Return of the Pharaoh - Zainab Al-Ghazali

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of a state ruled by Divine Law. The story of Zainab al-Ghazali is a story of right against wrong, justice against injustice and dignity against humiliation. The glory of the Muslim ummah has faded a little. It is, however, the likes of Zainab al-Ghazali in their firmness and dedication who will restore it, no matter how great the sacrifice.

      The events related in this book took place more than a quarter of a century ago. But what is happening today in many parts of the Muslim world is exactly the same as happened to Zainab al-Ghazali and her Muslim brothers and sisters in Islam. For Islamic resurgence has been branded as the West’s first enemy by Westerners after the demise of Communism and the disintegration of the Eastern Bloc because of their fear for their interests in the Arab and Muslim regions. In Muslim countries the threat of Islamic resurgence has been used as an excuse by these countries’ regimes to hold on to their seats of power.

17 Safar 1415 Mokrane Guezzou
27 July 1994

       Reference

      1. Majmu’at Rasa’il I Iasan al-Banna. Beirut, second edition, 1981, pp.122-3.

       In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.Peace and blessings be on our master Muhammad,his household and Companions.

      Although I have yearned to write Return of the Pharaoh, now for many years, I have, nevertheless, hesitated a great deal. Had it not been for the many people, whose belief in the Islamic cause I fully trust, from amongst my children and brothers, leaders of da’wah and exponents of its thought who lived with me during that period, believing that it was Islam’s right on us that we should record those days when Islamic Da’wah was fought against, then perhaps it would not have come to fruition. Those forces of darkness and falsehood, both in the East and the West, fought hard in those days, against the Islamic cause. Their objective: to kill off the word of truth and the people who held its banner. To annihilate all those activists who believed from the bottom of their hearts that the Qur’an and the Sunnah must be reestablished in society. That the Muslim Ummah, be returned to the land of Islam in order to re-establish a society of Tawhid, knowledge, learning and real relationship with Allah (may He be exalted). That ungodly societies, which blinded humanity from its straight path and God’s way, be abolished. For Allah’s way is the right way, and the earth had to be cleansed of the worship of earthly gods and despots, and the supremacy of Shari’ah had to be established. Once this was achieved, life could then return to the way Allah wanted it to be, exactly as during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the rule of his blessed Companions.

      There is no salvation for this Ummah or the world except through calling to Islam. The dungeons of prisons, the instruments of torture and the pains of those so oppressed have but increased the strength, firmness and patience of Muslim activists and thinkers who stood in the face of falsehood. The way to truth is one. It is the way of Allah, His Prophets and Messengers and all their inheritors. As for falsehood, its ways are diverse and many, and on each of these ways there is a devil who embellishes, for those who are absorbed by falsehood, evil deeds and leads people ever more readily towards them. ‘Verily, this is My Way, leading straight: follow it, follow not (other) paths, they will scatter you about from His (great) Path …’1

      The crucial matter for Muslims is that we are firm in following Allah’s way, with full trust in the correctness of our steps and in the clarity of our vision. ‘You are the best of people, evolved for mankind …’2 as well as the signs of establishing complete submission to ‘there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger’. All that matters to us is adding new bricks to our building. That we do not neglect or retreat from our belief: the belief of Tawhid, of work and exposition. An exposition of truth, for all mankind.

      We believe that the period of our incarceration and torture is history’s right to know of, such that those who are on the way can study and understand it, can remain firm in their conviction and not transform their cause into some kind of sophism, sophistry into opulent talk and mere historical storying. It is for all this that I consented, with the support of the sincere from amongst my children and brothers, to seek Allah’s help in collecting together that which my memory still holds.

      I hope that Allah will help me to recollect what happened, or at least some of it, and that these writings will be a torch of truth, light and guidance for all those who are sincere. Let us plough along a straight path for ‘Ours is the message of Prophets and Messengers. Muhammad’s message (peace be upon him) is complete and has supremacy. It is through Shari’ah that Allah has completed His injunctions and abrogated what preceded it, making it a pure truth “… let him who will, believe, and let him who will, reject (it) …” ’3

      Those who have assumed the difficulties of this way and know - God willing - the secret behind the teachings of the Qur’an and the Sunnah will never deviate from truth, good deeds and da’wah until the Ummah is re-established and all humanity is under the banner of Allah. We carry on the way of Allah, expecting His reward for whatever we endure, ‘Allah has purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His Cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the law, the Gospel and the Qur’an …’4

      This book is for all those martyrs who have gone before us, a token of our love, gratitude and promise that we are still on the way. It is also for all those who have a grain of goodness in them, in the hope that Allah makes them benefit, and guides them, ‘But you will not, except as Allah wills …’5

       Zainab al-Ghazali al-Jubaili

       References

      1. Al-An’am: 153.

      2. Al ‘Imran: 110.

      3. Al-Kahf: 29.

      4. At-Tawbah: 111.

      5. Al-Insan: 30.

      Jamal ‘Abd al-Nasir:1 Hatred and Vengeance

      On my way home one afternoon, on a wintry day in early February 1964, my car suddenly turned upside down after colliding with another vehicle. The sheer force of the collision sent me into a state of semi-consciousness, and despite the severity of my pains the only thing I could comprehend, from all that was happening around me, was the panicky voice of someone calling my name. I can only assume that I then passed out for when I woke up I found myself in Heliopolis. Hospital surrounded by my husband, brothers, sisters and some of my colleagues in da’wah. As was evident from the expression on their faces they were all acutely distressed but within seconds I passed out again.

      I can recall mumbling: ‘Thank God, thank God!’, as if enquiring about what happened. It then all came flooding back, and I could hear my husband’s relief as he said: ‘Praise be to Allah, He has saved her. Thank Allah Hajjah.’2

      I enquired about my driver who, I was told, was well - praise be to Allah - and receiving treatment in hospital. I found out later that he was suffering from cerebral concussion. As for myself, I was taken to the X-ray room where it was established that my thigh bone was broken. As a temporary measure my leg was placed in an iron cage ready for my transferral to Mazhar ‘Ashur Mustafa Hospital, where surgeon Muhammad Abdullah was to operate on me. The operation itself took three and a half hours and even then my condition remained critical for some time. Once I did begin to recover it did not take me

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