View pages from the original letter: pg 1, pg 2, pg 3, pg 4, pg 5, pg 6, pg 7

"You have left the ranks of those who have never had to endure persecution or fear for the sake of Allah...Many of you will have come to realise that brothers who you considered close to you, no longer want anything to do with you and will deliberately avoid your family members..."

All praises are for Allah, alone, and may the peace and blessings be upon the best of creation, Muhammad.

Assalaamu Alaikum,

Indeed in the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad SAW) you have a good example to follow for him who hopes in (the Meeting with) Allah and the Last Day and remembers Allah much.

And when the believers saw Al-Ahzab (the Confederates), they said: "This is what Allah and His Messenger had promised us, and Allah and His Messenger had spoken the truth, and it only added to their faith and to their submissiveness (to Allah).

Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah, of them some have fulfilled their obligations, and some of them are still waiting, but they have never changed in the least. [Quran 33: 21-323]

How have you taken to the promise of Allah? How did you perceive it to be? Being in prison is the decree of Allah, all that matters is our good intentions, our willing acceptance, submission and our genuine internal desire to give thanks. I pray that you recognise your situation as the promise of Allah, that your faith increases because of it, that you do not waver in your determination and that you remain true until your end. Like many of those before you, Allah has chosen you as His friend, because He has seen in your character that which pleases Him, so do not let yourself down.

He tested the prophets with the hardest of trials and then the trials continued down the ranks, all according to the love Allah has for individuals, according to their strength of character and according to what Allah desires for them in the hereafter.

We have all read and heard the narrations of Yunus (AS), who was swallowed by the whale and of Ibrahim (AS), who was thrown into the fire, but how many times have we sat back and thought, what the actual circumstances and situations were like for them at that time? How they must have felt abandoned? How they must have coped with the overwhelming fear and stress of their situations while undergoing their tests? How many people today can honestly say we have felt similar emotions that are narrated in these accounts, experienced loneliness, been abandoned, exhausted or beaten for one’s religion while striving for Allah and His religion? For a large section of people, these are stories that were read to them while growing up, while others have shed a tear or two listening to them in circles or lectures. However, for you my brothers, the case if different. Although you have not been tested up to the level of the prophets, your experiences set you aside from the rest of society who are living their entire lives in complete luxury, comfort and ease. You have left the ranks of those who have never had to endure persecution or fear for the sake of Allah.

1 2 3