Who was Safiya Bukhari?

Safiya Buhkari worked to challenge oppression as a devoted member of the Black Liberation Army.  She joined the Black Panther Party for self-defense after witnessing poverty and police brutality against Black people in Harlem. For her courageous role in Islamic resistance to white supremacy, Safiya Bukhari was incarcerated and later placed in solitary confinement.

While in solitary confinement, she refused to live in fear stating “ I studied hadith (written traditions of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him,) on shirk.  I read the Qu’ran on faith and the oneness of God.”  Though solitary confinement has been deemed a form of torture, designed to break ones will, through Islam, Safiya Bukhari states “I grew stronger and my fear abated until it was gone.  I could truly say with conviction, with a rock-solid belief system in place, “There’s no God but God and Muhammad, peace be upon him, is His messenger.” With complete trust in Allah (swt), Safiya Bukhari escaped from prison.  Though Safiya Bukhari, would eventually be recaptured, her Islamic resistance to white supremacy should inspire us all.