—by Shaykh Ahmad Mūsa Jibrīl حفظه الله
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمد لله ربّ العالمين
على ما تواتر من نعمائه وعلى ما تتابع من جميل كرمه و إفضاله
والصلاة والسلام على المبعوث رحمة للعالمين
وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن سلك سبيلهم إلى يوم الدين
أما بعد
There's many general Āyat and Hadīth that mention the right of a Muslim over another. And that definitely encompasses the rights of Muslim captives.
Those Āyat and Hadīth on the rights of brothers and sisters over each other are more than sufficient to tell us the rights of Muslim captives.
Āyat like:
وَإِنِ ٱسْتَنصَرُوكُمْ فِى ٱلدِّينِ فَعَلَيْكُمُ ٱلنَّصْرُ
And in Sūratul Al-'Imrān:
وَٱعْتَصِمُوا۟ بِحَبْلِ ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا۟ۚ وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَآءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِۦٓ إِخْوَٰنًا
And the verse:
إِنَّمَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ
And in Sūratul Al-Anbiyah:
إِنَّ هَٰذِهِۦٓ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَٰحِدَةً وَأَنَا۠ رَبُّكُمْ فَٱعْبُدُونِ
And like that verse:
إِنَّ هَٰذِهِۦٓ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَٰحِدَةً وَأَنَا۠ رَبُّكُمْ فَٱعْبُدُونِ
And the various different Ahadīth on this matter:
الْمُسْلِمُ أَخُو الْمُسْلِمِ لَا يَظْلِمُهُ وَلاَ يَخْذُلُهُ
A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim.
A Muslim is a Muslim's brother. He doesn't wrong him and he doesn't desert him.
When Imām an-Nawawī was mentioning what يَخْذُلُهُ means, he said: It means a Muslim should never desert or abandon his brother or sister in a time of need.
Because the rights of captives are essential and important, they were also mentioned in seperate, specific Ahadīth like the famous Hadīth in Sahīh al-Bukhāri:
فُكُّوا الْعَانِيَ
Free the captives.
This Ummah was once upon a time, the Leader of the Umam in implementing the Justice of Allāh سبحانه و تعالى to both Muslims and Non-muslims.
When the tables were turned, and they were living under the rule of Tawhīd, Muslims didn't transgress against them nor did Muslims do to them what they're doing to us today.
History documented letters by Ibn Taymiyyah and other 'Ulamah and more importantly, the Guidance; the Qur'ān and the Sunnah, all proved that.
But when the ummah left the Guidance—and they were told when they leave the Guidance, they would become the lowest of the Umam, it happened as they were told.
And those scenes, that used to drop the most masculine of men to their knees, weeping, have now becomes scenes that males casually swipe through their phones looking at them.
Scenes that used to spark wars have become nothing in the eyes of the Ummah today.
Just one of the hundreds or one of the thousands of acts of hostility that we see with our own eyes today, especially towards sisters, when they used to not see them— they didn't have internet, when they used to hear of them, they would trigger the most oppressive ruler to declare war and eradicate towns off the face of the earth.
There's historical examples of that. Some leaders may have oppressed their own people—Muslim leaders who oppressed their people but when an outsider took captive, especially when it was women, it was a declaration of war considered more hostile than invading Muslim lands.
Hāshim ar-Rifa'ī said in his poem:
وآلمني وآلم كلّ حرٍّ سؤال الدّهر : أين المسلمونا
It hurts me and it hurts every person, the Question of: where are the muslimeen?
تُرى هل يرجعُ الماضي ؟ فإني أذوبُ لذلكَ الماضي حنينا
Do you think that past would ever return again? Because I melt in agony over the returning of that past.
Even in times when Muslims were weak, captives were a concern and a priority to them.
The rule is:
ما لا يدرك كله لا يترك كله
What of it can be gained or achieved, in its entirety, it shouldn't be disregarded entirely.
And the backing for that rule is from the Qur'ān and Sunnah:
Sūrah at-Taghābun:
فَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مَا ٱسْتَطَعْتُمْ
Keep your duty to Allāh and fear Him as much as you can.
مَا ٱسْتَطَعْتُمْ
As much as you can.
And the Hadīth in Bukhāri and Muslim, the portion of it:
وَمَا أَمَرْتُكُمْ بِهِ فَأْتُوا مِنْهُ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ
The Messenger ﷺ said:
If I order you to do something, then do of it, as much as you can.
You're ordered to free or ransom the captives. You can't do it, if you're in phase where you can't free them, then you look for means to give them victory.
The Hadīth: if I order you to do something, then do of it as much as you can, do what you can and there's always plenty that you can do.
In the most difficult times of the Messenger ﷺ's Da'wah, when he himself was suffering the hostility of Quraysh, when he was slandered and oppressed, when the entrails of the camels were thrown on his blessed back—may my parents be ransomed for him, ﷺ, when they were scheming to restrain him, kill him or oust him, in those most difficult dark times, he was concerned about the captives.
When Banī Makhzūm took 'Ammār bin Yāsir, and his mother and father, torturing them in the hot sun of Makkah, he didn't say, 'what's my du'ā gonna do?' or 'How's my inspirational words gonna help them?'
In those most difficult times—and I never read or heard or mentioned this story, the Hadīth of what the Prophet ﷺ said to them, even when I was a child; 'cause we learnt this as children— except that I imagined and visualized, the blessed, radiant, bright face of Rasūlullah ﷺ in grief and in sorrow, seeing his beloved friends in captivity under torture, not being able to free them, but he leaves them with words of support and encouragement and hope:
صبرا آل ياسر فإن موعدكم الجنة
ابشر آل عمار وآل ياسر فإن موعدكم الجنة
Isn't that like sending the captives, letters? Or postcards with the Hadīth or Āyah in it? They'll hang it in their cells and read it over and over, and it'll make their day, and possibly their month?
When they walk to the mail hall and everyone walks back with mail in their hands except the Muslim or a Muslimah, who walk back to their cells sluggish, empty handed. Isn't that a deficiency in our fulfillment of their rights?
In his difficult times, ﷺ, encouraged the Sahābah to free the slaves and captives. And the Sahābah rushed to it.
You know the famous story of Abū Bakr, ransoming Bilāl رضي الله عنهم. And like wise, 'Āmir bin Fuhayrah and Zinnīr ar-Rūmiyyah and others رضي الله عنهم اجمعين
Infact, Rasūlullah ﷺ was so concerned over the issue of captives, that he took preventive steps so that none of them would fall as captives. That's why he chose 'Uthmān رضي الله عنه over everyone else in Sulh al-Hudaybiyyah, to represent him to Quraysh— because 'Umar advised him and suggested that 'Uthmān has a large, strong clan, that would support him, protect him and it's less likely they would capture or kill someone like 'Uthmān رضي الله عنه.
The point being is that even in the weakest times, captives were always a priority to the Messenger ﷺ and the Ummah.
And there's plenty to do to support them.
In one of the most sacred moments before Allāh, standing before Allāh in our Fard Salāh, in Qunūt, the Messenger ﷺ makes du'ā for the captives by name.
اللَّهُمَّ أَنْجِ عَيَّاشَ بْنَ أَبِي رَبِيعَةَ
اللَّهُمَّ أَنْجِ سَلَمَةَ بْنَ هِشَامٍ
اللَّهُمَّ أَنْجِ الْوَلِيدَ بْنَ الْوَلِيدِ
اللَّهُمَّ أَنْجِ الْمُسْتَضْعَفِينَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
And in another narration, he mentioned the names in a different order. He said:
اللَّهُمَّ أَنْجِ الْوَلِيدَ بْنَ الْوَلِيدِ وَسَلَمَةَ بْنَ هِشَامٍ وَعَيَّاشَ بْنَ أَبِي رَبِيعَةَ وَالْمُسْتَضْعَفِينَ بِمَكَّةَ
He mentioned du'ā for captives by name and he said, O Allāh, help the helpless, weak believers of Makkah.
And in another narration, he mentioned them in a slightly different order and he said, O Allāh, save the weak, faithful believers of Makkah.
I don't know والعلم عند الله والله تعالى أعلم that the Messenger ﷺ ever made du'ā in Qunūt for martyrs by name. But he mentioned captives by name in Qunūt.
In addition to the significance of the du'ā, you learnt that he mentioned their names so they won't be forgotten and if to highlight the Muslims duty towards them, and to make them a priority.
The Martyrs are alive with Allāh, with being provided for, while the captives are a cause that you need to work for.
Don't underestimate when someone tells you to make dua for them.
Or write them or raise awareness for them.
Or write those who are oppressing them.
Or if you're asked to put money in their commisaries so that they can buy food and essentials.
Mass write the warden of the prison where they're being mistreated.
That's similar to what Ibn Taymiyyah and many other 'Ulamah did.
Don't underestimate that at times, when those are the only means available to you
ما لا يدرك كله لا يترك كله
Do you remember the Halaqah when I mentioned the story of Baqi' Ibn Makhlad رحمه الله and the woman who approached him and told him that her son was captive, and he made du'ā for her? And the moment he made du'ā for her, was the moment the shackles were broken off the feet of her son and he was freed. I don't wanna go over that again but there's many more, documented similar stories.
And in this Ummah, there are those whom if they ask Allāh سبحانه و تعالى, He would answer them.
The Khulafah after the Messenger ﷺ learnt of their priorities from Rasūlullah ﷺ.
That's why 'Umar said:
لأن أستنقذ رجلاً من المسلمين من أيدي الكفار أحب إلي من جزيرة العرب
In Musannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah, he said;
“Freeing a captive is more beloved to me than the entire Arabian Peninsula.”
And also in Musannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah, he said:
كل أسير من المسلمين كان في أيدي المشركين ففكاكه
من بيت مال المسلمين
“Every captive of the Muslims should be ransomed from the house of the wealth of the Muslims, from Bayt Maal al-Muslimeen.”
Meaning it's the Muslims who will ransom him, not his mum, or his dad, or his wife or his relatives. It's the duty of the Muslims to do so.
Infact, Muslim leaders and 'Ulamah were concerned over the captives of the Jews and Christians living under Muslim Rule: Ahl-al-Dhimmah who were taken as captives.
Muhammad bin 'Abdullah bin Zanjaway, a Muhaddith, and a friend and a neighbor of Imām Ahmad Ibn Hanbal رحمهم الله, he said:
Al-Hussayn bin 'Ali رضي الله عنهما was asked about captives from Ahl-al-Dhimmah, who were captured by an enemy. Al-Hussayn رضي الله عنه said:
It's the duty and responsibility of the Muslims to free them.
Ibn Taymiyyah had many stands pertaining to this specific matter like that.
If that was their concern over captives of the people of Dhimmah, Ahl-al-Dhimmah, who are Christians and Jews, then imagine their concern for the people of Tawhīd! If that was their concern for the men of the Ummah, then imagine their concern for the honourable women of the Ummah!
Because Men of Tawhid and chivalry, they know their priorities and concerns.
And a woman is given more precedent over such matters.
With a man, you fear for his Deen and his well-being in captivity.
For a woman, you fear for her Deen, for her well-being and for her honour
For her honour!
Noble honourable women in captivity would rather their hearts be lifted and snatched from their chests, than their niqabs to be forcefully lifted off their faces. In Palestine, in bilad As-Sham, in Iraq, those in the camps of the Chinese government and elsewhere..
'Aafia Siddiqui, here, a prime example!
When we say 'Aafia Siddiqui, we don't ONLY mention 'Aafia Siddiqui for HER horrific personal ordeal. Aafia Siddiqui is the icon for the plight of Muslim women unjustly held in prisons all over the globe.
'Aafia's case is a crown of disgrace for this country and then unmasking of the reality of their injustice system and it will remain so.
And it's a bigger disgrace for those who lied upon her and betrayed her and sacrificed her and those who refused to help her and those who are silent about helping and aiding her when they are able to speak.
When they used to transform me from prison to prison, in airplanes, and SUVs and buses, they had and they did so, with detailed, calculated protocols for security reasons.
For example, I was placed in handcuffs, chained to my waist, and because they said 'you're in the dangerous catergory', they put a black box around the chain in-between the cuffs so that you can't move your hands. And then you got foot shackles where you can barely walk.
Pay attention to what I'm getting at because you know I would never mention a personal story unless it raises awareness for a Muslim or a Muslimah or benefits the Ummah.
Sometimes they transported me in a bus alone, they said, 'you're dangerous to be with other inmates'.
Inside the bus, there's a cage with an officer who has a gun, an assault rifle. That caged room has no access towards the man, meaning I can't get to him, he can't get to me. He enters and exits from outside the bus. The driver and all the other officers, that are with me inside the bus, they have no guns.
Before entering the bus, I see them in the window, they take their guns and they place them in suitcases and put them in a compartment under the bus. And then they come in the bus and that is so inmates, that they're supervising, won't snatch them.
That's their protocol and it's consistent every single time I was transported.
When they go outside, and I'm about to go somewhere, two of them stand at a distance with their guns drawn and the ones around me, they have no guns.
That's to tell you how calculated and precise, and detailed they are in the security of handling a prisoner.
They've done it for years and learnt from mistakes that they study and analyse. They are very well trained.
But one of them—one of their most elite, he's chosen because he's the best of their best—leaves to interrogate the most dangerous woman on earth, as they allege, but he conveniently leaves an M4 under his feet.
And this 100 pound woman, surrounded by translators and soldiers in the room, happens to get a hold of that M4 and shoots at them.
I'm not joking. That's not even something you can put in a fictional book. It's something only a half-wit can believe. That's the story of your sister 'Aafia Siddiqui.
And that alleged gun that she picked up, it later turns out, no bullet was discharged from it, no fingerprints of hers was found on it, no gunshot residue on her hands or clothes were found.
They shoot her, take her kids, her life, her sanity, HER SANITY, and on top of that, an 86 year sentence.
And then you read that she boycotted her lawyers and some criticized her for that. Why?!
Because let me tell you, from first hand experience, with case like that, your lawyers work against you more than anyone else. And when we try to fire our lawyers, they impose them upon us! It happened to me. Happened to my father. Happened to 'Aafia. Happened to many other cases that I know of.
In case like that, your own lawyer is against you. And that supposedly impartial judge is even worse than that. The least one to worry about is the prosecutor!
I actually heard of 'Aafia Siddiqui, may Allāh سبحانه و تعالى hasten her release, for the first time, when I myself was in prison. I was in solitary for a very long time and I didn't know much about what was happening in the world. One day, they released me into a cage to exercise, and there was a small bookshelf on wheels and on top of it, was a few pages from a newspaper. I took that outdated paper and I began to read it. And there was the story of 'Aafia Siddiqui, a very long story that they had written.
And then there was a smaller one about Imām Luqmān, in same paper, رحمه الله, from our local area. And I'll talk about him another time إن شاء الله if you'll remind me.
Both cases are very similar. They've a history of what they do.
They entrapped Imām Luqmān in to a warehouse, out in Dearborn. They claimed he pulled a gun on them. So they riddled him with 20 bullets. May Allāh سبحانه و تعالى have Mercy on him, grant him Forgiveness and raise his rank in Jannah.
But similar to 'Aafia, and I witnessed with the Imām, he didn't have a gun. And as thorough as they are, they didn't bother to test for residue of the gun on the clothes on his body. And later on it was discovered that his finger prints weren't even on that gun, that they say he allegedly shot with! And after all that, you hear Murji'ah-Reject or modernist or munāfiq saying, 'well she or he was convicted,' go and buy what Tawaghīt Systems decree— is sufficient for you to know their level of Tawhīd.
'Aafia was convicted by 12 people. In a nutshell, the system of Jāhiliyyah works like this: they find 12 random crack heads, or biased meth addicts from some alley or slum, and between hearing a fairytale story, in slumber and sleep in the court room—as they did in my own case, they wake up convicting an innocent woman. And then 86 years.
Do you know that there's volumes, on top of volumes ran on the status, and rules, and etiquettes, and qualifications for a Muslim Judge who would stand in such a matter? The qualifications for that position are significant because the lives of innocent people are not a game to us.
There's thousands of 'Aafias globally, but 'Aafia Siddiqui has become a symbol for the thousands of imprisoned women globally.
Abū al-Baqā ar-Rundī wrote a poem which was an elegy for al-Andalus. A poem which made the people of Andalus cry. He mourned the Catholic invasion and the conquest of al-Andalus.
In the portion that I wanted to mention, he said:
كم يستغيثُ بنا المُستضعفُونَ
وهم قتلى وأسرى فما يهتزَّ إنسانُ
How often have the weak and those who're being killed and captured, ask our help, while no one is moved or stirred?
ماذا التقاطع في الإسلام بينكمُ
وأنتمْ يا عباد الله إخوانُ
What is this severing of the bonds of Islām, when you 'ibādallāh, are brothers of each other?
ألا نفوسٌ أبيَّاتٌ لها هممٌ
أما على الخيرِ أنصارٌ وأعوانُ
Are there no heroic souls with lofty ambitions? Are there no helpers and defenders of the truth?
يا ربَّ أمٍّ وطفلٍ حيلَ بينهما
كما تفرقَ أرواحٌ وأبدانُ
Our mother and a child have been seperated. Like souls and bodies are seperated.
He was talking about what he saw in al-Andalus and it's what happened to 'Aafia. And it happened to many others who are seperated from their children.
They took her three kids. And as the poet said, it's like a soul seperated from the body for a mother.
They gave two back to the family and they kept or killed one. Her son, Sulaymān is still missing until today. They take three, give two back, I mean, some sort of a game that they think.
Imagine that happening to you. May Allāh سبحانه و تعالى save you from that.
Wallāhi, I get traumatized every time I hear of a Muslim facing a custody problem or his kids are taken away. And I remain ill for days. Because they love to take their pure seed of Tawhīd and transform it into a seed of Shirk!
وطفلة مثل حسنِ الشمسِ
إذ طلعت كأنما هي ياقوتة ومرجانُ
A maiden, fair as a sun when it arises, as though she was rubies and pearls.
يقودُها العلجُ للمكروه مكرهةً
والعينُ باكيةُ والقلبُ حيرانُ
She's lead off to abomination by 'ilj, against her will, while her eye is in tears and her heart is stunned.
For years Aafia's been in solitary. Close your bedroom door on you, with all the luxury comfort that you have and see how long you can stay in there.
Most people can't even do that for half a day, let alone a few days or months or years. And that's with your cellphone, your food and refrigerator in that room and possibly an attached bathroom.
Imagine a 6 by 8 ft cell. In a bed that's from metal and a small mattress. And a toilet from metal and a sink from from metal that it's attached to, and the toilet's in your qibla generally. Most of the time it's in your qibla.
And they mask the windows where you can't really see through it. And they play with the warm and cold temperature as they please, to discomfort you.
And a guard walks by almost every half hour and so, invading your privacy. And then other guards, take their ptsd anger out on you.
Most of the federal correctional officers, back when I was in prison, were soldiers returning from Afghanistan. And you could just imagine the anger, the hatred they would spew on a Muslim. The hardships that they cause, sometimes instigated inmates to harm or kill someone. Giving you food that they wouldn't give their own dogs.
To be accurate, not all of them are like that. But there are many like that. And that's all it takes.
And while in she's in that 6 by 8 cell, imagine what's going through her mind; flashbacks of what they did to her over the years, conditions of her kids and her family.
Abū al-Baqā ar-Rundī concludes and says:
لمثل هذا يذوبُ القلبُ من كمدٍ
إن كان في القلب إسلامٌ وإيمانُ
The heart melts with sorrow at such sights, if there's any Islām or belief in that heart.
وصلى الله على سـيـدنـا مـحـمـد وعلى آله وصحبه
https://youtu.be/sHw4TqxhpG0