The Strangers - الغرباء

The Strangers (Al-Ghuraba'a) is an Islamic cantata (song without music) that was sung by a young man that belonged to the muslim brotherhood in Egypt. It was sung after the young man and a couple of others were sentenced to death in Egypt in a case that was known as the "case of the century" where the closing speech of the defendants lawyer lasted for almost 2 hours. Most people beleived that the defendants would most definitely not be sentenced to death, however given the type of government that was present in Egypt in 1993 (and still present till this day) the defendants were sentenced to death.

The reason for the title strangers is due to a Hadith of the prophet Mohammad peace be upon him which says:

"Islam came as something Strange, and will once again be strange, beatitude for the strangers!"

روى مسلم أيضاً عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه وأرضاه أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال

"بدأ الإسلام غريباً وسيعود غريباً كما بدأ، فطوبى للغرباء"

The following is the cantata of the young man after they were all sentenced to death:

Translation in English: