Umm Isa

“In 1947 is de Koude Oorlog in volle gang en krijgt die veel aandacht van de internationale publieke opinie. Op de vraag of hij niet vreest dat het communistische gedachtegoed aan populariteit wint ten gevolge van de steun aan de onafhankelijkheidsaspiraties van de Arabieren, antwoordt Abdelkrim:

Wij zijn grotendeels moslims, wat betekent dat we in de Koran een filosofie en religie vinden die ons volledig bevredigt. We hebben dus geen behoefte aan een verdachte doctrine die vanuit het buitenland komt en in strijd is met onze mentaliteit.”
― Yassin Akouh, Koloniale vloek: De relaties tussen de Marokkaanse staat en de Rif

“How do you do it?'' one of the nicer guards asked me one day through the interpreter. ''How do you not lose your mind with loneliness? How do you starve yourself? How do you survive without wanting to die?''

''Allah,'' I said and then tried to explain to him about my faith and the belief that all of this was Allah's wish.

For years, the interrogators, Miller, the revolving door of colonels had desensitized us to the violence of our daily lives. They hit us so much that we no longer felt the pain of the punch. There was something bigger at work protecting us, something beyond our capabilities, and that kept us alive without losing our minds. This was Allah's Mercy, and we all felt it there. We couldn't survive without Allah's help.”
― Mansoor Adayfi, Don't Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantanamo

“Better a dog of the Ait Atta, than Sultan under the French.’’

— Saying of the Middle Atlas”
― Carleton S. Coon, The Riffian

“After so many years of interrogations, I had learned that praying and reciting the Qur'an completely shut off all my senses so that I didn't hear, I didn't see, I didn't feel anymore. I just existed in the moment but outside the moment. Interrogators could talk for hours. They could do all kinds of horrible humiliating things to me and they did. But it didn't matter anymore.”
― Mansoor Adayfi, Don't Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantanamo