An Open Letter to Judge Daniel Dawson Regarding the Rifqa Bary Case
by Herbert I. London
Family Security Matters
The Honorable Judge Daniel Dawson
Justice Center
2000 E. Michigan Street
Orlando, FL 32806-4941
To The Honorable Judge Dawson:
The First Amendment speaks plainly and directly. Citizens of the United States are free to pursue
their religious beliefs or, if they so choose, are free to ignore religious belief. That freedom is
embedded in our way of life; it is not coincidental that religious liberty is mentioned before freedom
of speech and assembly. Moreover, the Constitution makes transparently clear that an established church
will not exist in this nation.
I state the obvious because as George Orwell noted at a moment of confusion the first duty of intelligent people is the restatement of the obvious.You, sir, are obliged to consider the case of Rifqa Bary, a young woman from Ohio, who left her Muslim faith and converted to Christianity. Such conversion is common practice in the United States and is doubtless a matter of personal conviction.
However, in Ms. Bary's case her conversion has put her life at risk. Apostasy is regarded as a capital offense in the Koran to be punished by death. Should you rule that family unification trumps religious freedom, there is the possibility Rifqa will be returned to her country of origin to face her imminent demise.
Recognizing this likely fate, she ran away from her Ohio home and parents hoping that the Constitution in her adopted country would serve as protection. That, of course, may not be the case; which, in my judgment, would not only be a tragedy for Rifqa, but a tragedy for America.
Our common law history does not impose or allow for the imposition of Sharia in the land of the free. The founders understand the need for the separation of Church and State, notwithstanding the role religion plays as a guiding hand in state related matters. But they could not and would not countenance the integration of the two as demanded by Islam.
As a consequence, this case involves more than one youthful life; it represents a defense of our Constitution and our way of life. Just as a Christian can covert to Islam; a Muslim should be free to covert to Christianity whatever her parents think and whatever the Koran indicates.
To suggest anything else is to allow Islam to be superordinated over our law and tradition. If there was ever a time to assert our beliefs and customs, this is it. Americans are increasingly unsure about what this nation stands for. But there really isn't ambiguity about this matter. Sharia is not our custom or our law and you, sir, should not recognize it as dispositive in your legal judgment.
Rifqa's cause should prevail because this recent immigrant is fighting for the most basic of American principles. She is our Joan of Arc and I ardently hope you will recognize the need to assert traditional jurisprudential precedent in this case.
Sincerely,
Herbert I. London
President
Hudson Institute
NOOR Islamic Cultural Center
Initial investigations indicate that Rifqa Bary’s family attend the Noor Islamic Cultural Center in the Columbus, Ohio area.
This mosque follows the doctrines of authoritative Islam and has been associated with certain individuals who are viewed as threats to the Unites States, and in fact have been deported or prevented from entering the United States.
In order to fully determine if Rifqa Bary would be a potential victim of an "honor killing", we call upon state and federal authorities to thoroughly investigate this Ohio mosque. Questions of the radical nature of this mosque center heavily on its leadership and sponsorship of extremist speakers, who have ties to the financing of terrorism and terrorist organizations such as Hamas.
In addition, the NICC is also linked to the ongoing investigation into the disappearances of young Somali-Americans. Some of these missing young men have been found to be in training at camps run by the Al-Shabaab terror organization, a group linked to Al-Qaeda.
NOOR’s Chairman of the Board, Dr. Hany Saqr, has been identified in exhibits produced by the Federal Government in the Holyland terrorism financing trials, as being a member of the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in North America. Most every Islamic terrorist group operating across the globe today has ties to the MB.
The long-term goal of the Muslim Brotherhood is the imposition of Sharia Law internationally, in every country and every culture. Jihad is the means by which they intend to achieve this goal.
A comprehensive report on the nefarious characters associated with this mosque is forthcoming.
For the time being, it should be safe to say, that anyone associated with the Noor Center (however innocently) is exposed to the most radical interpretations of Islam.
Under the most radical interpretation of authoritarian Islam, apostasy is a crime punishable by death.
In the case of Rifqa Bary, authorities should err on the side of caution and consider the risks before returning this vulnerable girl to this particular community.
Mohamed Bary and his wife Aysha discover their daughter, Rifqa is practicing Christianity.
Mohamed begins dissolving his business, Bary Gems.
Aysha reportedly begins packing the family’s belongings in order to return to their native Sri Lanka.
Rifqa flees her home and takes a Greyhound bus from Ohio to Orlando, where she is met by a Christian couple she has been corresponding with on Facebook.
Beverly and Blake Lorenz of the Global Revolution Church (GRC) take the frightened teen into their home in order to give her shelter and find official help for her.
Mohamed Bary’s business, Bary Gems, is officially dissolved.
The business had three employees and gross annual receipts of nearly $250,000.
News of Rifqa’s disappearance becomes a television news story .
Newspaper coverage of the missing teen reveals claims of Rifqa:s friends that perhaps the trouble in the family is related to a quarrel over religion.
Friends claim Rifqa was abused, and frightened of her parents.
Police discount these claims, suggesting that the Barys are loving parents who miss their daughter and would never hurt her.
These conclusions are drawn prior to any actual police contact with Rifqa herself.
Pamela Geller, editor of Atlas Shrugs, leads the effort to draw attention to Rifqa’s case in the blogosphere.
Geller’s site has also prominently featured the horrific honor killing stories of Sarah and Amina Said, and Aqsa Parvez - young girls like Rifqa, who were murdered by their fathers.
Rifqa’s first custody hearing is held in Orlando.
Florida’s department of Children and Families places the teen with a local foster family.
Contrary to obsessive media fascination with the Lorenzes and their church, the foster family has no relation to the Blakes, and is not affiliated with the GRC.
Rifqa’s whereabouts become publicly known when a video interview with Rifqa is posted on YouTube.
The man with his arm around Rifqa is Pastor Lorenz.
Also in the background is Usama Dakdok, founder of the Straight Way of Grace Ministry, who studied Islam extensively in his home country of Egypt.
This video is produced prior to the August 10th custody hearing.
Local Orlando news organizations begin broadcasting information on the story, and the story goes national with coverage from Fox News.
Orlando attorney John Stemberger offers to represent Rifqa pro-bono and preparations are undertaken for the upcoming August 21st hearing to determine whether the State of Florida has jurisdiction in the Rifqa Bary case.
This is significant for Rifqa, who is now under the protective custody of DCF, with a guardian-ad-litem, and the added protection of counsel who will be her strongest advocate - regardless of political, media, or public pressures.
This is the big day for Rifqa, as the much anticipated hearing takes place.
There are demonstrations of support outside the courthouse, and a full-court press compliment covering the story.
Inside the courtroom, DCF Secretary George Sheldon attends the proceedings with DCF counsel and his top staff.
It is a rare occurrence for the Secretary to attend such hearings.
The Bary family arrives from Ohio.
The parents, having declared themselves to be indigent, have been provided with attorneys at Florida taxpayer expense.
Judge Daniel Dawson determines that Florida does indeed have jurisdiction in the matter, by virtue of the fact there is no open case involving Rifqa in Ohio.
He further asks for an FDLE investigation of Rifqa’s claims based on the petition presented; as well as copies of the Bary Family visas and passports in order to properly determine the immigration status of the Barys.
These documents are to be produced at the upcoming September 3rd hearing he scheduled.
Additionally, Rifqa and her parents make statements to the court.
Rifqa declines to meet with her parents, agreeing to visit with her brothers, though.
Visits with Rifqa will be supervised by DCF and videotaped in a safe location.
Rifqa is safe with her foster family, but she is surrounded by a legal and media storm.
Having predicted that Rifqa would be returned to Ohio immediately after the August 21 jurisdiction hearing, the media are in shock!
Much of the mainstream coverage becomes more pronouncedly doubtful of Rifqa and her claims.
Her parents are repeatedly quoted as saying they love their daughter and have no problem with her conversion.
But where is the independent media investigation of the radical mosque these same parents belong to?
There are allegations Rifqa was brainwashed or kidnapped by crazy Christian cultists.
There is no evidence of this, and yet the allegations are repeated as fact.
In fact, the smearing of Christians is the media strategy of CAIR (see this article).
Attorney John Stemberger submits a comprehensive report on the Noor Islamic Cultural Center (NICC) to the court, and releases his investigative findings to the media (insert link).
It is hoped the court will recognize the relevance of this report to Rifqa’s case and the potential danger she faces from the radical Islamic community she ran away from – and decide it is reasonably and sensibly safer for her to remain in Florida.
Fathima Rifqa Bary is a pretty, outgoing seventeen year old girl from New Albany, Ohio, a comfortable middle class suburb of Columbus.
Rifqa completed her Junior Year at New Albany High School, a nationally recognized school of excellence, where she was a model student. She earned good grades, was a popular cheerleader, and even held a part-time job at a local restaurant.
When you see photos of Rifqa, you can just imagine her preparing for college while participating in such traditional Senior Year activities as Homecoming and Prom. But the promising and idyllic image of Rifqa's all-American-girl life was publicly shattered this summer when the teenager abruptly fled her Ohio home in fear for her life and surfaced in Orlando, Florida three weeks later.
As it turned out, Rifqa was living a private life and was constantly fearful of being discovered. When this secret was exposed to her parents by members of the Bary family's religious congregation - threats were made that scared Rifqa to the point where she felt forced to undertake drastic measures to save herself.
Her secret? Her crime? She converted from Islam to Christianity. Rifqa is an apostate and guilty of treason under the Islamic Code of Law, Sharia. The penalty according to the Koran and supporting historical and contemporary Islamic Jurisprudence is death.
In her own words, Rifqa elaborates on her fears of being a victim of honor killing: "I was threatened by my dad," Rifqa told media. "I had a laptop, and he took that laptop and waved it in the air and he was about to beat me with it, and he said, ‘ If you have this Jesus in your heart, you're dead to me. You're not my daughter.’ And I refused to speak but he said, ‘I will kill you. Tell me the truth.’ So I knew that I had to get away."
“ In 150 generations in my family no one has known Jesus - I am the first one. Imagine the honor in killing me, ” she said in a video interview now posted on YouTube.
Currently Rifqa is safe in Orlando under the protection of Florida's Department of Children and Families (DCF). She would like to remain with the foster family she's staying with now, but her fate is yet to be determined by Juvenile Court Judge Daniel Dawson. He must decide if Rifqa should remain in Florida, pending further investigation of affidavits in submission to the Court, or returned to the custody of DCF in Ohio. Ohio authorities are anxious to reunite Rifqa with her family - a move that is terrifying for Rifqa.
The next hearing for Rifqa's case will be held in Orlando on September 3, 2009. The Florida Security Council (FSC) is urging supporters and activists all over the state to contact Governor Charlie Crist and urge him to allow Rifqa to stay in Florida. There will also be demonstrations of support at the courthouse to help raise public awareness of Rifqa' case.
Please check this website for updates of court dates and times, in order to participate!