Moneeza Ahmed, a liberal human rights activist from Pakistan makes the following observation about it:During her years as an undergraduate and graduate student, Aafia was like a force of nature in her missionary zeal. She was very active in the Muslim Students' Association, in helping to manage a religious information (daw'ah) table in the MIT student center, in teaching Quran to recent converts to Islam, in prison ministry, and in collecting winter boots to send to Bosnia.
Candid? It seems so.It's interesting how doing any work around Islam or even apparently being part of the Muslim Students Asssociation is so easily linked to being a terrorist - I mean she was tabling in an MIT student centre and collecting money for freezing kids in Bosnia. Give me a freaking break!
It's sad that the article which seems to be from a progressive site still thought that it was important to mention that she was engaged in Dawah and a member of the Muslims Students Association.
4 comments:
The fact that Aafia was doing Dawah openly in a Jewish university is probably the main reason she was tagged by the FBI and subsequently abducted in Pakistan. She was quoted in the Boston Globe and it's pretty likely that this rang the alarm bells of the local Zionist community, who have deep ties with people like Rita Katz and Steven Emerson, whom the US intelligence agencies naively employ to come up with intelligence on Muslims.
Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that she was an activist because it tells us what an admirable and dedicated person she was.
By the way I am an MSA Alumnus. I was Publication Secretary for the MSA at Wayne State University in the mid-90s. I also go by Maria Hussain. Wa-salam
One additional point. I believe that it is possible that Aafia Siddique's arrest was in connection to Benevolence International Foundation, whose founder, Enaam Ernaout was sentenced to 12 years in prison in Chicago for the "crime" of giving land-mine-protective boots to Bosnians, some of whom were in the Bosnian army. Because these boots are military gear and not civilian gear, that is why he was charged.
The FBI stated that Aafia Siddique was under suspicion because she made a debit card purchase at a store that sold military hardware. It's possible that she purchased these steel-reinforced boots for Bosnia. I don't have any proof of that, but I highly doubt she would go to the store and buy weapons on a debit card. She probably assumed there was no legal issue with buying boots.
Karin, thank you very much for posting such valuable comments. They will help us to not only see your article in its appropriate perspective but also other related issues.
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