a message to the muslim prisoner - shaikh abdullah jarraallah

8/3/2019 A Message to the Muslim Prisoner - Shaikh Abdullah JarraAllah

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!

O noble brother(1), may Allah give you success in obeying

Him and make us and you guided, rightly-led; and may He

gather us, you and our parents in the Gardens of Delight “in

the company of those on whom Allah has bestowed His

Grace, of the Prophets, the truthful ones, the martyrs, and

the righteous.” [4:69] Aameen!

My Muslim brother, know that Allah has created us in order

to worship Him and commanded us to single Him out (with

all that is exclusive to Him like worship, love, fear, etc.) and

obey Him, and He has promised whoever obeys Him with abountiful reward; and He has promised whoever disobeys

Him a painful punishment. Allah the Most High states:

“And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger (), he

has indeed achieved a great achievement.” [33:71]

And He the Most High states:

(1) [TN] Although the author only addresses the male Muslim prisoner, it should be

noted that in his motherland of Saudi Arabia, Muslim women only make up around

6.6% of the total prison population (According to ICPS, 2003). Nonetheless, theaddress is relevant to Muslim women also, rather – it is relevant to every Muslim

wherever they may be, as “the world is a prisoner for the believer...” [Sahih Muslim].



“And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger (), he

has indeed strayed in a plain error.” [33:36]

Cling to the taqwaa(2) of Allah and obedience to Him by

carrying out the commands of Allah and refraining from His

prohibitions, for it is the fruit of happiness in the world and

Hereafter, due to the statement of Allah the Most High:

.

“And whosoever has taqwaa of Allah and keeps his duty to

Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every

difficulty). And He will provide him from (sources) he

could never imagine.” [65:2-3]

Thus, He has promised whoever obeys Him with a way-out

from every difficulty and hardship, and with provision from

where it would not occur to him, so for that, all praise and

thanks are to Allah; just as He has promised the facilitation of

his affairs for whoever obeys Him and has taqwaa of Him, by

His statement the Most High:

“...and whosoever has taqwaa of Allah and keeps his duty

to Him, He will make his matter easy for him.” [65:4]

(2) [TN] Taqwaa is to shield oneself from the anger and wrath of Allah by fulfilling what

He has commanded, and abstaining from what He has prohibited.



Just as He has promised whoever obeys Him and has taqwaa

of Him with the atonement of his sins and the magnificationof his rewards, in His statement:

“...and whosoever has taqwaa of Allah and keeps his duty

to Him, He will expiate from him sins, and will enlarge

his reward.” [65:5]

Be patient upon what has befallen you and have faith in the

fact that this affliction did not occur except with the Qadr

(decree) of Allah due to the sins of man, just as He the Most

High states:

“And whatever of misfortune befalls you, it is because of

what your hands have earned. And He pardons much.”

[42:30]

And from Imaan in Allah, is to have patience upon what Allah

decrees; and it consists of three types: (1) patience upon the

obedience to Allah, by not leaving it; (2) patience from

sinning, by not committing it and (3) patience with the

decrees of Allah which are painful, by not being discontent

with them. Allah the Most High states:



for Allah, there is nothing worthy of worship in truth except

Allah and He is the most great) for these four statements are

from the most beloved words to Allah, it is the plantation of Paradise and it is from the ever-remaining righteous actions;

and such as your saying:

-سب ح َنا ِهللاوس ،هدمحِبب ح َنا ِهللاِميظعْلا-

“Subhanallahi wa bihamdihi, Subhanallahil-Atheem”

(Allah is free from imperfection and all praise is for Him,

Allah the Great is free from imperfection), for the Prophet said about these two tremendous statements: “There are two

statements, light on the tongue, beloved to ar-Rahmaan (the Most

Merciful), heavy on the scales: ‘Subhanallahi wa bihamdihi,Subhanallahil-Atheem’;”(4) and such as repeating the statement

of Tawheed :

-ُهللا الإ هلإ الوحد هش الِر كي َله ،َله ُملاْل ك وَله َحلام د وهو عُك ىل ِّل شي ٍءَقد ري -

“Laa ilaaha illallahu wahdahu laa shareeka lahu, lahul-

mulku walahul hamdu wa huwa alaa kulli shay’in qadeer”

100 times or 10 times for it is established in authentic

Hadeeth that whoever says it 10 times is like one who hasfreed four slaves,(5) and whoever says it 100 times, it is

equivalent to him freeing ten slaves, 100 good deeds are

written for him, 100 evil deeds are wiped out from his record

and he has protection from the Shaytaan during that day until

(4) Recorded by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim(5) Recorded by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim



evening, and none will come forward on the Day of Judgment

like him except one who did similar to him or more (6); and

this is a tremendous matter which cannot be underestimated.

Do not let yourself fall short in supplicating, seeking

forgiveness, asking for the Paradise which has been prepared

for those who obey Allah and seeking refuge from the Fire

prepared for those who disobey Him; and Allah the Most

High remembers he who remembers Him and loves those who supplicate to Him:

“And your Rabb said: ‘Invoke Me, I will respond to your

(invocation).’” [40:60]

And He forgives those who seek forgiveness from Him, He

accepts the repentance of those who repent to Him and He is

the Accepter of Repentance, the Bestower of Mercy. Through

the remembrance of Allah are the hearts made tranquil and

difficulties, dislikes and sorrows are removed. There is not an

action which can most likely save the son of Aadam from thepunishment of Allah like the remembrance of Allah.

Do not forget that you will be questioned about your time,

accounted for it and recompensed according to what you did

in it from that which is good or evil; therefore, do not let it

(6) Recorded by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim, and it is to be said in the morning



pass without doing (a good) action, nor neglect the hours of

your short life-span without consideration.

And do not let it pass you that your tongue is a double-edged

weapon, indeed busy it with what benefits you by way of

remembrance, supplication and seeking forgiveness,

otherwise, it will busy you with what will harm you by way of

swearing, cursing, backbiting and tale-carrying, for they are

prohibited and from the causes of punishment and enteringthe Fire, as the Prophet said (to Mu‘aadh): “ Are people

thrown into the Fire upon their faces –or noses-, except for what

their tongues have harvested? ”(7) and these are not from the

characteristics of the believers.

Upon you my Muslim brother, is to avoid acts of worship andacts of blind following which differ with the pure Shar‘iyyah

and which have become acceptable habits among many

people, may Allah guide them to the Truth, and examples of

that include: smoking, sheeshah, lowering the garment below

the two ankles, shaving the beard and listening to music. All

types of smoking harm the health, wealth and community with its unpleasant smells, therefore it is from the group of

forbidden detestable matters according to the text of the

Noble Qur’an, due to the statement of Allah the Most High

in his description of our Prophet :

(7) Recorded by at-Tirmidhee, who said the Hadeeth is Hasan Saheeh.



“...he allows them as lawful at-Tayyibaat (i.e. all good and

lawful things, deeds, beliefs, persons, foods), and

prohibits them as unlawful al-Khabaa'ith (i.e. all evil andunlawful things, deeds, beliefs, persons, foods),” [7:157]

And the Prophet prohibited wasting money, and which

type of wasting money is worse than burning it with fire; and

if we saw a person burning his (cash) notes with fire, we

would consider him mad, then what of the burning of thebody, wealth and health all together? And man will be asked

about his wealth, how he earned it and how he spent it; and

harming the Muslims with disliked smells is forbidden. Also,

a man is a role model to his children, relatives and

community, be it in something good or bad, either he guides

them to the Paradise or the Fire, may Allah guide us and ourMuslim brothers to the straight path, and may He protect us

and them from the evils of our selves, and from the evils of

our actions, and from the insinuations of the Shaytaan – and

based on what has preceded, it is forbidden to buy and sell it.

Lowering the garment below the two ankles is from the majorsins which has been warned against with a severe warning, and

which is from the apparent forms of pride – and “the one who

has an atoms weight of pride will not enter Paradise ” as

mentioned in the authentic Hadeeth reported by Muslim

[no.147-91].



And shaving the beard is a sinful act before Allah and His

Messenger () and resembles the women, it is the action of

the accursed and resembles the disbelievers, and there occursin the Hadeeth: “Whoever resembles a people, then he is from

them.”(8)

Allah and His Messenger () and the predecessors of this

nation have ruled that songs and listening to them are

forbidden, due to them repelling the remembrance of Allahand the prayer; and they harbour hypocrisy in the heart and

repel one from the truth and lead to misguidance; and they

would busy you from listening to the Noble Qur’an and

benefitting from it, for the love of the Qur’an and the love of

songs are opposites which cannot be combined - and Allah is

the One from whom help is sought! Based on this, it isforbidden to record songs, buy, sell or value them because

when Allah forbids a thing, He forbids its value, and in the

permissible (matters) is a blessing and sufficiency over the

forbidden (matters); and whoever eats from the forbidden, his

action is not accepted from him nor is his supplication

answered.

My Muslim brother, it is essential for you to socialise and

have friends, so it is upon you to sit with those who are good,

righteous, God-fearing, obedient to Allah; and beware of

sitting with those who are evil, disobedient to Allah, for a man

(8) A Hasan Hadeeth, recorded by Abu Daawood, at-Tabaraanee and others.



is considered according to his close companions and will be

upon the religion of his close friend; therefore look to whom

you take as a close friend for just as mankind follows thosearound him in their appearance, he also follows them in

action and behaves according to their character.

My Muslim brother, you will soon be asked about what you

listened to, or looked at, and about where your conscience

was (during that time); therefore, account yourself about thesethings before you are accounted (on Judgment Day); so do

not listen to that which is forbidden, nor look at that which is

forbidden such as the Awraat and strange women who are not

from your mahaarim; and think about that which will benefit

you and not about that which will harm you. Allah the Most

High states:

“Verily! The hearing, the sight and the heart, of each of

those (things), one will be questioned (by Allah).” [17:36]

My Muslim brother, if you desire that Allah accepts from youyour actions, and that you are attributed with the attributes of

the righteous believers, then cling to the taqwaa of Allah in

every moment of your time and short life; and preserve the

five prayers in their correct times with the congregation in the

Masjids and preserve the voluntary prayers and Sunans before

and after the prayers, because they will restore what isdeficient from them; and preserve the Witr prayer for it is a



right on every Muslim. And the Prayer is the connection

between the slave and his Rabb, it expiates sins and evil

actions, it forbids filthy and evil actions and it is from thegreatest good actions which removes evil actions.

Know my Muslim brother, that whoever knows the truth

then follows it, and (he knows what is) falsehood then avoids

it, Allah guides him, grants him success and accepts from him

his actions; as is evident from the statement of Allah the MostHigh:

“While as for those who accept guidance, He increases

their guidance and bestows on them their taqwaa .”

[47:17]

And His statement the Most High:

“And Allah increases in guidance those who walk aright.”

[19:76]

And His statement the Most High:

“As for those who strive hard in Us (Our Cause), We will

surely guide them to Our Paths (Islam).” [29:69]



On the other hand, whoever knows the truth then leaves it,

(and knows what is) false then commits it, he is far from

being successful; as is evident from the statement of Allah theMost High:

“So when they turned away (from the Path of Allah),

Allah turned their hearts away (from the Right Path). And

Allah guides not the people who are Faasiqoon (rebellious,

disobedient to Allah).” [61:5]

So when they knew the truth and abandoned it, and they

knew what was falsehood and they then committed it, Allah

punished them by turning their hearts away, and He has

informed that He does not guide whoever exits from His

obedience after knowing it; therefore the Muslim should be

warned from opposing the command of Allah and the

command of His Messenger () for he may close the doors of

guidance and success upon himself.

My Muslim brother, do not forget to supplicate to your Rabb for the goodness of your religion, your worldly life and your

life-after, for Allah has commanded the supplication and has

guaranteed the answer:

“And your Rabb said: ‘Invoke Me, I will respond to your

(invocation).’” [40:60]



He, the One free from imperfection, never breaks His

promise on the condition that we respond to Him, we obey Him and believe in Him, then we ask Him and He will

answer us; for how many supplications He has responded to,

and how many sorrows He has removed, and how many He

has cured from illness, and how many difficulties He has

ceased? So to Allah is all praise, thanks and extol for that, and

from the most comprehensive supplications:

“Our Rabb! Give us in this world that which is good and

in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the

torment of the Fire!” [2:200]

“Our Rabb! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth)

after You have guided us, and grant us mercy from You.

Truly, You are the Bestower.” [3:8]

Indeed these supplications contain the good of the worldly life

and after-life.

Lastly, my Muslim brother, I call you to make a truthful

repentance before you die by leaving sins, have regret over

what has occurred from them and have determination tonever return to them in the future and seek forgiveness over



them; for indeed Allah the Most High accepts the repentance

of the one who repents, and He forgives the one who seeks

forgiveness; and the one who repents from sin is like the one who has no sins. Allah the Most High states:

“And all of you beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers,

that you may be successful.” [24:31]

Meaning: When you repent, you succeed, you win and you

are saved; and Allah the Most High states:

“O you who believe! Turn to Allah with sincererepentance! It may be that your Rabb will expiate from

you your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which

rivers flow (Paradise)..." [66:8]

Meaning: when you all repent to Allah the Most High with a

true repentance, Allah will expiate your sins and forgive themfor you, and He will enter you all to Gardens of delight, and

this is the upmost thing the Muslim desires and hopes for,

and Allah the Most High states:



“Say: ‘O My slaves who have transgressed against

themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair

not of the Mercy of Allah. Verily, Allah forgives all sins.Truly He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful’.” [39:53]

Allah has forbidden being in despair in this Aayah, and it

(despair) is to cut off hope from His Mercy, and He has

informed that He forgives all sins, i.e. to those who repent

seeking forgiveness, because He the Most High is the All-Forgiving, Bestower of Repentance; and Allah the Most High

states:

“And verily, I am indeed forgiving to him who repents,

believes and does righteous good deeds, and then remains

constant in doing them (till his death).” [20:82]

Therefore He the Most High has promised forgiveness to

whoever repents at any time from any sin and evil action and

believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, the

Last Day and Qadr – the good and evil of it, with a sincerebelief, and acts righteously, sincerely for Allah, in agreement

with the Sunnah of His Messenger such as Prayer, Zakaah,

charity, fasting, Hajj, good treatment of parents, keeping the

ties of kinship (the close relatives); then he persists and

remains upright upon guidance, faith and righteous actions to

the point he dies; and these are the four causes for forgiveness:true faith, righteous actions, sincere repentance and



persistence on that. And the Prophet said: “Allah the Most

High said: ‘O son of Aadam! If your sins were to reach the clouds

in the heavens, then you were to seek forgiveness from Me, I would forgive them for you’.”(9)

Thus, Allah has opened the doors of repentance, forgiveness

and hope for those who seek repentance, seek forgiveness and

hope in His Mercy; just as He has opened the doors of

response to those who ask, and increase to those who arethankful; so to Allah is all praise, thanks and extol for that,

and we ask Him for increase from His bounty and mercy, and

that He make us from those who, when they are given, they

give thanks, when they are trialled, they are patient and when

they sin, they seek forgiveness.

My Muslim brother, I ask Allah the Most High for me and

you, and for all the Muslims guidance and success, and I ask

Allah the Most High, by His Beautiful Names and Lofty

Attributes that He gathers us, you and our parents in the

Gardens of Delight, and that He protects me, you and our

parents from the punishment of the Fire. Aameen.(10)

(9) Recorded by at-Tirmidhee, who said the Hadeeth is Hasan Saheeh.(10) Source: ‘Risalaah lis-Sujanaa’ (A Letter to the Prisoners) by ‘Abdullah al-Jaarallah with

minor alterations and omissions.

a message to the muslim prisoner - shaikh abdullah jarraallah

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