National Weekend of Faith in Action on the Death Penalty
Lubna A. Alam, Amnesty International Activist, Ballwin, Missouri
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Whosoever of you sees an evil action, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart- and this is the weakest of faith."
Working to change the evils and injustices in the world through my actions, words, and heart are a key part of my faith as a Muslim. Being a practicing Muslim does not just include the physical act of praying, but for me includes working to change and challenge injustices wherever they may be, both here and abroad. In Islam, the concept of standing for justice is so strong that the Qur'an exhorts Muslims to be just witnesses for the sake of God even if this justice hurts oneself. The universal principles of human rights have been enshrined in Islam since its inception, and this Islamic emphasis on working for justice and human rights has led to my involvement with Amnesty International.
My involvement with Amnesty began, like so many others, in high school. By the time high school began, my religion had already impressed upon me the importance of thinking and working for other people. As I sat in that small Parkway West High classroom reading the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for the first time, I remember thinking to myself that Islam had guaranteed these rights to all of humanity fourteen centuries before this declaration was even written. After that realization, I energetically involved myself in all aspects of Amnesty's work. Despite my enthusiasm, there was one issue that, as a Muslim, I did not feel comfortable with - the death penalty. There were many other students who were also uncertain of their feelings towards capital punishment, and, as a result, our Amnesty chapter studiously avoided all mention of it.
However, subsequent events led me to a deeper examination of the death penalty. In my senior year, I was also involved with Speech and Debate, and as luck would have it, one of our debate topics that year was whether or not capital punishment is justified. In the course of preparing both pro and con arguments, my own conscience was engaged more than on any previous issue. My opinion kept changing and by the end of the debate season, I was even more confused than before. I saw the racism and myriad problems within system, yet I was hesitant to voice my opposition since capital punishment exists in Islamic law. This internal struggle did not end with high school graduation and when I began university, my dilemma with capital punishment was still on my mind.
When I began college at Saint Louis University, I initially stayed away from SLU's Amnesty chapter. I was still uncertain about my views on the death penalty, and since SLU's chapter was particularly vocal on this issue, I decided to keep away until I had resolved the issue with my Islamic faith. I was still active and involved in other human rights issues, but the death penalty was still my one sticking point.
In order to overcome this intense intellectual and spiritual dilemma, I embarked upon a more in-depth study of Islamic law and its view on capital punishment. I quickly learned that within the Islamic legal system, there are so many checks and balances that must be in place before capital punishment would even be considered. In this country, where the justice system has been proven to be full of racial and economic biases, enforcing the death penalty would be a grievous error. Within the wider world, the death penalty is often applied in an arbitrary, political manner to execute dissidents or activists.
As a Muslim, there was no way I could support the death penalty, knowing what
I know now about the Islamic viewpoint and the many problems in the world's legal
systems. The more I hear about the problems in the American legal process, the
innocent people put on death row, and the current administration's plans to expand
the application of the death penalty, the more I have become convinced of the
importance of my role, as a Muslim American female, to act, to speak out against,
and condemn in my heart the injustice of capital punishment in America.
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