The Methodology of Ingratitude and Inciting Strife: From Qur'anic Discourse to Modern History

Introduction

The Noble Qur'an mentions the Jews in numerous passages to illustrate a recurring pattern of conduct: ingratitude after receiving blessings, rejecting the prophets, harshness toward others, and exploiting power to incite strife and dominate peoples. This methodology was not confined to a particular period but extended throughout history, from antiquity to the modern age.

Ingratitude After Receiving Blessings

God delivered the Children of Israel from Pharaoh's oppression through Moses, peace be upon him, after many years of torment and persecution. But rather than making this a reason for gratitude and steadfastness, they displayed ingratitude: they worshipped the calf after their deliverance, accused God of withholding His bounty, saying, “God's hand is fettered,” and rejected the prophets, to whom the harm also extended. These examples reveal the denial of blessings and persistent moral deviation.

Hardened Hearts

The Qur'an explains the hardness of hearts and their estrangement from the values of mercy: they refused to cooperate with the truth and declined to carry out God's commands, disputed and delayed obedience, and placed their interests above justice and divine truth. These traits formed the foundation of this methodology in dealings with other peoples throughout history.

Inciting Wars and Strife

﴿لَتُفْسِدُنَّ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَرَّتَيْنِ وَلَتَعْلُنَّ عُلُوًّا كَبِيرًا﴾ (You will surely cause corruption in the land twice, and you will surely rise to great heights of arrogance.) [الإسراء: ٤]

The methodology of inciting strife did not cease after antiquity: it involved exploiting military and political power to dominate communities, sowing internal divisions among peoples, and imposing unethical policies to weaken societies. In the modern age, this approach led to the displacement of Palestinians in 1948, the continuation of conflict in Gaza and the West Bank, and the imposition of a blockade and ongoing suffering.

Control Through Wealth and Authority

Over the last thousand years, some Jews did not live in harmony with the peoples among whom they resided but instead attempted to impose their influence through concealed means: using wealth and the economy as an instrument for changing ways of life and controlling political decision-making, encouraging ways of life devoid of values to facilitate control over societies, and influencing the media, education, and politics to steer peoples away from enduring moral principles.

Here it becomes apparent that peoples did not hate Jews as individuals but rejected the systematic practice of control and strife pursued by certain groups.

A Recurring Pattern Across the Centuries

The Qur'an presents this pattern as a lesson for nations: deliverance from oppression does not guarantee righteousness, and empowerment without ethics produces corruption and ascendancy over others. In the past: worshipping the calf, rejecting the prophets, disputation, and procrastination. In the modern age: the displacement of peoples, recurrent wars, racist policies, control through wealth and the media, and the weakening of values within societies.

﴿لَقَدْ كَانَ فِي قَصَصِهِمْ عِبْرَةٌ لِّأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ﴾ (There was certainly a lesson in their stories for those endowed with understanding.) [يوسف: ١١١]

Gaza Today: The Persistence of a Methodology of Cruelty Across Time

In recent years, international reports and newspapers have revealed a tragic picture of what has happened in Gaza. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed, most of them civilians, including women and children, while more than one hundred and sixty thousand people have been injured. Some researchers estimate that the number of victims could reach one hundred thousand or more if unrecorded cases and the missing are included.

Hundreds of thousands of buildings have been destroyed, including hospitals and schools; most of the population has been displaced; the healthcare system has collapsed; and widespread instances of famine and malnutrition have emerged, leading to deaths from hunger or lack of treatment.

This grim humanitarian picture indicates that the methodology described by the Qur'an—ingratitude, hardness of heart, creating strife, and exploiting power to control human beings—has not changed: civilians' rights were not respected, no consideration was given to the human cost, and economic, political, and military power was instead used to impose control.

The All-Encompassing Verse

﴿وَقَالَتِ الْيَهُودُ يَدُ اللَّهِ مَغْلُولَةٌ ۚ غُلَّتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَلُعِنُوا بِمَا قَالُوا ۘ بَلْ يَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ يُنفِقُ كَيْفَ يَشَاءُ … كُلَّمَا أَوْقَدُوا نَارًا لِّلْحَرْبِ أَطْفَأَهَا اللَّهُ ۚ وَيَسْعَوْنَ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَسَادًا ۚ وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُفْسِدِينَ﴾ (And the Jews said, “God's hand is fettered.” Fettered be their hands, and cursed are they for what they said. Rather, both His hands are outstretched; He gives as He wills … Whenever they kindle a fire for war, God extinguishes it. They strive to spread corruption in the land, and God does not love those who spread corruption.) [المائدة: ٦٤]

It reflects a consistent approach in mentality and conduct: ingratitude for blessings, rejection of peace, striving to spread corruption in the land, and creating wars and strife.

In the present reality, this approach appears in the expansion of the sphere of conflict to encompass vital passageways such as the Strait of Hormuz and their use as an instrument of strategic pressure on the global economy, as well as in the continuation of exchanges of strikes despite ceasefire agreements. This reveals the absence of a genuine desire for peace and an eagerness to keep the region in a state of perpetual tension. Disrupting a global passageway demonstrates the effect of this approach on other peoples, not within their own borders alone.

Psychological Analysis: Following Satan's Footsteps

The Qur'an explains that the persistence of this recurring conduct is not a matter of chance but the result of following Satan's approach within the heart:

﴿وَلَيَزِيدَنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُم مَّا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِن رَّبِّكَ طُغْيَانًا وَكُفْرًا﴾ (What has been sent down to you from your Lord will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief.) [المائدة: ٦٤]

From a psychological and ethical perspective: ingratitude for blessings, for after God delivered them from oppression, the heart turned toward transgression, disregarding the One who had delivered them. And the transgression of hearts, for the heart that follows Satan always seeks control and ascendancy, overstepping the bounds of truth and justice. And the transmission of the approach across generations, for these traits did not remain confined to an individual or a generation but became an acquired methodology passed down through society, manifesting itself in politics, wars, and the spreading of strife.

Summary

This methodology is characterized by four features: ingratitude for benevolence and blessings even after deliverance from oppression; hardness of heart, obstinacy against the truth, and the elevation of interests above justice; the creation of wars and strife and the exploitation of military, political, and economic power; and the imposition of ways of life devoid of values to facilitate control over society.

Conclusion: A Lesson for Nations

History, as described by the Qur'an, presents a clear moral lesson: deliverance from oppression or empowerment through force does not guarantee righteousness or adherence to justice. Rather, hearts can turn toward transgression and ingratitude if they follow Satan's approach.

Nations aspiring to power or authority must therefore learn that humility after empowerment is necessary to preserve justice and stability; that gratitude and reciprocating kindness are a foundation for preserving human morality; and that refusing to follow approaches of corruption and strife is what protects societies from internal and external destruction.

The approach of ingratitude, cruelty, and the exploitation of power is thus not merely a historical incident but a recurring pattern of moral conduct that can emerge in any society when conscience and values are absent, leading to corruption, wars, and strife.