Welcome to the Alabama Chapter of the Council on American–Islamic Relations

“June 3, 2020

Dear Brothers, Sisters, and Friends:

As-salamu ʿalaykum.

We have not communicated with you in several days and write today to let you know why. First, we share the grief and anger over the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota and join millions across the country in demanding justice and protection from racism for Black people in Alabama and across the United States. May the coldblooded murder of Mr. Floyd bring real and meaningful change in our time. All of us at CAIR-Alabama wholeheartedly support the protests and demonstrations in response to this latest, and most grotesque, incident of police abuse.

Now we must tell you that as with many small businesses and, most especially, nonprofit organizations across America, the coronavirus pandemic continues to pose unprecedented public health and economic challenges to which CAIR-Alabama has not proven immune. We were excited about our prospects with the hiring of Hamid Khan as our new executive director. Hamid brought with him every qualification we were looking for and our hopes were high. Unfortunately, he came at the worst possible time. He could not travel the state and visit with people personally, which is a critical need for us. Hamid concluded that, without personal contacts, he would not be able to provide the services or generate the funds we need to serve the Muslim communities in Alabama at this time. He and the board further concluded that the community would be better served by a preservation of funds for a later time—as soon as possible after the pandemic ends—to resume operations. Hamid therefore resigned effective May 22.

It has been difficult, but we have decided that, until people can safely interact personally, we must institute austerity measures and reduce our services to a bare minimum. We will still offer free legal assistance for those who believe they have suffered discrimination but little beyond that so that, when the pandemic crisis abates, we will be in a position to resume our work. The board of directors will monitor operations and communications. Please email civilrights@cairalabama.org or file a complaint (see website menu) with any civil rights concerns. Our website will continue in a reduced format. All of staff have been let go.

We ask you to bear with us during this period so we might emerge stronger and serve our community even better.

Sincerely,

The CAIR-Alabama Board of Directors”