Imam William ICNA Statement

All Praise be to Allah in every situation! These were the last words of Br. Mercellus Williams is also known as Imaam Khalifah. His execution was carried out yesterday, Tuesday, September 24, 2024, at a prison in Bonne Terre in Missouri, despite objections from the victim’s family and prosecutors who sought to have his conviction overturned. 

 

ICNA reiterates that execution of an individual without fulfilling all the legal requirements and evidences is the ultimate miscarriage of justice. If there is a possibility of error, Islamic jurisprudence leans toward mercy and leniency. The emphasis is on protecting life rather than risking the potential for injustice.

 

In Islam, the principle of avoiding the death penalty in the presence of doubt is rooted in the value of justice and mercy. This principle is well known in the Books of Fiqh “Avoid applying the hudud (prescribed punishments) in cases of doubt”;

 

This emphasizes that if there is any uncertainty regarding the guilt of the accused, the death penalty should not be applied.

 

In this case in question, there were several areas of doubt and uncertainty, including the most powerful evidence; the DNA that concluded that the evidence found did not match that of Imaam Khalifah. Yet there was this urge to carry out this execution. One wonders why!

 

The problem is that here in the USA, we claim to be champions of human rights, especially when criticizing others, but fail to uphold those same principles in our own practices. This contradiction between words and actions weakens not only our moral authority but undermines public confidence in the judicial and legal systems. Words and actions do not match!

 

ICNA offers condolences to the family, friends and community of Imaam Khalifa and call on the Muslim Community and people of conscience to ensure that such injustices do not happen again on our soil and for this, we have a lot of work to do.