Holding onto faith and hope

Some lessons by Muslim political prisoners to help navigate difficult times

Hope you are having a blessed Friday. Jummah Mubarakah.

It’s been a week full of tragic news and frustrating feelings for those of us with family in Palestine, Sudan, Bangladesh or Lebanon. A lot of us are bracing for even more escalation in the region, and feel like our hands and tongues are tied.

There isn’t a combination of words that hasn’t already been shared to express exasperation, grief, and rage. At times, it feels like “no one is doing anything” to stop the killing and the oppression, and questions of what we can do at the individual level are left largely unanswered.

Our government has its hand deep into the destabilization and destruction of the Middle East, and our protests, petitions, and calls to elected officials are falling on deaf ears.

This world truly feels like a prison we are all stuck in, governed by a small powerful group that profits off of the oppressive conditions they created and continue to sustain. It feels like we have little control, and are fooled to believe we can make an impact through votes or “freedoms” of protest and speech.

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:

"The world is the believer's prison and the disbeliever’s Paradise." [Sahih Muslim]

I don’t know what it’s like to be imprisoned in the U.S. or in any other country, and know that the conditions are horrible, with many being unjustly detained or convicted of a crime they didn’t commit.

I’ve had four uncles from my mom’s side experience life in Israeli prisons; one of whom was imprisoned for 25 years and placed under solitary confinement.

This week, I finished reading “When Only God Can See” by Walaa Quisay and Asim Qureshi and in it, read several first-hand accounts of Muslims who were political prisoners in U.S. and Egyptian prisons.

One of the many things I learned from their stories was the amount of strength each person had by channeling their Islamic faith to take part in any type of resistance no matter how everlasting their captivity looked.

Babar Ahmad spent over a decade in prison before he was eventually released, but was known to almost always be in a good mood. When asked, he said that he knew there was wisdom behind his imprisonment even though he couldn’t see it yet, and that he knew Allah would sort out his situation and deal with it justly.

He said he was unjustly imprisoned and was assaulted by the police. Ahmad said:

“ …in the beginning I went through the normal emotions of anger, bitterness, hatred, of wanting revenge, wanting all of these things. Eventually I settled with the belief that Allah would deal with it, and I just left it with Him to take care of…I haven’t forgiven anyone, and I’m certainly not going to forget; I’m just not tied to it. I’m not shackled to it.”

There’s so much we can learn from just this statement in our own lives. That yes, we are feeling all of this frustration, and we won’t forget or forgive those who oppress, but that we cannot buckle down and be shackled into inaction. Knowing that God will deal with it all, and doing our part whatever that looks like. And not to lose hope.

The story of Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) was a recurring chapter of the Quran that most prisoners shared grounded and strengthened them throughout their detention. The Egyptian political prisoners interviewed, drew parallels with the wrongful imprisonment of Yusuf in Egypt’s prison. They even called their own experience as “Jamiat Yusuf” or the University of Joseph. They saw themselves in his story, and understood that Yusuf had to be imprisoned in order to one day rule Egypt.

One of the prisoners named Bilal, said that it was difficult for him to understand God’s decree and why he was experiencing imprisonment. It wasn’t until he read the chapter in the Quran on Maryam (Mary) that he found solace. It was when Maryam wished for death as she gave birth to Jesus, and God responded to her to shake the date tree and eat from it, to comfort her.

Bilal said:

“There need to be a series of events that has to happen for something to occur and we don’t know what that something is because we are limited as humans. How God comforted Maryam just opened my eyes. Just as there is difficulty in childbirth, you have to go through a particular ordeal, but while you’re in the ordeal, in the fire, you don’t know, you can’t know there is a more beautiful thing forming — gold is forming.

Someone might come and change the course of history. I might get out at that time to meet this one person to have that one child so she can be my daughter.”

This attachment to Allah’s promise and their relationship with the Quran was something that inspired me the more I read their reflections. It truly was only Allah’s words that brought them comfort. Not a lawyer or judge’s promise, or their own words or actions.

Most of the time when the former prisoners collectively resisted and organized was when their religious practices were threatened. They fought against the prison guards when their copies of the Quran was attacked or destroyed in Guantanamo, or their clothes were taken away in an attempt to prevent them from covering themselves for prayer.

To practice Islam was a threat in U.S. prisons, and in Egyptian prisons even though technically it’s a “Muslim country.” Prison administration were constantly intimidated by the faith of the Muslim prisoners, because they could not get through to them. No torture would break their spirits and instead, many went on years-long hunger strikes in protest of ill treatment and to be released.

As we navigate our lives in this world, we cannot forget the stories of the people and prophets before us. Oppression and injustice is not new, and unfortunately will continue to take place.

But what can fuel us to continue protesting and resisting on this earth, is our faith. The Quran is meant to give us comfort. Without relying on God, we would grow hopeless because most likely more people will be killed and presidents will continue to evade any accountability.

Instead of falling into the question of how God “allows” injustice to keep happening, Mona, another prisoner, said the question that lingered for her was how human beings could be capable of such horrific acts.

She was stripped of her clothes and beaten to the point she could barely walk and with bruises all over her face. Some of the prison officers would justify their actions against her and other inmates by saying that, “It’s just their job” and “There’s nothing they can do.”

These statements sound too familiar when thinking of the Muslims who work jobs that are meant to oppress others. Think Muslim police officers brutally harassing peaceful protesters on college campuses, or Muslims working in the White House/Congress who help sign policies and bills to harm our communities here and overseas.

Or Muslim border patrol/ICE agents who racially discriminate against those with beards or dark skin because they’re following harmful stereotypes and policies. Or a Muslim university president who silences and harasses students for speaking the truth.

It’s important to make sure we are not actively participating in oppressive systems or pushing the same harmful work of those who don’t fear God. We fear God as Muslims, and we are taught better. We don’t need mosques inviting police for Ramadan iftars but then scared to be “political” so as to not lose their nonprofit status.

Muslims are meant to be at the forefront of movements that bring about justice, not a part of administrations that enforce cruelty.

While Mona was being transported to court, crowds of people in Egypt threw stones on the car she was in, aiming for her face and body. She recalled a story of the prison doctor taking the painkillers away from an inmate with breast cancer to sell it, and the inmate dying from the cancer not long after.

“Without holding on to the comfort of du’a and prayer and without the knowledge that God brings ease, I would have killed myself,” Mona said.

Knowing that eternal bliss awaits us, and true accountability and justice by the Most Just, is the only way for us to liberate ourselves from the limitations of this world.

We do our part, and try to transform our society while leaving the rest to God. A reminder to myself and those who need to hear this as we navigate the world we live in one day at a time.