In a time of heightened national and international surveillance, I share this reflection as a brown, visibly Muslim woman and as a naturalized citizen of this country. Many people like me are silenced today, but here I hope to whisper for my many colleagues and students on this campus on visas, those with vulnerable immigration statuses, and permanent residents, but particularly to their allies — who may never experience our plight but care enough to dig into their inner wells of humanity and put themselves at risk to stand up against injustice.
I “bought” Rabbi Seth Wax’s and a couple of Jewish students’ chametz, food with leavening, for Passover. A Jewish person is not allowed to own leavened bread during Passover, but is allowed to sell their leavening to another person and buy it back. The day before Passover began, as we sat down to sign the contract. Seth and I exchanged in a moment of banter in which I told him that, according to the Quranic perspective, I was colluding with him to “trade the verses of God for a small price” (Quran 5:44). Yet I eventually decided to sign the contract with the intention of avoiding wastefulness. The experience made me think how important it is for our students to see Seth’s and my friendship and alliance in a world where we may be mistrustful of one another based on our political or, more unfortunately, our religious affiliations.
I am writing this while preparing to leave for the Passover seder, held to celebrate the Jewish people’s liberation from slavery. At a time when liberation and freedom are precarious for so many, I recognize that, now more than ever, we have to show up for each other as allies, especially when many of us are physically vulnerable in our communities.
There was such an ally in the Islamic history found in the books of Sīra, collection of verified anecdotes documenting the life of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, that help us contextualize Islam’s teachings. Mut’im ibn ‘Adī — a non-Muslim leader of the Quraysh, the dominant tribe of Mecca, where Islam first emerged and early Muslims faced persecution — could have chosen to maintain the status quo because he was not actively being harmed, but instead chose to stand up for the persecuted Muslim minority even when it was illegal to do so, according to Sīra ibn Hishām. After seven years of persecution, Prophet Muhammad’s familial clans of Banī Hāshim and Banī al-Muṭṭalib sought to protect him from the rest of the Quraysh. In retaliation, the Quraysh enacted a treaty among themselves and their Arab allies that confined Muhammad’s people to the valley and restricted any trade or marriage with them in an attempt to boycott and starve them out.
This blockade of the valley lasted for three years. Many men, women, and children died from the resulting famine. It was during this time that Hishām b. ‘Amr related to Banī Hāshim said to Zuhayr b. Abī Umayyah al-Makhzūmī, a paternal cousin of Prophet Muhammad, — both non-Muslims, “O Zuhayr, are you content to eat food, dress in clothes, and marry women, while your maternal uncles cannot buy or sell, betrothed or betrothed?” To which Zuhayr responded, “Indeed I am one person, by God, if there were with me another person, I would have risen to repeal the treaty until it was revoked.” “You have found a man,” Hishām replied, “Myself.” Two allies became five including Mut’im ibn ‘Adī. They then stood up and spoke at the Ka’ba, the house of God believed to be constructed by Abraham, and proclaimed that they would “not sit until this severing and oppressive treaty is torn.” (Sīra ibn Hishām, 1:397). After an argument with the Quraysh, Mut’im ibn ‘Adī stood up, approached the document, and ripped it apart. It was Mut’im ibn ‘Adī and his supporters who asked Muhammad’s people to return to their homes in Mecca. It was also Mut’im ibn ‘Adī who granted protection to Muhammad when he returned to Mecca after being denied amnesty in the city of Taif. Muhammad could have been tried for treason in Mecca since Tāif was a rival, and Mut’im ibn ‘Adī again stood up to allow Muhammad’s safe passage back to Mecca. Even though Mut’im ibn ‘Adī never embraced Islam, Prophet Muhammad honored him and respected him even after his death by declaring that had Mut’im ibn ‘Adī interceded for the prisoners of war from Quraysh after the Muslims’ first battle with them at Badr, he would have freed them all” (Sahih Bukhāri, 3139).
After debilitating panic descended on campus last Wednesday, due to the unsubstantiated reports of ICE agents, being in community with one another is the best thing we can do to establish trust and allyship despite our differences. We are in a time in which allies, who would probably never be targeted personally, have to contend with their privilege. We must all individually and collectively assess our relationship with the law and choose discomfort, just as Mut’im ibn ‘Adī did. He chose discomfort to stand up against oppression — even though it personally did not affect him — because he followed his morals.
We should all learn our constitutional rights. Informal and formal allyship groups, where students and community members can gather in common trust, are already emerging, but we can also start by checking in on one another and by simply accompanying each other, physically or emotionally on this frightening journey. I hope that our allies will leverage their privilege wherever they have it in ways that help the most vulnerable members of our community. In moments of crisis, our greatest responsibility is to show up and be present in mind and spirit for those whose freedoms are threatened.
Sidra Mahmood is the College’s Muslim chaplain.
