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>The Woman Locked in the House.

> The Woman Locked in the House

In ‘Mashari’ al-Ashwaq’ (2/239), Ibn an-Nahhas related from Abu Bakr bin al-’Arabi [not ibn arabi - the sufi]


“Some of the rulers had made a pact with the disbelievers that they would not hold any prisoners. So, a Muslim man one day travelled near their lands and passed by a locked house. He could hear a woman calling from inside the house: “I am a prisoner! Tell your companions about me!”

When he went back and told the people about this woman, the ruler did not even let him finish the story. He immediately got up and walked on foot to the frontlines until he freed this woman and conquered the area where she had been held captive.”

April 6, 2011 Posted by | prison, war | Leave a Comment

Were they Jinn?? But they were prisoners…

Asalaam alaikum warahmatulah wabarakatuh


Were they Jinn??

On the mention of the brothers in the prisons of the interior, overhead tyrants [in the secret dungeons of Jordan], I find it of fidelity to mention a story that happened to my brother Abu Muhammad al Misri (may Allah have mercy on him).. and with the brother Abu Saleh (may Allah release him.):

They made brother Abu Saleh enter by mistake on a group of ghosts, in a place which was nothing less than a red hell, or the house of Jinns or the trash containers or gutters. What is important is that it was a place where there were no similitudes of men.

There were people squatting, on them was nothing more than what what concealed their private parts, very long hairs, nails like the claws of a beast, and the smell of carrion was emanating from everything, and complete silence. A man carrying a weapon in his hand and a whip sat infront of them but he was away from them where he would not get affected by the smell, and they made my companion enter into this place.

He [Abu Baseer] said: When I saw that, my heart fell between my legs, and I felt a fear that was cutting my sides from their place, they made me sit beside one of them. I turned a little and tried to talk to one of them, and there wasn’t (a response).

All of them, even the tears had stoned like the stoning of their sides, everything was silent, unmoving.

After several hours they called him and he understood that he was entered by mistake, and what he saw was not a scene from the fears of the Day of Judgement, and that he was really not in a coma or a painful, disturbing nightmare but what he saw were his [Muslim] brothers, one of the days before more than 20 years.. and others and from that time onwards till our this day and they are in this condition for more than 20 years, no talk nothing, no sun, no, no, no.

Extract From the book; Undead Warriors P30.

This is what is happening to our Muslim brothers and sisters today, right now. We ask Allah to ease the affairs of our brothers and sisters oppressed everywhere. ameen.

Download Links:
http://ia360703.us.archive.org/7/items/UshaqAlHoorAndTheUndeadWarriors/The_Undead_Warriors.pdf

 http://ia360703.us.archive.org/7/items/UshaqAlHoorAndTheUndeadWarriors/UshaqAlHoor.pdf

September 9, 2010 Posted by | death, ghurabah, patience, prison | Leave a Comment

10 Karamat [Miracles] Given to Prisoner Zainab al Ghazali

Asalaam alaykum Warahmatulahi Wabarakatuh.

[Please help the Innocent Muslim Prisoners: GlobalVoiceforJustice.Org]



10 Karamat [Miracles] Given to Prisoner Zainab al Ghazali

It is reported in Musnad Ahmad [17680] that Allah’s Messenger said;

17680
حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ دَاوُدَ الطَّيَالِسِيُّ، حَدَّثَنِي دَاوُدُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الْوَاسِطِيُّ، حَدَّثَنِي حَبِيبُ بْنُ سَالِمٍ، عَنِ النُّعْمَانِ بْنِ بَشِيرٍ، قَالَ كُنَّا قُعُودًا فِي الْمَسْجِدِ مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَكَانَ بَشِيرٌ رَجُلًا يَكُفُّ حَدِيثَهُ فَجَاءَ أَبُو ثَعْلَبَةَ الْخُشَنِيُّ فَقَالَ يَا بَشِيرُ بْنَ سَعْدٍ أَتَحْفَظُ حَدِيثَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي الْأُمَرَاءِ فَقَالَ حُذَيْفَةُ أَنَا أَحْفَظُ خُطْبَتَهُ فَجَلَسَ أَبُو ثَعْلَبَةَ فَقَالَ حُذَيْفَةُ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَكُونُ النُّبُوَّةُ فِيكُمْ مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ أَنْ تَكُونَ ثُمَّ
يَرْفَعُهَا إِذَا شَاءَ أَنْ يَرْفَعَهَا ثُمَّ تَكُونُ خِلَافَةٌ عَلَى مِنْهَاجِ النُّبُوَّةِ فَتَكُونُ مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ أَنْ تَكُونَ ثُمَّ يَرْفَعُهَا إِذَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَرْفَعَهَا ثُمَّ تَكُونُ مُلْكًا عَاضًّا فَيَكُونُ مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَكُونَ ثُمَّ يَرْفَعُهَا إِذَا شَاءَ أَنْ يَرْفَعَهَا ثُمَّ تَكُونُ مُلْكًا جَبْرِيَّةً فَتَكُونُ مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ أَنْ تَكُونَ ثُمَّ يَرْفَعُهَا إِذَا شَاءَ أَنْ يَرْفَعَهَا ثُمَّ تَكُونُ خِلَافَةً عَلَى مِنْهَاجِ النُّبُوَّةِ ثُمَّ سَكَتَقَالَ حَبِيبٌ فَلَمَّا قَامَ عُمَرُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ وَكَانَ يَزِيدُ بْنُ النُّعْمَانِ بْنِ بَشِيرٍ فِي صَحَابَتِهِ فَكَتَبْتُ إِلَيْهِ بِهَذَا الْحَدِيثِ أُذَكِّرُهُ إِيَّاهُ فَقُلْتُ لَهُ إِنِّي أَرْجُو
أَنْ يَكُونَ أَمِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَعْنِي عُمَرَ بَعْدَ الْمُلْكِ الْعَاضِّ وَالْجَبْرِيَّةِ فَأُدْخِلَ كِتَابِي عَلَى عُمَرَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ فَسُرَّ بِهِ وَأَعْجَبَهُ‏.

“The Prophethood will last among you for as long as Allah (God) wills, then Allah would take it away. Then it will be (followed by) a Khilafah [caliphate] Rashida (rightly guided) according to the ways of the Prophethood. It will remain for as long as Allah wills, then Allah would take it away.

Afterwards there will be a hereditary leadership which will remain for as long as Allah wills, then He will lift it if He wishes.

Afterwards, there will be biting oppression, and it will last for as long as Allah wishes, then He will lift it if He wishes.

Then there will be a Khilafah Rashida [Guided Caliphs] according to the ways of the Prophethood,” then he kept silent..

Who Is Zainab?

Name:
Zainab al Ghazali al Jubaili (or Zainab Ghazali)

Lifespan : 1917-2005 CE [died at age of 88yrs]

Occupation:


- Owner of Islamic Institutes [her famous Jamiat Al-Sayyidat-ul-Muslimeen (Gatherings of the Leading Muslim Women.)]

Influence: High. Millions were influenced to return by her Islamic call.

- Organizer of Welfare & Provider. [for the helpless whose family members were imprisoned in the Secret Prisons of Egypt.]


Crime: Accused of inciting others to assassinate President Jamal Abdul Nasir.

Time Spent in Prison: 7 years in a Secret Political Prison.


Why talk about Zainab’s prison Experience?

When you read parts of her accounts, you will see men and women who are like the Salaf as-Saalih [our Righteous Predecessors], patient through the most severest forms of torture, relying upon their Lord Alone. These people wanted to gradually implement Islam at a political level within Egypt, and teach it to the masses according to the Prophetic example. Due to their sincerity in teaching and action and their total reliance on Allah, Allah gave them many miracles for the hardship they faced for His sake. We will see these below inshaa’ Allah. We will also be able to see the hardship faced by Muslims in the secret prisons around the world today, and maybe this will inspire the reader to support them.


All extracts below are from Zainab’s own Account, in her book called; The Return of the Pharoah [I will be quoting from the English Translation by Mokrane Guezzou, Islamic Foundation Publishers].

DOWNLOAD FULL BOOK
: http://www.scribd.com/doc/18540888/Return-of-the-Pharaoh-Memoirs-in-Nasirs-Prison-

(If you are interested in further reading, I will link to more sources at the end of the article inshaa’ Allah.)


The Survival of the Car Accident.

Coming next…

The Survival of the Car Accident;

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh162/speed2kx/zainab-al-ghazali-1.jpg

On my way home one afternoon, on a wintry day in early February 1964, my car suddenly turned upside down after colliding with another vehicle. The sheer force of the collision sent me into a state of semi-consciousness, and despite the severity of my pains the only thing I could comprehend, from all that was happening around me, was the panicky voice of someone calling my name. I can only assume that I then passed out for when I woke up I found myself in Heliopolis. Hospital surrounded by my husband, brothers, sisters and some of my colleagues in da’wah. As was evident from the expression on their faces they were all acutely distressed but within seconds I passed out again. I can recall mumbling: ‘Thank God, thank God!’, as if
enquiring about what happened. It then all came flooding back, and I could hear my husband’s relief as he said:

‘Praise be to Allah, He has saved her. Thank Allah Hajjah!…

Once I did begin to recover it did not take me long to establish both from what I overheard and what was reported to me that the accident was no accident at
all. It had been planned by Nasir’s secret agents, with the express intent to kill me.

[p5-6.]

After this attempt of assassination, many attempts of bribe and blackmail took place so that she would transfer her own personal Islamic schools [Jamaa'at al-Sayyidaat al-Muslimaat] to the government, and to give up her call of Islam in replacement for a payment and funding (i.e. bribes). However, each time she rejected. Her followers became more in number and stronger in belief, and due to the oppression of the government – many were imprisoned, but shockingly the numbers continued to grow. The rulers feared that her influence would make people overpower the government, so the services would falsely accuse these Muslims of plotting against Jamal Abdul Nasir. They needed to get rid of her; her house was raided, her property confiscated, and she was taken to prison…

The Way to Room 24

On my way to Room 24, accompanied by two men holding whips, I was deliberately taken past different places inside the prison such that I could see for myself the
hideous things taking place there. Almost unable to believe my eyes and not wanting to accept such inhumanity, I silently watched as members of the Ikhwan were suspended in the air and their naked bodies ferociously flogged. Some were left to the mercy of savage dogs which tore at their bodies. Others, with their face to the wall awaited their turn. Worse still, I knew many of these pious, believing youth personally. They were as dear to me as my own sons, and had attended study circles of Tafsir and Hadith in my home, in their own homes and at Ibn al-Arqam house.

One by one, these youth of Islam, shaikhs of Islam, were tortured, left standing with their face to the wall, and flogged ferociously. Some had blood running down their foreheads. Foreheads that did not bow to anyone except Allah. The light of Tawhid [monotheism] shone from their raised faces, proud to belong to the cause of Allah.

One of them shouted to me: ‘Mother! May Allah make you firm!’

‘Sons! It is a pledge of allegiance. Be patient Yasir’s family, your reward is Paradise.”

The man with me struck me so hard on my head that I felt my eyes and ear turning as if hit by an electrical force. And the light from inside the prison made me aware of the many, many more tortured bodies filling the place. – ‘[Let it be for the sake of Allah"

'Let it be for the sake of Allah!',] I braved.

Miracle #1;

At that moment, a voice, as if coming from Paradise, could be heard saying: ’0 Allah! Hold their steps firm and protect them from the perverts. Had it not been for You, 0 Lord!, we would not have been guided. Nor would we have prayed nor given anything in charity So,please hold our steps firm in trial and in adversity.’

The sound of flogging became louder and more intense, but the voice of iman was both stronger and clearer.

Another voice rallied: ‘There is no god but Allah.’

And, I again repeated: ‘Patience my sons, it is a pledge of allegiance. Patience, your reward is Paradise.’

I was struck sharply on my back but I would not relent: ‘Allah is the Greatest, praise be to Allah. 0 Allah! Give us patience and contentment. Praise and thanks are due to You, 0 Allah! For the bounties of Islam, Iman and Jihad in Your way which You bestowed upon us.’

The door to a dark room was opened, I was hurled inside, and the door crashed shut behind me.



Miracle #2:
Dogs!

Coming next…


Miracle #2
Dogs!

Inside Room 24

‘In the Name of Allah, peace be upon you!’, I repeated. The next moment the door was locked and a bright light switched on. Now their purpose was revealed; the room was full of dogs! I could not count how many! Scared, I closed my eyes and put my hands to my chest. Within seconds the snarling dogs were all over me, and I could feel their teeth tearing into every part of my body. Clenching my hands tight into my armpits, I began to recount the Names of Allah, beginning with ’0 Allah! 0 Allah!’

The dogs were unrelenting, digging their teeth into my scalp, my shoulders, back, chest and wherever another had not already taken hold. I repeatedly invoked my Lord, calling: ’0 Lord! Make me not distracted by anything except You. Let all my attention be for You Alone, You my Lord, the One, the Only, the Unique, the Eternal Absolute. Take me from the World of Forms. Distract me from all these phenomena. Let my whole attention be for You. Make me stand in Your Presence. Bestow on me Your Tranquillity. Clothe me with the garments of Your Love. Provide me with death for Your sake, loving for Your sake, contentment with You. 0 Lord! Hold the steps of the faithful firm.’

I repeated this inwardly for what seemed like several hours until at last the door was opened, the dogs forced from my body and I was taken out.

I expected that my clothes would be thoroughly stained with blood, for I was sure the dogs had bitten every part of my body. But, incredulously, there was not a single blood-stain on my clothes, as if the dogs had been in my imagination only. May God be exalted! He is with me. I began questioning inwardly whether I deserved all these bounties and gifts from Allah. My warders could not believe it either. I glimpsed the sky outside filled with evening twilight, indicating sunset. I concluded that I must have been locked in with the dogs for more than three hours. Praise be to God for any adversity!

I was pushed, and staggered along for what seemed a long time. A door was opened, and I felt lost in the vast hall which it gave onto. I was led along another long corridor, past many closed doors. I noticed one of these doors slightly ajar, and giving out enough light to brighten the obscurity of the corridor. Through it I caught a glimpse of the illuminated face of Muhammad Rashad Mahna, once Egypt’s Crown Prince. The Nasir regime believed that the Ikhwan would install him as Head of State if they took over power. Hence his arrest. Cell No. 3, next to Cell No. 2, was opened and I was hurled inside.

Cell No. 3 – Demonic Torture

The door was locked behind me, and immediately the lamp hanging from the cell’s roof lit. The sheer intensity of the light was enough to terrify and intimidate. It could only mean further barbarism and torture.

After a while I knocked on the door and a gloomyfaced demon harshly wanted to know what for. I asked permission to go to the toilet to make my ablutions.

Ignominy of ignominies, I was not allowed to knock on the door, nor was I allowed to go to the toilet, nor make ablutions, nor allowed to drink.

‘Knock on the door again, you B……, and I’ll flog/whip you 50 times.’ He hit the air with his whip, to demonstrate
his eager readiness to carry out his threat.

In my bare cell, exhausted from my ordeal in Room 24, I took off my coat, spreading it out on the floor. I did tayammum, prayed Maghrib and ‘Isha and sat still. My leg, still painful from the operation was beginning to trouble me, so, placing my shoes underneath my head, I lay down.

The silence was soon broken by the sounds of a wooden post being erected outside my cell window. Then, one believing youth after another was brought, strapped to the post in the crucifixion position and beaten ferociously. Each in turn would invoke Allah, asking for His help.

After half an hour or so of this intensive whipping their torturers would ask each youth, many of them engineers, doctors or councillors, when they had arrived here.
‘Today or yesterday’, was the response.

‘When did you last go to Zainab al-Ghazali’s house?’

If these brothers said they could not remember, the butchers would continue their torture, demanding that they curse me with the most despicable, lowly expressions. Of course, the brothers would refuse, and the flogging continued unabated. Some, brave enough and strong enough to say that they had not observed in me anything except sincerity and good virtues, were beaten unconscious.

All this to break my resolve and will. I began invoking Allah, begging Him for His mercy. I cried out for the butchers to torture me instead of these youth, for I thought it would be less painful for me. I began asking Allah to put me in their place, to spare me as well as these brothers from such heinous torture. I begged that my brethren should say what the butchers wanted to hear such that they could be spared further pain. But they did not, staying steadfast in their refusals. The floggings multiplied, the cries of anguish increased and my shame at what was being done was immeasurable.

From my compassion and grief, I continued to invoke Allah, saying: ’0 Allah! Make it such that by my attentions to You I am distracted from them, and make it such that by their attention to You they are distracted from me.Lord! Inspire them to do good deeds You are pleased with. Lord! Shield from me the cries of these tortures.

Lord! You know what is within me and I do not know what is within You and You are the most Knower of the unseen. You know people’s innermost secrets and what breasts hide. Lord! Have mercy on Your people!’

[p48-55]

Miracle #3; The 1st Vision

Coming next…

Miracle #3; The 1st Vision

I do not know how but I fell asleep while invoking Allah, and it was then that I experienced the first of four visions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that I was to see during my stay in prison.

There in front of me, praise be to Allah, was a vast desert and camels with hawdahs [camel carrier seats] as if made of light. On each hawdah were four men, all with luminous faces. I found myself behind this huge train of camels in that vast, endless desert, and standing behind a great, reverent man. This man was holding a halter which passed through the neck of each camel I wondered silently: Could this man be the Prophet (peace be upon him)?

Silence has no safeguard with the Prophet, who replied:

‘Zainab! You are following in the footsteps of Muhammad,
Allah’s Servant and Messenger.’

‘Am I, master! Following in the footsteps of Muhammad, Allah’s Servant and Messenger?’

‘You, Zainab Ghazali, are following in the footsteps of Muhammad, Allah’s Servant and Messenger.’

’0 my Beloved! Am I truly following in your footsteps?’

‘Zainab! You are on the right path. You are on the right path, Zainab! You are following in the footsteps of Muhammad, Allah’s Servant and Messenger.’

Twice more I repeated my question, receiving the same response from the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wasalam).

I woke up feeling I owned the world. Astonished, I had forgotten my whereabouts and what I was facing. Nor did I feel any pain nor see the wooden post near the window.

It seemed that I had been taken to another place whereof voices came from a far. Furthermore, I was also astonished for, although I am known as Zainab al-Ghazali, my recorded name at birth was Zainab Ghazali, and it was by this name that the Prophet had called me. Indeed, the vision had transported me beyond time and space. I did tayammum and began praying, thanking Allah for this gift. In one of my prostrations I found myself invoking:

‘Lord! By what means am I going to thank You? There is nothing I can thank You with except by renewing my allegiance to You. 0 Allah! I pledge allegiance to die for Your Sake. 0 Allah! I pledge allegiance to You that none should be tortured because of me. 0 Allah! Hold me firm in following the truth that You are pleased with, and confine me within the limits of right that pleases You!’

Tranquillity and peace of mind were mine…

[p53-55]

Rape Attempt

‘If you face any resistance from her, use the whip!’

I beseeched Allah: ’0 Allah! I am Your slave-girl, following Your path as much as I am able. I am calling You out of my weakness, despondency and inability to drive away the sins of these evil-doers. Protect me with Your Might, and help me surmount their injustice.’

I was awakened from my invocation by the voice of the surly brute who had been brought to rape me:

‘Aunty!, he called.

I looked at him in amazement. His countenance had changed, resembling more that of a human being’s.

‘Don’t be scared Aunty! I won’t hurt you even if they tear me apart.’

‘May Allah guide you my son. May Allah bestow His bounties on you!

The cell door opened violently and Safwat leapt on the man, beating and cursing him: ‘You accursed dog! Now you’ve exposed yourself to the death penalty. Either get on with this job or it is a military court for you. I’ll be
back in an hour to see what you’ve done. Save yourself, obey my orders.’

‘Yes Sir.’

’0 Allah!’, I called. ‘This is Your mission and we are its soldiers and martyrs. Protect Your soldiers and their honour. Make us stronger than their injustice and torture.‘ I was also praying to Allah to guide this man. I had expected after the brutal reminder of his orders that he would be scared and turn into the monster they hoped for. But he was kindly and courageous.

‘Why are they torturing you like this Aunty?’, he asked with the innocence of a child.

‘My son, we are calling people to Allah and want Islam’s rule for this country. Don’t misunderstand, for we don’t want power for ourselves.’

I heard the Adhan of Zuhr, and made tayammum on the wall and prayed. The man asked me to pray for him, so I did. When I stood up to pray the sunnah, he said: ‘Pray to Allah to help me begin my prayers, Aunty. You are good people, may the wrath of Allah be on you Nasir!’

‘Do you know how to make wudu’?’

‘Of course. I used to persevere in performing prayer, but had the army found out about it, I would have been jailed.’

‘Pray, even if they jail you, my son.’

‘I will’, he said, the light of iman shining in his face.

At this juncture a soldier banged violently on the cell door. ‘You son of a dog!’, he shouted. ‘What are you doing?’

‘The lady has not finished praying yet.’

‘Safwat is coming, he sent me to see what you’ve done.’

Safwat charged in like a rabid dog. He attacked my young saviour with the utmost savagery, hitting him until he no longer even groaned. Finally they picked him up and took him out. I was left alone to reflect on the suffering this young man would endure on my behalf. Allah had illuminated his heart such that he could not obey the unjust.

NOTE: This is the case with many Muslims under the oppressive regimes. They are forced to join the armies, without being allowed to practise Islam even to its basic levels (i.e. they are prohibited even from the 5 daily prayers), and they are forced into sinful acts such as the above. All this is done to suppress Islam because the rulers fear that their authority will be lost if people begin to practise Islam. So they are forced to support oppression, otherwise they will be tortured too. Just as Allah’s Messenger prophesised. This is why we are narrating the story of Zainab and others like them.

Miracle #4: Second Vision

Coming next…

Miracle #4 – 2nd Vision –

At sunset, the butchers of the Military prison became active. Their wheels of torture began to roll. During the night they took me back to the cell of water. My intestines screamed with hunger, my throat was cracked from thirst, my bodily wounds scorched my soul.

Miraculously, I fell asleep and enjoyed the most beautiful of dreams. Beautiful people wore beautiful clothes made from black silk, adorned with pearls sewn together in gold-embroidered velvet. They carried plates of gold and silver full to the brim with meats and fruits that I had never seen the like of before. I began eating, first from this plate, then another and another.

As I awoke I realized I was no longer hungry, or thirsty. Rather, the taste of the food I had eaten in my dream remained in my mouth. I thanked Allah and praised Him for His bounty.

[p95-8]

We see that she was patient, she was given no food, so Allah fed her from the foods of Jannah! (Paradise).

Miracle #5 - Rape Attempt 2

Coming next…

Miracle #5Rape Attempt 2;

Safwat came alone and threw me back into the adjacent room. Then, after, back to the cell of water where I stayed until the following day. Day in day out, this same routine ensued until I completely lost track of time and my senses became numbed. Again, I was taken from the cell of water to the adjacent room.

Safwat entered, screaming: ‘Nasir has sent devils from the Nubah [Africa] who will devour you. Where are you going to run to now? Every minute that goes by brings you nearer to your end!’

He then left and closed the door behind him. After ‘Asr, I was again taken to the cell of water where I stayed all night. Just before noon on the fourth day, Safwat came alone and threw me back into the adjacent room. Then, after ‘Mr, back to the cell of water where I stayed until the following day. Day in day out, this same routine ensued until I completely lost track of time…

Turning to Safwat, he commanded: ‘Execute the orders, Safwat! And if any of these dogs disobeys refer him immediately to my office.’

Safwat began explaining to the soldiers what they had to do, in the most despicable, pornographic manner, all vestiges of decency removed. Pointing to one of them, he took unashamed pleasure in his instruction: ‘Execute the instruction, you dog! And when you’ve finished call your friend to do the same. Understood!’

He then left the room and locked the door. The soldier began begging me to tell them all they needed to know, for he had no wish to hurt me. But if he did not obey orders then a great harm would befall him.

With all the strength I could muster, I warned him:

‘Come near me, just one step, and I’ll kill you. Kill you, understand?’

I could see the man was reluctant but still he moved towards me. Before I knew it, my hands were firmly around his neck.

‘Bismillah, Allahu Akbar’, I shouted, and sank my teeth into the side of his neck.

The man slipped out of my hands, white foam, like murky soap suds, frothed from his mouth. He fell to the ground motionless.

Hardly able to believe what had happened, I slunk backwards, what little strength I had now diluted. For now, at least, I was safe. Allah, the Exalted, had infused in me a strange force. A force sufficient to overcome this
beast.

0 my God! How generous are You! How vast is Your Gift! You are our Lord and the Lord of everything! Those who follow Allah’s commandments are fought and resisted, but the final abode is always to the righteous!

The cell door opened and Hamzah and Safwat, and their motley crew stood confounded by what they saw: their compatriot gurgling on the ground. They looked, on silently in disbelief. (. . . Thus was he confounded who (in arrogance) rejected faith . . .) [Quran al Baqarah 2:258]

They carried the soldier’s body away between them. Then the cell of water was again my destiny.

[p98-100]


Miracle #6 – Rats!


Coming next…

Miracle #6: the Rats!

From Mice to Water and Vice Versa

I remained in the cell of water until, at noon of the sixth day, I was again moved to the adjacent room. My nerves were on edge, anticipating what might happen next, for I had gone through every conceivable kind of torture in that place.

I delegated my affairs to Allah and sat leaning against the wall. I sensed something move and, lifting my head saw a continuous stream of mice pouring through the window as if being emptied from a sack.

I was horrified and began trembling uncontrollably. I began repeating: ‘I seek refuge in Allah from malice and malicious things. 0 Allah! Clear away from me iniquity with whatever thing You want and in whatever manner You like!’

I repeated this du’a until I heard the Adhan of Zuhr. I made tayammum and prayed. I continued to invoke Allah until the ‘Asr prayer. But no sooner had I finished than the beast Safwat al-Rubi came in. Miraculously, by then nearly all the mice had vanished from my cell, making their escape by the window. Safwat’s astonishment was apparent as he scoured every corner of the cell for evidence. A thousand questions manifested on his face.

Unable to digest what he saw, he began cursing and swearing in disappointment. Nothing to do now but return me to the cell of water. There I remained for eight days, enduring almost unbearable exhaustion and fatigue. On the ninth day, Safwat, Riyad and a soldier in military uniform came to my cell and threatened that this was my last chance to save myself. Again, either I confessed to everything they wanted me to or they would get rid of me.


‘Do you really think that your God has a Hell? Hell is here with Nasir! Nasir’s Paradise is a real and existing Paradise. Not an imaginative, unreal Paradise like the one that your God promises you!’
, thundered Riyad.

I continued my silent prayers to Allah, despite the arrival of Hamzah and another ten soldiers.

‘Pasha, what shall we do with this B….
Safwat asked Hamzah. Turning to his soldiers, Hamzah seemed sure.

‘What did you drink?’, he bellowed.

‘Tea your Eminence.’

‘Tea you dogs?! Safwat! Take them away and give each a bottle of wine and a lump of hashish. Feed them everything they want to eat and then throw this B…. to them. I’ll give each a reward for his services.’ With that they all left.

I remained in the cell until Asr prayer. I was in prayer when the door opened and Safwat rushed towards me, pulling me up savagely by the arm. But it was Riyad who spoke: ‘Is it that you want to be a saint? Those soldiers we brought to you are now in hospital, suffering from poisoning. They’ll be back tomorrow to devour your flesh. This is Nasir’s order, for he’ll never leave you alone. We’ve tried time and again but you refuse to change your position. Do you want to be a martyr?

Answer me! Answer me! Where is your whip Safwat?’
Safwat hit me and Riyad encouraged him: ‘Carry on
Safwat! What do you mean by being a saint you B….
Do you want that 30 years after your death, people will
build a mausoleum in a mosque and say Zainab al-
Ghazali al-Jubaili showed karamats [miracles] while imprisoned?

But you’re here with us and not even the devil will know
what we do to you!’

I laughed in his face despite my extreme suffering. It was a mocking laugh, deriding his ignorance and arrogance: ‘If we were after what you said, Allah would not have driven your evil away from us, nor would we have been able to resist and be patient and defeat what you described as Nasir’s Hell. We are seekers of truth, we seek Allah and then His pleasure. Allah will see that we win over you insha’ Allah and will grind the teeth of those you prepare to devour our flesh.’

[p100-103]

The Price of Meagre Sustenance..

Coming next…

The Price of Meagre Sustenance!

I could feel my heart beating so rapidly it almost jumped from out of its place. So weak, I was unable even to groan, I submitted myself to the One Who holds in His Hands the decrees of everything. I do not know how much time had passed when, still lying on the floor, I heard a commotion outside the cell.

With extreme difficulty, I crawled to the door, and, looking through the hole in it, I could see a group of Muslim brothers standing in a long queue, each with a metal bowl in his hand. A soldier was ladling a strange substance from a large container into the bowls. When each brother had been given his share, he moved across to where two opposing rows of soldiers were standing. After finishing their meagre sustenance, the brothers were forced to walk past each soldier who flogged them as they passed by. A compulsory beatingfrom every soldier represented payment for the most basic of foods.

One of the soldiers saw me peeping through the hole in my cell door and rushed into my cell like a crazy beast. He kicked me repeatedly, then used his whip for the final assault. Mercifully, I collapsed into unconsciousness.

The next thing I knew, Safwat was shaking me roughly. Another soldier was holding a bowl of black soup. The smell was unbearable. Safwat said to me: ‘Drink this or you’ll get ten floggings!’

Then, Safwat turned to the soldier and said: ‘Leave her for ten minutes. If she hasn’t drunk it by then, flog her and call me!’

When they left and I was sure nobody was watching, I threw the soup under the blanket they had thrown me shortly before. When the soldier returned, he found the bowl empty, took it and left.

I spent that night suffering the most excruciating pains. My body and mind a whirlpool of torment.

[p106-107]

No sooner did the Jahili butcher see me than he called for Safwat al-Rubi, his face red, his eyes stony. He turned to Safwat and pointed at me with his outstretched arm: ‘Safwat, hang her in the air and give her 500 floggings.’

Such savagery cannot be outstripped, and only Shams Badran can appreciate this level of cruelty. They suspended me on their contraption while Safwat rolled up his sleeves. Then he began to execute his orders. ’0 Allah! 0 Allah!’, I screamed.

‘Where is Allah? Where is this Allah that you call? Had you asked for help from Nasir, he would have given it you immediately!’, he said scornfully.

He railed against Allah, the Exalted, using the most foul and despicable language. I closed my ears to it for it was so shameful a believer would refrain from repeating it even if only to report what had been said.

The flogging over, I was brought down from that machine and made to stand. With my feet bleeding profusely, Shams Badran then ordered me to ‘march on the spot’ pretending that would cure my wounds!

I fell against the wall, then to the floor from sheer exhaustion. I was yanked back up only to collapse in a heap again.

‘She’s only acting, Pasha!’, Hamzah taunted.

I lost consciousness, and woke to find a doctor examining me. He administered an injection and ordered some lemon juice which they gave me to drink..


Torture of Fire

Coming next…


Torture of Fire

There I was made to stand and await my deliverance. In the middle of the cell was a fire, and at each corner a soldier, each of them proudly displaying their snake-like whips. One of them hit me so that I was forced towards the fire, but when I tried to turn away from the flames another hit me to turn me back again and so on and so forth. All the while the heat of the fire scorched my exposed flesh. I was tortured in this way for about two hours, between the flames of the fire which I was scared of falling into and the searing lashes of their whips. Hamzah al-Basyuni came in, repeating his deluded nonsense: either I confirm the plot to assassinate Nasir, or else. In any case I lost consciousness and when I awoke I was once again in hospital.

[p108-109]

Ali al ‘Ashmawi’s Betrayal , & the Steadfastness of Abd al-Fattah Isma’il:

Safwat! Hang her in the air! And bring ‘Ali al- ‘Ashmawi and the dogs!’

When ‘Ashmawi came in he was wearing clean, elegant pyjamas made of fine silk. His hair was combed and he bore no signs of physical torture. As I looked at him and contemplated my own state and that of my brothers, I was convinced that he had betrayed Allah’s trust. Had confessed to false and slanderous things. He had slipped into the abyss of these perverts, had become one of Shams Badran’s men. He had joined the ranks of those who know no virtue, manners or din [religion]…

Shortly after, Hamzah al-Basyuni came back with ‘Abd al-Fattah Isma’il. The latter’s countenance bore a truthful gravity and shone with the light of the believers. His blue prison uniform was torn and signs of physical torture bespoke what this truthful, believing mujahid had endured.

‘Assalam alaykum!’, he addressed me.

‘Wa ‘alaykum assalam wa rahmat Allah!’

‘Abd al-Fattah, what were you doing at Zainab’s house and why did you repeatedly visit her house?’, teased Shams.

‘She is my sister in Allah’s Religion. We were helping each other to educate the Muslim youth on the principles of the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Of course, this would eventually lead to a change in the nature of the State: from a State of Jahiliyyah [Ignorance] to an Islamic State.’

‘Stop your preaching. You’re not on a pulpit you B….. Get out! Get out!’

And ‘Abd al-Fattah left, after wishing me well. The steadfast manhood displayed by ‘Abd al-Fattah gave me a sense of peace. For it emanated from the iman in Allah that is in him.

I said secretly to myself: ‘Praise be to Allah, Allah has real men. May You protect them for Your own da’wah.

If ‘Ashmawi has betrayed us, there are still patient, believing people: leaders of the way and seekers of the truth.

‘Take the B…. ! I want her back here tomorrow…

[p114-116]

The Soviet Union who ruled half the world just 50 years ago is Extinct today, while Islam lives on & will not Die..
Coming next…

The Soviet Union who ruled half the world just 50 years ago is Extinct today, while Islam lives on & will not Die:

I was supposed to have been arrested for a specific crime. If this was so, why did they persist in trying to get me to say that I conspired to kill Nasir, that I planned this crime? If all the details of this crime were available, as they said, why this persistent demand to confess the crime? Why ask me to give proof of a crime which existed only in their imaginations? The reason was clear: all their torturous efforts were directed at one goal – at fighting Islam and destroying its foundations… [p112]

.. Since neither the dogs, water, fire, whips nor any of this torture has worked on you, the Pasha will slaughter you today. For he has his orders from Nasir to do so.’

‘The One who does is Allah!’

‘You want us to do like you, and fail as you’ve failed! You want us to leave the Soviet Union who rules half the world and yield to the words of somebody like al-Hudaibi, Sayyid Qutb or Hasan al-Banna?! You’re crazy! We’re not like you! Answer me!’

‘(For they, when they were told that there is no God except Allah, would puff themselves up with pride. And say: “What! Shall we give up our gods for the sake of a Poet possessed?”.[Quran al Saffat:36]

These gods were idols, and the rulers are the custodians of idols. It was they who accused the Prophet (peace be upon him) of insanity. And, thus, is history repeating itself. You say to those who call you to Allah, you are insane.

[p117]

Allah is the one who causes Death!

‘Safwat, suspend her in the air and flog her!’ ‘We want her alive so that she can stand trial.’

‘Yes! Yes!’, said Shams. ‘We want her to live and to stand trial so that people can see her and take her as the example she is.’ …

I was moved to hospital and I do not recollect what happened that night, for I was unconscious and remained so for three days…

‘Didn’t I tell you this woman would not enter my office again alive! Why have you brought her to me alive?’

[Zainab replied]: ‘It is neither according to your will nor mine that I should live or die, it is Allah’s Will, He is the Bestower of life and death!’

[p135]

NOTE: Aren’t you amazed at her certainty [yaqeen] in Allah? Even after going through all this torture, she is patient with what Allah will destine for her and isn’t rushing for death? This is why Allah gave her miracles – to reaffirm and strengthen her trust in Him.

Miracle #7: Another Vision/Dream of Glad tidings of Allah’s Messenger (sal Allah alayhe wasalam); & the Righteous.

Coming next…

Miracle #7: Another Vision/Dream of Glad tidings of Allah’s Messenger (sal Allah alayhe wasalam); & the Righteous.

Many days passed before I received the prosecuting attorney’s petition informing me of the trial date [for her case]. It was a scandal second to none, for we had been informed that the courts were, in any case, in Shams Badran’s pocket. We were denied the right to defend ourselves and meet lawyers, and when I asked for Ahmad al-Khawajah as defence attorney, I was told it was not permitted. Instead a Christian lawyer was to defend me.

The day before the trial, I was taken to Shams Badran’s office.

‘You’re requested’, he advised, ‘not to object to anything mentioned in the minutes of the investigations and to endorse every word mentioned therein. If you apologize to the court and say that the Ikhwan [Muslim brothers] have cheated you and if you demonstrate remorse for what you have done, the court will pass a lenient sentence. Be careful not to oppose any word mentioned in the investigations. If you decide to wash your hands of the Ikhwan, you will find us most helpful.

‘Allah does what He wills and chooses. (It is not fitting for a believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Apostle, to have any option about their decision . .) [Ahzab 33:36]

The Dream of Glad Tidings!

In the exuberance of all this, I had a vision:

Standing in a court I was told it was about to pronounce its judgement upon us. But suddenly, the walls of this court vanished and instead I found myself standing in a huge yard the surface of which was earth. Then heaven [the sky] fell on earth as a tent would fall to the ground. Light filled the whole earth, a light linking heaven to earth. I saw the Prophet (peace be upon him) standing in front of me in the direction of the Qiblah [to Makkah]. I was behind him and I heard him say:

‘Listen Zainab to the voice of truth.‘ Together we heard a voice which reached both the heavens and earth, saying: ‘Here the courts of falsehood will be held and the despots’ sentences will be issued unjustly and unduly against you.

You are the trust’s holders and leaders of the way (… persevere in patience and constancy; vie in such perseverance; strengthen each other, and fear Allah, that you may prosper).” [Surah 'aal Imraan]

When the voice stopped, I looked at the Prophet (peace be upon him) who pointed to the right. I looked and saw a rope which reached up to heaven, but it was more like a carpet covered with green grass. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to me:

‘Zainab! Climb this mountain and you will find at its zenith Hasan al-Hudaibi. Tell him these words’, and he looked at me in such a way that it overtook my whole being.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not utter any audible words but I understood what he wanted from me. Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) lifted his hand towards the mountain and I found myself climbing it. As I was climbing, I met Khalidah and ‘Aliyah al-Hudaibi on the way and I asked them: ‘Are you with us on the way?’

‘Yes.

I left them and continued climbing. Within a few metres, I met Aminah and Hamidah Qutb [the sisters of Syed Qutb] with Fatimah ‘Isa. I asked them too: ‘Are you with us on the way?’

‘Yes!’, came their reply.

I continued climbing until I reached the top of the mountain where I found a plain surface in the middle of which was a court furnished with rugs, sofas and pillows and al-Hudaibi sitting in the middle. When al-Hudaibi saw me, he stood up and greeted me, clearly happy to see me.

‘I am sent by the Prophet [peace be upon him] to deliver to you a few words as a trust from him, a trust which is on the Prophet, may peace be on him’, I said as we shook hands.

He explained that he had already received it, praise be to Allah. And we sat as these words were transmitted through our souls, inaudible in any other way.

Sitting with al-Hudaibi I looked to the bottom of the mountain where I saw two naked women on a train. I, painfully, notified al- Hudaibi who also looked at the train, saying: ‘Do you oppose them?’

Yes!’

‘Do you think that what we have attained is due to us and our efforts? It is rather because of the grace of Allah, so don’t busy yourself with them.’

‘We have to resist in order to bring them to the right path!’

‘Can you do this by yourself?’ ‘By Allah!’ ‘Let’s praise Allah for what He has given us.’

He raised his hands as if thanking Allah, as I did too. As we repeated our thanks to Allah, I woke up.

The feeling which now came over me was one of unencumbered peace, rest and tranquillity. This vision had washed away all my pain and driven away all the
fear and sorrow in my heart (.. . those who have left their homes, or been driven out therefrom, or suffered harm in My cause, or fought or been slain, – verily, I will blot out from them their iniquities, and admit them into gardens with rivers flowing beneath; – a reward from the Presence of Allah, and from His Presence is the best of rewards. Let not the strutting about of the unbelievers through the land deceive you . . . 0 you who believe! Persevere in patience and constancy; vie in such perseverance; strengthen each other and fear Allah; that you may prosper).”

[p150-4]


Zainab’s Courage in Court, & a Funny Incident in Court.


Coming next…

Zainab’s Courage in Court, & a Funny Incident in Court;

I felt myself becoming more and more upset because of all the falsehood incarnated in the court. I raised my hand requesting permission to speak Al-Dajawi [a layperson who was given the role of a Judge] – who foolishly believed himself to be a real judge – he thought that I wanted to apologize for fear of their falsehood and for fear of their threats and their demands that I be sentenced to death; a life sentence was not enough to punish me for my crimes, they said. Al-Dajawi looked at me, ignorance encompassing his face, and allowed me to speak:

‘In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate! We are the trustees of an ummah and the inheritors of a Book and the guardians of a Shari’ah. We have in the Prophet (peace be upon him) a good example (Uswah) and we stand firm on the way till we raise the banner of “there is no god but Allah”. Allah is Sufficient unto us and He is the best Disposer of affairs for what the unjust have fabricated against us.’

I pointed to the prosecution and the court representatives and repeated: ‘Allah is Sufficient unto us and He is the best Disposer of affairs for all this falsehood, slander and sin.’

Al-Dajawi shouted hysterically: ‘Shut up! Shut up! What is she saying? What does Uswah mean? What does this word mean?’

And, as he repeated ‘What does this word mean?’, everyone in the courtroom burst into laughter at the man assigned as judge but who did not understand Uswah.

Thus did Nasir choose his men. Could the assistants of losers be but losers? I sat down, saying: ‘Ignorance is but a cause of corruption and brings every kind of evil deed with it. Let history be a witness as to who is ruling and Judging us.’

The session was concluded. I was returned to the prison and made to pay dearly for what I had said.

[p160-161]

Miracle #8: A Dream of Syed Qutb:

Coming next…

Miracle #8: A Dream of Syed Qutb:

[After the court case] [They] Then [went] to a room where an officer was sitting. He called my name and said: ‘Zainab al-Ghazali al-Jubaili is sentenced to 25 years hard labour with the seizure of all confiscated items.’

‘Allah is Greater and all praise is due to Him. It is for the sake of Allah and the call of truth: the call of Islam (So lose not heart, nor fall into despair: for you must gain
mastery if you are true in Faith).”

He then called Hamidah Qutb, and said: ‘Ten Years hard labour.’

I hugged her, while repeating: ‘Allah is Greater and to Him is all praise. It is for the sake of a state based on the teachings of the Qur’an, God willing.’

We repeated our faith until we arrived at the court jail. We were anxious, awaiting reassurance about our brothers’ sentences. As soon as they saw us, they shouted:

‘So what happened sister Zainab?’

‘Twenty-five years hard labour for the sake of the Islamic state that is governed by the Qur’an and the Sunnah, God willing.’

‘And sister Hamidah?’

‘Ten years hard labour for the sake of Allah and the da’wah of Islam.’

I asked about the sentences of Sayyid Qutb, ‘Abd al- Fattah Isma’il, Yusuf Hawash and the rest. They informed me that they were to be martyrs for the sake of Allah. By this I understood they had been sentenced to death. I reiterated: ’0 Allah! Accept them as martyrs for the sake of the state of Islam that rules by the Qur’an and the Sunnah, God willing.’

On the day of Sayyid’s execution, I dozed after Fajr prayer and saw him in a dream.

‘Know that I was not with them, I was in Madinah in the company of the Prophet (peace be upon him)’, he said.

I woke and immediately informed Hamidah. The following day, I again dozed after Fajr prayer while reading the supplication of the concluding prayer, and heard a voice saying: ‘Sayyid is in the highest [place of Paradise] Firdaus and his companions are in ‘lliyin [high ranks] .

I woke and related the same to Hamidah who cried, saying: ‘I am sure of Allah’s favour on us and that, God willing, Sayyid is in the highest [part of Paradise] Firdaus.’

‘These visions are consolation, a strengthening from Allah, the Exalted, the High.’

[p162-6]


Miracle #9:
the Dream Vision of her Husband’s Death & Reassurance from Allah’s Messenger.

Coming next…

Miracle #9: the Dream Vision of her Husband’s Death & Reassurance from Allah’s Messenger:

The day I was sentenced, I made a request via Hamzah al-Basyuni to see my husband. When he did not come, I repeated my request. I was called to their offices and asked the reason for my insistence. ‘I have been sentenced to 25 years and want to inform my husband that I am releasing him from the bonds of our marriage, so that he may be free to do what he likes.’

‘Nasir will do it. He didn’t sentence you to death but he will gradually kill you anyway!’, was Hamzah’s harsh response.

‘Allah is the Doer. Nasir, you and the whole world together cannot make a leaf fall from a tree except by Allah’s permission.’

‘We will bring your divorce decree shortly.’

‘You are nothing but beasts.’

Back in my cell, cruel days went by until once again I was reading the Qur’an after Fajr when I dozed off.

In a dream I saw my husband’s picture in the deceased column of the newspaper.

I woke, saying: ’0 Allah! We don’t ask You to take back decrees but ask You to bring benevolence with these decrees.’

I was surprised to hear Hamidah repeating the same du’a, but did not tell her what I had seen in my dream.

I had this same dream often after that.

Then, one Friday morning, as I read the newspapers, I came upon my husband’s photograph in the deceased person’s column. ‘There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His Bondsman and Messenger. To Allah we belong and to Him is our return.)’ To Paradise, God willing, Haj Muhammad!’, I said before bursting into tears and passing out.

Shortly afterwards, my family came to see me…

After my family’s visit, I recalled the vision that Allah had favoured me with when I had seen the Prophet (peace be upon him) in my sleep. I had noted the date of this vision on the copy of the Qur’an I was reading. When I checked, I found it to be the same as the date of our divorce.

Yes! I had seen the Prophet (peace be upon him) wearing white clothes and behind him Hasan al-Hudaibi also wearing white clothes and a hat. I was standing with ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) along with a number of other ladies. She was advising me about something when the Prophet (peace be upon him) came up to us, and called. ‘Have patience ‘A’ishah. Have patience ‘A’ishah. Have patience ‘A’ishah!’

‘A’ishah was pressing my hand, at each utterance, and asked me to be patient. I related this vision to Hamidah and asked Allah to give me endurance and contentment. I was convinced that a new test was in front of me and asked Allah to bestow His Help, Patience and Firmness on me, for He is the One Who answers prayers.

[p167-9]

Miracle #10: Sudden Death of Jamal Abdul Nasir.

Coming next…

Miracle #10: Sudden Death of Jamal Abdul Nasir.

Nasir could not swallow this; that a man and a woman had stripped him of his generation. The man was ‘Abd al-Fattah Isma’il and the woman was me [Zainab al Ghazali]. (They had caused so much problems for him that he couldn’t enjoy his rule in peace). [p171]

The Pharoah [Jamal Abdul Nasir] get’s a Heart-attack;

Zainab says;

Day after day, night after night, Nasir’s death was reported with never-ending crying, screaming, howling and wailing. We even read a report of a shaykh describing Nasir as ‘the defender of Islam’s sanctuary’.

That same shaykh, swore, only a few years earlier in my home, that whoever calls Nasir ‘the defender of Islam’s sanctuary’ is a disbeliever, someone who has taken the garment of Islam from his neck and lost both this world and the World-to-Come. In these conditions we received the news of Nasir’s death, instead, as would whoever has an iota of iman in his heart (. . . and soon will the unjust assailants know what vicissitudes their affairs will take!)’[Al Anbiya:34]


The Last Bargain:

The 9th August 1971, was a memorable day bringing us a new test. A prison officer came hastily to me asking that I go and see the prison governor in his office. I was surprised, and my thoughts wandered, exploring all possibilities. What was happening? What did this despot want from me? …..

Afterwards, I was taken to Ahmad Rushdi’s office. Rushdi who had used his whips and sickness against men whom Allah had strengthened their hearts with the ties of faith. I was asked to sit, while he congratulated me on my release. Our discussion was nothing but a series of orders which he wanted me to comply with. Namely, I was not to participate in any Islamic activity, nor was I to visit any of my brothers and acquaintances in Allah, nor was I to co-operate with any of them. Furthermore, I would be obliged to see him in his office from time to time.

When he had finished his instructions, I advised him: ‘I reject all what you have said, in fact I reject my release. Inform your superiors, I want to be returned immediately to al-Qanatir prison!’

Rushdi smiled and ended the meeting, saying: ‘Anyhow, there are many Ikhwan members who have already agreed with me about this . . ‘By Allah, I don’t know anything about the Ikhwan except good things. As to what you say about some Ikhwan, I cannot comment. I don’t believe they promised you anything of the sort. The Ikhwan are inheritors of truth, and they work for this truth day and night until Allah brings His victory or they die for His sake.’

The phone rang. Rushdi informed me that my brother, ‘Abd al-Mun’im al-Ghazali had arrived. My brother embraced me with tears in his eyes.

‘I want you to act as referee between me and the Hajjah, for we are at loggerheads’, Rushdi said to my brother.

‘The Hajjah is older than me; I am her youngest brother. It is not my habit to argue with her. Besides, as you know, she has a strong discursive faculty and sound logic.’ ‘Alright Hajjah, congratulations, but make sure that you don’t have anything to do with Ikhwan military organizations.’

‘Secret organizations are your fabrication. The establishment of an Islamic state is an obligation on Muslims and their equipment for it is the call to Allah in the same manner the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his Companions called to Him. This is the mission of every Muslim whether they are from the Ikhwan or not.’

With that, I headed, with my brother, towards home. It was 3:00 a.m. on the 10th August 1971.

[p185- 189]


BONUS MIRACLES

Coming next…

BONUS MIRACLES:

During the presidency of Jamal Abdel-Nasir in Egypt, an 80 year old Sheikh named “Al-Aowdan” was sent to prison, Al-Harby Prison. Sheik “Al-Aowdan” was one of the Muslim Imams who taught the Qur’an in the “Al-Azhar Al-Shareef ” in Egypt, plus he had the knowledge to give tafseer to the Holy Qur’an.

The man in charge of the arrest, Shams Badran, told the jailer: ” Take this dog (Old Sheikh) and throw him a long with a hungry dog in a prison cell. “ After a while, Shams Badran asked the jailer to check on the prison cell, and see what “the dog did to the other dog”.

The Jailer looked in the prison cell and he saw an amazing thing, he saw, the Old Sheikh was praying in prostration position and the dog was next to him on the alert guarding the Old Imam.

After his release, Sheik Al-Aowdan went to Saudi Arabia, and upon learning his arrival, King Faisal greeted the Old Sheik personaly in the Airport and took him to Mecca and Al-Medina for him to teach and give tafseer to the Holy Qur’an. In his Will, Sheik “Al-Aowdan” requested to be buried in the Al-Baqi Cemetery, a famous cemetery where the majority of the Prophet’s companions are buried

Finally, Sheik “Al-Aowdan” was granted his wish and was buried in Al-Baqi cemetery….Congratulations Sheik “Al-Aowdan” and we ask the Almighty to reward you beyond plenty in the Hereafter……Ameen.

by: Sheik Abdel Hamid Kishk


Hammaan was Destroyed, just like Pharoah…


Shams Badran was destroyed, just like Abdul Nasir..

Coming next…

Hammaan was Destroyed, just like Pharoah…

Shams Badran was destroyed, just like Abdul Nasir…


Jamal Abdul Nasir hyped up as the leader of Egypt
[click on links for pics]

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h…ca_landing.jpg

Shams Badran hyped up as a military leader (& torturer);

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h…5745667do7.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h…5745667do7.jpg

Jamal Abdul Nasir is dead;

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Finally Shams Badran is locked up when the government changed after Abdul Nasir’s death;

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قبل الطوفان: شمس بدران (2): وزير الحربية..يتاجر في الجُبن


http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?253007-10-Karamat-%5BMiracles%5D-Given-to-Prisoner-Zainab-al-Ghazali&p=3760528&viewfull=1#post3760528

March 29, 2010 Posted by | egypt, ikhwan, miracles, prison, qutb, zainab ghazali | Leave a Comment

The Ordeal of Brother Tarek Mehanna (may Allah release him)


Brother Tarek Mehanna. May Allah release him.

From FreeTarek.com:

Tarek Mehanna is a 27 year old American-born Muslim Egyptian. Highly educated, he holds a doctorate in pharmacy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy. He is a devout, tolerant Muslim who is not only respected in the local Islamic and interfaith communities, but who also gives back to his community by fulfilling the roles of brother, educator, mentor, scholar, and friend. Tarek is described by those who know him well as humble, reserved, warm, peaceful, charismatic, knowledgeable, and dedicated.

For several years Tarek has been a victim of FBI surveillance and harassment. When Tarek refused to backstab the Mus lim community and be an informant for the FBI, they continually threatened him before taking an opportunity to arrest him in 2008. While Tarek was out on bail, FBI agents raided his home with an arrest warrant on October 21st, 2009.

Tarek was arrested again despite the lack of any new evidence since the prior apprehension. He is currently being held in solitary confinement, facing accusations of aiding and abetting terrorism. All of these FALSE charges have been fabricated by paid FBI informants. We ask you to join us to support our brother until he is released and home with his loving family.

In his own words:

Bismillah, was-Salama ‘alayki wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuh;

I will try to answer your questions as well as I can.

I was arrested at my house in the morning, on October 21st. I had just finished making wudu’ for Fajr prayer and was going into my room to pray sunnah when the doorbell rang, followed by a series of loud knocks. My father, who had just gotten dressed for work, was startled at first, but knew who it was. He opened the door, and my house was suddenly filled with about a dozen FBI agents coming up to my room. They were extremely disrespectful to my father as they addressed him. As my mother emerged from the bedroom, I motioned for them to join me in Fajr prayer despite the presence of the FBI agents. So, we stood there and prayed in my room with the agents looking on (maybe they learned a thing or two). I then hugged my parents before I was handcuffed and led down the stairs and out into a waiting police cruiser. I was told that after I was gone, my cat ran down to the door and sat there waiting for me to come back. Loyal animals, ma sha’Allah (awww….).

I was then taken to the local police station and booked, had a mugshot and fingerprints taken, and called home for a few minutes. It was still barely 7:00AM. It was easier to calm my mother down this time because we had been through all of this before around the same time last year.

I was then driven from the local police station to the federal court in the city. The FBI agent who sat next to me in the back was taking a particular interest in how I learned Arabic, as he was in the process of trying to do the same. One should learn to not fall for the “friendly FBI agent” trick—they want only to pull as many statements out of you that they can later put to some legal document to be used against you. The driver wasn’t an FBI agent, but was rather a state trooper. See, the cowboys who go around making these cases and arrests are not solely FBI. They are part of what is called the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), which is a compendium of FBI, customs, state and local police, and other law enforcement agencies that combine their efforts in a focused group whose sole task is to fight Islam, (Oh sorry, I meant ‘terrorism’). They are all over the country.

Once I got to court, I was booked, mugshot, and fingerprinted again, then I was placed in a holding cell for a few hours until my afternoon hearing, where my charge was read out to me vaguely, and I was remanded to the custody of the US Marshalls. Now, the funny thing is that until now, I had no idea what exactly I was being accused of. It was only on my way from court to prison that night that I first heard on the radio the nonsense about malls and whatnot. No comment, really…no comment.

Once I arrived at the prison, I was booked yet a third time, strip-searched (they do that a lot here), and then given my complimentary orange jumpsuit, signaling my entry into the isolation unit. When I was in here last year, I was in population, which is relatively laid back. There were TVs, you could socialize, had plenty of time out of your cell, and so forth. Isolation is where the put you if you are uncontrollable in population, or you’re accused of something big. In isolation, you are on 23-hour lockdown, which means you can only be outside of your cell for one hour each day. You are alone in your cell for those 23-hours, you don’t have the privileges available to other prisoners, such as haircuts, taking classes, access to the library cart, etc. The cells here have one way intercoms, meaning the guard can radio in, but you can’t call out if you need something, while population cells have two-way intercoms. You aren’t visited by a chaplain, and so on. Basically, isolation is a place where you just exist, out of sight, out of mind.

Each cell is basically the size of a small bathroom. In fact imagine your bathroom with a metal toilet, the sink shrunk down and connected to the toilet as a single unit, a metal desk sticking out of the wall, a metal door, a small metal bed sticking out of the opposite wall, and the walls all painted a pale cream color. That is what the cell looks like. There is a narrow window in here, although it doesn’t let in sunlight due to the fact that it faces a gray wall. I do most of everything inside the cell: pray, read, sleep, etc. It is indeed a lovely little abode.

My daily activities here are quite limited. I alternate between praying (this is a great place to get used to more sunnahprayers), adkhar, reading the newspaper, reading a novel someone might slip under my door, writing in my journal, responding to letters, sitting back and thinking, and enjoying my hour of rec-time. You can also travel with your mind (smile).

As I said before, rec time is for exactly an hour a day. Your entertainment options include walking around the perimeter of the tiny unit, calling home, taking a shower, or using the rec-deck. The rec-deck is the closest thing we have in isolation to being able to go outside. It’s essentially a room-sized cage, with one side of cage facing the prison yard, allowing you to see trees, grass, smell fresh air, etc. Through the metal wiring. (hey, it could be worse). Two down-sides to rec-time are that your hour is at different, randomly selected time slots each day, so its hard to coordinate a phone call if someone’s at work, asleep, etc. Also, they don’t tell you ahead of time what time you will be out that day. SO, if you want to do some exercises in your cell in hopes of being able to shower right after, that doesn’t happen down here. They just radio into your cell and say “Rec-time, rec-time,” take it or leave it. The good part of rec (besides the obvious) is that they give you a 15-min warning when your time is almost up, so if you’ve been on the phone and want to shower before having to go back into your cell, that helps you to time yourself.

So, rec-time is the #1 highlight of the day here, mainly because it breaks the routine of being locked in the same cell 23 hours of the day. The second highlight of the day is mealtime. Mealtimes are useful for me in a way they aren’t for anyone else. See, in isolation, there is no way to know what time it is. They forbid watches or clocks of any kind here. However, I do know that officially, breakfast is served around 5:30AM, lunch around noontime, and dinner around 4:30PM. That way, I can know when to pray Fajr, Dhuhr, and Maghrib. I just estimate when ‘Asr and ‘Isha’ come in.

Meals are slid in through a slot in our doors. The food isn’t what you’d eat at home or out with friends, but its food and I’m grateful for it. Breakfast is usually some cereal or oatmeal, along with a small apple and milk. Lunch is usually steamed vegetables, two slices of white toast, a slice of “meat” and some potatoes or macaroni. Dinner is the same, except for what we call Fish Fridays, where we actually get something recognizable: a real fish sandwich similar to something you’d get at McDonald’s or something (see, they like to spoil us every so often). Judging by the portions we get for each meal, it seems the nutritionists at this fine institution are trying to strictly stick to the minimum 2,200 calorie daily requirement.

When I complete my daily dining experience, I pull out my ‘Maximum Security Toothpaste” (I’m not joking—that’s what it really says on the tube), and brush to my heart’s content with the eerie 2-inch long object that they tell me is supposed to be a toothbrush, although it really doesn’t reach many of my teeth without major effort.

Each wing of the each unit has what’s referred to as a runner. A runner is an inmate who’s already been sentenced, and volunteers to do the cleaning duties for the whole wing in return from more rec-time. The runner on my wing is cool, a Bosnian Croat. The nice thing about having a runner is that since they have to sweep the whole wing, they stop by every cell. That means I can chat with him every day, and we often get into some good conversations about Yugoslav politics and history. He is also instrumental in providing me with a daily copy of the newspaper. Of course my conversations with him take place from behind my cell door, but its one of the rare forms of interaction with others that are possible down here. So, al-hamdulillah.

Sometimes, some guards will stop while doing their rounds and have a couple of words with me, trying to have their own assessment of the Big Bad Terrorist, after what they’ve come across in the media. It was interesting to see their reactions when they discovered that I had no accent, that I was educated, polite, that I ate food, slept at night, and did all of the things that normal humans do. One of them, an ex-Marine, is pretty cool with me now and admits that after his few conversations with me, he’s finding it harder and harder to buy what he’s read in the news, and jokingly remarked that he’s now playing the part of my defense lawyer to the other guards in the unit. It is very easy to cause a stereotype, but it is also very easy to break one. Even in this unit, there are varying levels to how many restrictions are placed on a segregation inmate. For a while, I was on the highest level of restriction, which included full restraints. Full restraints means that whenever I was out of my cell, even for rec-time, I had my hands and feet shackled, then tied together—while I was on the phone, walking to the shower, walking around the unit—everything. Obviously, the impression the prison administration had from the media was the cause, as well as whatever they were told by the FBI. After awhile, I had a meeting with the captain of the unit, and the same thing occurred: once he had a personal encounter and conversation, observed my behavior, and got a more accurate assessment of who I was and why I was really here, they decided to take me off the full restraints, wal-hamdulillah.

There are obvious inconveniences associated with being in a place like this, but I’ll just mention two. The first is the total lack of a pleasant scent. Obviously, we have no cologne, musk, or anything like that. You are in a place that is meant to be dull, unpleasant, unstimulating, bland. The color of the walls, the color of your food, your clothes, accessories—everything is devoid of attraction. The smell in the air is always the same. Nothing to refresh you or enliven your senses. May Allah reward some of the brothers who wrote to me and were kind enough to rub some musk on the pages of their letters so that I could indulge from time to time.

The second annoyance is that I am surrounded by vulgarity and obscenity. Hearing other inmates yell out to each other from cell to cell, the majority of their conversations revolve around filthy topics, and it seems that the majority of their vocabularies consist of curses. It is to the point that the inmates here who are allowed to have rec-time together and play chess will refer to the Queen as “the b*@ch.” That gets to you after a while, especially when you’re used to being around pure, well-mannered brothers on a daily basis.

There was one inmate who I must credit with doing something to counter this. We will call him Nelson. Nelson had a very soft voice, and he thus saw it fit to constantly permeate the air with his renditions of his favorite Whitney Houston and Celine Dion classics. He would basically sing the unit to sleep every night, and wake us up in the morning with his singing. Most of the other guys in the unit were having none of that and would constantly scream at him to shut up. The more they would scream, the louder he would sing, which made them scream louder, and so on. Finally, they wrote a complaint to the unit captain, who came in and said: “Nelson, you have to stop singing.” Nelson said nothing. As soon as the captain was out the door, Nelson launched into another song. Eventually, the guards came in and transferred him to another unit. Poor Nelson. He was just trying to deal with the stress of isolation in the way he knew best…

. . I usually awaken at the sound of the guard’s clanking keys as he does his rounds through the unit. Ever since an inmate committed suicide down here a few weeks ago, rounds have become more frequent to ensure nobody else follows suit. Isolation can be quite difficult to cope with, and some simply cannot.

After two weeks, I finally became accustomed to waking up in a prison cell. At first, my surroundings – the metal sink/ toilet, the steel bed frame, the cold temperature, the constant clanking of keys and shackle chains coming from the hallway – served as reality checks as to where I was after I expected to see the familiar sights of my bedroom. This is no longer the case. I rub my eyes; looking around, my cell is pitch black except for the pale orange flow of the floodlights that dot the perimeter of the prison, faintly creeping in through the narrow window that looks out towards the razor-wired fence that customarily surrounds most prisons around the world.

My first order of business is to find out the time, since watches, clocks, calendars, etc. are all forbidden down here. I rush out of bed to catch the guard before he leaves the unit, calling out to him from behind my cell door: “Hey, C.O. (correctional officer)! Time?” “Four.” Perfect, as it leaves me a good hour and a half to pray before Fajr time comes in. After being used to depending on an alarm clock to wake up. I’ve managed to wake up early nearly every morning and been able to take advantage of the well-known pre-dawn blessings, thanks to Allah, without one here.

After performing wudu’, I begin to pray. I don’t stop until I hear the guard make three more rounds – my signal that the hour and a half until Fajr time has passed (each round is 30 min).

Thus begins my days as a prisoner here at the Plymouth Correctional Facility. An essential part of staying strong in prison was to first establish a personalized and stimulating schedule for my days and nights to do away with the routine and bland pattern of life in here. In his memoir, Nelson Mandela says: “Prison life is about routine: each day like the one before; each week like the one before it, so that the months and years blend into each other… Losing a sense of time is an easy way to lose one’s grip and even one’s sanity.” So, this helps in distinguishing one hour from the other, one day from the other, maintaining a sense of connection to reality. The second aspect of having your own personal schedule is to maintain your own humanity and individuality. Again, Mandela says: ” Prison is designed to break one’s spirit and destroy one’s resolve. To do this, the authorities attempt to exploit every weakness, demolish every initiative, negate all signs of individuality – all with the idea of stamping out that spark that makes each of us human and each of us who we are… Ultimately, we had to create our own lives in prison.” And this is exactly what I am experiencing here. Prison, I’ve found, is like a vacuum. It sucks away whatever life, relations, pleasures, tasks, concerns , etc. you had on the outside and replaces it with nothing – nothing except what you decide to replace it with. I’ve found that the main struggle in prison is to avoid being sucked into that void, which is the very nature and essence of the place! A writer to me summed it up quite well, saying: “… the whole point of the constrictions that the prison puts on people is to erase part of – if not all – their identities to consume them as part of an institutionary machine which rotates on exact hours in exact locations. Forcing out choices mean forcing out of personalities and ideas. Thus, within the prison system, that makes sense, because this is the goal…

The challenge is to counter this within the confines of the narrow limitations that my conditions here force upon me. I realized early on that since I had very little in here, I would have to learn to make the best of it. I would have to learn to extract every last ounce of benefit, pleasure, and strength from whatever was available. As they say, I would have to take (sour) lemons and make lemonade. This is a maximum security prison, which means it’s not like in the movies where I can go outside to an open yard to lift weights, play baseball, or work in a metal shop. Rather, every minute aspect of life here is incredibly supervised and regulated. Strip searches are constant. Shake downs are random. I am restricted to limitations in my daily affairs that are often devoid of logic, to the extent that a plastic bag used to collect trash in our cells is considered to be contraband and is forbidden. Nothing comes in or goes out except regular mail. From the moment I was booked to the moment I will be released ( O Allah, hasten it), I will never set foot out in the open without a barrier between me and the sky. Even when I leave the prison for a court hearing, I am loaded into the van in the prison garage and am unloaded in the court garage, fully shackled the entire time

This all applies to general population prisoners, but these population units are quite relaxed compared to Unit G. Unit G (the isolation unit) is a prison within the prison, and this is where I’ve been since first arriving. I am on lockdown 23 hrs. each day, which means I’m let out for an hour a day (population gets eight hrs.); I’m in solitary (population inmates have cellmates); my hour outside my cell is spent alone as well. So, it is an existence devoid of substantial human contact (population inmates have 150 other inmates in their respective units to socialize with for the duration of those eight hours). “Recreation time” consists of the freedom to take a shower, make a collect call to preapproved numbers, or walk around the unit. This is the way it is ever day, 365 days a year. الحمد لله

What does a person have to do to merit being kept down here? Some are down here for temporary discipline time for assaulting staff of fellow inmates, possession of homemade weapons, or generally exhibiting violent behavior such that they are a danger to others. Some are here to be protected from others because they fall into one of the three categories most hated & despised by even the worst criminals: rapists, child molesters, and informants. Inmates who fall into one of these three categories are universally hated across the prison, and are more often than not physically attacked, and I have seen the scars & injuries to prove it. These inmates are under what we call ‘Protective Custody,’ and one such inmate was just brought in last week. He is accused of raping a five year-old girl, being arrested for it, released on bail, and then raping a three year old girl. Needless to say, he is not very well-liked, especially with those who themselves have young children. Even though these guys are brought down for their safety, the other inmates here have come up with some rather creative ways of making life miserable for them. More on that later, in sha’ Allah. Then you have guys like me who are here with the vague excuse that my being in isolation will “contribute to the safe and effective functionality of the facility,” even though I’ve never been violent or involved in violence of any kind throughout my life. Admitted murderers, arsonists, home invaders, and armed robbers walk around in population; about two years ago, there was a guy brought in who’d killed a homeless man, cut off his hands, took them to a local bar, and proudly displayed them to all around him. He was not considered too dangerous to remain in population…

So, it is through these lenses that my experiences here are to be perceived. This is an environment where your senses and perceptions cannot help but to be altered and sensitized.

… I lay awake after praying, waiting for breakfast to arrive. The guards wake everyone up by slamming open the beanholes (small slits in our cell doors) through which they slide in all of our meals. I eat every meal alone, in my cell. After breakfast, I pray Fajr, and then proceed to the window to await one of the few true pleasures I have come to enjoy in here: watching the Sunrise. See, I spent the first 63 days here in cell #103. Cell #103 had the misfortune of having its window blocked by the gray wall of the adjacent wing of the unit. This meant that there was almost no access to sunlight. Furthermore, the cell was directly underneath the unit’s air vent, which for some odd reason was blasting cold air 24/7 despite us being in the midst of a series of snow storms! Needless to say, it was an unpleasant experience to be locked in a cell, three paces by four, for 23 hrs. a day with no sunlight (there is no light switch, and cell lights don’t come on until late afternoon), in near arctic temperatures! I had my eye on cell #108, which was in the far corner of the unit and that I could always see immersed in sunlight. For months, I put in written request after request to be moved into it, since it was usually empty. I came to realize that the prison functions like the military: very hierarchical in structure where little gets done unless you speak directly to those on top. So I was able to get my request to the unit captain, who is actually a decent individual who has a reputation for being true to his word. Later that day, i was buzzed in 103: “Mehanna, pack up your #@*. You’re going to 108.

When I entered the cell, I was so overjoyed that I immediately performed a prostration of gratitude (sajdat shukr) to Allah. Remember what I said: in here, your senses and perceptions are altered. Your balance of what brings your mood up/ down changes. At that moment, I couldn’t believe that I was finally in a cell with sunshine, where I didn’t have to wear four layers of clothes to keep warm, and where, best of all, I had a perfect view of the sky & surrounding trees. I’ve always loved to be outdoors and enjoy nature, so at that moment, I felt like the most fortunate man on Earth. no more gray cement wall in my face 24 hrs. a day…

So, as I have done every morning since, I stand at the window and just stare. I stare at the trees, I stare at the dark blue horizon turning pink as the Sun slowly crawls up. I stare and wait patiently, anticipating one of the few times for me to lay eyes on the Sun in over two months ( I had seen it twice before when I was allowed into the cage). Finally, there it was. In this world of concrete, metal, and glass; this cesspool of vulgarity and filth devoid of any warmth, freedom, or beauty; in this bastion of captivity that suffocates the dignity of man, I was witnessing a blessing and relief. I cannot justly describe what I felt as the vivid colors of this scene – Sun, sky, clouds, trees – painted themselves before my eyes. This was a sweet reminder of life – it was something in common with life back home, and that made it all the sweeter. As I mentioned at the beginning: “I would have to learn to extract every last ounce of benefit, pleasure, and strength from whatever was available.” It is at this time every day that I feel much khusu’, and thus take the chance to engage in dhikr and du’a’. From the first day in that cell that I witnessed this simple, credible, daily occurrence that I now saw as anything but simple, I gained a new perspective on the verse of Surat Ibrahim, v. 32: {“And He has made the Sun and the Moon, both following their orbits, to be of service to you.”}

I also take this daily event as a glad tiding and reminder that after every period of darkness, there must come a light so bright and overwhelming that darkness and its forces are nowhere to be found.

As the Sun fully appears, I turn my sight to the trees and land beyond the razor-wired fence. They have their own story to tell. I bring my mind back 400 years in the past, and I try to imagine the original inhabitants of this land as they traversed the very forests i am gazing at all those long centuries ago. See, the Mayflower landed here. Plymouth Rock is just a stone’s throw from here. Plymouth Plantation, the earliest colony established in this region originally owned and inhabited by these Indian natives, is also very close by.

Whenever I look out at those forests that now lay silent, I try to imagine what those natives thought to themselves – if they had any idea at all what was about to befall them – upon first sighting these strange, foreign guests. I also think to myself that it was the descendants of these very guests who built the prison from which I now sit and pen these words.

The forests behind the razor-wired fence tell a story. It is a story that I’m not completely unfamiliar with.

(To be continued, إن شاء الله)

طارق مهنا

Tariq Mehanna

بسم الله و الحمد لله و الصلاة و السلام علي رسول الله . . .

. . . It is 6 P.M. when I arrive. I am booked, shackled up, and led all the way to the other end of the prison with two guards escorting me on either side. I was arrested this morning right as the night-long calls from court that enforce my curfew had stopped. So, I haven’t properly slept in over 24 hrs. and I am not in the best of moods. I am even less so when I see that I’m taken straight into isolation, but the main thing on my mind is just to get some sleep. Pray ‘Isha’ and sleep.

I am led into a dimly lit double-tiered hall, with roughly ten cells lining each floor. There is an odd, complete silence that contrasts greatly with the noise I just left behind. My first cell in this place is #110, a cute little suite left urine-stenched courtesy of its former tenant who decided he was too good to use the toilet. The guards shrug as they unshackle my arms & legs and tell me I’ll probably be moved to a different cell shortly once he’s back from his psychiatric evaluation. I ask which way east is, make wudu’, pray, and lay down for the first uninterrupted sleep I’ve had in nearly a year.

As I fall asleep, I wonder how the guys I met last year in population are doing . . .

. . . I first was held here in November 2008. Before I continue, let me explain the brief history: I graduated from college in May of ’08, and subsequently obtained my dream job – I was hired as a clinical pharmacist to establish the first diabetes clinic at the King Fahd Medical City Hospital in Saudi Arabia. The FBI took note and decided this to be the appropriate time to give me an ultimatum: ‘work for us or we’ll arrest you.’ I decided to continue with my original plans, and was about to board my Nov. flight to Riyadh when i was arrested. That is when I first came here, where I spent 42 days awaiting a federal judge to decide on my release. I was released to the custody of my parents (this is why I was at home for the past year), was placed under a court-ordered curfew enforced through automated phone calls that went on until 6 A.M. nightly, my passport was confiscated, I was confined to the state, and was unable to find work in my field due to the federal charge now on my record – all in addition to the $1.2 million ransom (bail) demanded by the government which included my family’s home and life savings. This went on for nearly a year until the government decided to rearrest me and pile on more charges, with the eight-year sentence I was facing under Bush now bumped up to one of life-plus-sixty under Obama. Apparently, this was the “change we can believe in” that was being referred to!

So, that first time I was here in November ’08, I was brought in to a dormitory – style unit that resemble a summer camp. It was an open space where inmates walk freely between the rows of bunk beds, as opposed to being hunkered down in cells. This is called ‘orientation,’ and population inmates spend three days here before being classified to their respective units. I’d never been to prison before, and had no idea what to expect walking into this unit. But, my instinct told me that i had to put up my flag, now or never. The one thing I did know about prison was that even as a new comer, I wasn’t going to act like one. So, rather than conceal myself and retreat to the shadows, I decided to pretend that I owned the place. I walked to the center of the unit where there was a bit of open space, laid out my bed sheet, put up a sutrah, and prayed Maghrib with about a hundred inmates looking on. Thus, I was able to break the intimidation factor of prison environment from my first hour inside.

This is a method that can be applied at work, school, etc. for Muslims who might be nervous or intimidated into hiding their beliefs or practices. Rather than let the environment control you, be strong and proud and establish your presence from day one. This is the only way your co-workers, classmates, boss, etc. will respect you, and it is the only way other inmates will respect you in prison. People will respect us when they see that we respect ourselves.

A group of tatooed Latinos noticed me praying and walked over once I was done and introduced themselves. They offered to obtain me a Mushaf, they pointed out what food i should avoid, and they even offered to keep the shower area clear of other inmates while i was in there in light of the Islamic rules of modesty they were well aware of. I would come to discover that Muslims are the most respected group in the prison system. Muslims in prison have a reputation for being disciplined, clean, distanced from homosexuality & drugs that are rampant in there, generally minding their own business, and it didn’t hurt that Malcolm X was a Muslim.

So, in here, first impression is everything . . .

. . . That was back in 2008. In my current location it’s a bit harder to interact in such a manner, but there are still ways.

There are three modes of communication down here. One is the use of written notes passed through the unit runner. This is generally reserved for inmates requesting items to borrow or use from other inmates. For example, I’m the only one down here who orders honey from the prison commissary. I always have a bottle of it in my cell. One day, the cell above me sent a note down asking to use some to make his instant coffee. I only had a small amount left, I sent it up to him with the runner. A few hours later, he sent the bottle back along with a coffee pouch filled with some of the coffee he’d made. Allah provides!

Some cells have air ducts connecting them , and prisoners in these cells will sometimes shout through the vents to those next to them or above them. It’s very difficult for them to hear each other due to the distance and the constant whirring of the ventilation system competing with their voices. So, they often have to shout very loudly, and I am sometimes able to make out their words. Here is a sample of a conversation I overheard a few weeks ago:

… Yo! What Color is Winnie the Pooh?

He’s yellow.

Nah, he looks gold.

(silence)

He’s yellowish-gold, I think.

(silence)

That nigga is definitely yellow!

Yeah, but what about his shirt?

Hopefully, this gives you an idea of the topics occupying people’s minds down here. Not very intellectually stimulating.

The third way to get a whiff of social activity is through the small slit at the bottom of our cell doors. Basically, you lay down next to the door and speak into it, and whoever is on the other side can hear you, and they respond in kind. The best time to catch someone and pull them into a conversation is when they are waiting to leave the unit for a court date or such, or when they are first coming in. You just yell out to them as they walk by, and that is the chance to have a five minute conversation. I am always curious about people’s histories and backgrounds, so I take every chance I can get to converse. One of the first guys I spoke to down here was a general in the Croatian military, wanted by the International War Crimes Tribunal. Another one, Vee Cee, is accused of shooting someone in the head to steal his gold necklace (he answers every question by rapping). I also came across a fellow who calls himself D.O.G.:

They call me D.O.G.

Dog?

No. It’s D-O-G.

Dog …

No! D-O-G.

That spells ‘dog’, my friend.

The way I see it, prison is much like Hajj. No matter how rich or poor, everyone is in the same place, wearing the same simple clothing, eating the same food, enduring the same hardships, and awaiting the same outcome (freedom). Nothing on the outside matters – this is their world now. Their fancy cars, guns, girls, cash, drugs, and flashy clothes are all gone. All of the material possessions through which they elevated themselves above others on the street are now out of sight and irrelevant. They all find themselves facing an unpleasant reality; are desperate to escape it, and are humble towards whatever they feel can alleviate its harshness. And not surprisingly, many of them turn to religion. This is one of the best – if not the best – places to tell others about Islam. The one who is serving a 20 year sentence for a crime committed in a moment of intoxication – how do you think he will respond when you tell him that because you are a Muslim, alcohol has never touched your tongue? The one who feels he has wasted his life and ruined it – how do you think he will react internally when you tell him about the Hereafter, Paradise, Hell, etc. and teach him that even if he screwed up this life, he has an eternal life that he still has a chance to set right? The one who has lost all hope in those around him – what would he want to hear more than that he has an All-Hearing, Knowing, Seeing, and Responding Lord who is just a supplication away? Along with hospitals, prisons are one of the few institutions in this society that have designated chaplains & chapels. Why? Because these are the settings where man discovers the truth of his state; these are the settings where we realize our weaknesses & limitations & helplessness, and realize the value of hope in our Creator.

So in a sense, prison sets our heart free from the illusions of everyday life …

… I’m laying in bed sometime before Fajr when I hear something slide under my door. I get up to see what it is, and find a book ( ‘Looking for a Way Out’ by Michael Norwood). I look out to see who it was, and I see “K” on his way to court. “K” is one of the few guys in here that I was able to have some intelligent conversations with. We;d been exchanging books through the runner, and he truly enjoyed reading ‘Enemy Combatant’ when I’d lent it to him a while back, and I likewise benefitted from what he had let me borrow. I am therefore not surprised to to see that he had given me this book. I shout out through the slit in the door that I’d get it back to him when I complete it. I open up the book and find a handwritten note inside:

TAREK,

GOOD LUCK WITH EVERYTHING, MY FRIEND. I HOPE THIS BOOK INSPIRES YOU. DON’T EVER GIVE UP!!! THERE’S ALWAYS HOPE ALTHOUGH QUITE OFTEN, YOU HAVE TO WORK TO FIND IT.

I LIED TO YOU ABOUT THE DETAILS OF MY CASE. I DON’T LIKE TO REVEAL THEM, AND I THINK YOU’LL FIND THAT’S FAIRLY CONSISTENT ACROSS THE PRISON SYSTEM. TRUST HALF OF WHAT YOU SEE AND NONE OF WHAT YOU HEAR. I HAVE FOUR (4) VICTIMS IN MY CASE, WITH 26 TOTAL CHARGES. EIGHT OF THOSE CHARGES ARE FOR A (VIOLENT CRIME).

UNFORTUNATELY, DUE TO OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE IN MY CASE, I AM ACCEPTING A PLEA DAL FOR 25-30 YARS. IF I TOOK IT TO TRIAL, I WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY BE SENTENCED TO 80+ YEARS, WHICH IS A LIFE SENTENCE CONSIDERING I’M UNDER 40, BARELY. MUCH OF THE CASE STEMMED FROM LIES, BUT ENOUGH LIES COMBINED WITH SOME TRUTHS IS ENOUGH TO GET A CONVICTION, UNFORTUNATELY.

I’M SORRY FOR LYING TO YOU. YOU DESERVE THE TRUTH. I’D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU, BUT IF YOU NO LONGER WANT TO WRITE ME, I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND.

~ GO WITH GOD ~

YOUR FRIEND,

K.

He’s left his mother’s address for me to contact him through at whichever prison he’s being transferred to (it is illegal for prisoners to communicate directly with each other through the mail). I step back and think about the oddity of it all: this man who did what he did referring to me as a friend, and I am about to write him with sympathy and sadness in my heart for what I’ve just read. What a waste.

I am often asked by family and friends about the worst aspect of being here. My reply is that among all of the other factors of life that prison upsets, the most apparent and deeply affecting is that of one’s social circle. We are used to seeing the people we love, those who we can relate to, those we are familiar with and can trust and trust us; those we reach out to and who reach out to us for companionship define who we are, and constitute an inseparable component of our lives. To have that component torn off and replaced without a choice in the matter is probably the most consistent reminder of imprisonment, as the desire to call a friend, or invite someone for coffee, or seek advice from a wise man – all are met with the return to reality of where I am and who I am surrounded by. It is an inevitable consequence that when one is removed from a particular environment, that environment adapts to the change. Likewise, when he is placed in a new environment, he is shaped by and adapts to that change. My daily task of compensating for this change is fulfilled through two main routes, both of which I will write about in the future (in Sha’ Allah): books and letters, which are my sources of good in here.

I close by saying this: despite these conditions, despite these surroundings, & despite this solitude, I consider myself in the company of the most noble, honorable people on the face of the Earth. They are white, black, brown; they speak dozens of languages, hail from all corners of the Earth, and are likewise unjustly imprisoned by the tawaghit of their locales in all corners of the Earth for their Tawhid. These dear brothers (and sisters, unfortunately) occupy a position in my heart that can be filled by no one else. They are experiencing my ordeal along with me, and I am experiencing their ordeal alongside them, and nobody can change that despite the hundreds and thousands of miles that separate us, and whoever of them happens to read this should know very well that I love them for Allah’s sake and supplicate for them by named in the last third of everynight, and by location for those whose names are unknown to me …

… As the night ends, I grab the Mushaf and sit next to my cell door. I lean toward the open slit at the bottom, and I decide tot take advantage of the unit’s good acoustics. I recite Qur’an for a while to the unwitting audience of whoever happens to be walking by & whoever can hear me from their cells across the unit.

When I’m done, there is complete tranquility, و الحمد لله.

(To be continued, in Sha’ Allah)

طارق مهنا

Tariq Mehanna

6th of Safar 1431/ 22nd of January 2010

Plymouth Correctional Facility

Isolation Unit – Cell #108

“Where My Woes Begin”

-Some notes on the 2/1/2010 ‘Boston Globe’ article by Shelley Murphy

These are some brief and by no means comprehensive comments on a recent article written about my case. I am not addressing every claim made therein, only those appropriate to address in this setting.

The article states: “Prosecutors allege that Mehanna provided support to terrorists, using a laptop as a weapon to try to radicalize others and incite jihad…”


Incidentally, the very government that accuses me of this was itself guilty of this deed not too long ago. In his book ‘Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA’ (p. 444), Tim Weiner states: “The CIA’s biggest gunrunning mission was its global pipeline to the mujahideen—the holy warriors of Afghanistan—who were fighting the 110,000 –man Soviet army of occupation.” In his book ‘Imperial Hubris’ (p. 28), former CIA officer Michael Scheuer elaborates: “…the CIA…had run in Afghanistan the largest, most expensive, and most well-publicized covert action program in U.S history to support the anti-Soviet mujahideen…the interest of members of both houses of Congress in the Afghan covert program was intense; many senators and congressmen demanded regular, detailed briefings on the war, traveled repeatedly to the region, and voted enthusiastically for the war’s steadily growing covert action budget.”

He continues (p. 30): “…the size and diverse nature of this 13-year program [included] guns, food, vehicles, money, training, uniforms, orange drink, donkeys, you name it…” And on p. 50: “America…sent billions of dollars in cash, weapons, bribes, salaries, and supplies to the Afghan resistance in the course of its ten-year jihad against the Soviets…”

This is elementary history, but the above is quoted simply to emphasize the fact that the American government used not just a laptop, but billions upon billions of dollars to directly “radicalize others and incite jihad” for over a decade! I therefore find it ironic and hypocritical that the same government now uses the same “crime” as a pretext to throw myself and countless others in prison. IN a fair world, I would’ve had Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Milt Bearden, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and countless others sitting in prison cells right alongside me to face the same allegations.

The article continues: “…by translating and disseminating messages of violence online.”

Here it should be kept in mind that when the media parrots the term “violence” in reference to Muslims, it is not necessarily referring to blowing up a building or plane. Rather, the keen observer will notice that the term expands even to acts of self-defense. So, if one finds that his country has been invaded, his people bombed, and his honor violated, and proceeds to physically struggle against that oppression—much like the Revolutionary Army did under British occupation, and the African National Congress did under apartheid—and happens to be doing so into eh name of Islam, the government and media automatically label such people as “terrorists,” “extremists,” “violent,” etc., as if somehow the invasions and occupations being faced are non-violent in nature. So, one finds “violence” only is being attributed to the invaded, and not the invaders. This is implicit racism and dehumanization of Muslims, because it suggests that we are not entitled to the basic human right to not be subjugated by others, let alone not be killed by them.

To give an analogy, imagine that a woman is being raped. She attempts to fend off her attacker by punching and scratching him. At this point, an onlooker comments on how “violent” the woman is, striking the man like that! His bias causes him to view the situation from the perspective that the attacker is entitled to his attack, while the woman is not entitled to defend herself from that attack, and is “violent” if she dares to do so.

This is the pattern of deception found in the media’s use of these terms, so do not allow yourself to fall prey to it.

Bruce Hoffman is then quoted as saying: “We’re in a different world. Ten years ago, it was very hard to imagine a case like this.”

Welcome to ten years later, where words spoken over 1400 years ago to Prophet Muhammad by a Christian monk ring true. This monk said to him: “Nobody who comes with what you have brought will not be treated with hostility by the people. And if I were to live to that day, I would support you with all I have.” For thirteen years in Makkah, the Prophet did nothing but teach a pure concept of Tawhid and wala’ and bara’. He never lifted a finger against Quraysh or harmed them. Yet, they beat him, strangled him, plotted to imprison and kill him, and eventually forced his departure from his homeland. It was what he believed that drove them to persecute him in such a fashion. It was his unwillingness to compromise with them in regards to his beliefs that drove them mad, despite their earlier tolerance of his call.

So, when Mr. Hoffman notes how far we’ve come in ten years, it is a reflection on history repeating itself. The various governments here and there are simply picking up where Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab left off. I can tell you from my own experience that in the U.S. government’s argument to the judge to keep me locked up, they would often quote—literally—verses from the Qur’an and authentic ahadith and agreed upon rulings in Islam in an attempt to prove my so-called extremism. Of course they would not say they were quoting such sources, but that is exactly what was occurring.

So, if we’ve come this far in the past ten years, one can only imagine what things will be like in the next ten years. History repeats itself…

Marc Sageman is then related as saying: “…the case raises concerns about infringement on free speech and civil liberties.”

I could not help here but recall the irony in the fact that this is exactly Google’s stated reason for withdrawing from China.

It then states that “FBI affidavits filed in court allege that Mehanna plotted to attack an American shopping mall and assassinate two unidentified U.S government officials,” but notes that I am “not formally charged with those crimes.”

Interesting… So, the most horrific of the allegations leveled against me is the only one I am not being charged with? Does that make any sense whatsoever?

Does it make an iota of sense that I supposedly “plotted” to do this, and was then left untouched for years after the FBI supposedly “found out” –years during which I visited the mall countless times, worked, graduated from college, repeatedly boarded airplanes, taught children, came into daily contact with hundreds of people, and was then asked by the FBI to work for them? Is this how a “dangerous terrorist” is treated? No intelligent mind can accept this.

Rather, what the intelligent mind will realize is that this fabrication was intended for two purposes. The first is shock value—to add flavor to an otherwise dull case. It is much more heroic at a press conference to have gotten a “mall-shooter” than it is to have to reveal to the public that in the midst of an economic disaster, $50,000 tax-payer dollars a year are going to be spent keeping some guy in solitary confinement because you couldn’t get him to do your bidding. Sometimes, the truth isn’t sellable to the public. In a sense, this is a microcosm of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Americans would never send their sons to die over there if they knew the true reasons behind the war. Therefore, to make it all palatable, the whole WMD scare was fabricated and utilized. Thus, people were frightened into believing a lie.

The second intent behind this lie is to serve as a form of character assassination, such that no matter what ends up being the truth, I am always guilty in the eyes of the public simply on account of my name being associated with such an accusation. This is a classic trick used throughout history, as far back as the conflict between Moses and Pharaoh (see the earlier article ‘Our Right to Moses’).

Those were just a few of many thoughts on Shelley Murphy’s article.

And may peace and blessings be on Allah’s Messenger.

Your brother,

Tariq Mehanna

Plymouth Correctional Facility

Isolation Unit—Cell 108

21st of Safar 1431/ Feb 6th 2010

Please Visit; http://freetarek.com

March 17, 2010 Posted by | prison, tarek mehanna, usa | Leave a Comment

For the Pleasure of My Lord, The Prisons come Perfumed

For the Pleasure of My Lord, The Prisons come Perfumed

(Arabic text is below)

Dear Brother, who dwells in these prisons To you I write with distresses,

If to Allah you hold fast Then what harm will a misfortune of time do to you?

Beware dear Brother, of making your corrupting your thoughts Regarding the Promise of the Deity, Mighty and Strong,

Verily, He has promised the Believers with Salvation As He saved Yunus from the dark depths of the belly of the Fish,

Dear Brother, before you, passed the ancient ones These prisons are but like those prisons,

Did not Yusuf dwelled in them for a phase And Musa, the tyrants threatened him with it,

And such was the Messenger of the Generous Deity To imprison him, the pagans plotted,

So my Lord saved him through his Hijrah In the company of that trustworthy friend,

And in their footsteps, the Believers traversed Like Ahmad, that firm Imam,
And likewise Ibn Taymiyyah was blessed with it In the fortress of Sham, as a prisoner he dwelled,

Hundreds of thousands of the True Faithful Dwelled for a time in these prisons,

Be not weak, dear Brother, nor lose hope When your time comes, nor submit,

Strengthen yourself by remembering the Deity, Most Supreme And hasten in memorizing the Manifest Book,

That is for your heart a secure stronghold And this is for your spirit an assisting provision,

These are hardships, soon they will all cease And remaining from it will be various fruits and benefits,

So if they intimidate you, and they threaten you Never weaken, or soften to them,

And even if they insult you, and they torture you And if they beat you, submit not,

You are not the first to be tortured For a Mighty Religion and a Manifest Legislation,

Nor are you alone on this Path For there are countless caravans throughout the years,

And if an ‘Eid passes by, and a son is born And months rotate, while you are imprisoned,

Do not grieve O Brother of the Righteous Ones Of departing from family and losing children,

And if they forbid you from their visits And likewise their letters never appear,
So if this is for a Lord and Religion Then where is the patience, where is the certainty!?

And where are your past speeches Regarding the (weight of the) Millah of that Trustworthy Messenger?!

That Intimate Friend went willingly To slaughter his son, a clear trial,
On a magnificent, noble day like today Without any anxiety, he put him down upon his forehead,
So my Lord saved him through His Good Will And ransomed him with a fat sheep,

But you, your sons are in a carefree life And diversion and amusement, and a secured home,
Yet you have not been asked to slaughter them Rather, merely for patience of a temporary separation,

For verily, they are in the care of a Merciful Lord And you are in solitude with Him and Faith,

For the Pleasure of a Lord and assisting a Religion Life and all children become insignificant,

For the Pleasure of a Lord, Mighty and Generous The prisons come perfumed, and the bitter come sweet…

Written by Shaykh Abū Muhammad Al-Maqdisī
General Intelligence Prison Facility, Jordan – Cell No. 63
‘Eid Al-Adh’hā 1414 H
(May Allāh hasten his release)



إذا كنـت باللـه مسـتعـصما فـماذا تضـيرك ريـب المنـون[1]
حـذاري أخي أن تسيء الظنون بـوعـد الإلـه القـوي المتـين
فقـد وعـد الـمؤمنين النجاة كـما نـجّ يونس من بطن نون[2]
أخـي قـد مضى قبلك الأولون فـهذي السجون كتلك السجون
فيـوسـف أمـضى بـها مدة ومـوسـى تـوعـده الظالمون[3]
كـذاك رسـول الإلـه الكريم ليثـبتـه مَـكَرَ المشـركـون[4]
فنجـــاه ربـي بـهجـرته بـرفـقة ذاك الصـديق الأمـين
وفـي إثرهم قـد مضى المؤمنون كـأحـمد ذاك الإمـام المكـين
كـذاك ابـن تيْـمَةَ أنعم بـه بقـلعة شـامٍ أقـام ســجـين
مئــات ألـوف من الصادقين أقــاموا زمـاناً بهذي السجون
فـلا تـضعفنْ يا أخي أو تهون إذا جــاء دورك أو تسـتكين[5]
تـحصّن بـذكر الإلـه العظيم وبـادر لـحفـظ الكـتاب المبين
فـذاك لقـلبك حـصنٌ حصينْ وهــذا لروحــك زاد مـعين
فـهذي شــدائد سوف تزول وتبـقى الفـوائــد منـها فنون
وإن خـوّفـوك وإن هـدّدوك فـلا تـخـضـعنْ لهمو أو تلين
وإن شـتموك وإن عـذّبـوك وإن ضـربـوك فـلا تسـتكين
فلسـت بأول مـن يـضـربنْ لــدين عـظيم وشـرع مبين
ولسـتَ وحـيداً بهذي الطريق فتـلك القــوافـل عبر السنين
وإن مـرّ عـيـدٌ وجـاءَ وليدْ[6 ]و‏دارت شـهـورٌ وأنـت سجينْ
فـلا تبتـئـس يا أخَ الصالحين لـفـرقـة أهــلٍ وفـقدِ بنينْ
وإن مـنعـوك زيــاراتـهم كـذاك رسـائــلهم لا تبـين
فــإن كـان هذا لرب ودين فـأيـن الثـبات وأيــن اليقين
وأيــن كـلامك فيما مضى بـملة ذاك الرســول الأمين[7]
فــذاك الـخليل مضى طائعاً لـذبـح ابنـه فـي بـلاء مبين
بيـوم كـهذا عظـيم كـريم بـلا جـزعٍ تلّــه للجــبين
فنـجـّاه ربـي بإحســانهِ وأفداه فــوراً بكـبش سمين[8]
وأنت بنـوك بعـيـش رغـيد ولـهو و لـعب وحــرزٍ أمين
ولم يـُطلـبنْ مـنك ذبحاً لهم فـقط أن تصـابر فـراقاً لحينْ
فـهم في رعـاية ربٍ رحـيم وأنـت بخـلوة ذكـر وديـن
فـبادر بـحفظ الكتاب المبين ودع عـنك وسواس ذاك اللّعين
لـمرضـاة ربٍ ونصرة ِ دين تـهون الـحيـاة وكـل البنون
أبو محمّد المقدسي
عيد الأضحى 1414 هـ
سجن المخابرات العامة – زنزانة رقم 63

الهوامش

(1) انظر سورة الطور ( 30 )
(2) انظر سورة الأنبياء ( 87-88 )
(3) انظر سورة الشعراء ( 29 )
(4) انظر سورة الأنفال ( 30 )
(5) انظر سورة آل عمران ( 146 )
(6) رزقت بإبراهيم ولم أسمع بذلك إلا بعد مدة ولم أره إلا بعد شهور، فعسى أن يكون هو وإخوانه على ملّة إبراهيم ومن جندها وأنصارها آمين.
(7) الإشارة إلى كتاب ملة إبراهيم
(8) انظر سورة الصافات



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March 4, 2010 Posted by | abu muhammad al maqdisi, poem, prison | Leave a Comment

Abu Firas: ‘All that lies above the dust is really only dust…’

Abu Firas: ‘All that lies above the dust is really only dust…’


As-salamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah,

Abu Firas al-Hamdani was a 10th Century Faris (warrior/knight) as well as a poet. He was imprisoned in the lands of al-Roum (by the Byzantines) and it was during these years of imprisonment that he took to writing some of his best poetry. It is said that his cousin, Sayf al-Dawla (who was the Ruler of al-Sham) refused to ransom him out of captivity and so he remained in captivity for some time. The poetry he wrote during his imprisonment have been collected & titled ‘al-Rumiyat’ and below is one of them (one of my favourite) which he wrote to Sayf al-Dawla regarding his betrayal.

كل الذي فوق التراب تراب

أمـا لِـجَـمـيـلٍ عِنْدكُنَّ ثَوابُ *** ولا لِـمُـسـيءٍ عِـنْـدَكُنّ مَتَابُ
Is it only the good one who gains reward with you
Whilst for the erring one, you offer no return?

إذا الـخِـلُّ لَـمْ يَـهْجُركَ إلا مَلالةً *** فَـلَـيْـسَ لهُ ، إلا الفِرَاقَ ، عِتابُ
If a friend does not abandon you except out of boredom
Then there is no punishment for him except some separation

إذا لـم أجـد مـن خُـلَّةٍ ما أُرِيدُهُ *** فـعـنـدي لأُخْـرى عَزْمَةٌ وَرِكابُ
If I do not find what I want in a friendship
Then I have in the Hereafter, resolve and companionship

ولـيـس فِراقٌ ما استطعتُ فإن يَكُنْ *** فِـراقٌ عـلـى حَـالٍ فليس إيابُ
And separation isn’t something that I have power over
And if it is circumstantial, then there is no return

صَـبـورٌ ولـو لـم يـبقَ مني بقيةٌ *** قَـؤُولٌ وَلـوْ أنَّ الـسيوفَ جَوابُ
I am patient even if nothing remains with me
I am optimistic even if only swords answer me

وَقُـورٌ وأحـداثُ الـزمان تَنوشني *** وَلِـلـمـوتِ حـولي جِيئةٌ وَذَهَابُ
I am dignified even though life plays around with me
And death seems to come and go around me

بِـمـنْ يَـثِـقُ الإنسانُ فيما يَنُوبهُ *** ومِـنْ أيـنَ لِـلحُرِّ الكَريم صِحابُ
Who can a person rely on in times of affliction
And where does the noble free man find his companions?

وقـدْ صَـارَ هـذا الناسُ إلا أقَلَّهُمْ *** ذِئـابٌ عـلـى أجْـسَادِهنَّ ثِيابُ
All these people, except a few, have now become
Wolves, with garments clothing their bodies

تَـغَـابـيـتُ عن قومٍ فَظَنوا غَباوةً *** بِـمَـفْـرِقِ أغـبانا حصًى وَتُرابُ
I was absent from a people and so in foolishness they thought
That dust and stones can replace our absent ones

ولـو عَـرفـونـي بَعْضَ مَعرِفَتي بِهمْ *** إذاً عَـلِـمـوا أنـي شَهِدتُ وغابوا
If they knew me even a little like I know them,
They would know that I have witnessed much and they were the absent ones

إلـى الله أشـكـو أنـنـا بِمنازلٍ *** تَـحـكَّـمَ فـي آسـادِهنّ كِلابُ
To Allah I complain that we are indeed in a position
Where it is dogs who have ruled over their very lions

تَـمُـرُّ الـلـيالي لَيْسَ لِلنَّقْعِ مَوْضِعٌ *** لَـديَّ ولا لِـلـمُـعْـتَفِين جَنَابُ
Nights go past and contentment does not hold a place with me
And the pardoned ones seem to still be held for their crimes

ولا شُـدَّ لـي سَرْجٌ على مَتنِ سابحٍ *** ولا ضُـرِبـتْ لـي بِـالعراءِ قِبابُ
Neither has a saddle been prepared for me on the seashores
Nor has a memorial been set up for me on the open floors

ولا بَـرقـتْ لـي فـي اللقاءِ قواطعٌ *** ولا لـمـعـتْ لي في الحروبِ حِرابُ
Screens flash not for me when I go forth to meet the enemy
And spears do not sparkle for me when I am in war

سَـتَـذكـر أيـامـي نُميرٌ وَعَامرٌ *** وكـعـبٌ ، عـلى عِلاتها ، وكِلابُ
These days of mine shall be remembered by every civilized and wild one
And by every high-ranking prime one and also by the dogs

أنـا الـجـارُ لا زادي بَطِيءٌ عَليْهِمُ *** ولا دونَ مـالـي فـي الحَوادثِ بَابُ
I am a refuge and my supplies do not come slow for them
And in the heat of events, there is no way to other than my wealth

ولا أطـلـبُ الـعَوراءَ مِنها أُصِيبها *** ولا عـورتـي لِـلـطـالبينَ تُصابُ
It is not the feeble and one-eyed ones that I seek out
And the enemy is unable to seek out my weakness

بَني عَمِّنا ، ما يَفْعَلُ السيفُ في الوغى *** إذا قـلَّ مِـنْـهُ مَـضـرِبٌ وَذُبابُ
O cousin! What can a sword do in the heat of battle
If it lacks a blade and it lacks a tip?

بَـنـي عَـمِّنا ، نحنُ السَّواعِدُ وَالظُّبَا *** وَيُـوشِـكُ يـوماً أن يكونَ ضِرابُ
O cousin! Indeed it is us who are the helpers
And perhaps one day, we shall become the fighters

ومـا أدَّعِـي مـا يَـعـلَمُ الله غَيرهُ *** رِحَـابٌ عَـلِـيٍّ لِـلـعُفاةِ رِحابُ
And I do not claim what Allah knows to be otherwise
But it is lofty open-space and for the freed ones is such

وأفـعـالـهُ لِـلـراغـبـين كَرِيمةٌ *** وأمـوالـهُ لـلـطـالـبين نِهَابُ
His (the cousin) actions are honour for those who yearn for it
And his wealth is booty for those who seek it

ولـكـنْ نَـبَـا مِـنهُ بِكَفِّيَ صَارمٌ *** وأظـلـمَ فـي عَـيْـنَيَّ مِنهُ شِهابُ
But he turned away my hand in harsh forsakenness
And in my eyes, the bright star soon turned dark

وأبـطـأَ عَـنِّـي والـمـنايا سريعةٌ *** وَلِـلـمـوتِ ظِـفْرٌ قد أطلَّ ونابُ
He was slow in coming to my aid though fate approaches fast
And death has a victory which towers high and strikes

فـإن لـم يَـكـنْ وِدٌ قَـرِيبٌ تَعُدُّهُ *** ولا نَـسَـبٌ بـيـن الرجَالِ قِرابُ
So if there is no love of kindred which you account for
And there are no close relations found between men

فـأحـوطُ لـلإسلام أنْ لا يُضِيعني *** ولـي عَـنْـهُ فِـيـهِ حَوْطةٌ وَمَنابُ
Then I shall embrace the religion of Islam; it will not forsake me
And I shall find in it protection, and a replacement

ولـكـنـنـي راضٍ على كلِّ حالةٍ *** لِـنَـعْـلَـمَ أيَّ الـخُـلَّتينِ سَرابُ
But I am content and pleased in every situation
And we shall soon know which friendship was a mere mirage

ومـا زِلـتُ أرضـى بـالقليلِ محبةً *** لَـدَيْـهِ ، ومـادون الكثير حِجابُ
And I have not ceased being pleased with a little, out of love
For what lies with Him, and there lies a barrier before all others

ُكـذاكَ الـوِداد الـمحضُ لا يرتجى لهُ *** ثـوابٌ ، ولا يُـخـشى عَليهِ عقابُ
That is true love; no reward is hoped for it
And no punishment is feared because of it

وقدْ كُنتُ أخشى الهجرَ والشمْلُ جَامِعٌ *** وفـي كُـلِّ يَـوْمٍ لُـقْـيَةٌ وخِطَابُ
Indeed I feared both abandonment and reunion
But every day brings an encounter and a dialogue

فـكـيـف وفيما بيننا مُلْكُ قَيْصَرٍ *** ولِـلْـبَـحْرِ حولي زَخْرَةٌ وَعُبَابُ ؟
But how! When Caesar’s palace lies between us
And the sea that surrounds me is overwhelming with waves?

أَمِـنْ بَـعْـدِ بَذْلِ النفس فيما تُرِيدُهُ *** أثـابُ بِـمُـرِّ الـعَتبِ حِينَ أُثابُ
Is it after I’ve struggled in that which you desired
That I am rewarded with such bitterness when I am rewarded?

فـلـيـتـك تـحلو والحياةُ مريرةٌ *** ولـيـتـك تـرضى والأنامُ غِضابُ
But I hope to find sweetness in You (O Allah) when life becomes bitter
And I hope to find You pleased when the people become angry

ولـيـتَ الـذي بـيني وبينك عَامرٌ *** وبـيـنـي وبـيـن العالمين خَرابُ
Let the connection between You and I, be fully built up
Even if it means ruin for my connection with the people

إذا صـحَّ مِـنـكَ الوِدُّ فالكُلُّ هَيّنٌ *** وكُـلُّ الـذي فـوقَ التُّرابِ تُرابُ
If Your love for me is true, then all shall be easy
Because all that lies above the dust is really only dust.

What a masterpiece, masha’Allah.

- Ok, no-one get me for the very rough and rushed translation. It was a difficult poem and I had no sharh! :)

Comments : 1 Comment »

SOURCE:
http://fajr.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/abu-firas-all-that-lies-above-the-dust-is-really-only-dust/

February 17, 2010 Posted by | abu firas, dust, poem, prison, turab | Leave a Comment

   

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