Dear Friends, Family, and Community Members,

The American Muslim Bar Association (AMBA) is reaching out with a heavy heart, but with an unwavering resolve to seek justice for Shaykh Husayn Mekki, a beloved educator, chaplain, counselor, and resident scholar who has spent his life serving others.

Born and raised in Philadelphia to African-American convert parents, Shaykh Husayn was raised with a profound commitment to faith, education, and community advocacy. Following in his late parents’ footsteps, he has dedicated more than 18 years to uplifting Muslim communities across the United States, including in Maryland, Texas, and Colorado. His service has included educational leadership as a teacher, academic coordinator, department head, assistant principal, and principal, while also pursuing doctoral research in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies focused on improving Muslim schools in America.

Beyond the classroom, he has guided families through marriages, bereavement, hospital visits, convert care, and crisis, while also supporting survivors of domestic violence, addressing hunger and homelessness, challenging racism and accessibility barriers, and investing deeply in youth and vulnerable community members.

Despite a lifetime of upstanding citizenship and selfless leadership, Shaykh Husayn and his family have recently been subjected to a deeply traumatic, highly disproportionate, and unjust ordeal. His outspoken activism and identity as a prominent Black Shia Muslim scholar made him a target of false allegations rooted in systemic racism, anti-Muslim, and anti-Shia sentiments. These allegations falsely portrayed his family as religious extremists and wrongly accused him of attempting to abduct his own children overseas, despite his full compliance with custody arrangements and the absence of evidence of wrongdoing.

For months, the family home was placed under invasive surveillance, with law enforcement interrogating neighbors, going through trash, and harassing the family. The situation escalated into a horrific SWAT-style raid: Shaykh Husayn was followed across town, pulled over, and arrested by more than six officers without being told why, then double-cuffed near his home despite offering no resistance. Soon after, 10 to 15 officers blocked off the family’s cul-de-sac, surrounded the home, shattered the glass patio door, and pointed firearms inside. His three daughters, who live with disabilities and already carry sensitivities from past hardships, were terrorized by this violent and unnecessary show of force.

This horrific injustice is not only Shaykh's problem, but a community problem: if his religious liberties can be so easily assaulted, then the religious freedoms of other Muslims will be jeopardized.

We urgently need your support to help Shaykh Husayn Mekki and his family cover legal fees as they seek accountability, justice, and the long process of healing from this unimaginable violation of their safety and civil rights. He is facing a felony charge that carries a conviction of up to 3 years in prison.

Every contribution will help ease the financial burden of fighting these false allegations and pursuing justice, while giving the family space to recover with strength and dignity. If you are able, please give what you can and share this fundraiser with others. Your support, prayers, and solidarity will mean so much to a family that should not have to face this alone.