After the death of George Floyd, many Muslims in the US have joined Black Lives Matter solidarity movements and rallies around this country.
They have spoken against racial inequality and police brutality in sermons, lectures, and statements.
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In the latest effort, several American Muslim groups have collaborated to voice out their fight against racism and police brutality.
In Chicago, a billboard reading “Islam prohibits RACISM” went up recently.
“The billboard is symbolic of the need to maintain awareness in our community of the presence of systemic racism,” said Gregory Abdullah Mitchell, ABC Chicago News reported.
New Campaign
The billboard is a part of the campaign by the Islamic groups GainPeace, the Council for Social Justice and the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago.
“We all acknowledge that this country was built on the backs of slaves. But the reality is racism in this country is still prevalent to this day,” said activist Aminah Ahmed.
The billboard quotes a part of a saying of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him):
“A white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action.”
Similar billboards went up in Atlanta and Canada. The organizations also mailed 50,000 postcards like these denouncing racism to homes around the country.
“We as Americans, we as people of concern are in solidarity with people of color. People of all races and people of all backgrounds,” said Dr.Sabeel Ahmed with GainPeace.
This is not the first campaign by GainPeace to educate people about Islam.
In February 2019, the group put a billboard campaign to inform people about hijab and counter misconceptions triggered by politics.
Another campaign, titled “Truthful Man”, came up in 2017 to educate Americans on the true manners of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).