POV: You are the Ansar. Gazans are Muhajireen.
The Ansar are paired one-to-one with the Muhajireen. There's a Gazan out there who'd be a great fit for you.
TRT World recently reported a case of two Italian ladies who befriended a Gazan man reaching out to them for help on social media, then fundraised and helped him and his immediate family to evacuate from Gaza into Egypt. Their selflessness was heart-warming. May Allah bless these two generous ladies with the ultimate gift of guidance to Islam.
But this case of strangers adopting refugees is not unique — far from it. Hafsah, a dedicated Palestine activist that I’ve worked with, also dedicated herself to helping her local Palestinian friend’s family: she worked extremely hard to fundraise and was able to successfully help them evacuate from Gaza to Egypt. And I myself have become a closely attached to a Gazan person who once reached out to me — he’s practically my brother now. How many people on Instagram have been “adopting” adopted families?
Most importantly, this kind of one-to-one pairing up is precedented in the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and give him peace.
The Sunnah of Muwakhah
As always, Prophet Muhammad — may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him — set the best example. When Muslim refugees from the persecuted Makkah came to the safe haven of Madinah, our Prophet, may Allah bless him and give him peace, paired up the Makkan refugees (muhajireen) with the Madinan helpers (ansar), in the best possible refugee assimilation scheme: he paired them up one-to-one. He formed individual brotherhood (muwakhah) between each refugee (muhajir) and each helper (ansari).
[Surplus refugees are reported to have been accommodated in the community shelter in the masjid, known as the suffah. Similarly, today, this sort of fundraiser support has grown into more organized collectives, such as the amazing Operation Olive Branch organizing and mobilizing the people who care to support fundraisers (just check out this one spreadsheet, pleaseee, you’ll be blown away! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vtMLLOzuc6GpkFySyVtKQOY2j-Vvg0UsChMCFst_WLA/htmlview# ).]
The generosity shown by the Ansar, is, of course, legendary. Muslim children are raised knowing the stories of the Ansar selflessly sharing everything they had with the Muhajireen. Allah even praises the Ansar for this in the Quran:
As for those who had settled in the city and ˹embraced˺ the faith before ˹the arrival of˺ the emigrants, they love whoever immigrates to them, never having a desire in their hearts for whatever ˹of the gains˺ is given to the emigrants. They give ˹the emigrants˺ preference over themselves even though they may be in need. And whoever is saved from the selfishness of their own souls, it is they who are ˹truly˺ successful. [59:9]
And neither did the Makkan Muhajireen kick back and take advantage of the Madinan Ansar’s generosity. The story of AbdurRahman bin ‘Auf’s (RA) muwakhah is famous — when his Ansari brother offered him half of everything he had, AbdurRahman (RA) politely turned down the offer, and instead asked to be shown where the marketplace was, where he applied his business acumen, and soon regained his wealthy status.
This granular pairing seems to have been wisely done such that people of similar backgrounds would be matched together — as in the above case of the businessman AbdurRahman ibn ‘Auf and his Ansari brother. Not only did such a granular, individual matching cause rapid and smooth integration of the Makkan Muhajireen into the Madinan community, it also minimized anti-refugee sentiments and the viewing of Muhajireen as “the Others”.
How You Can be an Ansari for Gazans
I will, In Sha Allah, in the coming weeks, be sharing more of my story of being an Ansari with my beloved brother in Gaza — how we got to know each other, and how he is now a part of my family. The brotherhood of Islam, the fact that we’re one Ummah, of course, was our starting point, and we clicked over a love of Allah and his Messenger, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him.
It starts with networking, with being involved in Palestine activism — raising awareness, fundraising, being a part of boycott campaigns. As you add value and become a part of dedicated online group chats, your reach and your exposure both grow. When you become vocal and start to help influence your own small network, people online are likely to reach out to you — whether Gazans reaching out online for help, or an activist friend sharing the story of a particular case.
Reach out to Egyptians For Palestinians (link) to connect you to muhajir families in desperate need, in Egypt.
Let’s say that over time, some Gazans reach out to you, as they do to many people online, for kindly contributing and sharing their evacuation fundraisers. And let’s say that you check out their profile and it seems very legit (e.g. clear posts from before last October, etc). So you contribute, and point them in the direction of the fundraiser aggregators like GazaDirect2FamilyAidSource. Let’s say you exchange messages and words of support. Let’s say you begin talking with one of them, and you both hit it off. Let’s say you connect over your love of Allah. You share struggles. Most likely, you connect over shared values and backgrounds.
This is now your Muhajir brother (or Muhajir sister, for Ansari sisters). The Muhajireen need both short-term financial aid to survive on the ground, as well as long-term financial aid in the form of evacuation fundraisers. But what they also need is a sympathetic Muslim brother or sister who shares a kind word. Who shows them solidarity and helps them feel like they are not alone, not abandoned by the Ummah. Who asks them how they are doing today, if they and their family are safe. An Ansari, in this muwakhah based on the brotherhood and sisterhood of Islam, based on the love of Allah.
May Allah make us one of the people mentioned in this beautiful hadith:
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, ‘Allah, the Exalted, says: “My love is due [mandated] upon those who love each other for My sake, meet each other for My sake, visit each other for My sake and spend in charity for My sake”.’ [Riyad as-Salihin 382, authentically reported by Malik]