Introduction: The 5 Main Points

1.        Status of da’wah in the jail;

2.        Purposes of da’wah in the jail;

3.        Primary factors bringing Muslims to the jail;

4.        Results of da’wah in the jail;

5.        What is to be done.

Point # 1: Status of da’wah in the jail

1.        The jail is one of those places mostly needing da’wah programs;

2.        More than a thousand Muslim inmates in the National Capital Region alone are behind bars;

3.        Almost every week a new Muslim inmate is entering the jail;

4.        The population of Muslim prisoners is increasing continuously;

5.        Most of the inmates are involved in illegal drugs;

6.        But in spite of the painful situation, the jail is a most neglected field of da’wah.

Point # 2: Purposes of da’wah in the jail

1.        To bring the Muslim inmates out of the darkness and into the light;

2.        To guide each and every inmate to the truth;

3.        To take the disbelieving inmate out of the misery of disbelief into the guidance of belief;

4.        To take the ignorant Muslim inmate out of the hopelessness in the ignorance of his own religion into the knowledge of tawheed;

5.        To take the disobedient inmate out from the sufferings of disobedience into the formula of submission unto the will of the Almighty Allah;

AYAH:

002.257 اللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا يُخْرِجُهُمْ مِنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ

002.257 “Allah is the Protector of those who believe: He brings them out from darkness into light.”

6. In a word, transforming the jail of punishment into a school of repentance.

 

Point # 3: Primary factors bringing Muslims to the jail

1.        It is not poverty;

2.        Absence of taqwa

3.        Weakness in eemaan;

4.        Deficiency in Islamic knowledge.

AYAH:

035.028  إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ

035.028 “It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allah.”

·       Absence of basic knowledge in Islam is the primary cause of Muslims going into the jail;

·       Promoting Islamic knowledge through da’wah is, therefore, a prime necessity in the jail that needs a full support;

·       It needs an attention among the sponsors and workers of da’wah;

·       We have to encourage the sponsors to give their concern for the da’wah in the jail;

·       Workers of da’wah should be enlightened to share their time sincerely with the inmates hoping only for the rewards of Allah.

 

Point # 4: Results of da’wah in the jail

1.    Orienting the inmates on Islam;

2.    Some important incidents of development;

·      Inmates are learning to read the Qur’an;

·      Some are performing 5 times daily prayers;

·      They are even doing tahajjud (past midnight prayer);

·      Preferring solemnizing of marriage instead of committing zina (adultery);

3.    Rehabilitating the soul through repentance;

·          The committing of sins makes a man away from Allah;

·          Making a sincere repentance brings a man back to Allah;

·          Repentance promotes success.

AYAH:

024.031   وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

024.031 “And turn all of you in repentance to Allah, oh believers, in order that you may be successful.”

·          Emphasizing in the jail da’wah the forgiveness of Allah;

·          Stressing in the jail Islamic education the limitless mercy of Allah:

AYAH:

004.017 إِنَّمَا التَّوْبَةُ عَلَى اللَّهِ لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السُّوءَ بِجَهَالَةٍ ثُمَّ يَتُوبُونَ مِنْ قَرِيبٍ فَأُولَئِكَ يَتُوبُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا

004.017 “Verily, Allah will forgive those who do sins in ignorance and soon turn in repentance; it is they whom Allah will forgive and Allah is Ever All-Knower, All-Wise.”

4.    Promoting moral and religious recovery;

5.    Building hope for the future—telling the criminals not to lose hope;

AYAH:

039.053 قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

039.053 Say: “O my servants who have transgressed against their soul! Do not despair of the mercy of Allah, for Allah forgives all sins. He is, indeed, Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.”

6.    Neutralizing the possibility of danger when an ex-convict is brought back to the fold of society.

Such are the significant results of da’wah in the jail.

 

Point # 5: What is to be done to prevent Muslims from becoming inmates and, if they are already in the jails, how to rehabilitate them religiously?

1.        Since deficiency of Islamic knowledge is the primary reason of doing a crime, a dynamic Islamic information campaign drive has to be firmly established among the Muslim communities;

2.        A continuous educating of men and women—either a prisoner or free—in the aqeeda (belief system) that the only religion acceptable to Allah is Islam;

AYAH:

003.019 إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الإسْلامُ

003:019 “Verily, the religion with Allah is Islam.”

3.        Let us work together: the workers of da’wah, the financial sponsors, and the common people themselves; How?

4.        The workers of da’wah—anyone knowledgeable in Islam—must be updated and be activated either full time or part time to help in the Islamic information campaign drive to educate the Muslim population;

5.        Let us not always rely on the foreign donors alone, but the financially capable Muslims locally must learn to sponsor some workers of da’wah;

6.        The focus of da’wah must be towards inside and outside the jail;

7.        The aim of da’wah in the jail is to cure the broken spirit of inmates while the da’wah outside the jail is to prevent the Muslims not only from entering the jail but the Hell-fire;

8.        Then the common people must cooperate in the following manners:

·          Where there is an Islamic seminar we should attend and learn something;

·          During the Friday khutba we should be attentive to the important points;

·          We should be familiar with the schedules of various radio and TV da’wah programs for us and our families to tune in;

·          We can also learn Islam via internet;

·          We encourage members of our families to read Islamic reading materials;

·          Increase the number of Islamic da’wah on CD and DVD to counter the millions upon millions of x-rated CD and DVD copies swarming the country today.

9.        The prime objective of this comprehensive dynamic movement is to educate everyone in the striving to worship none but Allah Alone.

AYAH:

051.056 وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالإنْسَ إِلا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

051.056 “And I (Allah) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone).”  

                Either the da’wah is in the jail or outside, one thing is certain: that the message of Islam is being delivered for no other reason but only to please the Almighty Allah.

                This is the need of our time.