Press Statement Concerning Our Deseased Father

By Fathia Mohamed Yusuf
April 30, 2010
________________________
Our father, Mohamed Yusuf Bashir, a Muslim and Somali American passed away on April 7th, 2010.  He had a long battle with complications due to multiple strokes.  My late father was transported to Ohio from Lewiston Maine, to spend the last days of his life with his immediate family.  After our father passed away he was transported to Rutherford Funeral home.  Because of the passing of another Muslim, our father could not be buried until April 8th after Assar prayer. We arrived at the Ibn Taymiya Mosque in Columbus, Ohio, unaware of the events that would unfold this day. After Assar prayer, the Imam of the mosque Sheik Adam S Abdullahi took the microphone and shared some disturbing information. This is what he said
1. The Imam said that our father changed his name to a non-Islamic American name, although it is important to know that the Imam never met my father nor did he speak with any family member for clarification.
2.  He also said the deceased never prayed. Again he made this without speaking with the mourning family members who were present at the mosque at the time. Whether or not my father prayed or not prayed is not the issue.  The truth is that as an Imam, he should not be making such decisions without any clarification from the family. The duty of an Imam is not to pass judgment only Allah has the right to pass such judgment.  An Imams’ duty is to comfort and soothe the deceased person’s family and to pray for forgiveness.  
3.  The Imam stated that the deceased never fasted. (This again is another false statement only Allah could know the answer to this. Our father was a diabetic with a list of 26 medications that he took on a daily basic)
4. The further stated that the deceased never took the Shahada.  The congregation was very saddened to hear this and got very angry, and we the family were very disappointed to hear such blatant fabrication. He could have simply spoken with the family members for any clarification. A person in that position should not at all according to Sharia law refuse the Janaazah prayer for the deceased without clear evidence.  Because of these reasons he said WE WILL NOT pray Janaazah.  Imam Aden also said that our father could not be buried in an Islamic cemetery and that a man such as our father does not deserve to reap the rewards that are received through Janaazah prayer.
5. At no point was any of the information provided over the microphone by Imam Aden,  to the congregation was ever verified by the family members or friends. Our family was disrespected in a time of grief and our deceased father was slandered in a Mosque. After slandering our deceased father, the Imam asked for witnesses to prove our father proclaimed Islam by saying SHAHADA. At this point at least 5 t o 10 friends and family members stood up, many others were so shocked by the imam’s words that they were frozen on the prayer floor. Even after the imam saw that there were many witnesses to my father’s faith, he continued to question them in an accusatory manner and said he will not pray for the deceased. As a result of this, pandemonium broke out in the Mosque. Different matters were raised as potential reason why Imam Aden behaved as he did. The idea of tribal clashes and misleading gossip was mentioned.   However, the true issue is what happened in the Mosque on April 8th after Assar prayer was un-Islamic and unacceptable.
6. After the Imam was confronted by the community on the matter, the Imam claimed a man posing to be a family member, approached him and fed him with false information. Again this imam never bothered to verify the information with family members, including my mother or any of my siblings who attended at the mosque. Consequently our fathers Janaazah prayer turned into a Mosque riot.

The Imam’s justification for his action later was to say that he called an Imam at Maine mosque to ask whether he used to attend, and I wonder if this Imam recognizes me from his own mosque.
In conclusion we would cordially and respectfully request a full public apology from this man. Additionally, we request that this man receive counsel from all of the Sheik’s and Imams’ that sit on the Fiqh counsel in Columbus, Ohio.   We also want the man that told such horrible things about our father, the man portraying to be a Sheik/Imam apologize to the family and publicly announce why he had such ill will towards the deceased.
Sincerely,
Fathia Mohamed Yusuf
For further information on this issue, please contact Yusuf Family   at
Email: fathiayusuf@hotmail.com
614-546-7698
Columbus, OH