The questioner’s remarks regarding the gatherings of the Shaykh from which he was excluded due to his imprisonment.

The questioner : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may the best of prayers and the most complete of peace be upon our master Muhammad, his pure and noble family and companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. I thank Allah for making this blessed meeting easy for me with our esteemed teacher Abu 'Abd al-Rahman (may Allah preserve him), and with our dear brothers, may Allah reward them with good. I thank them for their welcome, hospitality, and love, and may Allah (Mighty and Majestic) make us among those who are brothers in Him and who love one another in Him, about whom He said: And may He make us among those whom He will shade with the shade of His Throne on the Day when there is no shade except His. I say that I spent approximately thirteen years in prison, during which I was deprived of these many blessed meetings and of the constant companionship and association with our teacher Abu 'Abd al-Rahman (may Allah preserve him). Indeed, what I suffered most was this distance and this deprivation, especially in the early years, as it was more severe than what followed. There is no doubt that a person does not know the value of a thing until he loses it. Therefore, they said, "Health is a crown on the heads of the healthy, but it is not known or seen except by the sick." I mean, I envy you for what you enjoy and are blessed with, namely the companionship of our teacher (may Allah preserve him) and benefiting from his abundant knowledge and his many good morals. We have benefited greatly from him, knowledge, action, morals, and upbringing, praise be to Allah. Even in his method of discussion and debate, I truly saw in him the model to be emulated in all of that. May Allah increase him in His bounty, benefit us through him, and prolong his life, if Allah wills.
I mean, speaking about the topic, we did not suffer much in it, so I say there is no need to mention it. But perhaps we can benefit in this session from some scientific research and questions, and I have an abundance of them, if Allah wills. So if our teacher would be generous enough to join us, along with the brothers, we can discuss this and proceed with the questions, which are many, while the time is short, so let us not waste time in vain.