[Podcast] The Faith of Muslim Political Prisoners | Dr. Walaa Quisay & Dr. Asim Qureshi

“When Only God Can See: The Faith of Muslim Political Prisoners” by Dr. Walaa Quisay and Dr. Asim Qureshi is a powerful book that functions as both bearing witness to the oft-untold stories of Muslim political prisoners held in the horrors of Guantanamo Bay, Egypt, and other “black sites” of illegal imprisonment and torture, and as an exploration of Islamic spirituality in the “University of Yusuf” (‘alayhissalaam).

In this episode, Zainab bint Younus invites both authors of the book to share what it was like researching and writing the book, the spiritual challenges and empowerment of Muslim prisoners, and the vast systems of incarceration and torture between “Muslim” and Western countries. Spanning everything from powerful experiences of faith to critical examination of geopolitics, this episode will break your heart, intensify your faith, and strengthen your resolve to stand up for justice.

Dr. Walaa Quisay is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh and a scholar of Religious Studies with a focus on contemporary Islam and interdisciplinary expertise in the sociology and anthropology of religion. She is the author of “Neo-traditionalism in Islam in the West: Orthodoxy, Spirituality, and Politics” and co-author of “When Only God Can See: The Faith of Muslim Political Prisoners.”

Dr Asim Qureshi is the Research Director at CAGE. He graduated in Law (LLB Hons) LLM, specialising in International Law and Islamic Law. In 2018, he completed his PhD in International Conflict Analysis from the University of Kent. He has published a wide range of NGO reports, academic journals and articles. He is the co-author of “When Only God Can See: The Faith of Muslim Political Prisoners.”

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