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Letter from US Prison : 'O People of sacrifice and dignity'
Shaykh Omar Abdur Rahman,
the blind Alim, incarcerated in the Springfield Centre (Missouri),
sent out the following letter from Prison. Its contents are shocking
and humiliating. We reproduce most of it below so that the world
would know what the Americans are doing to a respected Muslim Alim.
'In the name of
Allah most Gracious most Merciful'
'All praise be to Allah Ta'ala, the Lord of the worlds, and
peace and blessings be upon the master of the messengers,
prophet Muhammad (SAW). Blessings and peace be upon his
family, his companions and those who follow him faithfully
until the day of Judgement.
'The conditions in the prison (where I am kept) are very bad
and extremely poor. This can be seen from the following:
What they claim about freedom of religion and freedom of
worship is all false. I have not been allowed to pray the
Jumuah prayers, or even pray in congregation since I arrived
at the prison in October, 1995.
There is prejudice and discrimination in their treatment in
prison. When other prisoners call for the guards, they hurry
to respond. I keep knocking on my Cell door for hours but
nobody responds to my needs.
I go for months without my hair and nails cut.
I am kept in solitary confinement, in my situation (Sheikh is
blind and suffers from diabetes and is advanced in age)
without anyone to help me arrange my belongings. I have no one
to converse with day or night, nor am I allowed to socialize
with others since there is no one close to my cell, neither
Muslim nor anyone else who can speak Arabic. I stay like that
day and night. What loneliness, what cruelty? By doing this
they want to make me terminally ill to exact revenge because I
am a Muslim. Are these the human rights they boasts about so
much and fill the air waves and news media, while persecuting
us so that we are unable to speak or raise our voice?
Have you heard of the strip searches and exposure of private
parts, and stripping people of all their outer and inner
garments so that they are as naked as the day they were born?
By Allah, this occurs to me everytime a friend or family
member visits me (Although I have no relatives in America, all
Muslims are my family). Every visit means I have to strip
twice. They order me to remove all my clothes, and I wish this
was the end of it. Instead, the chief prison guard, named
Curling, with another man named Day and several other guards,
order me to open my thighs and bend forward. And then, like
beasts - I cannot really say it out of shyness and shame, but
I will say it to relieve the pressure on myself and to let the
Muslim Ummah live up to its duties and responsibilities
towards its religion - they search my private parts intimately
while they stand around watching and laughing. Groups of
guards race around...... The one who spends the longest time
looking and inspecting is considered to have done the best
job. They humiliate and degrade me in this manner because I am
a Muslim and what they do is expressly forbidden by Allah.
And why should they do this? They have found their prey and
achieved their goal. What are they looking for in my private
parts? Are they looking for weapons, explosives or drugs which
I have taken from the prison cell to my visitor or from my
visitor to the cell? They do this twice to me on each visit so
that I melt from shame and embarrassment and wish that the
earth would open up and swallow me rather than they do this to
me. Does this please those who protect their religion and
honour?
People of manliness and brotherhood. O People of sacrifice and
dignity. O Men of Allah! Rise up from your deep slumber. Rise
up with your resounding voices. Set out, O Men of Allah, and
let your voices be heard in every place, and say it with all
your strength and loudly, without fear. Rise up, O Men of
Allah and like one body, show the truth and negate the evil.
'And don't give in to those who aggress, lest the fire take
hold of you.'
Prisons are for scholars or criminals to sleep in? Death has
surrounded my Ummah. Say Allaahu Akbar and tell death to
live!.
'Who will wake up the nation that builds its nests on the
winds, its feelings numbed and shows no reaction to plots? It
is lost if its scholars fill up the cells like sheep. Aren't
there courageous men who fear Allah? Aren't there strong words
to throw the evil and shrink it? Rise up as one! Do not fear
loss of income!.' |
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