Ribaat with Abu ‘Abdurrahmaan al-Biritaani:
I wanted to write a little something about this brother incase something happens to one of us during the ma’rakah (battle). Wallahi words cannot express the love in my heart for this brother. His loving and soft character to those around him and his aspiration to enjoin the good are characteristics worthy of being contemplated over. All praise belongs to Allah as he would be nothing without his Lord and he knows this very well. May Allah increase him in the good qualities and characteristics he has obtained.
It’s strange as this is both our first battle even though we have both been here for different time periods. We were selected randomly, just us two out of the seven British that were left to be a part of this battle. The reason it’s strange is because of the similarities and things we have in common. Also the understanding we share with one another. He may disagree with me and out of politeness remain silent but this is how I feel in the time we have spent together over the past maybe two weeks.
One of the things I contemplate over is the day I was inside transferring nasheeds and videos to my phone from Abu Dujanah al-Misri’s laptop when he appeared randomly with a cup of tea for me. So I asked “where did you get that from” and he told me that the brothers outside were sat around the fire having tea and that he wanted me to come join them as it was a really nice fire. He stood there and described the beauty of it to me. Subhaan Allah some may look at this as if its something so small and irrelevant. However to me in the midst of the night while a brother is sat around the fire amongst other brothers drinking a nice hot cup of tea and he remembers you and knows how much you like tea, not only does he come and give you one cup but returns a second time to give you a second cup even fuller than the last. This is something heart touching to me, as love between brothers is important. Jihad is not about coming here and pretending to be hard as rock without emotions when really inside your as soft as a marshmallow and he understands this very well.
I remember the night we discussed this and I told him about my friend who was a gang banger before his conversion to Islam. It’s quite an irrelevant story as it doesn’t concern Islam but it relates to the story at hand. This brother would get angry all the time at those who craved the gangster lifestyle and those who always walked with a screw face. He felt compelled to relate to me an event of when he was younger. How one day he jumped in a car and found one of the elder bangers listening to an emotional soundtrack, some form of R&B/slow jam. He turned around to him and basically said “raaah is dat you, what you listening to all this for, are you g**?” and in response he looked at him and replied “this is how I know you man ain’t real (your fake), even though we on the road, doesn’t mean we can’t joke and don’t have emotions.” The only reason I relate this story is because people think when we’re here that we’ve lost all emotions. They think we don’t care about one another and don’t miss our families. It’s as if they believe we’re robots even though some may try to act that way but we all still feel pain inside. If we didn’t we wouldn’t be here defending the oppressed as we feel their pain. This is something that Abu ‘Abdurrahmaan understands as I can see from his character and is not afraid to show how he feels openly no matter how small the feeling may be.
Another things I love about this brother is the comparisons which he finds in everyday life. Every day without fail he would find something new to relate to me. A new comparison or simile may be a better word to use. He would explain to me an example which contained so many elements of beauty and after drawing in my attention he would explain the aspect of the deen it relates to and it would slot perfectly into my heart. It would give me an insight into that aspect in which I’d never looked at before. It would make me contemplate and think how have I never seen it that way before? It’s perfectly fine having knowledge of the deen and understanding it properly but having the ability to contemplate over its beauty to me is a gift from Allah. It reminds me of how Imam ‘Abdullah ‘Azzam (رحمه الله) speaks of Imam Ibnul-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (رحمه الله) as it is well known that from the students of Sheikhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله) that Imam Ibnul-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (رحمه الله) was a flower that fully flourished bringing forth its scent and colour for the likes of men to inhale its sweetness and admire its beauty as he had a different insight and way of relating things than his co-students. This is my view of how Abu ‘Abdurrahmaan’s comparisons relate to me and the beauty he sees within them.
May Allah bestow on him His Mercy and increase him in goodness. May Allah give him the Shahadah or Victory.
And Allah the Most High is better Knowing.
