Al-Murasalah comes from the root word risalah, which means “message” in Arabic. When you add the prefix mu, the meaning transforms into an action as it means, one who delivers the message. Al-Murasalah is a system within Al-Talib designed to do just that. As we speak, there are a countless number of incarcerated Muslims nationwide, and a good number of them recently accepted Islam during their time in prison. Al-Murasalah helps many of these incarcerated Muslims maintain their connection with the deen through continual correspondence, via letters. We do our best to try to provide these new Muslims with as many Islamic materials and information as possible, as well as counsel them through the rough, and often hostile, environments of the American prison system.

Why do we take this initiative? As Muslims, it is our duty and responsibility to help all those who are being oppressed or are suffering. Our Prophet (PBUH) told us that we have six main duties towards another Muslim, and one of them is to provide good advice to our brothers and sisters in Islam. Our Prophet (PBUH) also said that our Ummah is like one body. When a part of it is sick, then the whole body is sick. Through these two ahadith, it is an obligation for every Muslim to take care of each other and support each other in any way possible.

Although it may not seem like much, maintaining correspondence through letters with many of our brothers and sisters in prison has built bridges and lifted their iman. Still for some, the challenges are greater than others, as some prisons have obstructed our brothers’ and sisters’ abilities to grow and gain more knowledge of Islam. It is here in which the problem resides. For these people, the letters they write to Al-Murasalah either fail to reach us or vice versa. Al-Murasalah is a beautiful project with noble intentions—Alhamdulillah—but it is very limited in its ability to access resources near or around our brothers and sisters in prison. This is where our brothers and sisters outside of the prison walls come in. All of you can potentially assist Al-Murasalah and allow it to permeate to every prison where brothers or sisters yearn for the light of Allah. There are a number of tasks which can be done. Some of them include writing letters to our brothers and sisters (this is probably geared more towards the UCLA community), donating Islamic material such as English Qur’ans, Du’a books, etc., and forwarding Muslim Chaplain contact information. Please feel free to contact us. Our contact info is below.

Nader Nasr

3^rd Year Physiological Science Major

Email: nadergnasr@gmail.com