Dr. Yusuf Ahmad Nur PhD: We’ve Had Enough Death in 2020. Why Add More?

[Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص]

Dr. Yusuf Ahmad Nur PhD

I was in the middle of reciting Ya Seen, the 36th chapter of the Quran, when the executioner signaled to me that was enough. It was time to kill Orlando Hall. Across a strip of tape dividing us, Orlando received a shot of lethal injection before I could finish the verse’s final, essential line. “So glory be to Him in whose hand is the dominion of everything, and to Him you will be returned.”

Orlando lost consciousness while reciting the Shahada, as I, his spiritual advisor, had instructed him.

The execution of Orlando Hall on Nov. 19 was the first I had ever witnessed. As a business professor at Indiana University, I never thought I’d ever be in that position, nor did I expect to become a spiritual advisor to a man on death row. What struck me in the execution chamber was how surreal it felt. It almost looked like a hospital. Orlando lay on the gurney as if awaiting surgery, with tubes attached to his arm like an IV. A blanket lay over him, concealing the straps that held him down. The facade seemed deliberate. But unlike doctors in an operating room, the executioners — standing just four feet away from me — wore no masks.

The Bureau of Prisons had posted signs throughout the facility advising COVID-19 safety measures such as wearing masks, washing hands, and keeping six feet apart. They had also suspended visitation since March in an effort to curb the spread of the virus. But executions, despite being potential super-spreader events, continue.

Full Article:  We’ve Had Enough Death in 2020. Why Add More? (aclu.org)