of Muslim/Americans out of Detroit - they're on YouTube also) and they played this segment from an Israeli talk show where the host was telling his guests (a dude & dudette) how almost all Israeli people don't understand how Hamas will not and cannot be defeated because it's not just a group that's labelled as "terrorists" or even "freedom fighters" depending on which side you're on, but it's a religious concept and you cannot defeat a religious concept.
It was fascinated at what this host was saying because he understood it. He continued by talking about this being a religious war and that was the difference between the Israelis & the Palestinians where the former is fighting for country & survival (occupation actually) and the other is fighting for their religion and their people. Their religion which teaches them to be patient in times of distress and difficulty and he brought up another verse in the Qur'an "Innallaha Ma'al Sabireen" إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ which means
"Indeed, Allah is with the patient". I found that extraordinary and totally surprised that a zionist would recognize the concept, let alone understand it!
He continued to expound on that and talked about how Hamas as Muslims have that patience that they could never understand and he made the distinction that he's not talking about being patient or impatient from waiting for your cheeseburger, but the patience taught from the Iman of Muslims which is a whole other ballgame and these are the differences that make up the concept of Muslims fighting the oppression of their people in the cause of Allah.
I know the other fellas understand all this and if I missed anything, please feel free to jump in and add or correct. But I do hope this answers the concept behind the reasons for what Hamas is fighting for to Foinikas & Hungary and anyone else.
