The Fine Print | Notes from the Legal Director
June 5, 2025 | Day of Arafah | Marium Uddin
As we stand on the Day of Arafah, one of the holiest days in our tradition, marked by prayer, clarity, and deep reflection, we should force ourselves to reckon with the injustices and betrayals surrounding us.
Tomorrow, Muslims around the world will greet one another in beautiful, colorful garb, and with the salutation enveloped in smiles and embraces, “Eid Mubarak!” All the while, in Gaza, parents will bury their *children* – *yet again* – killed while simply racing in desperation to a supposed safe zone, a food site no less. I am reminded of Tom Studdard’s famous picture from the 1993 Sudanese famine and of Kevin Carter’s Pulitzer-winning image: a starving Sudanese child crawling toward a UN feeding center while a vulture lurked nearby. Carter ended his own life just three months later. These images and the atrocities they captured still haunt us, as do the wars in Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, and the faces of the Rohingya and Uighur. The echoes of Rwanda and Bosnia are not distant memories. They are warnings unheeded. And, once again, we find ourselves aligned with the perpetrators. The U.S. flag waves beside Israel’s, and here at home, we renew racist travel bans, barring the very people fleeing violence from reaching safety.
In this sacred season of sacrifice and remembrance, we confront the painful reality that oppression does not pause for our holy days.
Just this week, former U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matt Miller acknowledged that Israel is committing and has committed war crimes during his tenure while he smirked into a microphone, confirming what Palestinians, human rights experts, and communities of conscience have long insisted. His words arrive after 20 months of equivocation, denial, and complicity. As one commentator pointed out, such statements, however truthful, do not absolve officials from their legal and moral obligations. In this case, the suppression of truth or a delayed truth is even worse than a lie. The Nuremberg Principles make clear that “following orders” is no defense when war crimes are known and ongoing.
Our tradition, too, warns us of such moments. Narrated by Abu Huraira (ra), the Prophet Muhammad (saw), the Messenger of Allah (SWT), said:
“There will come to the people years of treachery, when the liar will be regarded as honest, and the honest man will be regarded as a liar; the traitor will be regarded as faithful, and the faithful man will be regarded as a traitor; and the Ruwaibidah will decide matters.” They asked, “Who are the Ruwaibidah?” He replied, “Vile and base men who control the affairs of the people.” (Sunan Ibn Majah)
These words are astonishingly on point. They predict and reflect our world — one in which power is decoupled from morality, where those most unfit to lead are granted authority, and where truth becomes subversive.
And, today, as we fast and remember the legacy of Ibrahim (as), we also witness the resurrection of policies rooted in fear and xenophobia. This administration’s renewed Muslim and African Ban has returned, cloaked in legalese but no less racist in intent. It recycles the same discredited logic that paints entire nations as security threats not because of any individualized conduct, but simply for being Muslim, African, or Arab.
This proclamation is not just bad policy, it is immoral. It violates international norms around asylum, risks unlawful family separation, and deepens the trauma for countless communities. The ban relies on outdated provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act never meant to authorize such sweeping, identity-based exclusions. And, as civil rights leaders have aptly said, this is not national security. It is national scapegoating.
At MLFA, we recognize these moments not as isolated headlines, but as interconnected struggles against systemic injustice. We understand the legal tools being weaponized and we are committed to challenging them with precision and principle. We stand firm with our partners in litigation, advocacy, and public education, determined to defend the rights of the most marginalized among us.
In the face of betrayal and cowardice from those in power, we remember the courage of the Prophet Ibrahim (AS) who stood alone, whenever needed, for truth. In the face of bans and brutality, we remember that the Qur’an describes human diversity as a sign from God, not a threat to be erased. And, in the face of treacherous leadership, we affirm the call to moral clarity and collective resistance.
May Allah (SWT) accept our prayers, strengthen our resolve, and bring comfort to every soul oppressed.
The Fine Print | Real power and protection is always hidden in the fine print. MLFA brings the fine print to life with this series of articles, cutting through the noise to break down the rights, risks, and realities you need to know. No loopholes, no confusion, just clear, unapologetic insight into the laws that shape the lives of Muslims in America.
