Tariq Mehanna

In Surat al-Baqarah, v.93, Allah described the Children of Israel: {“…and their hearts drank up the veneration of the calf…”}

When Prophet Moses left for Mt. Sinai to converse with Allah, the Children of Israel became restless and sought out a new god to worship besides Allah. So, they ended up worshipping an artificial golden calf (mentioned in pt. 3). Allah described their veneration of this calf using the word ‘ushribu’ (they drank up, or soaked, or absorbed), thus likening their deviance to the act of drinking or soaking up liquid.

Elsewhere, guidance and knowledge is also given this likeness. In a hadith reported by both al-Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet (عليه السلام) said: “The likeness of the guidance and knowledge that Allah sent me with is that of a rain that fell on some land… so, Allah benefited the people with it and they drank from it and quenched their thirst…” They also report a hadith where he said: “While I was sleeping, I was given a container of milk. I drank from it until I could see it coming out from beneath my fingernails. I then gave what I had left over to ‘Umar bin al-Khattab.” When he was asked to interpret this dream, he said: “This represents knowledge.” Also, in the hadith of the Isra’ and Mi’raj, the Prophet said: “… I was then presented with two containers, one containing milk and the other containing wine. I was told: “Drink from whichever you want.” So, I took the milk and drank it, and I was told: “You chose the fitrah (the pure, natural choice). If you had chosen the wine, your people would’ve been misguided.”"

Just like the body has its thirst quenched by fluid, the heart has its thirst quenched by knowledge and proper guidance. When seeking to quench the body’s thirst, one will only drink what is pure and wholesome. If presented with a glass of water, however, that has been tainted with even the smallest drop of black ink, he will reject it and not quench his thirst from this polluted source. The thirst of the heart should likewise only be quenched from a pure, untouched source of knowledge and guidance. It was this approach that chiseled out the incredible generation of the Prophet’s Companions. It was this approach that created hearts and minds unmatched in their wisdom and strength. This approach was intentional and planned, and was not the result of desperation or lack of alternative sources of guidance. Sayyid Qutb commented:

For them, the Qur’an was in and of itself a source of outlook on life, and it was in itself a lens through which to be understood. It did not require – and, in fact, rejected – that it be viewed and understood and interpreted through a foreign lens. The Prophet made sure to limit strictly the filters through which the Companions absorbed what the Qur’an had to offer them, and that strict limit was maintained throughout the era of the Companions, keeping the Ummah guided, united, and strong. At the end of their generation, however, and spilling over into the early Tabi’in, their pure source of knowledge became blemished. The Qadariyyah appeared, the Mu’tazilah emerged in Basrah, the Jahmiyyah in Khurasan, and so on. The emergence and proliferation of these foreign, illegally innovated beliefs was the result of that original pure source now being understood through a foreign lens – the lens of the philosophers of Greek civilization, Persian literature, etc. Rather than limiting themselves to the Qur’anic understanding of itself, and the Prophetic understanding of the Qur’an, and the Salafi lens through which that pure early generation understood what the Qur’an came to offer, the Qur’an was now being filtered through and presented by a foreign approach – through the lens of those whose so-called “civilization” came to bedazzle these Arabs who had the true meaning of civilization and knowledge right in the self-sufficient Qur’an and Sunnah. That original glass of pure, clear water was now tainted, making it toxic to the heart. It was heroes like Imam Ahmad bin Hambal who went through periods of imprisonment and torture at the hands of al-Mu’tasim, etc. in an effort to reverse this trend and halt this pollution of source. Back then, this pollution mainly affected details of theology, such as the understanding of Allah’s Attributes.

Today, the pollution of source affects areas that were not affected back then. For example, while al-Mu’tasim would enforce Mu’tazili beliefs to the point of ordering Imam Ahmad whipped, he would also send out expeditions regularly, raze cities to the ground to retrieve a single Muslim oppressed by the kuffar, and so on. Despite his deviance in the area of theology, his worldview was untainted and was still derived purely from the Qur’an. He still retained the concept of ‘izzah, still retained the concept of selflessness and loyalty to the believers, still retained the concept of Islam vs. Kufr, still had ghayrah for the believers, still retained the concept of shielding them from their enemies. He still retained the same worldview that the earlier generations had absorbed and soaked up from the Qur’an’s clear, unambiguous verses in Al ‘Imran, an-Nisa’, al-Anfal, at-Tawbah, and so on. It is these concepts, this Qur’anic worldview, understood so well and clear by even the likes of al-Mu’tasim that today has been distorted for no other reason than that it is viewed through a lens foreign to the self-sufficient Qur’an. It is the filtering of the pure Qur’anic spring through a foreign, alien, Western filter that has nearly abrogated the concepts that al-Mu’tasim understood so well from the Western Muslim mentality. The wala’ and bara’ understood and practiced by the earlier Muslims is replaced with a capitalist mindset of ‘every man for himself.’ It is that tainting that drives even “scholars” – who got right what al-Mu’tasim got wrong – to prefer Western media terminology (‘militants’) to Qur’anic terms (‘mujahid’). So, the Qur’anic worldview is today’s victim of the pollution of a pure source of knowledge and guidance, due to it being viewed through a foreign, colonial lens; a Western lens.

It is therefore imperative to go back and quench the thirst of our hearts through a drink untainted. Math, chemistry, physics, biology, astronomy, medicine, agriculture, technology, etc. can be studied safely from any source. But our beliefs, our lifestyle, our worldview – whatever Allah has taken upon Himself to address in the Qur’an – should be absorbed unfiltered from the Qur’an, and viewed through its own lens and not through a distorted foreign one. We need to free our minds!

If the Children of Israel had stuck to the pure spring of Moses’s teachings, they wouldn’t have drank in their hearts the drink tainted with the foreign influence of idolatry that led them to worship the golden calf instead of their Creator.

Author: A fellow Muslim

“Injustice everywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”  – MLK

We live in times where people have become very materialistic and selfish. We are all racing against time to achieve that which we think will earn us success and wealth – to a point where we are often inconsiderate to the people around us who are suffering in poverty. We no longer care about what others are going through – and the only times we do something to help is when someone else takes the lead. Ramy Zamzam was that leader for many of us living in the D.C area. And, although I never got to speak with him one on one – it was crystal clear that he was passionate about helping people in need though words and actions. As the president of D.C Council MSA he organized an event called Project Downtown. This event was aimed at feeding the homeless people in D.C and it gave other MSA’s in Virginia, D.C and Maryland the opportunity to gather and do something for their community. I was an active member of the D.C Council events and project downtown and would often attend because of the great opportunities it gave me and my fellow Muslim youth. In his time at the D.C Council Ramy also organized an event called “The Battle of MSA’s” where MSA’s from the area got to showcase their Islamic Knowledge. It was in these gatherings that I often saw Ramy Zamzam in – he was always smiling and helping people around him. I never knew anything but good of this youth.

His arrest completely came to me as shock – terrorism? You must be kidding me. This wasn’t the kind of person who would indulge in such activities. He helped the poor of D.C and encouraged others to do so when the prominent leaders of the capital were turning their eyes on their own poor people – as if they don’t exist.

Although, I don’t know much about what has caused the arrest of Ramy Zamzam and the other brothers in Pakistan – I do know that time and again innocent people like Ramy have been preyed upon by vultures who wear uniforms be it in America or elsewhere. I might be naïve when it comes to knowing about the political system of Pakistan but I am aware of the corruption that is going on there.

Ramy Zamzam was very practicing Muslim from what I saw and therefore very tolerant of others as well. And, this is not the first time that a Muslim has been framed with allegations of terrorism. Let’s not forget Gitmo Bay – and the thousands of Muslim men who were arrested merely because of their faith. Let’s not forget the numerous false accusations Pakistan has made in the past just to gain that “extra” support from the West.

May the Almighty God give Ramy Zamzam and the rest of the brothers who are trapped in Pakistan the courage to endure this horrible injustice. And, may Allah Ta’aal give the parents of these young men the patience to endure this tragedy. I have no doubt that justice shall be served one day inshAllah either on this world or the hereafter – and that day those who accuse these men will see the truth.

- Free the Washington FIVE!

Drawn by prisoner Tarek Mehanna , may Allah hasten his release.

… it is 6 P.M. when I arrive. I am booked, shackled up, and led all the way to the other end of the prison with two guards escorting me on either side. I was arrested this morning right as the night-long calls from court that enforce my curfew had stopped. So, I haven’t properly slept in over 24 hrs. and I am not in the best of moods. I am even less so when I see that I’m taken straight into isolation, but the main thing on my mind is just to get some sleep. Pray ‘Isha’ and sleep.

I am led into a dimly lit double-tiered hall, with roughly ten cells lining each floor. There is an odd, complete silence that contrasts greatly with the noise I just left behind. My first cell in this place is #110, a cute little suite left urine-stenched courtesy of its former tenant who decided he was too good to use the toilet. The guards shrug as they unshackle my arms & legs and tell me I’ll probably be moved to a different cell shortly once he’s back from his psychiatric evaluation. I ask which way east is, make wudu’, pray, and lay down for the first uninterrupted sleep I’ve had in nearly a year.

As I fall asleep, I wonder how the guys I met last year in population are doing . . .

. . . I first was held here in November 2008. Before I continue, let me explain the brief history: I graduated from college in May of ‘08, and subsequently obtained my dream job – I was hired as a clinical pharmacist to establish the first diabetes clinic at the King Fahd Medical City Hospital in Saudi Arabia. The FBI took note and decided this to be the appropriate time to give me an ultimatum: ‘work for us or we’ll arrest you.’ I decided to continue with my original plans, and was about to board my Nov. flight to Riyadh when i was arrested. That is when I first came here, where I spent 42 days awaiting a federal judge to decide on my release. I was released to the custody of my parents (this is why I was at home for the past year), was placed under a court-ordered curfew enforced through automated phone calls that went on until 6 A.M. nightly, my passport was confiscated, I was confined to the state, and was unable to find work in my field due to the federal charge now on my record – all in addition to the $1.2 million ransom (bail) demanded by the government which included my family’s home and life savings. This went on for nearly a year until the government decided to rearrest me and pile on more charges, with the eight-year sentence I was facing under Bush now bumped up to one of life-plus-sixty under Obama. Apparently, this was the “change we can believe in” that was being referred to!

So, that first time I was here in November ‘08, I was brought in to a dormitory – style unit that resemble a summer camp. It was an open space where inmates walk freely between the rows of bunk beds, as opposed to being hunkered down in cells. This is called ‘orientation,’ and population inmates spend three days here before being classified to their respective units. I’d never been to prison before, and had no idea what to expect walking into this unit. But, my instinct told me that i had to put up my flag, now or never. The one thing I did know about prison was that even as a new comer, I wasn’t going to act like one. So, rather than conceal myself and retreat to the shadows, I decided to pretend that I owned the place. I walked to the center of the unit where there was a bit of open space, laid out my bed sheet, put up a sutrah, and prayed Maghrib with about a hundred inmates looking on. Thus, I was able to break the intimidation factor of prison environment from my first hour inside.

This is a method that can be applied at work, school, etc. for Muslims who might be nervous or intimidated into hiding their beliefs or practices. Rather than let the environment control you, be strong and proud and establish your presence from day one. This is the only way your co-workers, classmates, boss, etc. will respect you, and it is the only way other inmates will respect you in prison. People will respect us when they see that we respect ourselves.

A group of tatooed Latinos noticed me praying and walked over once I was done and introduced themselves. They offered to obtain me a Mushaf, they pointed out what food i should avoid, and they even offered to keep the shower area clear of other inmates while i was in there in light of the Islamic rules of modesty they were well aware of. I would come to discover that Muslims are the most respected group in the prison system. Muslims in prison have a reputation for being disciplined, clean, distanced from homosexuality & drugs that are rampant in there, generally minding their own business, and it didn’t hurt that Malcolm X was a Muslim.

So, in here, first impression is everything . . .

. . . That was back in 2008. In my current location it’s a bit harder to interact in such a manner, but there are still ways.

There are three modes of communication down here. One is the use of written notes passed through the unit runner. This is generally reserved for inmates requesting items to borrow or use from other inmates. For example, I’m the only one down here who orders honey from the prison commissary. I always have a bottle of it in my cell. One day, the cell above me sent a note down asking to use some to make his instant coffee. I only had a small amount left, I sent it up to him with the runner. A few hours later, he sent the bottle back along with a coffee pouch filled with some of the coffee he’d made. Allah provides!

Some cells have air ducts connecting them , and prisoners in these cells will sometimes shout through the vents to those next to them or above them. It’s very difficult for them to hear each other due to the distance and the constant whirring of the ventilation system competing with their voices. So, they often have to shout very loudly, and I am sometimes able to make out their words. Here is a sample of a conversation I overheard a few weeks ago:

“… Yo! What Color is Winnie the Pooh?”

“He’s yellow.”

“Nah, he looks gold.”

(silence)

“He’s yellowish-gold, I think.”

(silence)

“That nigga is definitely yellow!”

“Yeah, but what about his shirt?”

Hopefully, this gives you an idea of the topics occupying people’s minds down here. Not very intellectually stimulating.

The third way to get a whiff of social activity is through the small slit at the bottom of our cell doors. Basically, you lay down next to the door and speak into it, and whoever is on the other side can hear you, and they respond in kind. The best time to catch someone and pull them into a conversation is when they are waiting to leave the unit for a court date or such, or when they are first coming in. You just yell out to them as they walk by, and that is the chance to have a five minute conversation. I am always curious about people’s histories and backgrounds, so I take every chance I can get to converse. One of the first guys I spoke to down here was a general in the Croatian military, wanted by the International War Crimes Tribunal. Another one, Vee Cee, is accused of shooting someone in the head to steal his gold necklace (he answers every question by rapping). I also came across a fellow who calls himself D.O.G.:

“They call me D.O.G.”

“Dog?”

“No. It’s D-O-G.”

“Dog …”

“No! D-O-G.”

“That spells ‘dog’, my friend.”

The way I see it, prison is much like Hajj. No matter how rich or poor, everyone is in the same place, wearing the same simple clothing, eating the same food, enduring the same hardships, and awaiting the same outcome (freedom). Nothing on the outside matters – this is their world now. Their fancy cars, guns, girls, cash, drugs, and flashy clothes are all gone. All of the material possessions through which they elevated themselves above others on the street are now out of sight and irrelevant. They all find themselves facing an unpleasant reality; are desperate to escape it, and are humble towards whatever they feel can alleviate its harshness. And not surprisingly, many of them turn to religion. This is one of the best – if not the best – places to tell others about Islam. The one who is serving a 20 year sentence for a crime committed in a moment of intoxication – how do you think he will respond when you tell him that because you are a Muslim, alcohol has never touched your tongue? The one who feels he has wasted his life and ruined it – how do you think he will react internally when you tell him about the Hereafter, Paradise, Hell, etc. and teach him that even if he screwed up this life, he has an eternal life that he still has a chance to set right? The one who has lost all hope in those around him – what would he want to hear more than that he has an All-Hearing, Knowing, Seeing, and Responding Lord who is just a supplication away? Along with hospitals, prisons are one of the few institutions in this society that have designated chaplains & chapels. Why? Because these are the settings where man discovers the truth of his state; these are the settings where we realize our weaknesses & limitations & helplessness, and realize the value of hope in our Creator.

So in a sense, prison sets our heart free from the illusions of everyday life …

… I’m laying in bed sometime before Fajr when I hear something slide under my door. I get up to see what it is, and find a book ( ‘Looking for a Way Out’ by Michael Norwood). I look out to see who it was, and I see Knipps on his way to court. Knipps is one of the few guys in here that I was able to have some intelligent conversations with. We;d been exchanging books through the runner, and he truly enjoyed reading ‘Enemy Combatant’ when I’d lent it to him a while back, and I likewise benefitted from what he had let me borrow. I am therefore not surprised to to see that he had given me this book. I shout out through the slit in the door that I’d get it back to him when I complete it. I open up the book and find a handwritten note inside:

TAREK,

GOOD LUCK WITH EVERYTHING, MY FRIEND. I HOPE THIS BOOK INSPIRES YOU. DON’T EVER GIVE UP!!! THERE’S ALWAYS HOPE ALTHOUGH QUITE OFTEN, YOU HAVE TO WORK TO FIND IT.

I LIED TO YOU ABOUT THE DETAILS OF MY CASE. I DON’T LIKE TO REVEAL THEM, AND I THINK YOU’LL FIND THAT’S FAIRLY CONSISTENT ACROSS THE PRISON SYSTEM. TRUST HALF OF WHAT YOU SEE AND NONE OF WHAT YOU HEAR. I HAVE FOUR (4) VICTIMS IN MY CASE, WITH 26 TOTAL CHARGES. EIGHT OF THOSE CHARGES ARE FOR A (VIOLENT CRIME).

UNFORTUNATELY, DUE TO OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE IN MY CASE, I AM ACCEPTING A PLEA DAL FOR 25-30 YARS. IF I TOOK IT TO TRIAL, I WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY BE SENTENCED TO 80+ YEARS, WHICH IS A LIFE SENTENCE CONSIDERING I’M UNDER 40, BARELY. MUCH OF THE CASE STEMMED FROM LIES, BUT ENOUGH LIES COMBINED WITH SOME TRUTHS IS ENOUGH TO GET A CONVICTION, UNFORTUNATELY.

I’M SORRY FOR LYING TO YOU. YOU DESERVE THE TRUTH. I’D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU, BUT IF YOU NO LONGER WANT TO WRITE ME, I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND.

~ GO WITH GOD ~

YOUR FRIEND,

K.

He’s left his mother’s address for me to contact him through at whichever prison he’s being transferred to (it is illegal for prisoners to communicate directly with each other through the mail). I step back and think about the oddity of it all: this man who did what he did referring to me as a friend, and I am about to write him with sympathy and sadness in my heart for what I’ve just read. What a waste.
I am often asked by family and friends about the worst aspect of being here. My reply is that among all of the other factors of life that prison upsets, the most apparent and deeply affecting is that of one’s social circle. We are used to seeing the people we love, those who we can relate to, those we are familiar with and can trust and trust us; those we reach out to and who reach out to us for companionship define who we are, and constitute an inseparable component of our lives. To have that component torn off and replaced without a choice in the matter is probably the most consistent reminder of imprisonment, as the desire to call a friend, or invite someone for coffee, or seek advice from a wise man – all are met with the return to reality of where I am and who I am surrounded by. It is an inevitable consequence that when one is removed from a particular environment, that environment adapts to the change. Likewise, when he is placed in a new environment, he is shaped by and adapts to that change. My daily task of compensating for this change is fulfilled through two main routes, both of which I will write about in the future (in Sha’ Allah): books and letters, which are my sources of good in here.

I close by saying this: despite these conditions, despite these surroundings, & despite this solitude, I consider myself in the company of the most noble, honorable people on the face of the Earth. They are white, black, brown; they speak dozens of languages, hail from all corners of the Earth, and are likewise unjustly imprisoned by the tawaghit of their locales in all corners of the Earth for their Tawhid. These dear brothers (and sisters, unfortunately) occupy a position in my heart that can be filled by no one else. They are experiencing my ordeal along with me, and I am experiencing their ordeal alongside them, and nobody can change that despite the hundreds and thousands of miles that separate us, and whoever of them happens to read this should know very well that I love them for Allah’s sake and supplicate for them by named in the last third of every night, and by location for those whose names are unknown to me …

… As the night ends, I grab the Mushaf and sit next to my cell door. I lean toward the open slit at the bottom, and I decide tot take advantage of the unit’s good acoustics. I recite Qur’an for a while to the unwitting audience of whoever happens to be walking by & whoever can hear me from their cells across the unit.
When I’m done, there is complete tranquility, و الحمد لله.

(To be continued, in Sha’ Allah)

طارق مهنا
Tariq Mehanna
6th of Safar 1431/ 22nd of January 2010
Plymouth Correctional Facility
Isolation Unit – Cell #108

All upstarts, insolent in place,
Remind us of their vulgar race.
As, in the sunshine of the morn,
A butterfly (but newly born)
Sat proudly perking on a rose;
With pert conceit his bosom glows;
His wings (all-glorious to behold)
Bedropp’d with azure, jet, and gold,
Wide he displays; the spangled dew
Reflects his eyes, and various hue.
His now forgotten friend, a snail,
Beneath his house, with slimy trail
Crawls o’er the grass; whom when he spies,
In wrath he to the gard’ner cries:
‘What means you peasant’s daily toil,
From chocking weeds to rid the soil?
Why wake you to the morning’s care,
Why with new arts correct the year,
Why glows the peach with crimson hue,
And why the plum’s inviting blue;
Were they to feast his taste design’d,
That vermin of voracious kind?
Crush then the slow, the pilf’ring race:
So purge thy garden from disgrace.’
‘What arrogance!’ the snail replied;
‘How insolent in upstart pride!
Hadst thou not thus with insult vain,
Provoked my patience to complain,
I had concealed thy meaner birth,
Nor traced thee to the scum of the earth.
For scarce nine suns have waked the hours,
To swell the fruit and paint the flow’rs,
Since I thy humble life surveyed,
In base, in sordid guise arrayed;
A hideous insect, vile, unclean,
You dragged a slow and noisome train;
And from your spider-bowels drew
Foul film, and spun the dirty clew.
I own my hunble life, good friend;
Snail I was born and Snail i shall end.
And whats a butterfly? at best,
He’s but a catterpillar, dress’d;
And all thy race (a numerous seed)
Shall prove to be of caterpillar breed.’
- John Gay (1688 – 1732)

- I just read this poem from a collection of 18th Century poetry.
I love the end where the snail just rips the human race apart.
whats a butterfly at best, he’s but a catterpillar, dressed.
arent we are all like that…born humble, naked, hungry, and alone…
by the time we die, we are clothed in the most expensive of garments,
fed the most ‘exquisite’ of meals, our life is about impressing everyone but the
one we are returning to, and our ego has gone up to such a degree, everyone of us thinks he’s a king walking the earth with a right to rule given from birth.
no one remembers that we are going back just as we entered, crying, hungry, naked (except for the few hours the white shround will last), and subdued!

Written by Fahim Ahmad – Prisoner in Canada

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

“The one who is (truly) imprisoned is the one who’s heart is imprisoned from Allah and the captivated one is the one whose desires have enslaved him” – Ibn Taymiyyah

As-selamu Aleykum to the brothers and sisters that sent the letters. All praise be to Allah who makes the difficult easy, to him we belong and to him we shall return. JazakAllahu khair the letters were so inspiring adn amazing and brought much comfort to my heart. There is no doubt that the trials and tribulations we’re going through are by the Qadr of Allah and part of Islam as Allah said in the Quran (29:2) ” Do people think that they will be left alone because they say “We believe” and will not be tested.” Our righteous prophets, the companions,and the salaf are examples that what we go through won’t be for long and if we are patient Allah promises reward and mercy.So let us make the fitnah we go through a means for getting closer to Allah. So let us praise and thank him at the times of ease so he makes us of those who continue praising and thanking him at the times of hardship. So I thank Him,who sent us the Quran with many examples on the situations we go through everyday. Now I have an idea what Yusuf went through when he was exiled from his land, sold into slavery,imprisoned as well. But, he had trust in Allah and he became of those who were successful.He was reunited with his family raised high in status and was still thankful. I ask Allah to make our situation similar and if not I ask with the Dua of the two magicians who after were shown clear from Moses and Harun that there is no other God but Allah.Firaun said he will crucify them, they said “Our Lord pour patience on us and let us die as Muslims.” I also ask Allah to help all of us and those who are in more need of help, and forgive us our sins, and bring us together into Jennah in which there’s no pain,no suffering, only blessings and mercy from our Lord. In closing, All praise and thanks be to Allah and may His peace and blessing be on Mohammed.
I also wrote a poem I wanted to share. 

” Allah ordered us to put our trust in Him
To testify La illaha il Allah and abstain from sin
To not make mischief and not take otehrs as our savior
To abstain from zina and to be good to our neighbor
He gave us a book wherein is guidance and a way of life
Which we must follow and hold onto it tight
In return He promises mercy and gardens of delight.”

In the Name of Allah, and I invoke peace and blessings on the Messenger of Allah.

With the approach of ‘Id al-Adha, it is this time of year that we often evoke the memory of an incident that is central to the concept of this holiday, and that is the incident of Prophet Abraham nearly slaughtering his son, Ismael. I would like to focus on this event from a particular point of view.

When a person is thrust into trials and tests, he is often reassured by others and comforted by reminders of the rewards that await him in the Hereafter as the result of his patience and forbearing. However, while the rewards of Paradise and its delights are certainly superior and best, our expectations and hopes should also be focused on a reward and relief in this world as well. In other words, while we look forward to long-term recompense for our struggles, we also have immediate and short-term rewards awaiting us in this world—fruits of our patience and forbearing that we will see before our very eyes in the near future. 

For example, in Surat Yunus, v. 103: {“Then, We save our messengers and those who believe! In this way, it is a must upon Me to save the believers.”} 

Also, in Surat al-Hajj; v.15: {Whoever thinks that Allah will not help him (i.e. Prophet Muhammad and his followers) in this world and the next, let him stretch out a rope to the ceiling and strangle himself.”}

In v.38 of the same chapter: {Indeed, Allah defends those who believe…”}

Also in Surat an-Nur; v. 55: {Allah has promised those of you who believe and do good deeds that He will give them authority on Earth as He did to those before them, and He will grant them the authority to practice their religion that He chose for them, and He will exchange their fear for safety…”}

And in Surat at-talaq; v. 2: {“…and whoever has taqwa of Allah, He will make a way out for him.”}

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