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Category Archives: Letters from Asem Al-Barqawi

Establishing al-Hukm Shari’a fi Sijin

Question 3:
In some facilities the Muslims are given a great deal of leeway in policing themselves. It is to the point where some aspects of the Sharii’ah can be implemented in the community without the kuffaar interfering, and the leaders of the Muslim community can enforce these matters.

For example, in a typical facility a Muslim caught drinking khamr by his brothers will receive some kind of physical punishment, and the guards will not interfere. Sometimes the Muslims exceed the limits set in the Sharii’ah in such matters, because many of them have things left over from jahiliyyah. A brother mentioned that before he became a Muslim he knew a brother who used to stab people (non-lethally, I believe) if they did not attend the five prayers in jama’ah.

However, even this did not lead to repercussions from the guards. What is the ruling on implementing the things from the Sharii’ah which Muslims are able to implement without fear of the guards interfering or harming them? Should the community do those things or should they leave them all, because they are not completely in power? In our unit we are not able to do these types of things, but in a typical facility this is how the community is run.

In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate;

I asked the third [question] where he [the questioner] stated that the brothers and some Muslims [in prison] may exceed the limits of the Shari’a, such as drinking alcohol and committing other haram actions, and his [the questioners] saying of the brothers, that it is possible to implement the hadud, and carry out what is prescribed of corporal punishment without having interference from the prison guards.

The Sheikh [Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi] says it should not be upon the brothers to do so because by doing this, such is the condition of the brothers in dar al-Harb and the brothers [in prison] who are now in a position of vulnerability, and by doing this they may alienate the hearts of the people, and instead of causing the people to abandon them [the sinful actions] or turning away [from sin] those who commit these haram things [they may repel him, and not the sin]. And regarding the person who did as the brothers said: that he was stabbing people non-fatal stab wounds who did not pray the five daily prayers in congregation, this [the stabbing] is forbidden in Islam.

Tahakum & Using the Courts & the Kufr Legal System

09 May

Question 1 [Tahakum & Using the Courts & the Kufr Legal System]:

We have read in the book Al-Thalaatheeniyyah fit-Tah’theer min al-Ghuluww fit- Takfeer by Sheikh al-Maqdisi (May Allah Hasten his release). Apart where he writes about the issue of filing court-cases, and seeking judgement from the taghut in situations of ikrah or so, and that it is best not to do so (‘azeemah), but that those who do so out of some ikrah, are not out of the fold of Islam, etc.; we remember reading something a long time ago, and if we remember correctly, Insha’Allah, it is discussed in that book. There are brothers here, may Allah guide them and us, who spend an extraordinary amount of time running around in the maze of the taghut’s law-system, day and night; while giving little time to the worship of Allah. And various brothers are at various levels within this description. We seek refuge in Allah from being negligent of His ‘Ibdadah. Can you please advise us regarding this issue?

Also what are the matters that are permissible or fardh to address through their kufr system? Can a Muslim try to defend himself to ward off the evil of being imprisoned by obtaining a lawyer or studying their law in order to better defend his case? Also in some prisons, like ours they do not allow us to make the adhan or pray in jama’ah or to have Jumu’ah. This is not allowed even by their own law. Can we complain to them and fight in their courts to have this right re-established or is this not even this allowed? Can you please clarify these issues for us as we wish to do what is most pleasing to Allah and do not wish to be of those who transgress the limits set by Allah and His Messenger Salalahu Alaihis Wa Salaam?

In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate;

[Through forgetting some of the details of the first question], the Shaykh [Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi] did not initially provide a ruling on the permissibility of litigation for the harm caused by the management of prisons or the government, [however] with respect to seeking the right for brothers to establish the congregational prayer or to hold study lessons and also considering (the view) of those who pursue litigation in order to seek those rights, that they have not disbelieved in doing so.

The Shaykh said that it is upon the brothers to be exhaustive in litigating, demanding their above-mentioned rights with a complaint to the Human Rights organizations, in order to appeal for these rights.

[As for the part that was forgotten initially regarding] finding a lawyer for the defense of the brother during the trial, then the Shaykh himself had found a lawyer to defend him and the lawyer carried out the legal procedures in order to defend the Shaykh, and before the ‘resting’ of the defense, he raised an objection before the court of appeals against the ruling which ‘bundled’ against the Shaykh, seeing his condition and the condition of the brothers who were tried in courts that were in reality trying them and they were not the ones bringing suit; so among their rights is to defend themselves.

Asem Al-Barqawi: Firmness of a Prisoner of Conscience

04 Sep

ِ”…And when my family came to me with the news of my father’s death (may Allah have Mercy upon him) while I was in my cell after much waiting, promises, and delay in regards to seeing him in the final days of his illness, I told them that had they wanted to, these people could have let me out to see him before his death so that I could stand by him in these moments. If they didn’t do this hoping that I would compromise, break down, or raise the white flag in the face of such pressures, I say to them and you: By Allah, if my entire family were to die one by one – my mother, my children, my wives, my brothers, everyone – do not even dream that I would recant a single letter of what I believe to be the truth from my religion or worship Allah by, even if I were to spend the rest of my life in a cell.

My father, my mother, and my family * Are a shield for the religion of Muhammad…”

“…And I say as I said to some of my interrogators during our constant meetings: Do you know Kim Sung-Myung, the South Korean? He is not any firmer than I, by Allah’s Will! When they would ask who he was, I would inform them that he was a believer in the empty concept of Communism. Despite this, he is the oldest Communist political prisoner in South Korea, being held for his Communist beliefs in a cell the size of a closet for 44 years! He did not recant his Communist beliefs for a single second during the entire period of his incarceration to his release, remaining firm despite the defeat of Communism and the disintegration of the Soviet Union and millions of Communists abandoning their beliefs. Amnesty International considered him the oldest political prisoner in the world. This man in his seventies emerged from his cell in which he spent his youth and most of his life to tell the world that despite his frail body that could not even support itself – such that he needed the support of his friends to simply stand in front of journalists’ cameras – so that he could tell the whole world, especially those who had imprisoned him: Even if you weakened my body and broke my bones and my back, you will never weaken my resolve and break my spirit!

So, I would say to these people and others: Does it make sense that the adherent to such empty beliefs be stronger in his resolve than one who adheres to a divine belief that is stronger and loftier than the towering mountains, connected to his Lord, relying on his Helper? Allah’s refuge is sought…So, what recantation are you waiting for?

Place the handcuffs on my wrists, and burn my ribs with the whip * Place the knife on my throat;

You won’t be able to arrest my mind even for an hour * Or to drag away my faith or certainty;

As the light is in my heart and my heart is in my hand * My Lord, my Lord is my Helper and Aid;

I will live holding firm to the rope of my belief * And will die smiling so that my religion will live…“

“…I would also remember those who were in worse conditions and tests than I, from my imprisoned brothers in all the corners of the globe who are prevented from even the most basic rights. This would increase me in firmness and resolve and strength. It would also help me to belittle whatever hardship I was experiencing. I would remember my brothers in the dark prisons of Bagram, my brothers in Abu Ghurayb, my brothers in Guantanamo, my brothers in the secret prisons where one cannot even see the Sun and in which they can be seen by nobody. I would remember my brothers in the prisons of the Jews, Communists, and apostates, etc.

And I would remember my dear brother Abu Mujahid (may Allah have Mercy upon him and gather us with him in the Firdaws) and how he was imprisoned…in a filthy, dark, solitary cell filled with insects, and he was prevented from a copy of the Qur’an. I remember how he would long for each verse he would hear being recited from the distant mosques and keep repeating them until he had them memorized…

I would remember such things, and this would help me belittle my hardships and would acquaint me with Allah’s blessings upon me in that He made the Qur’an my intimate companion during this trial…”