Fresh Perspective: ICPJ Staffer Ahmad Rahman Knows Injustice

FRESH PERSPECTIVE

ICPJ staffer Ahmad Rahman knows injustice

By EMMA L. JACKSON

NEWS SPECIAL WRITER

From age 20 to 41, Ahmad Abdur Rahman was imprisoned for a crime he says he id not commit. Many would say there lies the crime.

But Rahman gained much during those years spent in seven Michigan prisons. He earned a degree from Wayne State University, converted to the Islamic faith, and acquired a score of supporters spanning the racial, religious, and cultural spectrum.

Released less than a year ago, Rahman’s path led him in June to a staff position with Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice in Ann Arbor, adding a fresh perspective to the program, according to ICPJ Director Tobi Hanna-Davies.

Rahman was bom in the Chicago area before moving to Michigan in 1970. He was involved in the Black Panther Party and participated in the organization’s raids on dope houses, persuaded that the black community needed to be purged of drugs.

It was during one of those raids that someone was murdered and Rahman was accused of aiding and abetting during the commission of a felony murder. In 1980, that law was ruled unconstitutional.

Rahman describes the support he received prior to Gov. John Engler commuting his sentence and ordering his release in 1992.

“I had friends in Detroit who knew my confinement was an injustice’ Rahman says. "The cause (for his release) began to pick up steam and various church members, black politicians, members of the Jewish community and the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan began to rally. It was an interfaith effort.”

The youthful 42-year-old displays no signs of bitterness, making it inconceivable that he spent half of his life behind bars.

“Bitterness can be corrosive. I studied contemplation and different spiritual states,” Rahman says. “Once I found the strength within myself, I didn’t have to walk around angry. I made prison benefit me. I think I put more dents in prison than it put in me.”

Ahmad Abdur Rahman