IN RECENT WEEKS, France, Britain, and Canada have increased their talk about recognising a Palestinian state.
Many Muslims might initially see this as a positive development — a long-awaited step towards justice.
But as believers, we must think carefully, look beyond political soundbites, and not be deceived by the words of those who, for over a century, have sown division in the Muslim world and supported the ongoing genocide of our people for the past 22 months.
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا تُفْسِدُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُصْلِحُونَ
أَلَآ إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْسِدُونَ وَلَـٰكِن لَّا يَشْعُرُونَ
When they are told: ‘Do not spread corruption in the land,’ they reply: ‘We are only peace-makers!’ Indeed, it is they who are the corruptors, but they fail to perceive it. (al-Baqarah 11–12)
The Messenger ﷺ also warned: “A believer is not stung twice from the same hole.” (Bukhari)
What Are They Really Offering?
Strip away the media headlines, and the conditions become clear. This so-called Palestinian state would:
Be fully demilitarised
Exclude the democratically elected Hamas
Recognise the Zionist state forever
In other words, a Palestine without the ability to defend itself, without its elected leadership, and permanently conceding to the occupation.
Why Now?
Public opinion in the West has dramatically shifted against the Zionist state. The steadfastness and sacrifices of the people of Gaza have exposed the lies and revealed the reality of genocide. Now, Western leaders are scrambling to calm their populations, offering symbolic promises while the bombs still fall and people starve.
If these governments truly acted on principle or humanitarian concern, they would act now when the people are starving and dying, not in September. This is about buying time, especially as Netanyahu has openly declared intentions to take the whole of Gaza.
There’s also a geopolitical layer. While Britain and France — the old colonial powers that carved up the Middle East 100 years ago to their advantage — talk about a “two-state solution,” today’s superpower, the USA, is reshaping the Middle East to serve its own interests, sidelining Europe.
Outwardly united against the Muslim world, these powers remain deeply divided among themselves, just as Allah describes:
بَأْسُهُم بَيْنَهُمْ شَدِيدٌۭ ۚ تَحْسَبُهُمْ جَمِيعًۭا وَقُلُوبُهُمْ شَتَّىٰ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌۭ لَّا يَعْقِلُونَ
Their malice for each other is intense: you think they are united, yet their hearts are divided. That is because they are a people with no understanding. (Al-Hashr 14)
The Problem with the Two-State Solution
In short, it is unjust, unworkable, and un-Islamic.
1. Unjust
It demands we surrender our right to the land and accept that “might makes right.”
2. Unworkable
Imagine: you own a house and garden. An intruder takes the house, forcing you to live in a small shed in the garden. He has strong friends who help him, and he has bought out your neighbours so they look away from your plight.
They demand you give up all claim to the house forever, hand over any tools in your shed that could be used as weapons, and be fully reliant on them for food, electricity, water, and livelihood, which they can cut off at will as they control the main house and access to the street you live on.
This is the “two-state solution” in reality.
3. Un-Islamic
Muslim land cannot be relinquished as those who want to sign the Abraham Accords would like to do. Rather, it is to be fought for.
The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever takes anything from land without right will be sunk with it until the seven earths on the Day of Judgement.” (Muslim)
A man came to the Messenger and asked: ‘Messenger of Allah, what do you think of a man who comes to me to take my possessions?’ He ﷺ said: ‘Don’t surrender your possessions to him.’ The man asked: ‘If he fights me?’ He ﷺ remarked: ‘Then fight (with him).’ The man asked again: ‘What do you think if I am killed?’ He ﷺ said: ‘You would be a martyr.’ The man asked once again: ‘What do you think if I kill him?’ He ﷺ said: ‘He would be in the Fire.’ (Muslim)
Our history shows this principle in action.
When Theodor Herzl requested Palestine in 1901, Sultan Abdul Hamid II replied: “While I am alive, I would rather push a sword into my body than see the land of Palestine cut and given away from the Islamic Khilafah… I will not sell a single inch of the land. It belongs to all Muslims. They paid for it with their blood, and we will redeem it with our blood.”
The Bigger Picture: It’s Not Just About a Small Strip of Land Belonging to the Palestinians
We must not lose sight of what we are striving for: Palestine is not just the small fragment we see on today’s maps. Historically, it was a province in the Ottoman state that included today’s Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and parts of Syria. The Zionists have not forgotten their vision of a greater Israel, which they are fervently working towards. Why are we still shackled by the ideas of the nation state drawn by the West? Why are we still making this about yet another nation-state, to add to a long list of nation-states, that will be weak and subservient to the colonialists?
We cannot forget that this is a land blessed by Allah, central to the history and honour of the entire ummah, not only the Palestinians.
It is our Messenger ﷺ who journeyed there on the Isra and Mi’raj and not just the Messenger of the Palestinians.
It is our prophets who walked every inch of its soil, and not just the prophets of the Palestinians.
It is our first Qibla, and not just the first Qibla of the Palestinians.
It is our Qur’an that calls it blessed, and not just the Qur’an of the Palestinians.
Palestine belongs to the ummah, as does every other Muslim land. It was never ours to give away — and it will never be theirs to keep.
The Only Real Solution
After 22 months of witnessing genocide and seeing every political “solution” fail, we must acknowledge:
The liberation of Palestine will not come from Western governments, colonial agreements, or powerless nation-state politics.
It will come only through the political unification of the Muslim ummah under a leadership that serves the Islamic interests — the Khilafah — as it once did.
Living For Islam 