Author: Dr. Kaukab Siddique
Publication: Lexington Area Muslim
Network
Date: April 19, 2000
URL: http://leb.net/pipermail/lexington-net/2000-April/001952.html
COMMITTEE TO FREE SHAIKH OMAR 'ABDEL
RAHMAN
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Reformulated)
The spiritual leader of Egypt's
primary Islamic movement, al-Gamaa' al-Islamiyya, is languishing in an
isolation cell located in the USA's gulag in faraway Rochester, Minnesota.
He is being held in solitary confinement and an attempt is being made to
cut him off from relatives, attorneys, friends, the Muslim community, the
Egyptian community and humanity at large.
His rights are being violated to
such an extent that last year he was beaten up by a prison official while
he was using the toilet.
While the Islamic world gives the
highest respect to this man of God, the U.S. is denying him his basic rights
as a human being. (At the end of 1999, New Trend magazine, America's
most widely distributed Islamic publication carried out a survey of its
readers to select the top five Muslim men of the 20th century. Shaikh Omar
'Abdel Rahman was chosen among the top five by this highly educated and
well-read audience.)
In view of the silence of the supposed
"leaders" and the complete neglect by the media, Jamaat al-Muslimeen
International decided to reformulate the Committee to Free Shaikh Omar
'Abdel Rahman. A basic framework has been laid down, building on the work
done by the original Committee. We are now calling on the Muslim, Egyptian,
Arab, African, Human Rights and Prison Reform communities to join
the Committee to Free Shaikh Omar Abdel Rahman (SOAR), to give it national
and international depth. The basic originators of the new Committee
are as follows:
1. Abdeen Jabara (legal advisor)
(New York)
2. Ahmed 'Abdel Sattar (paralegal
to Shaikh Omar) (Staten Island)
3. Nabil el-Masri (close legal
associate of the Shaikh) (New Jersey)
4. Sis. Uzema Khan, Islamic activist
(Glen Ellyn, Illinois)
5. Mustafa Ali, Islamic activist
(San Antonio, Texas)
6. J. Hudlin, Jr., Africanist activist
(Omaha, Nebraska)
7. Salahuddin Abdullah, Ameer Jamaat
al-Muslimeen USA (Denver, Colorado)
8. Abu Talib, West Indian activist
and media person (Brooklyn)
9. Shaikh Abdus Sattar al-Dahir,
human rights activist for Iraqi children (Louisiana)
10. Imam Badi Ali, media person,
Palestinian rights activist (North Carolina)
11. Imani Mahdi, Black political
prisoners' activist (Washington, DC)
12. Athar Masood, youth organizer
(Chicago)
Dr. Kaukab Siddique, activist for
women's rights, is the convenor of the new Committee. (Founder of
the original Committee: Sis. Nadrat Siddique)
**************************************************************************
Clarification 1: Those who join
the Committee to Free Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman need not be of any specific
faith. Their concern should be justice, freedom and humanity.
Clarification 2. Even those who
do not agree with the Shaikh's interpretation of Islam, or with various
aspects of it, can join the Committee, if they do not support any oppressive
government.
Clarification 3. No funds will be
collected for the Shaikh or for his attorneys. Funds will be used to generate
support for the human rights of the Shaikh and for his ultimate freedom
through peaceful means.
Clarification 4. Those who want
to join the Committee should apply to the Convenor. They will be recognized
and identified as part of the Committee after their application has been
accepted. Each member must pay at least $10 per month to be in good
standing with the Committee.
Clarification 5. Members of the
public can support the Committee through distribution of its literature
and related literature and through donations without joining the Committee.
Clarifications 6. DONATIONS are
badly needed but must be without ANY strings attached. The Committee will
work through its internal discussions and not through any external pressures.
******************************************************************************
Donations and applications should
be sent to:
Jamaat al-Muslimeen, P.O. Box 10881,
Baltimore, MD 21234, USA
Phone and fax: 410-638-5965
email: ksidd37398 or
Lsattar
**************************************************************************
Resources immediately available:
Shaikh Omar's pre-sentencing statement
(in Arabic) (3 audio tapes $3 each)
The Story of Shaikh Omar 'Abdel
Rahman by A.B. Dawjee (South Africa) (audio tape $5)
International Focus on the Plight
of Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman (South Africa) (radio 786 interview
with Prof. Muhammad al-Masri and Dr. Kaukab Siddique) (audio tape $5)
The 'Abdel Rahman Report by Nadrat
Siddique (newsletter) (who is Shaikh Omar? plus sequence of events leading
to his sentencing) (a must read for those who want to join the Committee)
($2)
Recitation of the Qur'an by Shaikh
Omar 'Abdel Rahman (will move you to tears of resolution, from the heart)
(various audio tapes, $3 each) and much more to come.
