Allah said, in Surat al-Baqarah, v.85: {"After this, it is you who kill one another and drive out a party of you from their homes, assist their enemies against them in sin and transgression. And if they come to you as captives, you ransom them although their expulsion was forbidden for you…"}

This verse highlights a historical trait of the Israelites, which is that they never abandon their own.

In the civil strife that ensued following the death of Joshua, the Israelite tribes would fight each other and expel one another into the hands of the external enemy. Yet, they would always end up rescuing their brothers from the enemy even though they were the ones initially responsible for their captivity! You see this today, as well, with how Israel reacts to its soldiers being taken prisoner by surrounding enemies. Regardless of the truthfulness of the claim, the pretext for the entire Israeli attack on Lebanon in the summer of 2006 was to exert pressure on those who had captured a handful of its soldiers. Even when looking at prisoner swaps between Israel and Hamas, you notice figures like 10,000 Palestinians swapped for three Israelis. So, this is a historical trait of the Children of Israel that can still be seen today: when it comes to their own falling into the hands of an enemy, they will stop at nothing to gain that captive's release.

The early Muslims were exactly as protective over their brethren who fell captive into the hands of the enemy. 'Umar bin 'Abd al-'Aziz was famous for offering whatever he had to ransom Muslim prisoners. Al-Imam al-Awza'i took it upon himself to write and send a timely reminder to Abu Ja'far al-Mansur to do whatever it took to free some Muslims who had been captured by the Romans. Ibn Taymiyyah was a tireless activist – writing letters, negotiating, fighting – when it came to winning the release of Muslim captives. Even the most tyrannical rulers, such as al-Hajjaj and al-Mu'tasim, would not hesitate in launching invasions of entire cities just to free one or two Muslims that had fallen prisoner to the Kuffar. Al-Mansur bin Abi 'Amir rode on horseback all the way from Cordova to northern Andalusia just to recover one Muslim who was left as a prisoner in the hands of the Christian army, at the request of his mother.

This was our past, this is our heritage – one of loyalty, courage, and selflessness. It was a past where people placed the interests of others over and above their own comfort and safety. You should learn a lesson from them – and from the Israelites – and try to remove some of that cowardice from your heart, try to remove some of that selfishness from your mentality, try to display a bit more loyalty to your Ummah, and it's about time you do that now. How people can consider themselves "active members of the Muslim community" and whatnot while they are not exerting all they can for the cause of brothers (and sisters, now!) locked up across Canada, America, Guantanamo Bay, Britain, and elsewhere is beyond me, let alone those who choose to exert nothing. What will it take?? The "scholars" in the West are clearly uninterested, so look beyond. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was a head of state, a military commander, a husband, a father, a teacher, a Messenger from Allah! Yet, in the midst of all this, he would not hold back from supporting and remembering the oppressed by name while carrying out around-the-clock responsibilities. Abu Hurayrah related that in the prayer, the Prophet would supplicate and mention men by name, saying, "O Allah! Rescue al-Walid bin al-Walid, and Salamah bin Hisham, and 'Ayyash bin Abu Rabi'ah, and the oppressed believers!" He would do this openly and publicly.

The Children of Israel were simply manifesting an aspect of the fitrah that they had retained. It would be a shame for us to fall behind in claiming our right to the same; behind them! It would be a shame for them to beat us at living up to our own heritage.

طارق مهنا
Tariq Mehanna
Plymouth Correctional Facility
Isolation Unit - Cell #108