When Only God Can See

Incarcerations are an inherent part of any oppressive system. They are institutionalized mechanisms to instil fear among the masses, by making an example out of those who are not ready to surrender to the oppressors. The whole prison system is enacted to confine the activism and movement of people whom the oppressive system demarcates as threats. Muslims have been oppressed since the ascendency of European and Western powers. During colonization and now, in the age of neo- and post-colonization, the masses are reeking under oppressive regimes. These regimes regularly utilize prisons to control them. There are numerous jail accounts written by former prisoners. These accounts have been rarely engaged academically. This work, written by Walaa Quisay and Asim Qureshi, uses ethnographic and interviews to describe the Islamic sources of inspiration that transformed into resilience among Muslim prisoners. It takes into account interviews from twenty-four former prisoners in Egypt and twelve in U.S custody. As the authors explain, “The book examines the unique ways in which Muslim political prisoners in both Egypt after the 2013 coup and under US custody after 2001 at Guantanamo Bay, in black sites, and on the US mainland experience their faith and its practices of ritual purity, prayer and modes of resistance in their daily lives in confinement.” (p.4)