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American Muslim Civil Rights Advocates Meet
by Ayub Khan
CHICAGO, May 27 (IslamOnline) - Muslim Americans For Civil Rights and Legal Defense (MACRLD), an activist organization formed three years ago, met on Friday at the Islamic Foundation, Villa Park.
Several civil rights activists and leaders including Abdallah Idris Ali, former president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and current Director of Center of Islamic Education of North America, spoke at the event.
Seema A. Imam, MACRLD vice president, opened the conference with a presentation on the beginnings and achievements of the conference and its planned future activities.
She said that MACRLD was started after several cases of discrimination and injustice against Muslims began propping up, and especially referred to the freezing of assets of the Qur'anic Literary Institute (QLI), an apolitical organization engaged in the publication and propagation of authentic Islamic works.
Imam also mentioned the cases of Imam Khalifa Islam, Shareef Alwan, Mohammed Al Hareezi and others, who are being unjustly targeted by the FBI.
She said the main aim of MACRLD was to fight draconian laws like the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, and to set up legal defense funds for imprisoned Muslim activists, adding that MACRLD strived to unify the Muslim voice, reach out to non-Muslims and constantly study and monitor U.S. laws.
Attorney Asim Ghafour, a lobbyist and managing director the Washington-based A.G. Consulting Group, spoke on the "Political Dynamics of The Civil Rights Struggle of American Muslims."
Emphasizing the need for financial aid for civil rights work, he said funding was extremely important, even during the time of the Prophet (SAW).
Ghafour made the point that it was money through which O.J. Simpson was not convicted of murder, despite overwhelming evidence proving him guilty.
On the other hand, he said, Imam Jamil Al-Amin is still facing several hurdles in his legal struggle despite being innocent. He said one reason is that al-Amin does not have a dreamteam of lawyers like Simpson did. According to conservative estimates, Imam Jamil's case will cost one million dollars.
Ghafour also gave the example of the Al Shifa medical factory in Sudan which was bombed by the U.S.. He said the move to freeze its assets ultimately failed because the owner of Al Shifa put in a lot of money and fought back.
Abdallah Idris Ali, in his keynote address, spoke on "Human Rights Issues - An Islamic Perspective." Commenting on the concepts of Adl (Justice) and Ihsan (Goodness), he said that it is a duty of every Muslim is to fight against injustice.
He said that we would also be punished if we do not speak out, saying that Muslims must stand up and speak out against injustice regardless of race, religion or ethnicity, and that in Islamic law, everyone, including minorities, are protected and are free to practice their religion.
On the other hand, in the U.S., despite claims to the contrary, he said minorities are free to believe, but are not allowed to fully practice their religion, citing examples of the non-recognition of Islamic laws of marriage and inheritance, which cannot be implemented in the U.S.
He appealed to Muslims to contribute to organizations like MACRLD, which are actively working for justice in the U.S.
Attorney Karim Irfan, president of The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, and attorney Andullah Mitchell, MACRLD president, also spoke at the function.
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