China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. These five countries execute more of its citizens than any other countries in the world, in that order. It is interesting to note that three of these countries are predominantly Muslim. While the Qur’an does allow state sanctioned killing in specific situations, Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl of the UCLA Law writes:

Entrusting the state to play this hazardous and often untenable role of carrying out the Divine mandate, if one does in fact exist, raises a set of theological and ethical problems that are not adequately addressed by simple reliance on procedural guarantees or by augmenting the integrity of the process that results in the decision to terminate life.

Last evening may have marked the first instance where Donald Trump’s words have come back to haunt him. Prior to last evening, Trump’s myriad offensive comments have had little effect on his ability to gain support among the American people and Republican legislatures across the country. Trump supporters either wholeheartedly embraced his xenophobic, sexist, racist, bigoted comments or routinely downplayed them by urging people not to take Trump’s words literally. Well, fortunately for those who still believe in the Constitution, Derrick Watson, a federal judge in Hawaii, decided to hold Trump to his words.

Yesterday, Donald Trump signed another Executive Order, aiming to ban Muslims from entering the United States. This order is a scaled-back version of the president’s first Muslim ban that prompted an inspiring wave of solidarity from American civil rights defenders of all backgrounds. Packed town halls, marches, and advocacy from the people pressured the government to protect our rights as Muslims. Eventually, the courts stopped the last ban in its tracks. To those who continue to stand for our rights, the rights of all the oppressed, and refugees fleeing violence, thank you.

The past few days have been a nightmare for those of us who believe in the fundamental values of this country: inclusivity, tolerance, and religious freedom. CAIR-Philadelphia, together with CAIR chapters around the country, has been working day and night to defend the American Muslim community against the actions of the new administration in Washington which, of course, follow from the most hateful and divisive presidential campaign rhetoric in living memory.

CAIR-Philadelphia was recently invited to help educators better understand the faith and circumstances of their Muslim American students. CAIR-Philadelphia Advisory