Alḥamdulillāh.

This is not a clickbait title. It is a serious question—one that haunts countless Muslim hearts around the world, especially as they witness genocide broadcast in real time, funded and shielded by the world’s most powerful empire. And now, as Israel continues to brazenly bomb Syria—again and again—without a single missile fired in return, without even the illusion of deterrence, the truth becomes undeniable: Israel never sought a just peace, and it never will. Its record is long and well-documented by countless international institutions and human rights organizations—marked by massacres, ethnic cleansing, an entrenched apartheid regime, flagrant violations of international law, and the continued occupation of Palestinian land. And America gives Israel everything it needs to do that and to dominate, destabilize, and subjugate our Muslim people—defending it at every level, from UN vetoes and massive military aid to proxy wars, diplomatic impunity, economic coercion, and total narrative control through its monstrous media apparatus.

And let me be clear at the outset: this is not an expression of hatred toward Jews, so don’t be quick to dismiss it as an anti-Semitic rant. As Muslims, we have lived alongside Jews for centuries, and—aside from the hypothetical case of Unitarian Christians who uphold Mosaic law—no religion is closer to Islam—ritually, legally, and theologically—than Judaism. We yearn for a just peace, one in which we can welcome our Jewish cousins back—from the Euphrates to the Nile—not as overlords, but as co-citizens, with dignity and justice for all.

So let us begin. But before we proceed further, let me distill the reality into two unshakable premises—both supported by overwhelming evidence and visible to anyone not numbed by propaganda or paralyzed by moral confusion. These are not abstract positions. They are the foundation upon which this entire discussion rests, and if one cannot accept them, it is unlikely that anything that follows will make sense.

1. Two Premises We Will Not Debate

Premise 1: Israel is an evil entity—not merely a misguided aggressive state. It is a settler-colonial project grounded in ethnic supremacy and systemic dehumanization. It seeks to dominate and subjugate the surrounding Muslim region—indeed, Muslims from Casablanca to Jakarta—by brute force, espionage, sabotage, and genocide.

Premise 2: America enables this. Some used to say Israel is the West’s arm in subjugating Muslim lands. Today, the stronger case may be the reverse: that America is subordinated—morally and politically—to the Zionist project. Whether one calls it a “special relationship” or strategic alliance, the fact is that America has become so entangled in Israeli interests that its institutions, diplomacy, and credibility are routinely sacrificed for Israel’s impunity.

I will leave aside the CIA’s covert operations, regime changes, and empire-building. What I want to focus on here is the primary reason why America is hated across the Muslim world—its undying, militant, and shameless support for Israeli crimes against our people over the last 77 years.

2. So, Should We Hate America?

If it is true—as the evidence overwhelmingly shows—that Israel has spent decades committing massacres, enforcing apartheid, and occupying Palestinian lands and other territories of neighboring countries, and if it is equally true that the United States protects, funds, and shields it at every level, then the question is not rhetorical:

Should we, as Muslims, hate America?

There are three common answers:

An absolute yes—fueled by righteous anger, but often collapsing into indiscriminate rage that blurs moral distinctions, alienates allies, and undermines strategic action.
An absolute no—which too often amounts to denial, normalization, or silence in the face of horror.
A muddled answer — driven by confusion, personal entanglement, or a performative pursuit of hollow intellectualism, often resulting in moral paralysis or the quiet normalization of injustice.
I reject all three. What we need instead is a fourth position: not neutrality, not moral compromise, but principled clarity. One that recognizes the full extent of America’s complicity, names it without hesitation, and yet insists on responding with justice, discipline, and purpose—not blind fury or empty slogans. This is not about softening the truth. It is about staying anchored to it—so that our resistance is not only fierce, but meaningful.

3. What Do We Mean by “Hate”?

This may be the first question we need to ask ourselves: Are we hateful people? Does Islam allow us to hate a country, a people, a civilization?

To answer that honestly, we must begin not with their slogans, but with our own tradition. Then we can examine what others preach—and whether they live by what they claim.

Don’t be fooled by propaganda that tells you to “love your enemies.” They want you to love the ones who buried your children under the rubble—as they continue to bury them. They want you to love the settlers in al-Khalīl (Hebron) who terrorize the indigenous population, your brethren, and subject them to unthinkable daily humiliation and violence. It is not enough for them to steal your home; they want your embrace as they do it.

Yes, we hate oppression and the oppressors. We love our human family—the children of our father Ādam (ʿalayhi al-salām)—but we do not love evil or those who embody it. We do not suspend moral judgment in the name of abstract universality. We hate evil and we hate those who embody evil, insofar as they embody it. But we do not hate their transcendent egos—their souls—for we still hope for their repentance, their guidance, and ultimately their salvation.

This is not emotional vindictiveness. This is al-barāʾ—the principled disavowal of injustice and those who persist in it.

4. What Is “America,” and What Shapes Its Conscience?

Some ask, “But what is America? Is it the land, the system, the elites, or the people?” It’s a fair question. We must always distinguish between parts and wholes. Just as it is crude to reduce individuals into their collectives, it is equally misleading to ignore the existence of larger structures, dominant trajectories, and the reality of a collective conscience—a national posture that emerges through patterns of behavior, policy, and public sentiment.

And the American collective conscience regarding Israel is shaped by several dark and destructive forces:

a. Apocalyptic Religious Fanaticism

Among a significant segment of evangelical Christians, the Zionist project is not about justice or history. It is about facilitating the return of Christ. They believe Jews must return to Palestine, even if it means war and bloodshed, to fulfill prophecy. Unlike Catholics, many evangelicals also carry a theological inferiority complex—believing that Jews are divinely chosen in an absolute and ongoing sense, even by bloodline. As Muslims, we do not deny that righteous among the Children of Israel were chosen by God at specific times in history. But that chosenness was always contingent upon faith and obedience—not ethnicity—and it was never a blank check for oppression.

b. Projected Guilt from European Antisemitism

Europe’s centuries of violent antisemitism—culminating in the Holocaust—have produced in Western societies a deep guilt. But instead of facing their crimes, many have outsourced the cost of that guilt to the Palestinians. Support for Israel becomes an act of catharsis, even if it means cheering on oppression.

c. Social Darwinism

Among certain secular elites, Israel is admired not in spite of its ruthlessness, but because of it. Its material success, military dominance, and strategic cunning are seen as self-justifying. Within this framework, power is its own proof, and survival its only ethic. The fact that Israel can impose its will is taken as evidence that it has the right to do so—regardless of the moral cost or human toll.

d. Mass Apathy and Propaganda

Many Americans do not know, do not care, or have been deliberately misinformed. A media apparatus that is not only corporate but deeply corrupted, cynically manipulative—shamelessly complicit in manufacturing consent for war and whitewashing Israeli crimes—works hand in hand with bought-and-paid-for politicians and a deeply compromised educational system to produce a public too apathetic to care and too distracted to ask.

e. Political Cowardice and Corruption

From Congress to the White House, fear of AIPAC and the broader Israel lobby defines American politics. Some officials are morally weak; others are fully bought. Some are bribed, and some—like Jeffrey Epstein’s known associates—are likely blackmailed. And Epstein, after all, is just the one who got caught. We don’t know how many Epsteins are still out there, nor how deep the web of compromise runs. But the result is the same: a political system that safeguards Israeli impunity at virtually any cost, even when it violates American interests, morality, or global standing.

f. Identitarian Religiosity and Islamophobia

For many in the West—religious and secular alike—support for Israel is not just about Israel. It is about opposition to Islam itself. Islam has long been cast as the civilizational “Other,” and in a world increasingly fragmented by culture wars, many view Muslims not as fellow citizens of the world, but as ideological threats. For some Christians, Islam is the antichrist religion. For many secularists, it is a relic of the past. In this framework, Israel becomes a symbolic bulwark of the West against the rise or resurgence of Islam—no matter how unjust its actions may be.

g. Imperial Realpolitik

For much of the 20th century—especially during the Cold War—Israel was seen as a vital outpost for American power: a stable, militarized ally in a volatile region, serving as both intelligence hub and deterrent against Soviet-leaning Arab states. In that era, Washington viewed Israel as a necessary tool to maintain Western dominance over oil routes, suppress regional independence movements, and counterbalance nationalist or Islamist uprisings.
But times have changed. The Cold War is over. Most Muslim-majority countries today are not anti-American by default, and many are open to meaningful partnerships based on mutual interest and respect. In fact, the economic, demographic, and geopolitical advantages of fair alliances with the Muslim world far outweigh the diminishing returns of blind support for an apartheid regime that isolates America, inflames global resentment, and tarnishes its credibility.
America has everything to gain by reassessing this obsolete arrangement—and everything to lose by clinging to it. Yet America remains blindfolded.

h. Antisemitism

You may be surprised to see this listed here, and you may have expected antisemitism to be a force aligned with the Palestinians. But we are a nation committed to justice, and we strive to see things as they are. Some antisemites are motivated by religious resentment toward Jews for rejecting Jesus and may feel closer to Muslims who honor him as one of the greatest messengers of God and his mother as a virgin and saint. Yet, most antisemitism today is rooted not in theology, but in delusions of racial or ethnic supremacy. And those who harbor such views may despise not only Jews, but even more other Semites—namely Arabs, and by extension, Muslims. It is worth remembering that many of the political forces that supported the creation of Israel were driven not by sympathy for Jews, but by a desire to relocate their so-called “Jewish Problem” to lands far away from Europe. That tragic calculus had nothing to do with justice for either people—and we are all still living with its consequences.

5. But There Is More to America Than That

Yes, the system is corrupt. But no, it is not absolute.

a. Individuals of Conscience Still Speak Out

There are journalists, activists, clergy, and ordinary citizens who continue to speak the truth—not out of political opportunism, but from a place of moral conviction. Some are secular humanists, animated by the belief in the equal worth of all human life. Others are Christians who draw on the ethical core of their tradition— not on identitarian religion, apocalyptic fantasies, or the theology of empire, but the example of the prophets. Many have paid dearly. Rachel Corrie gave her life standing in front of an Israeli bulldozer to protect a Palestinian family’s home. Aaron Bushnell died in flames outside the Israeli Embassy to protest a genocide the world dares not name. Norman Finkelstein, the son of Holocaust survivors, was effectively pushed out of academia—denied tenure and marginalized—because he defended Palestinian rights with unflinching integrity and dared to challenge the sacred myths of power—they are proof that conscience still breathes, even within a system built to suppress it.

b. Fragile but Functional Institutions

America still offers, for now, limited space for dissent. The judiciary remains independent to a great extent—often capable of resisting political interference and upholding constitutional rights. But freedom of speech, while constitutionally protected, is not always consistently or equally granted—especially when it comes to criticism of Israel or advocacy for Palestinian rights. Social, professional, and institutional pressures often suppress certain voices long before the courts ever intervene. And even the judiciary is ultimately constrained by laws crafted by a legislature increasingly compromised by lobbyists, ideological capture, and foreign influence. If these trends continue, even the remaining institutional safeguards may not hold.

c. Real Patriots Still Exist

There are Americans who love their country not because it is powerful, but because they believe in what it claims to be. They see blind support for Israel—especially when it undermines American values or endangers its true interests—as a betrayal of the country’s founding principles. For them, dissent is not treason; it is a responsibility. They want an America that is respected, not merely feared; admired, not resented. And they understand that such an America cannot coexist with the defense of apartheid, military occupation, and the open shielding of war crimes.

6. To Muslims Abroad: Don’t Be Naïve—And Don’t Be Divided

This message may not reach you. But if it does—and you still do not see Israel as your existential enemy—then you are either comatose, or you have been bought. And if you still believe that America can serve as a fair broker between you and Israel, then you are dangerously mistaken—for it is not brokering peace, but managing your submission.

To the leaders, diplomats, and strategists among you:

No one is asking you to fight America. But you must:

• Refuse to be controlled by it.
• Use your diplomatic and economic leverage to pressure it.
• Stop allowing it to divide, intimidate, or co-opt you.
• You may hate one another, but if you had any sense of responsibility or strategic awareness, you would unite against the one power that stands in the way of your collective rise. That power is Israel—sustained, protected, and emboldened by America. I can’t help but laugh when I hear that you had a “meeting with your American counterparts.” Counterparts? In what sense? Your unity and cooperation are not luxuries. They are not merely religious mandates or strategic preferences—they are necessities. They are a condition for your survival in a world of superpowers.
• A unipolar world is harmful to all—even to the unipole itself. Allah says: ﴿وَلَوْلَا دَفْعُ اللَّهِ النَّاسَ بَعْضَهُم بِبَعْضٍ لَفَسَدَتِ الْأَرْضُ﴾ — “Were it not that Allah checks some people by means of others, the earth would be corrupted” (al-Baqarah 2:251). Build alliances with the Global South, including states like Russia, despite its past and present flaws—and others seeking emancipation from a collapsing world order—one that grows more openly hypocritical by the day, and may soon drop its mask entirely to reveal the face of Renaud de Châtillon. Pete Hegseth’s face, frankly, is not far off.

To the people:

You are looking at America from a distance. No one can blame you for focusing on the collective impact—the violence, the instability, the devastation you feel in your daily lives. And how could I possibly tell the parents of children buried beneath rubble not to hate the entity that supplied the weapons and shielded the killers?

I only ask this: take a closer look at the picture every now and then—examine its details. When you do, you’ll see that America is not a monolith. The reality inside is more layered and more conflicted than it appears from a distance. And I know that most of you already do.

I also ask that you:

Demand that your leaders act with dignity and strategic clarity—but also understand their constraints. Even China cannot reclaim what it sees as its own island, Taiwan, for fear of confronting the American military machine. Do not expect your governments to do what even superpowers hesitate to do.

Instead, work for righteous governance—without plunging your lands into chaos. There is a place for armed struggle, such as in the case of Syria under mass butchery, but most of the time, civil and principled struggle for reform is safer, more enduring, and more consistent with our religious values. Your enemies want to see you divided, disillusioned, and self-destructive. Do not give them that satisfaction.

And most importantly: be introspective. Your enemies did not make you weak—they only exploited the weakness you left unaddressed. They have benefited from your divisions, your corruption, your disorganization. Be angry with America. But be angrier with yourselves.

7. On Asymmetric Warfare and Moral and Strategic Limits

If the West stands firmly behind Israel, does that mean Muslims must suspend resistance until they are strong enough to defeat the entire Western bloc militarily? No—it doesn’t work like that. The West will not support Israel forever. It will stop when the cost becomes unbearable—politically, economically, and morally.

But until then, Muslims around the world ask: What should we do? Does asymmetric warfare have a legitimate role in resisting Israeli hegemony and oppression?

Sometimes asymmetric warfare is the only option—but necessity does not excuse lawlessness, and desperation cannot replace guidance. In Islam, warfare must be governed by Sharīʿah, not by emotion or expediency. Also, asymmetric resistance is sometimes necessary, but often insufficient—and it can never replace long-term strategy aimed at decisive, just, and lasting victory. It may delay defeat, but it rarely delivers final success unless it is part of a broader vision rooted in divine guidance, moral discipline, and strategic clarity. Here are some guiding thoughts:

We do not mirror our enemies’ crimes.
Islam forbids us from targeting women, children, and medics—even if our enemies do so without remorse. Moral clarity is not a luxury; it is a command. Yes, those on the weaker side often lack the luxury of precision. And yes, it is unimaginably difficult to maintain moral discipline while your children are buried under rubble by an occupier defending apartheid. But الدنيا سجن المؤمن—“this world is the prison of the believer”—and the Sharīʿah, when rightly understood, does not place us at an insurmountable disadvantage. It binds us to justice, not helplessness.

Asymmetric warfare is costly to the weaker party.
In Islam, leaders are not permitted to recklessly endanger their troops or populations. Sharīʿah requires that the expected benefit of armed resistance must clearly outweigh the potential harm. This decision must not rest with religious scholars alone. Their role is to outline the moral and legal parameters. But the actual assessment of benefit and harm must be made by those with expertise in warfare, politics, intelligence, and public welfare. Moral legitimacy depends not only on intent, but on responsibility and sound judgment.

The decision to take Muslims to war belongs to legitimate leadership
Islam does not grant individuals the right to unilaterally initiate warfare—whether symmetrical or asymmetrical. Acting without authority (iftiʾāt ʿalā al-sulṭān) is a violation of the Sharīʿah and a betrayal of communal trust. No individual has the mandate to drag an entire people into war based on personal judgment or zeal. On this, there is—and should be—no disagreement, not only among scholars, but among all sane and responsible people.

Public opinion matters—now and always.
The war for global perception is not trivial. The Prophet ﷺ took great care to consider how actions would be interpreted, and how they might affect the long-term credibility of the message. He once said, “So that people do not say…” (لا يتحدث الناس) when refraining from an action that could be misunderstood. Caring about how we are seen is not weakness—it is wisdom. This is even truer when we cannot defeat our enemies militarily and must rely on moral clarity, global awareness, and public support to sustain our struggle.

Build power—don’t merely react.
Allah says:
﴿وَأَعِدُّوا لَهُم مَّا اسْتَطَعْتُم﴾

“And prepare against them whatever you are able…” (al-Anfāl 8:60)
This is not just a call to arms—it is a call to capacity. Asymmetric warfare may resist occupation, but it rarely delivers decisive or enduring victory. Even in Vietnam and Afghanistan, America was not forced into military surrender—but it was outlasted, outmaneuvered, and compelled to retreat, unable to impose its political will despite overwhelming force. But Palestine is different. Israel will not leave. And America will not leave Israel—unless the cost becomes too high to sustain.

The Prophet ﷺ said three times:

‏”ألا إنَّ القوَّةَ الرَّميُ ألا إنَّ القوَّةَ الرَّميُ ألا إنَّ القوَّةَ الرَّميُ”

“Indeed, strength lies in shooting.” (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)
Today, “shooting” means delivering the most accurate and devastating strike—faster and farther than your enemy. This requires not only weapons, but excellence in science, engineering, and systems. But military power is not built in isolation. A B-2 bomber isn’t built on physics alone—it depends on an entire society cultivating long-term investment, human development, discipline, creativity, and trust.

And even that is not enough.
A society that achieves technological mastery but neglects justice and righteousness will not be honored by God. The Prophet ﷺ said:

“كيف يقدس الله أمة لا يؤخذ لضعيفهم من شديدهم؟!”

“How can Allah sanctify a nation in which the rights of the weak are not taken from the strong?”

And even justice is not the final goal. If our efforts are not for Allah, then even our achievements are weightless. Allah says:

﴿وَقَدِمْنَا إِلَىٰ مَا عَمِلُوا مِنْ عَمَلٍ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ هَبَاءً مَّنثُورًا﴾

“And We will turn to whatever deeds they had done, and make them as scattered dust.” (al-Furqān 25:23)

So let our short-term strategy and long-term vision move in harmony—toward a revival that is powerful, principled, and anchored in God. Asymmetric warfare may be a phase in our struggle, but it must not become our identity. It is a response, not a strategy; a tool, not a philosophy.

8. To Muslims in America: You Live Inside the Picture

You do not have the luxury of distance. You see this system up close. And if you allow your anger to collapse into total despair, you will never help change it. You live inside the picture. And while it’s necessary to step back at times to see the whole, your proximity also binds you to the details: to the institutions, the individuals, the mechanisms, and the nuances. You must learn to engage both the part and the whole—to see the system for what it is, and to act within it wisely and effectively.

You must:

• Channel your rage into purposeful action.
• Build institutions.
• Leverage the system’s contradictions, and use its remaining efficiencies to advance justice wherever possible.
• Work with allies of conscience.
• Speak truth to power—wisely.

Yes—hate the corrupt elements of the system and its protagonists, and stay angry at the entrenched forces that profit from your despair and feed off injustice—those who manipulate power, suppress truth, and normalize cruelty:

• The corrupt political class that sells its conscience to lobbies and careers.
• The legacy media that manufactures consent for war and buries the truth under distraction.
• The religious fanatics who long for Armageddon and sanctify genocide in the name of prophecy.
• The racists and supremacists who refuse to see your children as human, your pain as real, or your lives as worthy.

But do not reduce all of America to these forces. Let your anger sharpen your vision—not blind it. Do not allow rage to erase the virtues that still exist within this system, or the individuals of conscience who, in some cases, have done more than you or me in defense of truth and justice.

If your hatred becomes blind, you’ll be unable to act with clarity or purpose. And if you are so overcome that you can no longer function here emotionally or spiritually, no one can blame you for seeking peace elsewhere. That may well be the wisest choice for your well-being and the well-being of your family.

But for those who remain: Don’t be domesticated. Don’t be defeated. Don’t be consumed.

Final Thoughts

In Gaza, I witnessed firsthand how non-Muslim American doctors were embraced by the people—even after it became known that they were American. The doctors were surprised. I was not. This is who we are. This is what Islam teaches.

Stay angry. But stay just.
Be sharp. But be kind.
Be strategic. But be principled.

And never forget: this is not merely a struggle for land. It is a struggle for the future of truth and justice—for the dignity of all humanity.

وصلى الله على محمد والحمد لله رب العالمين

Related:

Over 85 Muslim Scholars, Leaders And Institutions Say Muslim Nations Can Take “Concrete Action” To End Gaza Genocide