Let Us Support the Victims of Repression

Praise be to Allah (swt) and Peace be upon the Prophet Muhammad (saw)

O you who are committed to Allah! Persevere and reinforce each other’s patience, and be ever ready [for military duties], and remain on guard [concerning Allah’s power], so that you might become successful! [Ali ‘Imran, 3:200]

It has been six years this week since Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, the best known of some hundred social activists, have been detained in India under a draconian law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), under which release on bail is nearly impossible. They are falsely accused of having incited the 2020 New Delhi riots which left at least 53 dead. Since then, Umar Khalid and Sharjeel, former student leaders, have been incarcerated without any charge having been proven against them, and bail has been repeatedly denied. Umar and Sharjeel are, it must be emphasized, activists devoted to justice and opponents of the BJP's dictatorship in India.

You are indeed the best community that has ever been brought forth for humanity [for its well-being]: you require [and authorize] the doing of the common good and you disallow [and interdict] the common wrong, and you are committed to Allah. […] [Ali ‘Imran 3:110]

Like Nelson Mandela before them, like Marwan Barghouti in Israel, and like Abu Zubaydah at Guantanamo, Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in India are prisoners of conscience, victims of repression and of the practice of administrative detention. It must also be recalled that the Association for the Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) in India has expressed serious concerns over the Court's refusal to grant conditional release to Khalid and Imam, while five other co-accused have been released. The APCR unequivocally condemned the continued imprisonment of Khalid and Imam, which it considers "unjust, disproportionate, and lacking in substantive evidence."

For its part, Jamaat-e-Islami also expressed serious reservations about the Indian judiciary's decision to deny the release of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam.Human rights activists describe the UAPA as draconian legislation. This law was amended in 2019 by the racist far-right BJP to allow authorities to declare an individual a "terrorist" and detain them without trial for months, even years. Before this, the "terrorist" label was reserved only for groups and organizations. More than 4,700 people were arrested under this law between 2018 and 2020, but only 149 were found guilty.

Under the UAPA, police arrested at least 18 Muslims during the 2020 riots, including activists and student leaders such as Khalid Saifi, Umar Khalid, and Miran Haider, on allegations of a vast conspiracy to stir up religious tensions. These allegations have been called ridiculous by experts and human rights legal scholars. Our duty of remembrance requires us to be mindful of, and to remember, the prisoners of conscience that are Marwan Barghouti, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyah, Umar Khalid, and Sharjeel Imam, but also to bear witness to the suffering of peoples living under persecution and repression.

It should be recalled that repression in India is not limited to prisoners of conscience but also targets religious freedoms. The destruction, using bulldozers, of hundreds of mosques on the pretext that they lacked building permits or stood on the site of former temples, confirms the real motivation behind these acts: Islamophobia.

On the subject of the oppression of political opponents, we should note the fate of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, held in solitary confinement for three years. Deprived of appropriate care despite a Supreme Court order, Imran is, only Allah (swt) knows, being led toward death. Once again, our duty under hisbah compels us to denounce persecution and injustice, whoever the victim(s) may be.

And [as for] the committed muslims, both men and women, they are close to one another: they [all] stand for the ma‘ruf and oppose the munkar, […] [At Tawbah, 9:71]

The Conscience of the People

This khutbah would be incomplete if we did not remember the torture and persecution endured by Marwan Barghouti and thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The courage and determination of Palestinian prisoners remain unshakable, to the great dismay of their jailers. For the Palestinian nation, these prisoners are the pillar of the struggle, not a burden on the movement. According to Ahmed Sa'adat, the imprisoned resistance leader, "The prisoners are the conscience of our people… they are the vanguard of the resistance."

Palestinians view imprisonment in Israel as a trial by fire, a rite of passage that transforms an ordinary individual into a champion of freedom. Those who are eventually released or freed in prisoner exchanges are hailed as national heroes and revered as icons. These indomitable souls have faithfully answered Allah's call as He commands us in the Qur'an:

O you who are committed to Allah! Persevere and reinforce each other’s patience, and be ever ready [for military duties], and remain on guard [concerning Allah’s power], so that you might become successful!  [Ali ‘Imran, 3:200]

Our faith places great importance on the liberation of Muslim captives and holds it up as an example.

In the Qur'an, Allah permits sacred zakat funds to be spent on freeing prisoners:

The [financial and budgetary] offerings given for the sake of Allah are [meant] only for the poor and the dispossessed, and those who are [administratively] in charge thereof [of collecting and distributing wealth and resources], and those whose hearts are to be won over [into the fold of divine commitment], and for the freeing of human beings from bondage, and [for] those who are overburdened with debts, and [for every struggle] in Allah’s cause, and [for] the homeless: [this is] an ordinance from Allah — and Allah is all-knowing, wise.  [At Tawbah, 9:60]

Our Prophet Muhammad (saw), while emphasizing civic duties such as feeding the poor and visiting the sick, also advocated for the release of Muslim political prisoners:

"Feed the hungry, visit the sick, and free the captives" (Bukhari, 5649)

O you who are securely committed [to Allah]! Be ever dynamic in standing up for social justice, bearing witness to the truth for the sake of Allah, even though it be against your own selves or your parents and kinsfolk.[…] [An Nisaa, 4:135]

It is our duty, under the obligation of hisbah, to denounce wrongdoing and protest against repression, whoever the victim(s) may be. Umar and Sharjeel are not activists for an Islamic cause, still less terrorists. Their commitment to denouncing the BJP's dictatorship, and their advocacy for freedom of expression and opinion, made them convenient targets. Their misfortune is simply that they are Muslim. And for that reason, it is our duty to stand in their favor.

It is fitting to denounce the travesty of justice suffered by Umar and Sharjeel in India, and the delay in the investigation that amounts to unjust punishment. We must also deplore the tendency of the Indian judiciary to adopt the abusive practice, copied from Israel, of administrative detention.

Islam, the deen of justice, requires us to demand the immediate release of prisoners of conscience and to insist that their right to justice be respected, and that they be granted a fair trial without further delay.

May Allah (swt) guide us and help us.