Twenty-Seventh Ramadan Lecture Presented by Al-Sayyid Abdul Malik Badruddin Al-Houthi, 1443 A. H.

Twenty-Seventh Ramadan Lecture Presented by Al-Sayyid Abdul Malik Badruddin Al-Houthi, 1443 A. H.

Factors That Led to the Emergence of the Israeli Enemy and Its Occupation of Palestine

I seek refuge in Allah from Shaytan, the outcast.

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

Praise is to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. I believe that there is no god but Allah, the Sovereign and the Manifest Truth, and that Muhammad, our master, is His servant, Messenger, and Last Prophet.

O Allah, confer Your salat and blessings upon Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad as You conferred Your salat and blessings upon Ibrahim and the Family of Ibrahim. You are Owner of Praise, Owner of Glory! And be pleased with Muhammad's good companions and all Your righteous servants and mujahidin.

Brothers and sisters, peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

O Allah, guide us and grant us acceptance, for You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing; accept our repentance, for You are the Relenting and the Merciful.

At the beginning, we should thank our dear people for their great interaction and participation in observing the International Quds Day. We ask Allah (Glory be to Him) to be a rewarder to all those who participated in the occasion and to grant them acceptance. To pay efforts for the sake of the right position and rise your voice in support of the right cause and against the enemies (the enemies of Allah, the enemies of Muslims, and the enemies of humanity) is one of the great acts of worship and the good deeds that draw one closer to Allah (Glory be to Him).

Attending this occasion by the Ummah to get its voice heard and position declared is a matter of great importance since falling into a state of complete silence and inaction in which a person stands idly and does not say or do anything against his/her enemy is a state that is far from being the right state in every respect: Simply, it is an approach that does not go in line with the Holy Quran and with Allah's instructions and commands mentioned in the Holy Quran, and it does not follow Allah's Messenger (PBUH&F), nor does it have anything to do with what is logically right and people naturally stick to in dealing with their enemies who use all in their power to target them in all fields.

To widely observe the International Quds Day in many various countries and regions of the Islamic world is a matter of great importance, even though there are peoples in some countries who are experiencing a state of oppression and find themselves helpless and unable to take any action due to the positions adopted by their governments and regimes.

There is no doubt that all the peoples of this Ummah deep in their feelings and conscience stand with the Palestinian people and sympathize with them; however, declaring a position against the Israeli enemy, which constitutes a threat to All Muslims—indeed, its threat, wickedness, and harmful efforts do not only target Palestine and what it has occupied of the Arabs’ countries near Palestine. The threat and danger it poses spare no one. As we said, it is a corrupted and corrupting entity, and it is a disease and seeks to export and spread corruption. Therefore, the Ummah should adopt a position towards it and towards this cause, which is a very clear cause that no one has doubt or disagree about: All people already agreed on the fact that it is an enemy, that the right position one should adopt is to take action against it, and that Palestine and the Palestinian people are part of the Ummah. Indeed, the right and proper position that goes in line with human nature cannot be clearer, and there is no confusion about it. Therefore, for those who now deny it and start adopting different positions and who enter into alliances with the Israeli enemy and take it as a Wali , they deny clear and fundamental facts, the same facts they once acknowledged. Sometimes, they pretend that they used to sympathize with the Palestinian people and to stand with the Ummah in its declared position at various stages in the past.

The Israeli enemy, even though many factors have led most of the sons of this Ummah to whether live in a state of fear, repression, and oppression or either to fall into a state of deviation and take the Israeli enemy as a Wali of great influence on them or to fall into a state of great negligence towards responsibility and greatly fall short in obtaining Taqwa and raising awareness of the serious consequences of negligence, shortcoming, and carelessness—various factors, along with the great pressure the Islamic world is experiencing today because of the globally-active Zionist Jewish lobby and the Israeli enemy, have pushed people into many problems, riots, and crises that distract many people and aim to target the Ummah's stability. That way, it can never have stability and always remains in turmoil, which is aimed at making it possible for the enemy to achieve its goals through the conspiracies and riots it plans and through the crises it invests in and makes worse, as well as through the problems it feeds and studies well how to exploit. The enemy wants from all of that to achieve its main goals: to weaken the Ummah, distract it, scatter its efforts, and make it lose all elements of strength at the moral, material, scientific, and religious levels so that it can have total control over it and fully exploit it, taking advantage of its bad situation. This kind of control is aggressive in its nature and motive, for the enemy, even when having control, wants this Ummah to remain in a very bad state at all levels: at the level of morals, faith, and values, as well as at the level of religion and this worldly life.

Being in such a state has made many people neglect their duty and responsibility towards this cause (the Palestinian cause) and the threat the Israeli enemy constitutes to all Muslims. It is a threat posed by the globally-active Zionist lobby, which widely operates through America, the UK, and some Western countries that implement its policies and move according to its conspiracies.

The Ummah itself is getting harmed by the state of negligence and ignorance that prevails among many of its sons. That is because such a state is useless in pushing away any evil or danger and at the same time can never exempt people from accountability. If the state of negligence, ignorance, and carelessness towards what we should do and care about could benefit us in any way, it would have benefited Muslims to a great extent since it is the state that prevails in the reality of the Islamic world, in the reality of the nations. Indeed, the reality of the Ummah would have changed to the greatest extent if that state were of any benefit. However, the reality proves that it harms the Ummah and serves and benefits its enemies: the Jewish, the globally-active Zionist lobby, and the Israeli enemy. It really benefits the enemies in general because it enables them to carry out their conspiracies and schemes against the Ummah while not in a state of readiness to stand firm and take action against such a threat—all are in a state of inaction and immobility, and the stage is open and makes conditions perfect for carrying out plans and conspiracies.

How was the Israeli enemy established in one of

the Muslims' lands?

One of the most important Quranic facts that is worthy of our attention, meditation, and great care is when the Zionist Israeli enemy established an entity for itself in one of the Muslims' lands with the use of power, force, crime, deception, and aggression and then turned this land, which belongs to Muslims and contains some of their most sacred things, into a base to spread its corruption and evil among the Ummah. This in itself indicates a significant flaw in the reality of the Ummah, a flaw that enabled the enemy to infiltrate one of the countries of the Muslim world. It has seized one of the Muslims' lands with force, crime, injustice, oppression, and aggression, committing the most heinous and horrific crimes and using force against a nation that belongs to this Ummah and part of it, of the Muslims, and of the Arabs. On top of that, it built an entity that had an army and military power and moved to launch aggression against other countries in the Arab world at that time. This entity has remained a base for plotting against the Arab-Muslim world and hopes to gain control over them through different methods that are not limited to military war but also include soft war, that kind of war that uses different weapons.

Allah (Glory be to Him) says about the Jews in the Holy Quran, {‘They have been stricken with humiliation wherever they are caught, except through a rope from Allah and a rope from the people. And they have incurred wrath from Allah and have been stricken with destituteness’}. {‘They have been stricken with humiliation wherever they are caught’}; therefore, this is a constant state regardless of time or place and must affect them when they move to subjugate and target any ummah like the Islamic Ummah, the Islamic world. However, His saying {‘except through a rope from Allah and a rope from the people’} illustrates a very important matter that Muslims should pay attention to: The Israeli enemy would not have been able to impose itself by force in a Muslim land that contains some of Muslims' most important sanctities and to succeed in oppressing a Muslim nation and exporting corruption into this Ummah if it was not for a significant flaw in the reality of the Ummah. That is because the way presented by Islam at the educational and practical levels, when followed, protects the Ummah from infiltration and builds it to be strong enough to face its enemies. It grants the Ummah victory, protection, might, and strength so that it can overcome challenges and face enemies. So how is it possible for such enemies who are stricken with humiliation and destituteness to humiliate the Islamic Ummah, achieve significant and serious goals, and keep challenging this Ummah for long decades? This is a very serious and negative case that requires the sons of the Ummah to examine their reality for any flaw or shortcoming—all aspects of shortcoming that kept them from obtaining Allah's victory and support and was the reason that enabled their enemies, the ones who are stricken with humiliation and destituteness, to defeat them!

In Allah's saying {‘except through a rope from Allah’}, the rope from Allah is to give dominance: He gives them this because of the horrible shortcoming and disorder caused by the other side, the side of Muslims, in our Islamic reality, for example. {‘And a rope from the people’} is like the support provided by others, such as the West, which is standing in support of the Israeli, Zionist enemy. Negligence and shortcoming are also another rope from people in general and from Muslims because of their shortcoming and negligence in their oil and media, as well as in all their practices that could help the enemy and become a means to serve and support the enemy.

The need to wake up and stand up to this serious threat

This indicates how dangerous being distracted from this matter is. That is because it, some but main and major part of it that has played role in what happened, has to do with our reality. It shows us that when we want to move, for example, under the title of confronting this enemy, a large part of the tasks, the actions, and the responsibilities are related to correcting our reality. When seeking to confront this enemy, confront this threat, and confront this evil, which is a great evil for us as an Islamic Ummah, a large part of our effort should focus on taking care of our internal reality so that we correct it and immune it. This is what many people do not understand because they think of the battle only as a military battle. It is true that the military aspect is an essential and main part of the battle and must be taken with great care as we will speak about that later, but there are still other aspects that go with it side by side: Those aspects that have to do with the reality of our lives in all other fields that have a great impact on this battle. At the same time, this title must be present: the title of taking responsibility in confronting that enemy, of showing enmity towards that enemy, and of taking it as an enemy. This is an aspect the Holy Quran guides to, and it explains to us the nature of the battle and the causes and the rationale for its developments.

When we, for example, come to study how this entity was established in a land of our Islamic lands at various stages (starting with Jewish gangs flocking to the land of Palestine), how was the general attitude of the Ummah? How much attention did it early pay to this issue? Did it respond properly? No! Off course, it did not, and this spirit still prevails in the reality of the Ummah, even in the face of various threats.

A lot of people do not comprehend the importance of moving as early as the situation requires to counter the threat, yet they want this threat to take its complete form in reality in order for them to believe it is indeed a threat and to believe that the enemy has aimed to bring the situation to what it is. This is the case when we say that there are indeed clear conspiracies by the enemies of the Ummah to take over the entire Islamic world and over all our countries and control all of us in this Ummah, all the peoples. Some do not comprehend this fact or realize that these people certainly have their own ambitions and hostile tendencies and motives. Therefore, whenever they see that the conditions are perfect and this Ummah has become an easy target (it enjoys no invulnerability, might, strength, or a project to counter the conspiracies of its enemies), they will not hesitate to seize this opportunity, which the Prophet described in a hadith by saying, ‘The people will soon summon one another to attack you in the same way people when eating invite others to share their dish.’ It is as if they were inviting others to a feast that is heavy, gourmet, and tempting, so they invite one another to it from everywhere. So they asked, ‘Will that be because of our small numbers at that time?’ He replied, ‘No, you will be numerous at that time, but you will be scum and rubbish like that carried down by a torrent.’ In this negative state, the Ummah, even though it is a large ummah with huge capabilities and a large geographical area, will be stricken with al-wahn : He said, ‘He will fill your hearts with al-wahn.’ This very serious state (‘scum and rubbish like that carried down by a torrent’) makes the Ummah lose the value of its potentials, its number, and its capabilities, as well as the required effectiveness. That way, it does not get as strong as it should be according to what it has and what is available for it of the elements of strength, necessary capabilities, and all of that is available in its hands. Rather, it does not devote effort to that because it is, in the first place, unware of the matter as a whole.

For the Ummah to be in a state of negligence, shortcoming, disobedience, heedlessness, and inconsistency with the true path of Allah, and to do what gives others dominance over itself and enables its enemies to have an upper hand over itself, this in itself is a very dangerous issue.

The need to understand the nature of the conflict with

the Israeli enemy

When we focus on the nature of the conflict with this enemy, just as its establishment, it is a case that indicates an improper reality in our Ummah and a flaw that occurred, which led to what happened, so is the case of some of the people of the Ummah who rush to take that enemy as a Wali , to ally with it, and to cooperate with it. We said yesterday that they are enabling that enemy to control them, mislead them, corrupt them, and exploit them. It will never turn into a true friend, no matter what they do to it and no matter what they give it: It will not turn into a true friend, neither to the Saudis, to the Emiratis, to Al Khalifah, nor to any Arab or Muslim (no matter where they are from) heading this wrong direction to take the Israelis as Auliya . It remains an enemy, but it seizes the opportunity, as it enjoys a better chance to take control in this soft way and to corrupt and mislead : to mislead them in everything, including in attitudes and orientations, and to corrupt them and their peoples. That is because they open all doors for the Israeli enemy; they open everything for it, and they give it all privileges that make it more powerful and all the necessary facilities so that it can move without any restrictions, obstacles, or barriers when executing its conspiracies in misleading, corruption, and exploitation. In its eyes, they remain nothing more than cows to milk, donkeys to ride, etc. They are nothing but worthless animals, exploited to the fullest extent of exploitation. This is what is happening.

This state in itself is not right at all. It is not an absolute political perspective or choice so that s/he can tell you, ‘This is a free country that follows any policy it likes regarding its international relations.’ This is not the case: Taking the enemy as a Wali—even though it is an enemy to you as well as to your Ummah, to your religion, to your Prophet, to your Scripture, and to everything that is dear and sacred to you as a person affiliated to Islam, even if you do not count it an enemy, it is so as it is an enemy to your affiliation—is a matter that should not be taken lightly.

Therefore, Allah (Glory be to Him) says in the Holy Quran, {‘So you see those in whose hearts is a sickness hastening into them’}: They rush to take the enemies as Auliya and tirelessly seek to serve the enemies, which is very common among normalization-seeking people, and to do whatever provides them with services and facilities and makes leaps in their relationships with the enemies—highly extraordinary leaps. This state reveals an important fact Allah has mentioned in the Holy Quran: {‘So you see those in whose hearts is a sickness.’} {‘In whose hearts is a sickness’} shows that this state is odd and irrational at both the moral level and the level of common sense. These people have lost their common sense and innate values, as well as the Islamic values; they no longer have faith, Taqwa, honour, dignity, pride, or anything of the Islamic, moral, and innate values.

This state, which reflects a major flaw and shapes positions, demonstrates real deviation from the principles of Islam and is considered as a state of Nifaq. A basic part of the plan of the Israeli enemy is to deeply infiltrate this Ummah, and that is why it, along with the Zionist lobby (which backs it from behind), focuses on gaining Muslims' loyalty and subjugating them as a main way to dominate the people of this Ummah: to gain their loyalty and make them obey it through carrying out its conspiracies against themselves! These conspiracies are presented as policies and schemes under deceptive banners that deceive many people in the Ummah and make them execute and fund these schemes, though these schemes weaken, corrupt, and mislead them—they enable the enemy to control Muslims and drive them away from Allah's support.

The importance of mobilizing enmity-based efforts to confront the policy of subjugation

So this negative aspect occurs most likely when a person no longer feels enmity and instead falls into a state of heedlessness. The enemy focuses strongly on making people loyal to it and on causing the Ummah to abandon its feeling of enmity towards it as an enemy and its efforts to mobilize one another against it. This is one of the most important things the Holy Quran has focused on. Even so, it is one of the most important things the Muslims have neglected to the point that some Muslims may reject this and consider it unnecessary; they even get upset when there is any activity that mobilizes people to feel enmity towards that enemy. It is this state what protects people from taking it as a Wali: to mobilize efforts to create a state of great enmity in a way that translates this enmity into positions, activities, chants, and slogans. Concealing this state and not expressing it even in words should not take place and is a very stupid thing. Indeed, there are some extremely absurd opinions that are not consistent by any means with the Holy Quran or with reality.

When the enemy focuses on making people show obedience, promoting loyalty to it, and creating an open environment where there are no obstacles, this environment becomes an easy target and makes it possible for it to execute its schemes and conspiracies successfully. However, when there are efforts to mobilize enmity and raise awareness through the Holy Quran. Allah (Glory be to Him) has greatly focused in the Holy Quran on repeatedly and strongly warning against taking enemies as Auliya. Therefore, this should receive due attention in the reality of the Ummah at the educational, cultural, and media levels. It should not be a matter that receives no mention: If it were not necessary to speak about it, why does the Holy Quran speak about it, focus on it, and use strongly-worded and important expressions and a serious warning? This is because it is a serious matter that requires to be raised in the reality of this Ummah.

Allah has warned against obedience to the enemies: {‘They would turn you back from belief to disbelief’}. This is what they seek to achieve in the reality of the Ummah: turning us back to be disbelievers through obeying them. They want us to turn back from religion and its values, principles, and ethics gradually, in a taming manner. This is very clear in the reality of those who have taken them as Auliya under the banner of normalization: They continuously and steadily turn back from religion and its values, ethics, and legislations. This is obvious to who observes them.

Some of the most important Quranic instructions for

overcoming challenges

One of the most important things the Holy Quran guides to is to seek refuge in Allah; to turn to Him; to move based on faith, which is essential for the Ummah to become capable of overcoming challenges and threats; to follow the guidance of the Holy Quran; to follow the Messenger (PBUH&F); to become an ummah that follows the source of guidance under one unified leadership and with the same orientation; to hold firm to Allah's rope all together; to guard against division and dispute; and to move with the highest sense of responsibility and Taqwa : {‘O believers, be mindful of Allah in the way He deserves, and do not die except as Muslims’}. The Ummah must pay serious efforts into this direction and realize the very serious consequences of neglecting its responsibilities and not paying due attention to this matter. It is the only position in the Holy Quran that presented this Quranic expression: {‘O believers, be mindful of Allah in the way He deserves’}—this shows how very serious and horrible the consequences of negligence towards this matter are. It also shows that the efforts paid into this direction must enjoy the highest sense of Taqwa, seriousness, and caution against negligence.

In the same context, another Quranic command in the blessed verses of Surat Ali 'Imran comes to highlight the importance of enjoying the spirit of brotherhood and cooperation and being an ummah that pays cooperative efforts to carry out its responsibilities to call to goodness, to encourage what is good, and to forbid what is evil. All of that is guided to in the Holy Quran and comes in the context of standing up to that enemy. So this matter is very important.

Also, Allah explains in the blessed verses of Surat Al-Ma'idah what is related to this matter and what protects the Ummah from it. He makes it clear that this challenge will get the Ummah into one of two states: either turning back or adhering to the characteristics Allah has guided to in the Holy Quran when He said:

{O believers! Whoever among you abandons their religion, Allah will replace them with others who are loved by Him and love Him. They will be humble with the believers but firm towards the disbelievers, and they fight in the cause of Allah, fearing no blame from anyone. This is the favour of Allah. He grants it to whoever He wills. And Allah is All-Bountiful, All-Knowing.}

If the matter were all about some people turning back from Islam while some others remained ordinary Muslims, Allah would have said, ‘O you who have attained faith, whoever of you turns back from his religion—then Allah will bring a people who embrace Islam, pray, fast, and keep fasting in Ramadan.’ But the matter is greater than that, as commitment to faith and religion also includes the aspects of responsibility. So Allah brings these characteristics and puts them in comparison to the state of turning back from faith. This kind of comparison in this verse is one of the most important things that shocks the human conscience, stirs his/her feelings, and makes him/her realize the importance of this matter. That is because if one does not seek to obtain these characteristics, s/he will fall into a state of turning back from the principles of this religion, from the authentic and essential values of this religion, and from the main responsibilities and tasks that are at the heart of this divine religion. This comparison is very important:

Before that, the Holy Quran speaks about how great will be the loss of those who hasten to satisfy the enemies, regardless of what form that habit of hastening to satisfy them may take. It is in the wrong direction that serves and benefits the enemies, a direction the enemies exploit to their benefit. The Holy Quran shows how they will become regretful and end up losers: {‘Their deeds have been nullified, so they became losers’}. Their hopes will vanish and go unfulfilled; it is these hopes that have tempted them to hasten . However, they will regret that.

The Holy Quran has confirmed these facts, and we indeed notice the good and fruitful results of moving into the right direction that goes in line with the spirit of Jihad and the sense of carrying out our responsibilities. Indeed, we have seen a positive outcome and success in the reality of the mujahidin in Palestine and the good, impressive, successful example provided by Hezbollah in Lebanon. We have seen these examples. We have also seen the great success achieved here in Yemen as a result of this positive direction that pleases Allah (Glory be to Him) and builds up the Ummah in its awareness to become a strong ummah and get out of the state of weakness and al-wahn that serves its enemies and enables them to bring it under their control. It is a direction that builds the Ummah in all fields so that it can overcome challenges. This is what really benefits the Ummah and brings good for it. This is beneficial to the Ummah, as it is what protects its religion and life, secures its future, and paves its way to Allah (Glory be to Him) and to His mercy, victory, support, and aid.

That is enough for today.

We ask Allah (Glory be to Him) to grant us success in seeking what pleases Him. O Allah (Glory to You), have mercy on our martyrs, heal the wounded among us, set free our captives, and grant us victory. You are All-Hearing!

Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.