Untouchables
28-10-2008
In any war, numerous tactics are used to weaken the enemy with a view to their
ultimate defeat. These range from bribery to insults, from ridicule and mockery
to hostile propaganda, from threats of force to actual violence and expulsion. A
traditional weapon which continues to be used today is that of isolation and
dehumanisation through a process of complete social boycott. The objective of
such a strategy is to transform the enemy in the eyes of the public from
everyday human beings into ''The Untouchables of society''
We typically think that all people have some basic human rights that should not
be violated. Even those accused of the most heinous of crimes deserve to be
treated justly and fairly, with dignity and respect. They should receive a fair
trial, and should not be subjected to any sort of cruel or unusual punishment.
Dehumanisation is a psychological process whereby the opponent is viewed as less
than human and thus not deserving of moral consideration; any harm that should
befall the enemy or any individuals associated with it is considered to be
warranted and even morally justifiable.
The Makkan Boycott
Such a policy was used against the Prophet Muhammad SAW and the early Muslims in
Makkah, after other tactics of persecution had proven fruitless. The aim of the
strategy was to isolate the Prophet Muhammad SAW from his protectors, such as
his uncle Abu Talib, in order to kill him. Until then, Abu Talib had resisted
the pressure of the Quraysh and rather than capitulate to their demands, he had
rallied the entire clan of Banu Hashim behind the Muslims.
Eventually, the Quraysh agreed that the only logical next step would be to
ostracise both Muhammad and his protectors through a complete social and
economic boycott. At the beginning of the seventh year of prophet-hood, a decree
was drawn up to this effect against both Banu Hashim and Banu ‘Abdul Muttalib.
It was decided that nobody should buy or sell with these two clans; no caravan
coming from abroad was permitted to deal with them; there was to be no
intermarrying with them; nobody was allowed give a gift to them, bring them
food, or enter their homes. Ultimately, there was to be no socialising with the
Muslims or their protectors – nobody was permitted to talk to them, sit with
them or visit them. The agreement was posted on the wall of the Ka’bah in order
to give it a religious sanction, thereby making it mandatory for all.
The objective of the economic sanctions was to starve the tribes into submission
and into surrendering Muhammad SAW. With their supply of food and water cut off,
it was not long before severe starvation began. The Quraysh used to buy whatever
food commodities entered Makkah lest they should leak to these tribes, who were
so overstrained that they had to eat the leaves of trees and skins of animals.
If a tradesman or a farmer brought some goods or provisions to sell in Makkah,
he was offered much more than his asking price on condition that he would not
sell anything to the Hashimites.
The objectives of the social boycott were twofold; firstly, to dehumanise the
tribes. Social activities such as visiting their homes would allow other tribes
to view the horrifying effects of the economic sanctions – to hear the cries of
starving babies, to see the anguish of helpless mothers and to feel the pain of
an embattled community. For if their misery was to be witnessed, natural human
emotions would be aroused to alleviate their suffering and end the boycott. Only
by blinding their eyes to the plight of the Banu Hashim and Banu ‘Abdul Muttalib
could the conscience of the other tribes remain at peace. Secondly, it was to
serve as a warning to non-Muslim sympathisers and protectors, such as Abu Talib,
that they too would be punished and suffer due to their association and
assistance to Muhammad SAW and the Untouchables. In other words, they too were
contaminated.
Amazingly, even in Makkah at the time of the boycott, there were Muslims who
were not affected by the sanctions but who did not have the courage to defy the
Quraysh and break them. They maintained, for three years, a discreet detachment
and an unconvincing silence. Their deeds, apparently, were governed by prudence.
Therefore, all that they did was to watch the drift of events, like
disinterested observers. We must be careful not to be critical of these Muslims
who were the best of generations but it is important to note that their silence
allowed the sanctions to continue unhindered for an entire three years.
Today’s Untouchables
It is arguable that such dehumanisation is taking place in the UK today against
the Muslim community as part of the ‘War on Terror’. On a general level, the
entire Muslim community has become synonymous with terrorism and symbolic of a
menacing fifth column within British society. This has resulted in Muslims of
various persuasions being subjected to a process of systematic social
discrimination and harassment. On a more particular level, those Muslims
officially suspected by the authorities of involvement in the political aspects
of Islam, and their families, have been persecuted and punished to an extent
that no other individuals within society would suffer.
Some of these Muslims have never been charged with an offence but have
nevertheless been deprived of their liberty, freedom and human rights for
several years. Even when released from prison, they have been placed under
restrictive control orders and subjected to a savage campaign of dehumanisation
in an attempt to disgrace them as Britain’s Untouchables. Bans on having
visitors, mobile phones and computers together with lengthy curfews are only
some of the measures that have been taken to achieve this. To now associate with
or assist such individuals is a crime; to even mention their names is to risk
contamination. Those who may know them are regularly harassed by the security
services to either spy on them or risk becoming dehumanised themselves.
Below are just a few examples of the hundreds of cases of Muslims whose lives
have been destroyed by these sanctions. Due to legal restrictions, which
themselves form part of the dehumanisation process, some of these men remain
nameless only known by random letters assigned to them by the authorities.
“U”
Take the example of “U” as the authorities would have the public know him.
Following his release from HMP Long Lartin earlier in the summer (following
seven years of imprisonment without charge), U was placed under the strictest of
bail conditions. Having been refused permission to settle anywhere close to a
Muslim community, it was proving immensely difficult to find him an address to
which he could be bailed. Finally, an elderly Englishman, a non-Muslim, kindly
agreed to allow U to stay in a room in his home. Due to this noble action, he
too, like Abu Talib, has become contaminated.
Both he and other students, also renting out rooms in his property, have had to
go through stringent vetting procedures and inspections, and even had to have
their laptops locked away in specially built cabinets within locked rooms. Those
students have now gone and other would-be tenants balk at the very idea of
having to go through these rigorous procedures. There have been regular visits
by teams of 8 to 10 police officers who have virtually forensically searched the
house, all of which has naturally distressed the homeowner. All of U’s visitors
have to go through a personal vetting procedure, which for many, acts as a
serious deterrent to seeing him.
As a form of moral support to U, British journalist Yvonne Ridley would breach
the sanctions by regularly ordering pizza deliveries from Dominos Pizzas to U
which she would pay for by credit card. The delivery policy towards this house
suddenly changed and the delivery must now be paid for by the recipient, i.e. U.
Even a tiny gesture of solidarity such as this has now been made impossible.
All this coupled with the fact that U is under 24 hour curfew and is not allowed
out of his house at all, not even on the doorstep, is indicative of the sinister
steps that have been taken by the authorities to dehumanise and ostracise a man
who, to date, has never been charged with any offence.
Abu Qatada
Another example is that of Sheykh Abu Qatada. Released after six years detention
without charge, his bail conditions include stipulations that he has two set
hours (one hour at a time) in which he is allowed to leave his home, provided he
remains within a strict boundary. To make these two hours even more intolerable,
a freelance photographer and journalist have planted themselves outside his home
during these appointed hours. In the early days after his release, a whole posse
of media used to loiter outside at these times and subject him and his children
to taunting, abuse and humiliation.
Despite a number of legal interventions by his solicitor, this unprecedented
stalking and harassment by the media continues unabated with no escape for Abu
Qatada. As a result, these two little windows of freedom from the house have
become a nightmare and are now an ordeal rather than an escape.
Y
Y is an Algerian who was arrested and charged in 2003 as part of the alleged
ricin plot. Following a lengthy trial, it emerged that there was never any ricin
or any plot. Although acquitted and released in 2005, Y was arrested again
following the 7/7 attacks and imprisoned without charge until very recently. He
has now also been released on strict bail conditions and is more lonely and
isolated than ever before. He lives on his own in an area known for its racism
with no stores, no coffee shops or anywhere for him to go during his hours of
release. For almost three months, Y was forced to wash his clothes by hand as he
was not given a washing machine and there was no launderette within his bail
boundary.
Like other detainees, his visitors have to be vetted. Since his release, he has
not met a single Muslim and remains isolated from the community. Throughout the
month of Ramadan, he was unable to attend a mosque. On the day of Eid, his sole
visitor was a courageous non-Muslim woman who has dedicated her time to
assisting the Untouchables. This lady spent 6 hours travelling to ensure that Y
was not alone on Eid.
These are just three examples of the human face behind the threatening mask of
terror painted by the government; tales of human suffering which are
deliberately being kept hidden from us lest we empathise with these men. But
this is only the tip of the iceberg – the lives of hundreds of others have
similarly been affected. There are several cases where the families of suspects
have had their bank accounts frozen and are forced to send a budget to the Home
Office to do their weekly shopping, itemising for each and every penny they
intend to spend. By effectively subjecting these men, their families and
supporters to a full social and economic boycott, the authorities intend to make
an example of them for other Muslims who may dare to dip their fingers in
political Islam. By harassing and persecuting non-Muslims who may offer moral
support, the status of these men as ‘Untouchables’ is assured.
The Power of One
Many of us live in the blissful illusion that we are unable to do anything due
to our few numbers in face of the all-powerful state. This could be no further
from the truth. A brief examination of how the sanctions on the Muslims in
Makkah came to an end is clear evidence of this.
A noble of the Quraysh, Hisham ibn Amr, felt aggrieved by the sanctions and used
to secretly breach them whenever he could. One day, he privately approached
another Quraysh noble, Zuhayr ibn Abi Umayyah, about openly breaking the
sanctions. Zuhayr responded that he was only one man. The two approached another
man, Al-Mut’im ibn ‘Adiy, and pressed him to break the sanctions. Al-Mut’im made
the same reply as Zuhayr and demanded a fourth man. So Hisham went to Abu’l
Bukhtari ibn Hisham who asked for a fifth man, who was Zama’a ibn Al-Aswad. At a
secret meeting held just outside Makkah, all five men bound themselves to take
up the question of the sanctions until they had secured their annulment.
The following day, Zuhayr, after circumambulating the Ka’bah, approached the
throngs of people there and rebuked them for indulging in the amenities of life
whereas their kith and kin of Banu Hashim were perishing on account of
starvation due to the economic boycott. Zuhayr swore he would never relent until
the parchment of boycott was torn to pieces and the pact broken at once. Abu
Jahl retorted that it would never be torn. On hearing this, Zama‘a was incensed
and accused Abu Jahl of telling lies, adding that the pact was established and
the document drafted without their approval ever having been sought. Abu’l
Bukhtari intervened and backed Zama‘a. Al-Mut’im ibn ‘Adi and Hisham ibn ‘Amr,
who engineered the entire plan, attested to the truthfulness of their two
companions and openly disavowed the document.
With what appeared to be a wave of impulsive popular support for ending the
sanctions, Al-Mut’im marched to the Ka’bah to tear up the document but
discovered that with the exception of the words, “In Thy name, O Allah”, the
rest of the parchment had already been eaten up by white ants. Thus ended a
period of intense hardship for the Prophet Muhammad SAW, his followers and
protectors.
In the end, it had taken the courage and conviction of just five men to break
the sanctions. In an age where we justify inaction and lethargy with excuses
such as depleted numbers or lack of unity, we should learn from this story that
even if a handful of people stand up for justice, Allah will grant them victory.
Notably, these five people were not even Muslims. Even today, the handful of
people who do breach the sanctions placed on people like U and Y are non-Muslim
sympathisers such as Ann Alexander, Bruce Kent, Lawrence Archer, and the
courageous nameless lady who visited Y on Eid. Their bravery is to not only to
be admired but emulated.
As was the case in Makkah, Muslims in Britain today are too fearful to be
contaminated by the Untouchables. Fearful of the consequences to our jobs, our
reputations, our families and our comfortable way of life, we have abandoned our
brothers and sisters. The persecution today in the UK is nowhere as intense as
it was in Makkah yet the courage with which Muslims used to be renowned is
nowhere to be seen . We have failed to abide by Allah’s commandment to stand for
justice and to live by the Prophetic example of preventing an evil by whatever
means we can. Forget our hands and our tongues, so beloved has the worldly life
become to us that we do not even hate this evil in our hearts, something
described as the weakest of faith. Deaf, dumb and blind, we have become the
living embodiment of the hypocrites condemned by Allah.
The Prophet Muhammad SAW told us that if Allah loves a people, He tests them. He
also said that on the Day of Judgment, we will be with those whom we love. The
conditions these men are living under suggest that they are facing tests of the
severest nature. If Allah loves them, shouldn’t we also love them? These
Untouchables of this world will be the envy of the people in the Hereafter. On
the Day of Judgment, when a mother will push her baby away from her out of fear
for her own reckoning, do we not want to be safe with those that Allah loves?
But love is more than just words, it requires action with our hearts, our
tongues and our limbs. Like Hisham ibn Amr, we must be courageous enough to
speak out and believe in the Power of One.
Below is a list of things everyone can do to help break the sanctions and
rehumanise these detainees.
Write to them – let them know that they have not been forgotten. Contact
addresses for their solicitors can be obtained from http://www.cageprisoners.com/
Telephone them and give them company. Numbers can be obtained following prior
approval from Cageprisoners or solicitors for the men.
Visit them in their homes and witness firsthand their suffering – this will
require undergoing a prior vetting procedure.
Inform others about their plight. Give a talk in your local mosque or Islamic
circle.
Write articles / letters to newspapers to raise awareness about their condition.
Donate to and volunteer with organizations such as Hhugs and the Muslim Prisoner
Support Group.
Never forget these men or their families in your dua’a – it is indeed the weapon
of the believer and one which cannot be taken from us.
By: Fahad Ansari
Submitted by a Mujahid