I’m Locked Up (They won’t let me out)

This is not your usual “so and so got put in jail” post. So please read it. I don’t often “pour it out” on my blog but this is one of those posts. It’s something thats been on my mind for quite some time and I have to say something. If you start reading this and have no idea what I am talking about then say alhamdulillah that Allah(swt) has spared your heart and emaan from this fitnah and please don’t read it (I am referring here to the points towards the end of my post, not the beginning).

In a continuing trend, Anwar al-Awlaki was recently locked up in Yemen (may Allah protect him and free him). This comes after Ali Timimi and Humaidan al-Turki (of Al-Basheer) were also locked up on bunk charges in the land of the free.Everyone is outraged at the unjust imprisonment of these individuals on trumped up charges, and I am too. Anyone who has made even the most cursory glance at their situations knows the cases against them are lies built upon more lies. Please check this website for more information.

Unfortunately many Muslims have turned their backs on these individuals. And I am not talking about your usual collection of modernist/apologists who would like to disown anyone remotely trying to follow the Qur’an and Sunnah. I am speaking about individuals, many of whom I have personally held in high esteem and learned from. People who call to the Quran and Sunnah and implement it. But they have some disdain in their hearts for these individuals and have in all practicality disowned them. This is by far, a small number of people, but it is a mentality that exists and people need to be aware of, because there is no place for it in our dawah, especially not in the West where we’re under attack from all sides.

I remember when Ali Timimi was first jailed receiving an email stating in regards to him, basically that, we feel sorry for him and make dua for him, however we can’t turn him into some kind of hero since he has caused so much harm to ‘the dawah’ etc and supports “hizbees” and I have heard this type of thing echoed by many people.
This is something that really, honestly, made me feel depressed. I have listened to almost everything by Ali Timimi that I can get my hands on, and I feel almost unequivocally that he was unmatched in his knowledge and hikmah in the west mashAllah. The benefit I attained from his lectures and explanations are pearls and gems that in years of studying I was unable to find. He is a man who did his utmost to spread the haqq of our religion, whilst at the same time maintaining the utmost in his manners and wisdom in speaking to people.

What then is the cause for such, almost, sectarian strife against him? Are people really this short sighted? Do they not realize what is happening in this country to Islam? People are trying to rip apart our religion from banning the hijab, banning people from praying at work, keeping people from studying the Quran, issues that are affecting every single Muslim alive, and people cannot put this aside. A man who was jailed for spreading the Quran and Sunnah, a Muslim falsely imprisoned, and instead of supporting him all we can do is say “we make dua for him, BUT…” ?

Even if you may have some disagreement with a person on some issue, have we lost all sense of justice that we ignore the obvious and focus on these things? If you make an accusation against someone at least verify what is being said. People accuse him of making bid’ah in the categories of Tawheed, and of spreading takfeer on the rulers. But a person who has actually listened to his taped (i.e. available and public with his name on it) statements in this regards knows these accusations are as frivolous as the lies that landed him in jail.

This is like people who criticize organizations like CAIR for being too apologetic, but neglect to realize that no other organization is stepping up to defend the civil liberties of Muslims to practice their religion in America. Those same people who disown them would be the first ones calling them for help when their employer tells them to shave their beard or lose their job.

It is also whisperings from Shaytaan such as this that has caused people to fall into the same blind partisanship they try to avoid. Why else would any ’student of knowledge’ deny themselves of benefit to be obtained from individuals such as Anwar al-Awlaki or Ali Timimi and instead resign themselves to a handful of individuals they consider to be “of proper manhaj” and not progress in their ‘ilm, ibaadah, or tazkiyah?

This is entirely apparent when you see such individuals who, 3-5 years ago were debating advanced technical issues of emaan/kufr (obviously without ever having studied the abc’s of aqeedah) or how to move the finger in tashahhud (with no grounding in usool al-fiqh), and after this time has elapsed they are still stuck on the same issues. Moreover, this blase attitude towards the Muslim ummah has caused them to almost exist inside of a bubble where they are oblivious to anything going on with the vast majority of the Muslim Ummah.

It’s also unsettling to see people make accusations against someone else’s intentions and what is in their hearts. For example, in discussing such issues I have heard from people (some respectable, learned individuals) that “Oh those scholars just have a hatred for so-and-so person, so this is part of some secret conspiracy to attack him.” This is really foolishness. Who are we to rip open someone’s heart and judge their true intentions? Especially in regards to the ‘ulemma of our religion? And more troublesome is why do we see this from those people who we consider our teachers? Is this not basic adab of Islam we are violating? Aren’t these things that are taught at the most basic level such as grade 1 of Sunday School?

I leave you with this from Umar ibn Abdil-’Aziz(rahimahullah):

Become a scholar if you are able.
If you are not able, then be a student.
If you can not,then show love for them.
If you are unable to do that,then(at least)do not hate them.