|
25 February 2011 By El-Hajj Mauri' Saalakhan Assalaamu Alaikum (Greetings of
Peace): To my brothers and sisters in
Islam, this message is especially for you. Dr. Aafia
Siddiqui's sister (Fowzia) has written a
thought-provoking piece of commentary that should
touch and fortify the hearts of us all. I spoke at a
large center in Worcester, Massachusetts yesterday for
jumu'ah. The title of my message was The Power
of faith (an issue that factors
significantly into Fowzia's commentary as well, in my
humble opinion). As for this brief introduction to
Fowzia's commentary, some will choose to
interpret my words as an attack on Muslim leaders and
organizations in America. I pray that the majority who
read this will see the message for what it truly is; a
heartfelt appeal for us to collectively STAND UP as
God fearing, self-respecting Muslim men and women, and
do what we should have done yesterday! As a wise man
once said: "The time is always right to do right." After five years of secret
imprisonment and torture overseas,
Aafia
Siddiqui arrived in America (in the
latter half of 2008) half dead from serious
and unwarranted gun shot wounds. Since her arrival in
"the land of liberty and justice for
all," the man-made hell that began in March 2003
- when she and her three young children became
the targets of a rendition operation (i.e. forcibly
removed from a taxi in
Pakistan and made to disappear for
years) - has continued. Even sadder than what Pakistani
and American agents have done to this woman, is what
many influential
Muslims in America
have done (or to be more precise, have NOT
done for this woman)! What our brother Tarek
Mehanna said in a 2008 commentary continues to carry a
deeply disturbing resonance to this day: "What is even sadder
than what is happening to Aafia Siddiqui is how few
the Muslims were who even bothered to show up to her
hearing, in a city of around half a million Muslims
(not counting the surrounding areas), and that not a
single Muslim organization in the United States has
taken up the sister's cause or even spoken a word in
her defense; and as Ibn al-Qayyim said: If ghayrah
(protective jealousy leaves a person's heart, his
faith will follow it." While these words were written in
the aftermath of Aafia's first hearing in the United
States in 2008, they still ring true for "Major Muslim
Organizations" in America - organizations with the
size, visibility and resource to do something
meaningful if they really wanted to. Aafia Siddiqui now
sits in maximum security confinement on a military
base in Fort Worth Texas, completely cutoff
from the rest of the world with an 86 year sentence
hanging over her head. Aafia never killed (or even
injured) anyone; and yet she has NOT even been
able to receive a visit from her family! Conversely,
the U.S. citizen in Pakistani custody known as Ray
Davis has killed two people,
indirectly shares responsibility for the death of a
third, and yet through the pressure exerted by the
U.S. government, the family of Davis was recently
accorded full visitation and diplomatic
visas by Pakistan. That a CIA contractor with blood
on his hands could be treated with such deference,
while a condemned, but innocent, Muslim woman
(and Pakistani national) could be held with such
savage indifference in America - without the Pakistani
government applying the same degree of pressure for
her release - reveals the moral bankruptcy of BOTH
GOVERNMENTS! (But it also reveals the weakness and
contradictions within the Muslim Ummah itself.) Insha'Allah, in the very near
future there is going to be a demonstration in Texas,
at or near the facility where Aafia is being held.
Shortly thereafter, there will be another larger
demonstration in the nation's capitol (Washington, DC)
to draw attention to ALL of America's
political prisoners - and the
blatantly unconstitutional conditions under
which Muslim political prisoners are being (under the
false flag of national security). We hope to have the support of
prominent Muslim leaders and organizations in America
for both initiatives. This is another opportunity to
help make things right. In the struggle for peace thru
justice, "Three classes of men are cut off
from the blessings of Paradise: oppressors; those who aid and
abet oppression; and those who tolerate
oppression." - Imam Ali (r) |
Add Comments