Naveed Butt disappeared 4 years ago (image via wife Mrs Saadia Butt)
Release my husband Naveed Butt, 4 years-No more! Four years ago on Friday, 11th May, 2012 my husband Naveed Butt was abducted in broad day light in front of our three innocent children. Since that day, we have been given no information about him whatsoever. Naveed Butt was engaged in the peaceful struggle of implementation of Islamic system in Pakistan. The only purpose of his life was to gain the pleasure of Allah (swt); by demanding establishment of complete Islamic system, that is Khilafah Rashidah on the method of Prophethood; in his beloved homeland Pakistan.
His call was by word of mouth and writings. That is because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ only carried the Islamic Dawah through intellectual and political struggle in Makkah. The Prophet ﷺ and his companions were persecuted and tortured in a ferocious way in Makkah. It was to the extent that during the Prophet’s ﷺ da’wah in Makkah, Abdur Rahman ibn ‘Awf (RA) along with some other Sahabah once asked permission from the Prophet ﷺ to fight. They said “O Messenger ﷺ of Allah! When we were idolaters, we were honored, but since we have believed, we have been humiliated”. However he ﷺ refused saying : “إِنِّي أُمِرْتُ بِالْعَفْوِ، فَلا تُقَاتِلُوا” “Indeed I have been ordered to forgive so do not fight the people(until you are ordered to fight).” [Reported by Ibn Abi Hatim and an-Nasai and al-Haakim]
That is precisely why Naveed, following the Prophet’s ﷺ example, decided to do an intellectual and political struggle against the current system. My husband did electrical engineering from University of Illinois, Chicago. After getting higher education he started a job in one of the famous companies in Chicago. However, his mind was always pre-occupied with the ambition of betterment of muslims and his own homeland. He was deeply interested in the history of his country Pakistan. He knew that millions of muslims sacrificed their lives for this country that was made on 14th August, 1947; and they gave their lives only because they understood that here a state like the state of Medina was going to be established. That is the reason why, even after losing the honors of their mothers and sisters and sacrificing the lives of their children, when they put their first step on this land with their torn bodies and souls, they used to prostrate in thanking the Almighty and kiss the soil in devotion.
Alas! those innocent muslims had no idea that all their wishes and dreams of the establishment of Islamic system will go down the drain of Capitalist system. So, due to this reason my husband decided to leave his comfortable and luxurious life in America and come back to Pakistan. He worked day and night for the establishment of Islamic system in Pakistan. His only ideal was Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and following his ﷺ example Naveed Butt started the campaign of convincing the public and the intelligentsia for the complete implementation of Islam. Being the spokesman of a global Islamic political party Hizb ut Tahrir in Pakistan, he used to meet the representatives of media, columnists, journalists and television anchors and discussed the complete and all at once implementation of Islam in Pakistan. He issued numerous press releases in which the flaws and oppressive nature of current Capitalist system were highlighted along with exposing the treachery, conspiracies and the collusion of our rulers with the enemy infidels.
That was the very course pursued by Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he ﷺ exposed the oppression and injustice of the leaders and systems of the Quresh of Makkah. And this is why Musharraf banned Hizb ut Tahrir in 2003 at the orders of America, the same way as the Quresh boycotted the Prophet ﷺ and cut off every relation with muslims. My husband Naveed Butt is a very soft hearted and loving person. He is the beloved of his whole family. His sisters and brother are devastated due to his prolonged absence. We have three sons and one daughter. Our youngest son was only two years old at the time of his abduction. Today when he asks questions about his father, I say to him that he is detained for the crime of raising his voice for the Deen of Allah and only Allah will free him. My daughter misses her father more than ever and keeps on praying for his release day and night.
Naveed’s heart aches for the whole Ummah and the muslims of Pakistan. I have seen him sleepless at nights due to the oppression perpetrated against the muslims. His anxiety increased when he saw the muslim blood spilling all over the world and our rulers’ criminal silence on this cruelty. That is the reason why he never stopped from raising the word of truth. And that in the eyes of the rulers amounted to a crime. If in his place was any other “normal” man in pursuit of this world, he would have left this mission long before and got entangled himself in earning money. On the contrary, he dedicated his life for the Dawah of Islam.
Today, he is missing due to his aforementioned crime. It has been four long years since his abduction. If he has broken any law of the state of Pakistan, then why wasn’t he awarded any punishment or presented in courts? What on the earth is his crime? While the dacoits, murderers, thieves and the accused in Panama Leaks are roaming free in the country; who have looted the hard earned money of the people for sixty years. Whereas, raising the word of truth is my husband’s only crime. That is why, I demand from the people of power and the rulers to release him immediately. He has already served four years in illegal prison for undisclosed crimes. We have run from pillar to post in search of justice, i.e. from Islamabad High Court to Supreme Court of Pakistan to Lahore High Court. Our case was even heard in the commission for enforced disappearances but despite the repeated orders of the courts, Naveed Butt was never presented in front of court. It was all useless.
So now my only hope and expectation is from Allah Almighty. I have faith in Him, that indeed He never humiliates His devout servants. Allah (swt) says: والذین جاھدوا فینالنھدینّھم سبلنا وان اللہ لمع المحسنین “And those who strive for Us, We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed Allah is with the Doers of good” (Al-Ankaboot:69)
Mrs.Naveed Butt. Islamabad
Naveed Butt, a family man missed greatly by his wife and children
(Image via Mrs Saadia Butt)
Free my father Naveed Butt! I only want my father to come home. Everyone loves his parents. Sometimes one’s father and mother scold them but mostly they love them. When my father used to go outside for job, I waited for him eagerly. When he came home I used to run to him and sit in his lap. It has been four years but he has not returned. At the time of his abduction I was six years old. Now I am ten years old. I have waited four long years, but now I can’t wait more. Everyone is praying for him, therefore I request all of you to pray for my father’s release. Whenever I see anyone’s father showing affection to his children, I miss my father. So, O ruler uncle! Will you have mercy on a ten year old child? This abduction from 2012 to 2016 is more than enough. I just want to say please release my father immediately! Allah Haafiz!
Maryam binte Naveed, age 10 years.
End
Links
“Where is Naveed Butt?”
https://activist1.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/where-is-naveed-butt/
“Naveed Butt still missing”
https://activist1.wordpress.com/2013/08/09/pakistan-naveed-butt-still-missing/
“Pakistan 2014: ‘Enforced disappearances’ condemned, practice threatens security of the state”
Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights/WOT and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.
Carol Anne Grayson (Radical Sister) blog 