Spreading the truth in hostile environment

18/05/2017| IslamWeb

Question 

Assalamu alaykum Scholars,

I, praise be to Allah, am a practicing Muslim who has been living in KSA for the last 10 years. I am from India. In the last 10 years or so, I have collected more than 3000 authentic books on Islam from Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh, Bahrain, Doha, and Jeddah. These books are in India now. I collected these books from the library of the Haram (Makkah and Madinah) and from various bookstores like Daarussalaam etc. These books are in English and Urdu. Every year, when I go on vacation, I purchase some books and take these with me to India. I have read nearly 20% of these books. Now, the problem is that in India, in the last 1 year or so, the police have been raiding many Muslim homes, especially those of ‘Wahabis’ and ‘Salafis’, and they label these Muslims with that they are working for ISIS, and the police give as “proof” of that that they are reading ISIS literature etc. which was brought in from the Gulf Countries, and then they kill such Muslim in a fake and fabricated encounter. I also fear the same for me because of my huge collection of books. For the Indian Police, any Islamic Literature means promoting terrorism. I have spent nearly SR 300,000/- in purchasing these books because I sometimes paid excess baggage charges at the airport to be able to take these books with me. Also, I have done a lot of hard work (and all good is from Allah) in collecting Authentic Islamic Books. I do not want to lose them, and I do not want to burn them, as I will not be able to purchase them again. Please advise, and give me a solution for this problem. Please advise on what to do with these books.
May Allah reward you for all your previous answers, and please pray for me that such thing never happens to me or my family.

Answer

Wa alaykum assalamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh

I ask Allah, the Most Merciful, to make things easier for you. It is such a great deed to spread the knowledge of the truth. This can be done in many different ways; a person learning knowledge and teaching it to others, spreading books of true knowledge, etc. There are so many books about Islam, but to be able to select the authentic books is a challenging thing in the world which we live in today. In places as you described, it is a great deed to be patient and hold fast to the belief of the people of Ahl-us-Sunnah wa-l-Jamaa‘ah.

At the same time, you should not put yourself in harm’s way, and it would be best to assess the situation which you are in. Oftentimes, people exaggerate their fear due to the spread of rumors or so. Therefore, make sure that the threat is real. If it is real, then you can try to distribute the books in many different places to relatives and friends. If this is not feasible, then try to donate the books to mosques or Islamic universities. Ask about the people of the Sunnah in your country and seek help from them. They will probably have a better idea for you.
Supplicate that Allah divert the eyes of the evildoers from you.

The goal is to keep this authentic knowledge for the next generations. This intention is a great deed, so have this level of sincerity and truthfulness, and by relying on Him and having this level of truthfulness, Allah will make it easy for you.

Here are some points to focus on:

1- Rely on Allah alone, He is watching you and will bless your act if you rely on Him.

2- Be sincere in your intentions, as Allah only accepts the deeds that are sincere.

3- Take the physical means after consulting with the people of knowledge in your locality.

4- Use the ease of communication nowadays to spread the authentic books.

5- Supplicate that Allah bless your work.

May Allah make it easy for you and protect you from all harm.

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