In its campaign to wipe Israel from the map and restore part of the Islamic homeland, Hamas is using a technique to sway world opinion and, in particular, the sentiments of Muslims.
Specifically, Hamas declares that the conflict is religious, between all Muslims and Jews. Indeed, the name Hamas in Arabic represents the first letters of the phrase, "Islamic Resistance Movement."
Clearly, Hamas’s leaders, sitting in their penthouses far from the battlefield in Gaza, view this tactic as essential.
They need the Muslim world, which numbers more than one-and-a-half- billion people, to support their cause and pour more funds into their coffers.
Yet by doing so, Hamas has placed itself, all Palestinians, and all Muslims — into a very difficult and complex situation with respect to the Quran.
How so?
That is because the divine words in the holy book of Islam construct a far different view about the land of Israel and who owns it.
Take, for examples, three of the relevant passages from the Quran:
"O my people (Children of Israel)! Enter the holy land which Allah has written (given) to you [as a contract]," Ch. 5 v. 21.
"O ye Children of Israel! We delivered you from your enemy, and We made a Covenant with you (promise) to give you the blessed side of Mount (Sinai)," Ch. 20 v.80.
"And We made those people, who suffered persecution (The Children of Israel), inheritors of the lands in both east and west, - lands whereon We sent down Our blessings. The fair promise of thy Lord was fulfilled for the Children of Israel, because they had patience and constancy," Ch. 7 v.137.
These verses are unambiguous about the Quranic view on the ownership of the land of Israel (The blessed land). But why haven’t these verses — and many more — been considered obvious all along?
When Muslims read these verses, many if not most of them try to relegate them to the past.
Such an interpretation is baseless, however, because nothing in the Quran supports that conclusion. The words in the verses, which refer to the people of Israel as "Inheritors" and the land as "promised"— remain unchangeable by time.
The "promise" of God in the Quran is unbreakable:
Never does God depart from his promise, Ch. 30 v.6.
Additionally, the Quran is clear that God is the only one who has the right to give the land to any one he chooses.
"The earth is God’s, to give as a heritage to such of his servants as he wishes," Ch. 7 v. 128.
What's truly strange about this matter is that the Quran never mentions God giving land to Muslims. On the contrary, the holy book is clear that God has endowed the "blessed" land to the Children of Israel. Similarly, it is notable that the Quran never mentions the word "Palestine," while "Israel" is cited in more than 40 verses.
In brief: ironically, Hamas attempting to define the Arab-Israeli conflict as an Islamic issue rather than a political issue brings them into direct conflict with the Quran itself.
Dr. Hamid, a physician with a degree in psychology, is the author of "Inside Jihad: How Radical Islam Works, Why It Should Terrify Us, How to Defeat It." Read moreo f Dr. Tawfik Hamid — Here.
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