When an Incarcerated Muslim Prisoner Asks God for the Impossible | Shaykh Rami Nsour
Channel: Muslim Community Center - MCC East Bay
Date: 10/05/2023

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Shaykh Rami Nsour relates a story from an inmate in a prison in the U.S. who stayed away from returning to a sinful action one afternoon and in return, that evening, the inmate asked God for a favor – an impossible favor in his mind – to be transferred to a better prison – a favor that God then answered just moments after he made the request. 

From Tayba Foundation:
Do you remember the hadith of the 3 men trapped in a cave?
In it, the Prophet ﷺ tells a story of how these 3 men prayed to God for help while mentioning the greatest sacrifices they’ve made for Him. After each prayer, the rock blocking their path moved slightly until they were finally freed.

You can read the full hadith here: https://sunnah.com/bukhari:2215

Brother Rey, a Tayba student, was inspired by this hadith to make a du’a of his own… and it had surprising consequences.

We’ll let him tell the rest of the story:

"One day in the chow hall, a brother approached me and asked me to do a haraam that I had made tawba for. I declined and explained why. Fortunately, the brother understood.
 
Later on that evening, I was sitting in the cell decompressing from the stress of the day. I had grown exceptionally weary of the unit I had been on. It was really causing a strain on my mental well being.
 
I briefly recalled the hadith of the companions of the cave. I spoke to Allah in my mind, “If You know I [left that haraam] for your sake, put me on the chain bus (prison transport) out of here.” Not a moment later, I shook my head while thinking, “don’t mind me, I’m a fool.
 
During rack time, the guard came round with his count. He stopped at my cell and informed me that I would be on that bus. I was going home. 
 
I bear witness there is no God but Allah! I thought things like this only happened to people in hadith, but it happened to me."

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Shaykh Rami spoke as part of his weekly Friday night halaqas at the Muslim Community Center - East Bay (MCC East Bay) in Pleasanton, California on January 17, 2020.

- More Shaykh Rami Nsour: http://mcceastbay.org/rami-nsour 

Shaykh Rami Nsour, Founding Director of Tayba Foundation
Rami Nsour is a scholar, counselor, public speaker, teacher, and translator of Islamic texts. Spending seven years in Mauritania studying Islamic studies at some of the foremost Islamic colleges, Shaykh Rami received licensure (ijaza) to share his wisdom with students. Further enhancing his extensive study of fiqh, Nsour completed an extraordinary ‘in-residence’ experience, allowing him to research questions (fatawa) of Islamic faith, law, and practice.

Rami Nsour co-founded the Tayba Foundation, the first organization in the United States to offer a distance-learning program in Islamic Education to incarcerated men and women.  Shaykh Rami has extensive experience in curriculum development, specifically in character (akhlaq), and holds a B.A. in Human Development with a focus on Early Childhood.  He also obtained an M.A. in Educational Psychology.  A resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, he lives with his wife and three children.

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