STATEMENT OF MUSLIM ALLIANCE OF NORTH AMERICA (MANA) ON THE MURDER OF GEORGE FLOYD

MANA extends our condolences and prayers to the family and friends of George Floyd whose son, father, brother, uncle, neighbor, friend was senselessly and sadistically murdered before the eyes of the world.

More generally, we extend our prayers and condolences to all of the those who have had someone they know and love innocently gunned down by "peace" officers or their surrogates in this country. From George Floyd to Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, from Alton Sterling to Philando Castile, (another Minnesota resident), from Eric Garner to Aiyana Jones, from Trayvon Martin to Sean Bell and the list goes on.

We can go back to the earliest days of America and see that black folks have always had a particularly difficult time with law enforcement. Unfortunately, the mandate of law enforcement in this country has not always been to keep the peace. In far too many instances it has been to help enforce such things as fugitive slave laws, or to assist in keeping black folks "in their place."

It is this long, painful, and ongoing history that has, among other things, given birth to the Black Lives Matter movement. We acknowledge this history and declare that it is a national shame that an African American is upwards to five times more likely to die as George Floyd died, at the hands of a law enforcement officer, than his or her European American fellow citizen.

Our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah upon him) said, “Help your brother be he the oppressor or the oppressed.” Those present responded, “We see how we should help him if he is oppressed. How can we help him if he is an oppressor?” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah upon him) replied, “Prevent him from his oppression.”

So it is our duty to help the oppressed through our aid and assistance, our physical presence as well as our prayers, our teaching and humbling ourselves to be taught. It is also our duty to stop the oppressor from his or her (think, for example, Amy Cooper) oppression. Our ultimate assistance to the oppressor is by doing everything in our power to destroy the mentality that serves as the breeding ground for the ideas, attitudes, beliefs, and structures upon which that oppression is based. There is no liberation that is not preceded by a shift in public consciousness.

MANA does not claim to have an immediate answer to a problem that has vexed this country since the founding of the Republic. We are also in the process of restructuring in order to serve our twin communities, the African American and the Muslim, in a meaningful fashion. We do hope to be part of the conversations and organizing that must occur as we move towards finding solutions to this and to the many other problems that we face.

We invite all to join us in a webinar this Tuesday evening, June 2, 2020, as we begin our search for a proper prophetic response to the current crisis.

Zaid Shakir, Amir

Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA)

Click here to watch the webinar. 

( Source: MANA )