Majlis Ash-Shura: Islamic Leadership Council of New York expresses its sadness and remorse over the sudden death of Egypt’s first and only democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi in prison. His death came after six years of imprisonment where he was denied medical attention. The election of Morsi was a sign of hope to the people in Egypt and in the Arab world that democracy can be established and the prosperity of their countries can be achieved.
Unfortunately, Mohamed Morsi was overthrown and unjustly imprisoned when the power of the Egyptian people was taken away by a military coup in July 2013, undermining any hopes for democracy in the region following the Arab Spring. Shortly after the coup, reports stated that thousands of Egyptians who were protesting this illegal seizure of power were murdered in cold-blood in what is now known as the Rabaa Massacre. Since Morsi was overthrown, dictatorships around the region stepped up their political repression and human rights violations to abort any political reform.
While we offer our deepest condolences to the family of President Mohamed Morsi and to the Egyptian people in these troubling times, Majlis Ash-Shura of New York encourages mosques in the Metropolitan area to perform absentee funeral prayer upon Mohamad Morsi. Majlis Ash-Shura, an umbrella organization and representative of over 90 mosques and Muslim-led organizations in New York, also calls for an international investigation into the circumstances surrounding the sudden death of President Morsi and the violations of basic human rights of political prisoners in Egypt.