Allah says in the Quran Stand firmly for justice as witnesses to The Creator of all, even if it be against yourselves, your parents, or your kin; or whether it be against rich or poor, for The Creator can best protect both. Do not follow the lusts of your hearts, lest you swerve. If you distort justice, or decline to do justice, know that The Creator is ever aware of what you do.
With this principle in mind, an American Muslim human rights organization, The Aafia Foundation, Inc. (TAF) will launch in February to implement an educational and advocacy program based on the universal truth that true peace (for the individual and society) can only come through justice.
Twenty years ago The Peace And Justice Foundation (TPAJF) was formed as a small grassroots human rights movement, and ended up being on the frontlines of some of the major justice-related challenges in America today from police brutality and police reform issues to political imprisonment cases involving secret evidence. Last month The Peace Thru Justice Foundation ended operations to make room for a new Muslim-led human rights organization also based in Maryland. The Aafia Foundation, Inc. (TAF) is now a registered non-profit organization in the state of Maryland, and has applied for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.
We are very fortunate to have a capable and culturally diverse Board of Directors, and an equally impressive, culturally diverse Board of Advisors, states Mauri Saalakhan, President of TAF.
TAFs Board of Directors, comprised of respected elders and emerging grassroots leaders, is chaired by Baron Jamaal Bell; Hena Zuberi serves as secretary of the organization and M. Masood Rabb serves as Treasurer. The board also includes Dr. Imad ad-Dean Ahmad, Nisa Muhammad, and Sharmin Saddequee; while day-to-day operations are run by Mauri Saalakhan and staff.
TAFs Board of Advisors include Karima Al-Amin, Mansour Ansari, {Former US Attorney General} Ramsey Clark, Sheikh Zafar Khan, Dr. Sulayman S. Nyang, Imam Siraj Wahhaj, and Khalid M. Zaman.
The Aafia Foundation, Inc. (TAF) envisions a world in which universally recognized human rights are both the law and common practice of every land; its mission is to undertake human rights education and advocacy toward the realization of this goal. As the more comprehensive meaning of Aafia is the health that is inclusive of a person's physical, mental, and spiritual being, TAF will strive to facilitate Aafia for the social order in which we live, through a principled struggle for peace thru justice, notes Saalakhan.
TAF's methodology will consist of education and advocacy, with an emphasis on empowering individuals so that they can become agents of human rights defense and positive, transformative change wherever they may be. Its message will be aimed at citizens and civic organizations, religious institutions, relevant government agencies and non-governmental organizations.
Programming will include educational forums organized within the various sectors of civil society; non-partisan studies, research and analysis; social media outreach; publishing educational materials on issues of public policy; Broadcasting by Internet, radio and television; and First Amendment activities such as protests in the public square. As the organization grows and has the resource on hand to expand its focus, we expect to have experts and personnel capable of weighing into specific cases of human rights abuse at home and abroad.
Toward this end, supporters of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui are being asked to mark their calendars for four major mobilizations in four different cities next month. Rallies will be held to mark the 13th year of Dr. Siddiquis wrongful imprisonment (she has become known in Pakistan as the daughter of the nation).
The cities are:
Boston, Massachusetts March 8th at 4 p.m. MIT, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Boston MA
New York City March 11th at 4.pm Federal Building @ 290 Broadway
(Dept. of Justice, FBI and Homeland Security offices in lower Manhattan)
Washington, DC March 19th @ 12 Noon, U.S. Department of Justice (Penn Ave NW)
Fort Worth, Texas March 30th at 4 p.m. at FMC CARSWELL
The well-known and highly respected American Muslim scholar, Imam Zaid Shakir of The Lighthouse Mosque in Oakland, CA., has endorsed the March 2016 Mobilization for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.
For more information on the March Mobilizations, E-mail: peacethrujustice@aol.com
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