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National Day to Support Imam Jamil al-Amin Declared
WASHINGTON, July 27 (IslamOnline) - Six years ago, the arrest of Georgia-based Imam Jamil al-Amin sparked a nationwide protest among American Muslims angered at the unjust treatment of the African-American Muslim leader.
The protest continues Friday, August 3rd, on what is being declared a national day of support and fundraising for the incarcerated imam, according to a press release from the Muslim American Society (MAS).
MAS is calling on all imams, khateebs and Islamic centers to use their jumu'ah (Friday prayer) khutbahs (sermon), prayers and other Friday lectures on August 3rd to champion the innocence of Imam al-Amin and help financially support the movement to free him.
"MAS is part of the [National] Support Committee [for Imam al-Amin]," said MAS president Sohail Ghannouchi. "We took charge of this campaign of educating the community, and also raising funds for the case."
Imam Jamil al-Amin, formerly known as Black Panther Party leader H. Rap Brown, reverted to Islam during a five-year prison sentence after a shootout in New York City in 1971.
In an article for IslamOnline, Mauri Saalakhan of the Washington-based Peace and Justice Foundation said, "While H. Rap Brown was known for his fiery rhetoric and in-your-face confrontation, Jamil al-Amin was known as a quiet, mild-mannered, stabilizing force in Atlanta's West End community."
Al-Amin came to be a well-respected national leader among Muslims throughout the U.S., but especially in areas affected by the work of his Community Mosque in Atlanta. There, al-Amin's efforts helped to reduce gang violence, crime and drug-related problems; even non-Muslims often saw him as respectful and committed to good works, Saalakhan said.
In his national endeavors, al-Amin has spent the last two decades advocating Muslim civil rights - serving on the board of the American Muslim Council - and calling for unity among Muslims. He has also actively aided the cause of Muslims suffering worldwide, including those in Bosnia, Kosovo, Kashmir and Palestine.
But the Imam's past - the ghost of H. Rap Brown - worked against him when he was accused of allegedly killing a Fulton County Sheriff's Deputy who was attempting to arrest him; lawyers and media alike drew on his past associations with the Black Panthers, as well as his current dedication to a religion the Western media often links to violence, to set public opinion against him.
Al-Amin maintains his innocence although he has been in prison for more than a year now, according to MAS's press release.
"Let me declare before the families of these men, before the state, and anyone who would care to know that I am innocent of the 13 charges that have been brought against me," al-Amin said in a statement.
"Let me also declare that I am joined at the heart with [the] widow [of the officer who was killed] and her children at the loss of a husband and a father. I drink from the same bitter cup of sorrow."
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