Untold Stories Special: Life in Gaza During the War

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Tariq Saeed, Gaza

As part of The Review of Religions’ ongoing coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict, we wanted to capture the sentiments of people living in Gaza who have been directly impacted by the war. After several days of trying, The Review of Religions finally got in touch with Tariq Saeed, who lives in Gaza. He shared his sentiments in a series of voice messages, which took him several days to send due to the lack of access to internet or cellular connection. He wished for these sentiments to be shared with the world. Here are his harrowing yet faith inspiring words:

Only Allah Almighty knows the suffering and circumstances we are going through at the moment. We pray to Allah that He removes this darkness. Unfortunately, Palestinians are the only people in the world who are living under occupation in this manner. But Insha’Allah [God-willing], with the prayers of the Ahmadiyya Caliph (aba), peace will be established, the rights of our oppressed people will be established once again, and Allah Almighty will dispel this grief. 

The circumstances are extremely difficult. We have no water, no medicine, no food, no electricity, no clean water, not even graves – we don’t even have graves.

Unfortunately, the worst atrocities, persecution and racial discrimination are being committed against our people under this occupation. 

In all honesty, what eases our pain is when we listen to the sermons of our beloved Caliph (aba). This, along with the prayers of the members of the Community all around the world give us hope in life. May Allah Almighty bless our beloved Caliph (aba). 

Alhamdulillah [All praise belongs to Allah]; we are just awaiting relief from our Lord and pray that He doesn’t allow this to endure any further. 

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Pray for us because this is a major catastrophe. 

My family’s home was bombarded, and my business, which I had been running for over 20 years and was my only source of income, was also bombarded. They are trying to humiliate us. We have no medicine, no water, and no food, but we never forget the bounties our Lord has blessed us with. Insha’Allah, with the prayers of the Ahmadis and the Muslim Ummah, Allah will dispel this oppression. 

I have already described the conditions we are living in, but there is suffering upon suffering. 

Understand that the people of Palestine are the only ones in the entire world who are living under occupation in this manner. There is no other occupation like this in the world except in Palestine. Unfortunately, if it were not for the Arabs being divided and far removed from faith, and if we had just listened to the guidance of the Caliph (aba), the situation would have been much better than what it is now. 

In any case, we pray to Allah that He doesn’t allow the situation to worsen, and that He rids our people of this oppression, and that He grants us His mercy. 

Over the past 35 days, I have had to move to five different houses, from one area to another. However, in the 365km² of Gaza, there isn’t even a single square metre which is safe, unfortunately. 

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I am a volunteer for Humanity First and I used to check all the water filter stations. May Allah bless Humanity First, as it set up six stations in Gaza, and this had a profound impact on the Palestinians. It is a vital source of clean water.

In any case, please pray for us, and I convey my greetings to all our friends in the Community. Convey the greetings, and embraces of the people of Palestine, especially those in Gaza, to our beloved Khalifah. We eagerly await the Friday Sermons of the Caliph, and we wish to just read the spiritual words he speaks. 

I testify before God that we are being subjected to endless torment and suffering. We pray that Allah Almighty grants our beloved Caliph a long life and blesses him. When we see even a picture of him, we are filled with hope and love for Islam. And for this, we pray for him. Convey to him our greetings and sentiments. God willing, his prayers will be accepted by Allah, and the prayers of all the Muslims and Ahmadi brothers all around the world.  

I apologise as I have not had internet connection. I had to take a road to reach a far-off place, in order to find signal and send these messages. I send my greeting and peace to all the Community, from the Ahmadis of Gaza. Peace and blessings of Allah be on you.