Update (4/25/10): As many of the letters that Fahad's supporters wrote to him were "returned to sender," we decided to re-direct the letters to Attorney General Eric H. Holder. Please send him a note about why you care about Fahad's case. With assistance from the Culture Project, we have also printed postcards that can be mailed—if you have the ability to lead a postcard-writing drive for Fahad, please contact letters2fahad@gmail.com, and we will send you a batch. (please specify how many).
The trial opens Wednesday, April 28th, and is likely to continue for 2-3 weeks. We are encouraging people to attend the court dates to observe and respectfully bear witness. (Please be mindful that banners, buttons, flyers, cameras, and laptops will not be allowed in the courtroom). The Southern District of New York courthouse is located at 500 Pearl Street, New York, NY, (Map) and the case is before Judge Loretta Preska.
On February 10, 2010, SAMAR in collaboration with THAW (Theaters Against War) put out a call for letters to be sent to Fahad Hashmi at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC). Fahad has been held in pre-trial detention at the MCC for over 850 days in severe solitary confinement. He has been detained over 1,350 days in all (more about Fahad's case: freefahad.com).
During this time, under what the government calls, “Special Administrative Measures,” Fahad has been allowed only very limited contact with his family and has been denied access to much of the evidence the government claims to have against him.
While Fahad continues to spend day after day alone in confinement, a growing number of activists, artists and community organizers have come together to fight his detention, to express anger at how the federal courts have cheapened the meaning of civil liberties, and to create a network of support in the face of these harrowing times. Unfortunately, Fahad has not been allowed to connect with this movement inspired by his struggle. The letter-writing campaign was launched with the aim of resisting Fahad's isolation by flooding the prison with letters of support.
Though the letters will likely not make it past the prison censors, posting them will offer a simple and necessary challenge to the inhuman conditions of Fahad's detention and help send a message to Fahad's jailers, the U.S. Government and Attorney General Holder, that the world at large cares for Fahad and is outraged at the violations of his civil and human rights.
What follows is a selection of letters submitted for publication from a wide range of supporters. Additional letters will be read at the Radio Free Fahad vigil outside the prison on March 8.
Should you wish to write a letter of your own, you can send it here:
SYED FAHAD HASHMI—REG#60011-054
MCC NEW YORK
METROPOLITAN CORRECTIONAL CENTER
150 PARK ROW
NEW YORK, NY 10007
If you would like your letter to be considered for this page or to be read at the vigils please send a copy to letters2fahad@gmail.com.
I may not have met you in person, but through the words with which your friends, lawyers, and supporters fondly describe you, I have come to know you as a person of kindness, peace, integrity and courage.
Fahad, you and I have never met and yet, in getting to know your family and friends, I feel as if I've had the chance to get to know you. Like everyone else who is thinking about you and who is outraged by what our country is doing to you and your family, I worry about your health and your well-being.
I have gotten to know your family very well over the past two years and they have become part of my extended family...
One day, InshaAllah, you'll be reunited with all your loved ones, and you'll be sitting around a cozy fireplace and catching up with all that has taken place in these many long days. We hope you're doing ok, Brother.
When someone calls me “bin Laden” or “terrorist” or tries to pull off my turban, I think about individuals and families who have been detained and deported simply because of their Muslim identities. I think about how an entire group of people has been vilified by our government and media as “the enemy.”
I was among a crowd in court at one of your pre-trial hearings. Seeing you in the flesh just a few feet away from me after reading so much about your case, I was startled—the whole appalling, absurd situation had until that moment remained in the abstract for me. It had not truly become real until the moment I saw your face.
I want to hear more about what you had to say, Brother Fahad (May I call you, "brother?"), the thoughts that make you a dangerous man. I do not believe in dangerous thoughts. You are proof that we still banish our heretics—what is more heretical to this society than a Muslim wearing a skullcap, a Muslim in a hijab, a Muslim at the airport?
your cell, is it as dark as the mind of hopelessness
your body, has it frozen in tortured place
your mind, disassociated but perhaps a bridge
back to the whole of you
The reason why I am writing is simply because you are my brother in Islam. No other reason. Yet, saying that leads me to ask you to please forgive me for I should have written earlier, I am sorry for being heedless and selfish. I do not know what to really say. I have not written a letter in a long time.
We are strangers, gathered with more strangers, gathered around your family and friends in support for their/your struggle. We are unable to remain strangers. We are called close to you by your story, and ask for your friendship as we extend ours.
There are many people who care about you and your case. I hope you can sense that, and hope that knowledge can be like rays of sunlight for the moment.
I have written my federal legislators and President Obama asking them to lift the SAMS. I feel that if our government can treat you this way, what stops them from someday treating me and people I love this way?
Alhamdulillah I have been Muslim all my life and I have been trying to practice to the best of my ability for four years, alhamdulillah. I currently reside in London, UK with my family. I know you don't know me and neither do I know you but I just want let you know that I love you for the sake of Allah.
Between you and the people who support you is an intricate system of walls and surveillance cameras and censors. So much violence I can't even begin to know.
In the Name of the Almighty, the Most Compassionate and Most Merciful, to Whom we all belong, and to Whom we all shall return.
To My Brother in Islam and in Humanity: Assalamu alaikum dearest Fahad:
I may not have met you in person, but through the words with which your friends, lawyers, and supporters fondly describe you, I have come to know you as a person of kindness, peace, integrity and courage.
You have become a part of my life, and every second I walk in freedom I think of you who cannot.
So, I have added my voice, that comes from Massachusetts, to those who are continuing to expose and oppose the injustice of your imprisonment, and the deplorable treatment meted out to you.
I feel honored to have recently met some of these voices that gather in the cold outside MCC. You should know how loving, and eloquent, and diverse they are!
And to have embraced your mother, and stumbled trying to find words other than "Inshallah" to each of your parents.
With affection,
Rubina Hendley
February 25, 2010
Dear Fahad,
It's strange to be writing you a letter, not knowing when or even if you will ever read it. It's strange too to think that on Monday nights, I stand with many others just outside the Metropolitan Correctional Center where you are held—we all hold vigil for you just yards away from where you sit—and yet I have no idea whether this piece of paper will ever make it to your eyes.
We have never met, and yet you are a huge part of my life now, Fahad. I first found out about you when I read the article by your former professor, Jeanne Theoharis, about your case in The Nation. I read the article with a mixture of shock, sadness and anger. But when it sunk in to me that you were sitting in lower Manhattan—about a mile and a half away from my apartment in midtown—I found myself enraged. Not that it would have been okay if you were being held in Idaho or Colorado or Kansas, but unlike the poor souls who are being held in the middle of remote areas of the United States, you are being held in a city of 9 million people who are sitting just outside your door. And you are sitting in a city that I think of as one of the few sane places left in the United States. It would have been hard to think about how to organize protests if you had been out in the mid-West, but here you are sitting in the city that I have considered home for the past 25 years and so I was outraged and wondered what we New Yorkers just outside your door could do to express this anger and protest the inhumanity happening in our own city.
Luckily, when I turned to allies who I work with at the anti-war group, Theaters Against War, they were equally enraged when they read about your case. And so, together with your remarkable family and the remarkable Jeanne Theoharis, we began to hold weekly vigils outside of the Metropolitan Correctional Center to shed light on your case, to attract the media, to reach out to people of conscience, and to bear witness against the inhumane and unconscionable confinement in which you are being held.
Fahad, you and I have never met and yet, in getting to know your family and friends, I feel as if I've had the chance to get to know you. Like everyone else who is thinking about you and who is outraged by what our country is doing to you and your family, I worry about your health and your well-being. I wonder how you have managed to keep strong through all of this. Having met your parents and brother, I think you must have a very strong inner core of strength that was shaped in part by their love and by the gentleness and the warmth of your family. But I think too you must be a remarkable man yourself.
Please know that we will continue to hold vigils for as long as needed. I cannot bear the idea of your indefinite solitary confinement and the long list of other injustices that you and your defense team are facing. It is hard to write such things in the year 2010—that you are sitting in New York City in the United States in the year 2010 in indefinite solitary confinement. This is torture and nothing less. And yet, here I sit writing this letter to you, talking about the torture under which you are held, mailing this letter to New York City, and there you sit, in the city of 9 million, suffering what no human being should have to suffer.
I hope you will stay strong. I hope your family will stay strong. And I hope—for the sake of saving the concept of respect for human rights and maintaining a humane society—that the United States will stop its policy of torture, will stop its use of secret evidence and will stop its decimation of civil rights in your case and in the all too many cases like yours. My anger and the anger of those who continue to come to stand outside the Metropolitan Correctional Center on Monday nights will not go away. And we will continue to bear witness.
In continuing solidarity,
Sally
February 22, 2010
Dear Fahad,
You don't know me, but I have been helping to organize the vigils outside the prison where you are being held. I know the details of your case well and speak about you by name often enough that I sometimes forget that we have never met. Each Monday we gather on a corner in lower Manhattan to hold vigil with the small but committed group of supporters, I wonder when I will get the chance to meet you, and hope when that moment comes there will not be a plate of glass or a prison wall between us. In the past few months I have gotten to know your family. I am about the same age as you and this is something I remember each time I sit and talk with your father. His warmth and kindness in the face of this unimaginable hardship has deeply affected me. The way that your family and friends have welcomed me and the other vigil organizers into your struggle has provided a chance that comes along seldom in our society without a fight—a chance to exercise our humanity; to embrace a notion of community that reaches far beyond the narrow confines of race, religion, or nationality; and to stand on the side of justice. In the coming weeks and months leading up to your trial on April 28, please know that while the U.S. Justice system remains stalled by deep rooted racism and Islamophobia, there is a growing number of activists, artists, students, educators, and community organizers working hard to expose the injustice of your case. I wish you strength.
In solidarity,
Brian Pickett
Brooklyn, NY
February 25, 2010
Dear Syed (or as I have come to know you through your family name Fahad),
I write with a heavy heart wondering how you are holding up under these conditions. I have over the past two years sent you a number of novels. Partly, I have sent these because, for me, these novels can be read over and over and can sit with you during this long and isolated period of confinement. These books have much to say about race and rights, about the nature of power and the possibilities of collective struggle and community. The books—and I don't know which have gotten through to you—actually form the reading list for a political science class I teach called "politics through literature" (which you never took with me but which focuses on issues of race and nation in a study of contemporary American fiction). They are also, to my way of thinking, beautifully written (and some of my personal favorites) and thus can be read for the craft of the prose. I have sent them to help keep your mind focused and because you are my student—and a student of knowledge, in the broader sense—I imagine, even in the midst of these inhumane conditions, that you are continuing to read and keep your mind active.
I have gotten to know your family very well over the past two years and they have become part of my extended family. It has been lovely to get to know your parents, to meet your niece and nephew, and to watch Faisal come into his own as a political activist and speaker. Prof. Robin, Prof. Okome and I formed a group called Educators for Civil Liberties that has also been highlighting these civil rights issues and has gotten the support of scholars throughout the country.
Please know that my thoughts and prayers are with you.
Jeanne Theoharis
Professor of Political Science
Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Raheem
Ash-hadu an la ilaha ill-Allahu wahdahu la sharika lahu wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu. Amantu billahi wa mala'ikatihi wa kutubihi wa rusulihi wa al-yaum al-akhiri wa al-qadri khayrihi wa sharrihi min Allah wa al-ba'si ba`d al-maut, la ilaha illa Allah wa Muhammad, Rasul Allah.
I declare that there is no god but Allah, He is one and has no partner and I declare that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger. I believe in Allah, in His angels, in His revealed books, in all of His prophets, in the Day of Judgment, that everything good and bad comes from Him, and in Life after Death. There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
I hope this finds you in the greatest of health and in the strongest of Imaan.
Dear Brother Syed Fahad Hashmi,
Assalam Alaykum.
As we write this to you, it's during these blessed days of a beautiful life from Allah swt. We may live very far from you, across distant lands and seas, but remember that one day all of us will be gathered together in one place and distance will no longer matter. That day, this life will be meaningless, except for the deeds we have done in it. This world is but a test and a huge test especially for you. We can't even begin to imagine how it must have been for you all this time! And throughout it all, there have been people from all across the world who have kept you in their prayers and have never forgotten you.
To be very honest, you haven't really missed much in terms of 'what's in.' Maybe the only innovative thing available today would be the iPod. Ha ha. (An iPod is a portable device that holds music, videos and games, and the newer versions allow you to use the Internet.) And McDonald's hasn't come up with anything new either. Global warming is on the rise, but we think people are starting to be a little more careful now, and there's a huge movement to save the planet. Whenever I [Shahi] go out shopping, I make sure I carry a cloth bag—little things we can do to help save the planet. And I [Iya] carry my copy of the Qur'an with me. Other than that, everything's pretty much the same. It hasn't been a very smooth ride for anyone, all over the world—poverty, recession, floods, famine, etc. But it's so nice to see that the people who are the worst-hit by all these things are the most optimistic! You may have heard of the movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness"—it's about a father and a son who have lost their home and have to live on the street but no one really knows because the father makes sure he goes to work every day and maintains some semblance of normalcy. As with all happy endings, he becomes successful, but doesn't forget the lessons he's learned along the way. It's a true story.
InshaAllah, things will get better and all the prejudice and racism will stop one day. Till then, we can only inform people that Islam is all about peace and global unity. And it is, isn't it? Imagine more than 1,400 years ago, an unlettered man helped bring this beautiful way of life to the far reaches of the planet. Chinese Muslims! Can you imagine that? They eat with chopsticks and pray to Allah just like you and us. Same problems, perhaps bigger problems. And may Allah swt ease all of your burdens for you soon, InshaAllah. You may have heard of the nature of Dua: "No believer makes Dua and it is wasted. Either it is granted here in this world or deposited for him in the Hereafter as long as he does not get frustrated." So all the Dua that you make now will not go in vain and, InshaAllah, if it is the best for you, Allah swt will grant it quickly. Each of us has a place in this world and a duty to fulfill toward our Creator. Perhaps this was your time to be closely connected with Him without the distractions of the outside world. We especially love this saying: "Of all the follies, the greatest is to love the world." (Umar RA).
Even in the small, everyday problems the rest of us have in our lives, at the end of it all, patience truly pays off. One day I hope you'll be able to look back on this and see that despite all your hardships, you never forsook your Lord and that He never forsook you. One day, InshaAllah, you'll be reunited with all your loved ones, and you'll be sitting around a cozy fireplace and catching up with all that has taken place in these many long days. We hope you're doing ok, Brother. Hang in there and don't ever let anyone pull your spirits down. Wise words we once heard from someone: "People can cage our bodies, but they can never, ever cage our souls." It's not possible. So stay positive!
A great man, when he was my [Iya's] age said: "Make your intentions sincere for Him and do not be angry with what Allah has decreed. Everything happens by the decree of Allah and His divine foreordainment. We ask Allah to accept our supplications. Mother, know that man suffers for his faith and continues to suffer until he walks the earth free from sin, so be patient and hope for Allah's reward in the hereafter. I exhort you to be patient but I know that you are as patient as a million mothers. O mother, I am patient and resigned to what my Lord Has destined for me and I was happy, all praise is due to Allah, that the last action with which he met Allah was martyrdom, that will help his sins to be forgiven if Allah wills."
Four years later, he said: "I'm a peaceful person. Give me a chance in life and don't believe what you've heard, and believe what you see with your own eyes. I never had a choice in my past life but I will build my future with the [right] bricks, and that Islam is a peaceful, multicultural and anti-racist religion for all."
And that man is Omar Khadr. So why do I feel so inclined to him? Because, after all these years of hardships, adversities, sufferings, tortures, grief and pain, he realizes that all of this is by the will of Allah swt, his fate and a blessing for him. Being in captivity shaped him into such a beautiful, strong person. He memorized the Qur'an while held as a prisoner; he exhibited patience and gratitude and never did he renounce his faith in our Lord. And in the same manner, you have been doing the same. As far as I know, you've been SO patient and appreciating the littlest things that may be of little to no value to us, merely insignificant to us. And isn't this how we should live our life?
You have grown from an amazing man to a very patient and humble being, MashaAllah and you only have Allah swt to thank for that. Remember, He only tests those that He loves and you are one of them. Everything in this life is a test and our duty is to fulfill our deen, love Allah swt, spread dawah and to make lots and lots of Dua. All the pain and sufferings you have endured is seen by Allah swt and He will serve justice and free you InshaAllah. Remember, this world is a test. The real life begins in the Akhira. So, just stay patient and make dhikr, love Allah, turn to Him, thank Him for all that you have and you will see that Allah will love you even more. Allah sees you, He loves you, He can hear you. You have thousands of supporters, both Muslims and nonMuslims. We would like to conclude this letter with an ayah and a sura from the Qur'an.
"Every Soul shall taste Death" [Qur'an, Surah Al-Imran]
And: "By the passage of time through the ages, mankind is in loss except those who believe, do good actions and help each other towards truth and consistency." Surah Al-Asr, Qur'an.
You make us want to become better people. :)
Your sisters in Islam and in Humanity,
Iya [Eee-yaa] and Shahi [Shaa-heee]
"What can my enemies do to me? I have in my chest both my heaven and my garden. If I travel they are with me, never leaving me. Imprisonment for me is a chance to be alone with my Lord. To be killed is martyrdom and to be exiled from my land is a spiritual journey."- Ibn Taymiyyah
"The one who is [truly] imprisoned is the one whose heart is imprisoned from Allah and the captivated one is the one whose desires have enslaved him." -Ibn Taymiyyah
P.S.: Eid Mubarak for all the Eids that have gone by.
Dear Fahad,
I am writing to say that I, and thousands of others, support you. I have attended a few of the vigils outside of the MCC on Monday nights and have learned a lot about your case and the injustice and inhumanity of your detention. When we chant outside of the MCC for justice and to "Free Fahad!," I sometimes wonder whether you can hear us. Hopefully this letter and many others you receive will get to you and you will indeed hear and feel the support, love, and solidarity from outside.
I've had the pleasure of meeting one of your best friends from Brooklyn College and one of your professors, and hope to meet you in person some day. Your unjust detention encapsulates so much of what is wrong about our government and its repressive and unjust policies.
I hope you are finding ways to feel peace and strength despite the horrible conditions that you are forced to endure. I hope you know that the people are with you, your community is with you, the movement is with you, and God is with you.
I am a turban-wearing Sikh and have faced a great deal of racism since 9/11, which is a part of the backlash and repression the Muslim and Arab communities have been subjected to. When someone calls me "bin Laden" or "terrorist" or tries to pull off my turban, I think about individuals and families who have been detained and deported simply because of their Muslim identities. I think about how an entire group of people has been vilified by our government and media as "the enemy." The struggles the Sikh community faces are inherently linked to the struggles of the Muslim community, and we are working here on the outside to unite our communities to build a stronger movement for social justice.
Brother, know that there is a growing movement to free you from this cruel and immoral detention. You are in our thoughts and prayers always. I wanted to send you one of my favorite poems by June Jordan, a freedom fighter from Bed-Stuy who is a great inspiration to me.
[The author included with his letter "Poem about My Rights" by June Jordan.]
Chardi Kala (with eternal optimism),
Sonny Singh
February 22, 2010
Dear Fahad Hashmi,
I am a writer, a political playwright, who lives in Harlem. I have been following your case since I learned of it last summer.
My initial reaction: shock, horror, outrage. While of course I was aware of and had written about the atrocious existence of the Guantanamo prison, I was stunned to discover such "Special Administrative Measures" were being applied just a subway ride away from me.
I had briefly met your parents and your brother last fall at a Monday evening vigil in support of you. Then, in January, I was among a crowd in court at one of your pre-trial hearings. Seeing you in the flesh just a few feet away from me after reading so much about your case, I was startled—the whole appalling, absurd situation had until that moment remained in the abstract for me. It had not truly become real until the moment I saw your face.
Please know that many, many people support you, and will continue to do so throughout this disgraceful miscarriage of justice. I wish you much health, strength and fortitude as you endure the remainder of this struggle, until the day (soon!) that truth and righteousness will prevail, and you will be released.
Sincerely yours,
Kia Corthron
Dear Fahad,
I write to you a letter to soar past the censors—wrapped up in your family's prayers, shrouded in an American flag, in the belly of a dove. What will it take for this letter to get to you?
13 stories up may as well be 13 feet below the surface of the sea; it is drowning in the sky.
I want to hear more about what you had to say, Brother Fahad (May I call you, "brother?"), the thoughts that make you a dangerous man. I do not believe in dangerous thoughts. You are proof that we still banish our heretics—what is more heretical to this society than a Muslim wearing a skullcap, a Muslim in a hijab, a Muslim at the airport? What is really on trial when a Muslim is a defendant? Is it the person or his or her religious views?
It seems as though there are suddenly quite a few Muslims on trial. Either the government can't figure out how to keep Muslims out of the courts or the government has decided that it can gamble on the biases of a jury.
Did you hear about Dr. Siddiqui, Brother Fahad? I doubt you did, and for that I'm glad. The strange story of her trial would depress you. Dr. Siddiqui was an M.I.T.-educated scientist who disappeared from the streets of Karachi in 2003 with her three children. Over the years, stories circulated about a specter of a woman screaming in far away secret prisons. Then suddenly, Dr. Siddiqui turned up in Afghanistan and the U.S. military claims she attempted to kill U.S. officers with a rifle during an interrogation. She was brought here, and tried for attempted murder of military personnel. A jury found her guilty earlier this month. Her defense team did a thorough job of defending her against the charges—but the circus that was her trial never addressed the real questions. How did a woman who ended up losing her kids (where are they?), her sanity (oh god, what did they do to her?), and nearly her life (who shot who?) get hauled into court for attempted murder.
I seek the answer to this question in the law: How do we put our government on trial for charges of torturing Dr. Siddiqui? Instead, I begin to understand why Dr. Siddiqui tried over and over again to fire her band of attorneys. Justice was never allowed into the courtroom in the first place. It was kept out through the rules of evidence, through due process and through the jury.
I wonder about the jury: Did they see Dr. Siddiqui as a person, a Pakistani woman, a scientist, with some unsavory views, possibly insane... or as a dangerous idea to be tried, convicted, sentenced, and confined?
I have been thinking a lot about your jury, Brother Fahad. (I am a law student at CUNY so that's how my mind works). The judge will give the jury instructions, and these instructions will tell them that they must follow the letter of the law. But the jury will need to see that the definition of "material support" is absurdly broad: "[A]ny property, tangible or intangible, or services, including currency or monetary instruments or financial securities, financial services, lodging, training, expert advice or assistance, safehouses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel (1 or more individuals who may be or include oneself), and transportation, and other physical assets, except medicine or religious materials."
The jury will need to see that the statute could not have intended to reach allowing a friend to store luggage containing ponchos and socks in an apartment. The government argued to the Supreme Court earlier this week that under this definition, legal services by a lawyer could be "material support." The jury will have to tell the government—This is going too far.
I want to be there when they pick those individuals, Fahad. I want to scrutinize each and every face. I want to see if there is that spark in those eyes that tells me that compassion will guide that individual out of the box that the law will try to create. I hope they are not the innocent ones, the ones who sleep easy and comfortable at night, who will mete justice in a way that allows them to stay blissfully ignorant. I hope for souls tortured by the things they don't understand, like what it is that brought you before them.
The jury will need to see that the government is really seeking to make an example out of you - if you are a young Muslim male, be careful who your friends are, be careful of what you say and to whom, be careful of what you stand for. If you are Muslim parents, raise your sons and daughters to live in perpetual fear, and fear for them. The government wants us to know how it exercised muscle to coerce your friend to reveal you, exercised extradition to pluck you out of another corner of the world, and brought you here to serve you justice on a platter—and that is because you're lucky. Do you know, Fahad, that you are one of the "lucky" ones? Your U.S. citizenship saves you from the indefinite detention of those held at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan—who are fighting just for the right to appear in court. I actually heard the government's attorney argue to three judges this January that the U.S. government has the authority to indefinitely hold people that our CIA and FBI pick up around the world and send to prisons it controls; This is the Obama adminstration's position, no legal rights, no access to the courts. The writ of habeas is centuries-old; it came about as a right guaranteed to the subjects of the king of England under the Magna Carta. Basically, we are a Super-Pirate. (I can't help but wonder what thoughts you are able to formulate about Obama with the little information that makes its way to you. Can we say that this is what SAMs is about? It's not a national security measure to restrict what you might communicate to the world, but it is meant to take away from you, the power to think critically, and to speak out. And this is while you are presumed innocent.)
You are meant to be an example to someone like my 25 year old brother, who hit the pavement and campaigned for Obama last November. I think he turned a blind eye to Obama's harsh words for Pakistan, hoping that when the time came, Obama would sweetly talk down the war hawks. I wonder what has become of "South Asians for Obama" as U.S. drones keep raining down on Pakistan, killing civilians. Do they really miss the mark? Or do they land on their target, a message to Pakistani civilians, that as long as the Taliban lives in your midst, you, too, are the enemy.
And that also is what I understand from our country's intention to prosecute you to the fullest, to confine you 13 stories from my sight. I think I'm being told that as long as America fears this so-called "terrorist" threat, I am not safe, my family is not safe, my brown brothers and sisters are not safe, if you call yourself Muslim you are not safe, and even if you don't call yourself Muslim but identify with this struggle, you are not safe. They took my name down and wrote it in a notebook when I went to watch Dr. Siddiqui's trial. No doubt, my name will be noted again when I come to yours on April 28th. I wonder, those of us who write letters to you, do our names go on another list? I wonder if I am just delivering another batch of suspects to the F.B.I.?
If I am, may they see who these suspects are—lawyers, journalists, educators, religious leaders, artists, and students. May they see that we are citizens of different pockets of the country, different parts of the world, and we are not deluded by our government's attempt to change you from a Muslim student of the world to a confederate of terrorism. (And let's not forget how "terrorism" has always been a tool of the nation-state).
Your father tells us that sometimes you think you hear buses on the street below—a little connection to the outside world. I hope you heard the roaring wind of "Free Fahad" that we sent, shouting on top of our lungs 13 stories below you on Martin Luther King's Day.
I hope these little things keep your mind intact and grounded and your heart soaring on your faith.13 stories up in the sky, and I hope you are not drowning but dreaming of the day you walk free among us again. As we dare dream also. No, not dream, but vow to fight, until the day you come home.
May these words of hope be the ones that your censor leaves on the page. The rest is the truth that your jailers will need to face.
Best wishes to you for now,
Beena
we are
by roopa singh
we are so blessed, so stressed
so blessed
is everything relative
your cell, is it as dark as the mind of hopelessness
your body, has it frozen in tortured place
your mind, disassociated but perhaps a bridge
back to the whole of you
back to the true of you
but now the true of you is all this too
why a nation state would foist his story
on you has no full answer
how is it that their enclosures provide no closure
when did freedom drum up fear
right now, right here
on the train there's not one smile
society so rank and file
what are we enduring
your cage is so real
and I wish out here we could feel
more
we are so blessed, so stressed
so blessed
Bismilahir rahmanir rahim
In the Name of Allah the Most Gracious the Most Merciful
Asalamualaykum brother Fahad I earnestly hope that despite your imprisonment this letter finds you in the best of health and iman (faith).
The reason why I am writing is simply because you are my brother in Islam. No other reason. Yet, saying that leads me to ask you to please forgive me for I should have written earlier, I am sorry for being heedless and selfish.
I do not know what to really say. I have not written a letter in a long time. I suppose a good start will be by reminding you about what Allah reminds mankind with in the Qur'an in chapter (87:16-17) He says: "Yes you prefer the life of this world, but the next world is better and more lasting." The comfort you can take from this reminder is that By the Grace and Mercy of Allah, your horrid situation will end, sooner rather than later. Likewise Allah's Messenger to mankind, Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) informs us that a man who has a life full of hardship in this world will be dipped into paradise, after which Allah will ask him "did you ever experience any form of hardship during your life?''—the man will reply NO.
It took only one dip into paradise to make him forget, just one. All the painful memories left him once he saw what Allah has promised to his obedient slaves. May Allah make you and me among them—Ameen.
I would also like to take this opportunity to remind you (and myself) of the purpose of life, the purpose of our creation; and this Allah has made clear in the Qur'an when He said, "I have not created the jinn and men except that they should worship me."
But what does this mean?
It means exactly that. Worshipping Allah, our creator, our sustainer, is the main goal in our life. So everything else is merely a means to be used by us (mankind) to achieve this goal. Everything such as food, drink, marriage, wealth etc. was made for this purpose—to help us achieve our purpose.
This is what gives us human beings true happiness and satisfaction, when we fulfill our purpose in life, when we have this God -consciousness throughout everyday of our lives. Then we start to see every situation and every person we meet in our lives as a means to get closer to Allah.
This and nothing else is what gives us human beings true happiness and tranquility, whatever our situation in life may be.
My point is that although your means are restricted in prison, you should not despair, for you can fulfill this goal of worshipping Allah and as a result achieve this tranquility and peace just as well, if not better, within prison.
Have you not heard what Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah who was also imprisoned unjustly said whilst in captivity "...I have in my breast both my Heaven and my garden. If I travel they are with me, and they never leave me. Imprisonment for me is a religious retreat..."
These are the words of a man who knew his purpose in life, who knew that although his body was under imprisonment, his soul was not. His soul was freer than a bird that has no home and wanders all day from tree to tree, due to the fact that he made sure that his short life was filled with the remembrance and worship of his creator.
Is this not your situation brother? Is not your body imprisoned?
If you give up hope brother it will mean your soul will be caged too.
Akbar Zab
PS: Dear sir or madam who proofreads this letter please, I plead with you do not stop this letter from reaching its target
Dear Fahad,
My family and I are sending you love, support and well-wishes from Sunnyside, Queens. We are Alan, Nancy and Ivan: two almost grown-up artists and an 11 year-old know-it-all. Ivan just had his 11th birthday on Friday, the 19th, and his best friend Nicholas shares a birthday with you. We are calling you family.
We and many of our friends have been touched by your case and concerned for you since first hearing about the mistreatment you face (on WBAI). We look forward to the day when we may press your hand in friendship and solidarity. We wish you peace, strength and hope. Many of us are working to see you freed, and to see you returned to a complete life. We have been gathering for vigils outside the prison, to remember you and to pay witness to the injustices committed against you.
We are strangers, gathered with more strangers, gathered around your family and friends in support for their/your struggle. We are unable to remain strangers. We are called close to you by your story, and ask for your friendship as we extend ours.
We are saddened by your suffering, but we refuse to let that be the end of our connection. None of us who have been touched by your case can be free until you are free.
Last night we lit thirty candles (and a few to grow on) to celebrate your birth. Energy and community we send to you for strength amidst the seeming isolation you face. You are not forgotten, and you will not be forgotten. We are outraged by the injustices you have faced. Know that we stand with you, we believe in you, and we actively long to see you free.
Om. Namaste. Love and Hope.
Alan Lewandowski
Nancy Heacock
Ivan Lewandowski
Dear Fahad,
I am shocked and saddened to learn of your case, and that you have been kept locked up in this way for so long. It is not right! I am so thankful though, that people are working on your case.
I cannot imagine what you must be feeling at this moment. I am sending you all the supportive and loving energy I can muster, in the hopes that it will help sustain you in some way. There are many people who care about you and your case. I hope you can sense that, and hope that knowledge can be like rays of sunlight for the moment. I will tell as many people as I can about what's happened to you.
Lots of love to you and your family—
sincerely, Parijat Desai
Asalaam alaykum my beloved brother, my name is Shareef Ibn Sa'ad, a young black brother originally from East Africa. Alhamdulillah, I have been Muslim all my life and I have been trying to practice to the best of my ability for four years, alhamdulillah.
I currently reside in London, UK with my family. I know you don't know me and neither do I know you but I just want let you know that I love you for the sake of Allaah. I have read a bit of your story and I ain't saying that I believe what these people are saying about you because I haven't verified it and like Allaah tells us in His uncreated speech, the Noble Quraan "If a faasiq comes to you with news, verify it." These people ain't even faasiq, they are worse than that; they are kuffaarz. So how can I just believe what they say like that? Their news needs double verification or even triple.
Basically, all I wanna say is that we are here for you and we love you because you're our brother in Islaam. We will make dua for you and you make dua for yourself, inshallah, because remember the Prophet s.a.w said, "There ain't no veil between the dua of someone whose oppressed and Allaah."
Finally, remember Allaah taught us what to do in times of hardship when He said in surat Baqarah,"And seek help through patience and prayer." May Allaah make your stay in there as a means of your purification from your sins, make it easy upon you, and deliver you from there as soon as possible, inshallah. Allaahuma ameen.
Ma'salaam ya akhy
Shareef Ibn Sa'ad
London, UK
Dear Fahad,
I do not know if this letter will reach you. But I dream that it can. Between you and the people who support you is an intricate system of walls and surveillance cameras and censors. So much violence I can't even begin to know. The jail is trying to keep oxygen, prayer, and embraces from you. It is trying to lock away life. I want to dislodge those walls with a roaring echo. I thought I felt the first hint of this the other night, standing with a group of friends outside the Metropolitan Correctional Center. We were holding candles for your thirtieth birthday. When a trumpet player lit the dark air with his song, I wanted to believe that the soundwaves would bend and stretch to fit between doors and bars and bring music to you. I wanted to imagine that the flicker of the candles could somehow reach your cell and permit you the birthday wishes that the prison tries to snatch away. I know it will take more than these nights of witness. If we want to dislodge these walls with a roaring echo, the roar must be oceanic, unceasing. For now, I will say: I want the wish for your freedom to be granted without delay.
Sincerely,
Vani Natarajan
