NJ Muslims Stand in Solidarity with Our Black Brothers and Sisters

By: Alaa Essafi 

The murder of George Floyd deservedly caused a widespread sense of urgency for change in the racist policies and practices of police departments across the country. This urgency also calls into question the active role our communities play in perpetuating the racism that continues to thrive in Muslim organizations, mosques, student associations, and community centers. It’s not enough to post on social media and sign a petition, not if it means we don’t take a long, hard look in the mirror about the ways we can purge our communities of the disease that is racism. We need to make sure we aren’t just in this movement to provide empty promises of support while our communities exclude, belittle, or discriminate against our Black brothers and sisters. 

The Muslim Network and CAIR-NJ released a letter of a solidarity with our Black sisters and brothers that has been signed by over 70 organizations, mosques, companies, and Muslim Student Associations. A signature signifies an organization’s commitment to publish their own statements of solidarity that condemn anti-racism and police brutality, exhibit active allyship and self-education, be more intentional about racially diverse representation in leadership roles, and uplift Black voices in our spaces. Importantly, the letter lists action steps that all organizations can take - both Black-majority Muslim communities and non-Black-majority Muslim communities - and the letter lists different action steps that each of these communities can take.

“It’s not enough to post on social media and sign a petition, not if it means we don’t take a long, hard look in the mirror about the ways we can purge our communities of the disease that is racism.”

Walla Elshekh, Director of Community Engagement at The Muslim Network, a writer of the letter said,“The goal of our solidarity letter is to provide a starting off point for organizations. 

The commitments entail a range of action steps like issuing their own statements and lobbying, but I hope that once organizations start doing this work they don't stop. I hope that leaders and organizations continue to practice self-awareness, I hope they are constantly checking their implicit bias in their professional and personal lives and I hope it leads to structural, financial, and cultural changes within their institutions.”

Additionally, Selaedin Maksut, Executive Director CAIR-NJ, shared, “As Muslims it is made obligatory on us by our deen that we proactively defend the rights and honor of the oppressed. Our Black sisters and brothers have endured 400 plus years of systemic racism, and as American Muslims we cannot sit idly by and watch as they continue to suffer.”