May Allah Grant You Patience, Shukri: The Sanabel Abu Baker that I knew!!

By: Ahmad Musa Jibril

When I was transferred to the Communication Management Unit, also known as the Terrorist Unit or (Guantanamo North)–a special secret illegal prison within the US BOP prison system designed especially for a selected few Muslims.

After a short time there, I was asked by the brothers there to stand up as their Amir. At this time I started classes in Islamic Sciences and did not have time to take on such a responsibility, so I refused their request.

On an early morning after sunrise, as I was on a rusted manual treadmill that was provided for us in a small cage. Shukri asked to speak to me, and knowing that it was regarding the matter of being the Amir, I tried to brush off the conversation and continue my daily routine. “You need to accept being the Amir because everyone has by ijma (consensus) decided that they want you to be, and by you not accepting, it would make the problems we have out of control.”

My workout slowed down as he engaged me in the conversation. After several minutes, I reluctantly agreed.

Over the upcoming months, I learned more about him and our other brothers in the unit. They shared their past and opened their hearts. Among that which brother Shukri agonized over was his daughter, Sanabel. He, as the other brothers in the prison, loved his family deeply, but he faced a dilemma that not many others faced. His daughter, Sanabel, who was ill from childhood, continuously occupied his thoughts. The doctors predicted that she would not live very far past the age of seven but, by the will of Allah, she made it to her mid-twenties, Alhamdulillah.

One day, my dear brother Mukhtar Albakri (One of Lackawanna Six case) came to me and told me that Shukri is in the yard crying and that I should go check on him. This yard that he was in is basically nothing more than a small cage. When I went to look for him, he had gone back to his cell. I asked him what had happened and he told me that he just got off the phone, and that his Sanabel is in critical condition, with an unlikely recovery.    

 

Sanabel Abu-Baker: “Baba, I’m Okay.”

Please send letters and messages of condolence and support to a grieving father and hero, Shukri Abu-Baker on the recent passing of his daughter, Sanabel Abu-Baker. Sanabel has passed away after 26 years of struggling with illness and the additional hardship of enduring the persecution of her father, who is serving a 65 year prison sentence for providing food, medicine and school supplies to impoverished Palestinian children.
( إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ )

I painted this picture, before you say anything its paint by number, anyways I sent it to my dad along with a card made from recycled paper, and they sent it back and said the card was padded and that they could not inspect it without damaging them…….how pathetic.. like seriously, u can see through the card and the painting is just a little thicker than cardstock paper… i got soo mad because i was sooo excited painting it while i was at the hospital that my dad would have a nice scene to look out… now this is something my dad can free hand draw but not me i can just paint in the lines… — Sanabel Abu-Baker, November 2012

May Allah accept her in alFirdaus and hasten the release of her father, Amin.

Shukri Abu-Baker #32589-177
USP Terre Haute
U.S. Penitentiary
PO Box 33
Terre Haute, IN 47808
USA

 

The Criminal Costs of Championing Charity

Discussing our expansive freedom of religion as Muslims in the west is like discussing the world’s current climate of global peace; at best it’s a hopeful illusion but more arguably, simply nonexistent.

Often our justification for shovelling out loads of tax dollars to a hostile and homicidal governments is the alleged freedom we are afforded to practice our religion unencumbered. This right to practice Islam, many would argue, forms the crux of why our continued presence as minorities does not necessitate migration to friendlier territories.

Mistakenly, many have reduced our religion to the practice of five pillars, and indeed still many have not. Truly, it is an uplifting sight to behold that the condition of most of our communities is not so limited. The inspiration to revive the remembrance of Quran and authentic practices fill the diverse Islamic spaces around us, and the pursuit of knowledge by a new generation yearning to complete themselves and contribute positively to their communities is no small sign.

In this pursuit of knowledge we discover that our religion is not a compartmentalized administration of ritual overtures- but a sacred frame of mind that challenges us to elevate the humanity in and around all of us.

Thus we understand being successful Muslims is dependent on matters usually easily discounted: seeking knowledge, feeding the poor, supporting the orphans, protecting the rights of women, educating everyone about this beautiful religion, being kind to the elderly and to children, speaking the truth, and so on. And, of course, this can be feasibly done in our current environment.

Except, these noble deeds are a dying tradition. Beloved brothers and sisters, once the shining leaders of our communities, are now branded as ‘terrorists’ and locked away for endeavouring towards precisely this; the practice of Islam.   

 

US Supreme Court Dismisses Muslim Charity Case

The case against the Holy Land Foundation charity and five of its members has been effectively sealed. Defense attorneys attempted to overturn the prison sentences for the charity workers by taking the case to the highest court in the U.S., but the appeal was declined late last month without explanation.

Please write to the five brave brothers of the Holy Land Five to encourage them in their pursuit for justice and to keep their spirits high:

Abdulrahman Odeh #26548-050
FCI Victorville Medium II
Federal Correctional Institution
PO Box 5300
Adelanto, CA 92301
USA

Ghassan Elashi #29687-177
USP Marion
U.S. Penitentiary
PO Box 1000
Marion, IL 62959
USA

Mufid Abdulqader #32590-177
FCI Terre Haute
Federal Correctional Institution
PO Box 33
Terre Haute, IN 47808
USA

Mohammad Ahmad El-Mezain #92412-198
FCI Terre Haute
Federal Correctional Institution
PO Box 33
Terre Haute, IN 47808
USA

Shukri Abu-Baker #32589-177
USP Terre Haute
U.S. Penitentiary
PO Box 33
Terre Haute, IN 47808
USA