Prof. Dr. Halis Aydemir graduated from Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Electrical and Electronics, Department of Electrical Engineering in 1995. In 1998, he received his master’s degree in Hadith from Bursa Uludag University, Institute of Social Sciences and in 2004 he received his PhD. In 2008, he became an associate professor and in 2014 he became a professor. In 2020, he started his duty as a member of the High Board of Religious Affairs. He continues his academic studies in the fields of orientalism, Qur’anic studies, and tahqiq.
Palestine stands as one of the earliest regions to bear evidence of human civilization. This land, harboring the holy city of al-Quds, has served as a cradle for divine religions and has borne witness to the lives of numerous prophets. What significance, then, does this land hold for humanity?
The importance of Palestine for us is considerable. There are some religious reasons for this. The Prophet (saw) was born in Mecca. He migrated to Medina. While in Mecca, the Messenger of Allah (saw) traveled to Masjid al-Aqsa through a journey we call Isra’. The Holy Qur’an states: “Glory be to the One Who took His servant ‘Muhammad’ by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed, so that We may show him some of Our signs. Indeed, He alone is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing.” (Isra, 17:1)
When Allah the Almighty took the Messenger of Allah on this journey, it was at a time when we were at the bottom of our despair, just as we are today. Today, we, as the Islamic ummah, are also at a time when we are at the bottom of our despair. Palestine has started bleeding again. It started to get wounded again through Gaza. This has started to make us feel more helpless and worse. The time when the Messenger of Allah traveled to Masjid al-Aqsa was no different. First, his wife, Khadijah passed away. Khadijah was an important figure in the life of the Messenger of Allah, a safe harbor for him. In his most difficult time, he lost his beloved Khadijah, he lost Abu Talib, he lost everything, and he had nothing to hold on to. Today, our ummah has lost everything, lost their state, lost their political unity, lost their economic unity, lost their scientific unity, and even lost their love among itself. Moreover, with this, the issue of Masjid al-Aqsa, Palestine, al-Quds, and Gaza is suddenly on the agenda of the ummah, and even on the agenda of the world.
For us, the importance of Palestine began in the place where the Messenger of Allah set out on his night journey with an invitation from the heavens to seek solace from adversity. There is another aspect of Bayt al-Maqdis that interests us. It is our first qiblah. During the years of Mecca, the Messenger of Allah (saw) used to turn his face towards Palestine and worship towards Bayt al-Maqdis. It was precisely after the Isra’ and Mi‘raj events that the people of Medina set out to invite the Messenger of Allah (saw) to Medina. After Allah called His Messenger to Isra’, first to Bayt al-Maqdis, al-Quds, today’s Palestine, then to Mi‘raj, and sent him back, the threshold was crossed, and the most difficult point was passed. After that, easier, more beautiful days began. Therefore, at the center of our consciousness about Palestine is our first qiblah, Masjid al-Aqsa. In the words of the Messenger of Allah (saw), it is also one of the three shrines where you can go to pray. Our Prophet (saw) says, “Do not undertake a journey to visit any mosque, but three: this Mosque of mine (Masjid al-Nabawi), Masjid al-Haram and Masjid alAqsa (Bayt al-Maqdis).” (Muslim, Hajj, 511) As we can see, the Messenger of Allah has equated this place with Masjid al-Haram and his own Masjid. Therefore, from our point of view, this is the place that Allah declares in the verse that He has blessed its surroundings. Starting from the time of Umar, the ummah established their sovereignty here, and throughout history, they have done their best to protect this place in terms of security and peace. In this sense, it has a privilege. But of course, wherever Muslims live, every Muslim’s dignity, honor, property, and possessions are things that need to be protected. Believers should support each other in this sense and take care of each other’s problems. When it comes to Masjid al-Aqsa, it becomes even more important. This place has such a background in terms of our religion, and we are interested in it. We have always been interested in it throughout history. We cannot tolerate oppressors taking over this place or oppressors coming and being in power here. Years have passed, and the region has changed hands many times. Each time, the Muslims brought peace back to this region.
Today we are witnessing a human tragedy in Palestine. How would you evaluate the situation in terms of human rights?
Allah the Almighty revealed the true face of all the unfounded conventions called human rights, which were spread over all the geographies of the world over a small geography of thirty thousand square meters. The West’s own children deciphered this before the Islamic ummah. Things they never expected to happen. The images of cruelty that spread from Palestine to the world did not cause a reaction at first, but after a while, they started to resonate in the hearts of conscientious and just people. They said, “There is a massacre going on here; people are dying here.”
In the West, young people have started using the word “massacre” to describe the actions of the terrorist state of Israel. In a world order where even speaking one word against Israel in the West can land you in court, fearless young people stood up in the face of arrest. This voice of conscience began to spread globally in a domino effect. This was completely unforeseen. There might have been millionstrong demonstrations in the capitals of Islamic countries, but no one expected million-strong demonstrations in Western capitals. No one could have imagined that young people in the West would be interested in what was happening in a thirty thousand square meter area on the edge of the Middle East and that they would skip classes at school and participate in demonstrations on campus. In many countries, including Japan and the UK, we have witnessed crowds of people taking to the streets to show their sensitivity to the oppression in Palestine. Some of us have begun to wonder if the world has turned upside down, but let us never forget that “They planned, but Allah also planned. And Allah is the best of planners.” (Anfal, 8:30)
The people of Gaza have given very significant messages to the whole world with their presence and stance. What lessons did the people struggling for life in Gaza teach us Muslims and the peoples of the world?
Palestinians lost their children, their homes were destroyed. They have experienced situations where their little ones have starved to death in front of their eyes when they could not find a morsel of food or a drop of water to drink. The resistance they demonstrated in this situation, where people lost everything, attracted the attention of the whole world.
Something unexpected happened, and people around the world started to question where the Palestinians got this power from. They asked, “What is their faith that gives them this strength? What kind of faith is this that relieves a people, that enables them to overcome even the pain of losing their children, and then to enable them to continue their struggle and to long for the day when they too will return to Allah?” People began to take the book of Allah, the Qur’an, and read it. Soon the news began to appear on websites and social media pages that young people who had heard about Islam through Palestine, who had come to know Islam, and who had expressed their sympathy for Islam, had become Muslims. Suddenly, we witnessed a world in which the process of Islamization in the West was accelerating. We witnessed the Palestinian flag flying in the capitals of Western countries, on the most prominent university campuses.
What would you like to say as your last words?
At this point, the question we need to ask ourselves is: What is our responsibility regarding Palestine? Are we endeavoring in a way that we can justify ourselves before Allah the Almighty in this process in which Allah is testing us? This is because Allah the Almighty has obliged us to do the best we can. Allah obligated us believers to be sensitive to oppression, and if there is an oppressed person somewhere - whether he/she is a believer or not - to stand against the oppression and come to the rescue for them. Today, we must react by using all the means at our disposal and by telling the people around us about what is happening. No matter how difficult the conditions become, we should not forget the fact that Allah is with us.
