FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PHOENIX (August 1, 2011) – Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, a devout Muslim and the president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) issued the following statement regarding the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan:

“Today, we begin the daily commemoration of our Islamic holy month of Ramadan. We wish all Muslims a ‘Ramadan Kareem’ and a blessed and rewarding month of fasting and self-reflection.

During this, the ninth month of our lunar calendar and the holy month of fasting, we are all reminded of the truly important elements of our lives and how we can strengthen them. We are reminded of our good health, our family, a renewal of faith, and our personal relationship with God.

We are reminded of the sanctity and safety of this great nation which we call home and gives us the comfort and freedom to engage in every facet of the humble spiritual renewal that is Ramadan.

These are the values we all hold dearly, but may often come to take for granted.

As we abstain from food and drink during the day, we are reminded of our brothers and sisters of all faiths in Syria who are dying in the thousands in the streets of their homeland at the barbaric hands of their own government. May our prayers and our works be dedicated toward ending their misery and helping to bring them as quickly as possible the freedom that we are blessed with.

Foremost, the fast of Ramadan is a symbolic equalizer for all Muslims from every part of humanity. From the very rich to the very poor, the fortunate or the less fortunate, during this month we find common goodness in the challenge and rewards of the daily fast. At the end of every day of fasting, the hunger and thirst we share is a deep humility that allows us to share a common appreciation for the gifts we have at home and in this nation.

At the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, we will also pray for all those that lost their lives in the recent horrific tragedy in Oslo, Norway, perpetrated by Anders Breivik, who was driven by an anti-Muslim fascism that is the opposite side of the same coin of radical Islamism.

We will in this month renew our daily efforts to remind our brothers and sisters of all faiths that we as America Muslims not only cherish western freedoms, but that the solution to global Islamist radicalism must come from moderate, liberty minded Muslims from around the world.

The daily hunger and thirst and recitation of scripture in the month of Ramadan reminds us that all human beings are created equal. It is an equality that not only crosses social, economic, and cultural boundaries, but religious, political and geographical as well. It is a reminder of our shared humanity with every individual around the world.

It is with these thoughts and prayers in mind that we wish Muslims a blessed Ramadan and a rewarding and spiritually fulfilling fast this coming month beginning today.”

About the American Islamic Forum for Democracy

The American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. AIFD’s mission advocates for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. For more information on AIFD, please visit our website at http://www.aifdemocracy.org/.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Gregg Edgar

Gordon C. James Public Relations

gedgar@gcjpr.com

602-690-7977

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AIFD today joined a broad based coalition of American Muslim leaders of the American Islamic Leadership Coalition (AILC) to send a letter to President Barack Obama urging immediate action to protect the Syrian people. We urge you to forward this to your contacts in order to prompt the immediate attention of the Obama adminsitration and its need to act to help stop the atrocities in Syria.

— AIFD

Full PDF version here

Syrian calls for Liberty demand immediate U.S. attention

Assad’s continued attack on the people of Syria is barbaric

Washington, DC (August 9, 2011) – In the wake of continued violence against the Syrian people by the Assad regime, the American Islamic Leadership Coalition (AILC), a diverse coalition of over 25 liberty-minded Muslim groups and activists, drafted the following letter to President Barack Obama.

August 9, 2011

President Barack Obama

1600 Pennsylvania Ave

Washington, DC 20500

RE: American Islamic Leadership Coalition calls for U.S. action to protect the Syrian People

Dear President Obama:

The American Islamic Leadership Coalition calls upon your administration to take immediate action to end the Assad dictatorship in Syria. We believe that American credibility and our moral mandate to stand for universal human rights requires us to do everything possible to enable the democratic uprising in that unhappy country to succeed.

The death toll has climbed above 2,000. As you have said, the ‘true character’ of the Assad regime is now clear and it is appalling. On the other side, the citizens of Syria have mustered extraordinary courage to stand up to this evil.

We must stand with them. We must help the liberal opposition. We must say clearly and repeatedly that all of the Assad regime must go now. You have called for the downfall of the Mubarak dictatorship in Egypt and the Qaddafi dictatorship in Libya. Logic, consistency, and morality all require that you do the same regarding Assad in Syria.

The end of the Assad tyranny will greatly help America throughout the turbulent Middle East. A free Syria will significantly weaken Iran, Hizballah, and other radical Islamist interests and could shake the power structures in the Middle East for generations.

A broad spectrum of Muslim leaders in the U.S. and Canada calls upon you to do the following:

1. Clearly and consistently state that Assad must go;

2. Bring full and intense economic sanctions against all trade with Syria, including the energy sector, except for food and humanitarian relief;

3. Remove our diplomats in Damascus and dismiss all Syrian diplomats on our soil, as Italy has done. If Assad is truly “no longer legitimate” then his diplomats are also no longer legitimate and our diplomats can no longer legitimize him;

4. Demand the opening of Syrian society to media, NGO’s and international observers for accountability instead of Assad’s lies;

5. Support the legitimate, pro-democracy opposition, both inside and outside Syria. In this effort the full weight of U.S. support must be focused on the correct alternative to Assad and not on organizations tied to the Muslim Brotherhood or other groups that are not committed to the principles of genuine liberty.

Syria stands at a crossroads. The defeat of Assad would be a double victory, for both the Syrian people, and for the free world.

About the American Islamic Leadership Coalition (AILC)

The American Islamic Leadership Coalition (AILC) is a diverse coalition of liberty-minded, North American Muslim leaders and organizations. AILC’s mission advocates for defending the US Constitution, upholding religious pluralism, protecting American security and cherishing genuine diversity in the faith and practice of Islam. AILC provides a stark alternative to the Islamist organizations that claim to speak for what are diverse American Muslim communities. For more information on AILC, please visit our website at http://www.americanislamicleadership.org/.

AILC Coalition Signatories

Bahman Batmanghelidj, Founding Member, Alliance for Democracy in Iran, Virginia, USA

Khurshed Chowdhury, Ph.D., Maryland, USA

Manda Zand Ervin, President, Alliance of Iranian Women, Maryland, USA

Tarek Fatah, Founder, Muslim Canadian Congress, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Jamal Hasan, Council for Democracy and Tolerance, Baltimore, MD

Farzana Hassan, Ed.D., Past President, Muslim Canadian Congress, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D., President, American Islamic Forum for Democracy, Phoenix, AZ

Hasan Mahmud, Member, Advisory Board, World Muslim Congress, Dallas, TX

C. Holland Taylor, Chairman & CEO, LibForAll Foundation, Winston-Salem, NC

Malek Muhammad Towghi (Baluch), Ph.D., Liaison, Baluch Human Rights International

Jalal Zuberi, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA