The other day I was clearing out the front garden of my sister’s house when two men approached me. Both were smartly dressed Afro-Caribbean men, one in his 20s, the other in his 50s. As soon as I saw them, I knew they were Christian missionaries.
Years of living in the hostile atmosphere of prison among gang-members, drugs traffickers and criminals sharpens your intuition and inner instincts such that you are able to read a person’s character, history and intentions at first glance.
This is not simply a ‘useful’ tool to have; in prison, it is essential to your very survival. Trusting the wrong person or misjudging a situation can cost you your life. I know many people who are lying in a prison cell or a grave simply because they misread one person.
After exchanging pleasantries, the older man began to speak, “We all go through problems in life but when we read God’s words in the Bible, it gives us hope and…”
“I have read the Bible from cover to cover,” I said to him as he paused for a moment.
“It gives us hope and we all need to read it to reflect on it and…” he continued.
“Sir, you didn’t hear what I said,” I interrupted him. “I said that I have read the Bible from cover to cover, every single word and page.”
I didn’t tell him that I read the Bible after I was forcibly stripped naked and held in solitary confinement for two years in a Christian country whose leaders claim to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, peace be upon him.
The man was surprised so he apologised for not hearing me and asked me why I read the Bible.
“I read the Bible because I wanted to get a better understanding of a religion followed by a quarter of the people on earth,” I replied. “When people learn about each other, they understand each other. And when people understand each other, they respect one another, even if they do not agree with them.”
“When people learn about each other, they understand each other. And when people understand each other, they respect one another, even if they do not agree with them.”
He then asked me what I thought of the Bible.
“I loved it,” I continued. “Obviously as a practising Muslim there are things in the Bible that I do not agree with but overall I found it to be a book full of goodness and wisdom.”
He asked me what I thought was the message of the Bible.
“I think the message of the Bible is similar to that of all the books that God revealed to mankind,” I answered. “Do not do unto others what you do not want done unto yourself.”
“Do not do unto others what you do not want done unto yourself.”
He then asked me an unexpected question: “Do you think that there is love in the world?”
I thought for a moment, then replied, “Yes, I do think that there is love in the world. There is definitely much love in the world.”
The man was as surprised by my answer as I was by his question. He did not think that there was love in the world. As the conversation came to a close, he gave me a leaflet about Christianity and I ended by encouraging him to read the Quran.
As I returned to work, I reflected on what he had said: “There is no love in the world.”
I thought of the air force pilots who drop barrel bombs on Syrian cities, killing and maiming young children.
But then I remembered the people who send thousands of shoe boxes full of toys and gifts and love for these very same children.
I thought of the smiling, ‘friendly’, soft-spoken, evangelical Christian prison officer, a former US soldier, at a Pennsylvanian prison who told me that there was not a word of goodness in the Quran (“a book full of evil”) and the end of the world would not come until America had “wiped out Islam.”
But then I remembered my American lawyer Kelly Barrett, also a Christian from Pennsylvania, who put her personal life on hold and worked on my case day and night for two long years so that I could return home to my family.
I thought of the racist American prison officer at a US Supermax prison who smiled as he once mocked me, “Do they still ride camels where you come from?” I smiled back as I told him: “Actually they do. And you know what? I’ve got my double-humped bactrian camel waiting for me when I get home.” He stopped smiling.
But then I remembered the American prison officer at the same prison who shook my hands to congratulate me after the judge in my case declared that I was not a terrorist. “I never believed that you were,” he said.
How can anyone know all this and believe that there is no love in the world? Yes, there are many evil people in this world. But we only have to look around us to see that there are certainly more good people in the world than bad people.
Today, many people ask me why I have no bitterness or hatred in my heart despite being tortured by police officers and then detained in prison for 11 years.
I reply to them: “For sure, much evil was done to me, but I also received much love. Instead of focussing on the wrong that was done to me, I have chosen to remember the good that was done to me.”
As I watched the two missionaries walk away into the distance, I thought about what Martin Luther King once said:
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. And hatred cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
Do you think that there is love in the world?
I post a new piece every Monday morning at 08:00 GMT/UTC. Click the link below or in the sidebar to follow my blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Loved it!! This post gives so much hope..:)
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I love your blog! It’s so reassuring, you went through so much and you still find a way to be positive. I think you’re a great guy! Keep writing 🙂
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Thank you for your kind words. Life is too short to carry grudges.
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Babar I’m 27 from London was rooting for u all the way bro may God bless u
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Thank you Rocky, your efforts helped to bring me back. May God bless you.
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ولا تستوي الحسنة ولا السيئة ادفع بالتي هي أحسن فإذا الذي بينك وبينه عداوة كأنه ولي حميم
And the good deed and the bad cannot be equal. Repel [evil] by that [deed] which is better; and thereupon the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he was a close friend. Quran 41:34
Jazaak-Allahukhayra for this post.
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Lovely post! May Allah continue to bless you with beautiful patience and the world with even more love, Ameen. Keep smiling my brother!
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The beauty about your posts my brother Babar is that your seeing things that many people are blind to. Thus when people stop reflecting the heart comes to a spiritual halt. And Allah ta’ala questions mankind as to why they do not reflect in various places in Qur’ān.
Then, do they not give serious thought to the Qur’ān, or do they have locks on their hearts. 47:24
May Allah ta’ala grant us sight and hearing which allows us to understand ..Ameen
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Loving every article Babar khalu, brilliantly written!
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Thank you Hisham. 🙂
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Asalamualaykum bro , I was sitting in my front room after just serving dinner to my daughter . Who by the way is studying for her A levels and had been revising all day ! . I narrated Your post to her and we both were inspired by the way you looked for the good in everything . Jazakallah khair and we ask that you make dua for us both in sujiod . Ameen
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Wa alaikum salam and thank you for your kind words.
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As Salaamu Alaikum Brother,
Have you ever thought of teaching this ‘useful’ tool to the muslim community?
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WS. Thank you for your suggestion. I am not sure how you would teach something like this, you have to live it. But I will think about your suggestion and perhaps write about it?
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please… allow me to copy this and share uour story.. I hope it inspire other as it did to me.
Allah bless You. ameen
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Of course, share it as you please but don’t change it! You can also share it using the links below.
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I live in Riyadh akhi and I follow your blog with eagerness. I read your posts to my young children all the time. Alhamdulillah keep up the good work. May Allah reward you akhi.
Amer Qureshi.
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Thank you for your kind words, may Allah bless you.
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Found your blog through Yasmin Mugahid face-book account. Inspiring and motivating articles. May Allah ghave mercy on you and teach me the Sabr you have.
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Thank you for your kind words, may Allah bless you.
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Salam waleikum. May ALLAH bless you Babar. We need believers like you in this world. I learn a lot with your words. You stay in my prayers; “ALLAH is the All Hearing, All Knowing”
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An amazing post, ma sha Allah! It is hard at times to stay positive, with all the negativity in the world. It is hard to be hopeful, with all the despair surrounding us. It is hard to be kind with all the cruelty drowning.
Life is experience.
Allah grant us all ease.
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