A Chicago Muslim group inspired by veteran Black Power activists solicits money to empty jails based on religious obligation.
asserted
group → inspire → obligation
Believers Bail Out claims to have freed 300 Muslims from immigration or pretrial detention with $2.4 million since its 2018 founding, according to its website.
uncertain
Out → claim → website
The organization has enjoyed financial support from several Muslim and left-wing groups focused on criminal justice reform or resisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Washington Examiner found.
asserted
Examiner → enjoy → Immigration
Believers Bail Out also coordinates with a network of bail funds that gained steam during the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots.
asserted
that → coordinate → riots
The group’s leaders openly take inspiration from late Muslim leader Malcolm X and other radical Civil Rights era figures, even hosting a February video panel honoring veteran Black Power activists convicted of crimes.
asserted
leaders → take → crimes
Their old race-based Marxist movement, battered by FBI investigation and prosecutions, has now moved to the U.S. nonprofit organization sector through Believers Bail Out to advance the goal of abolishing America’s justice system.
asserted
movement → base → system
Believers Bail Out furthers this agenda by citing Sharia law, a set of rules that Islam says govern all of life.
asserted
Islam → further → life
The rapid growth of America’s Muslim population is renewing fears that Sharia could undermine American values, including in Texas, where Republicans are strategizing on how to restrict Islamic political influence.
uncertain
Republicans → renew → influence
funds its efforts with an interpretation of Sharia that deems virtually all Muslim arrestees as victims.
asserted
that → fund → victims
“It is in our capacity and our duty as Muslims to be a part of ending this unjust bail system that criminalizes poverty and is inherently racist in nature,” its website says.
asserted
website → end → nature
Donations for bond qualify as “zakat,” a mandatory almsgiving in Sharia law, because the detainees are both “poor and in-need” and “slaves or captives” based on Islamic scriptures, the group argues.
asserted
group → qualify → scriptures
The advocates’ immigration work is increasingly relevant as President Donald Trump ramps up deportations of people accused of jihadi-sympathizing viewpoints, who are often from Muslim regions.
asserted
who → ramp → regions
“We firmly believe that based on our understandings of the modern American criminal punishment system that Muslims held in pre-trial and immigration incarceration are captive and held in bondage (fi al-riqab 9:60) and can thus be freed (fakku raqabatin 90:13),” the website says.
asserted
website → believe → raqabatin
Believers Bail Out did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the Washington Examiner.
asserted
Out → respond → Examiner
The ‘movement elders’
Believers Bail Out was created by four groups: Sapelo Square, MPower Change, Sirat Chicago, and the Chicago Community Bond Fund, according to a left-wing magazine profile.
uncertain
Out → create → profile
The organization has since funded itself through fiscal sponsorship, a system allowing it to obscure its finances from the public by handling them through sponsoring charities.
asserted
it → fund → charities
Sirat Chicago served as Believers Bail Out’s sponsor as of 2025 after receiving funds from major left-wing charities specifically for the bail fund.
asserted
Chicago → serve → fund
The Believers Bail Out website also formerly listed the civil rights group Defending Rights and Dissent as a fiscal sponsor in February, an archived webpage shows.
asserted
webpage → list → February
Believers Bail Out updated the site to avoid naming sponsors after media attention toward its February panel, where speaker Dhoruba bin Wahad quoted a violent Islamic prophecy against Jews.
asserted
Wahad → update → Jews
Believers Bail Out also removed the clip from public view.
asserted
Out → remove → view
“Every living thing in the [Muslim holy city] and in Western Asia would speak out … every bush, every tree would say that there’s a Jew behind me — slay him,” said bin Wahad, a former Black Panther and Black Liberation Army militant.
asserted
Wahad → live → me
Bin Wahad was charged in 1971 with attempting to kill police, but a court tossed his convictions over legally questionable FBI tactics.
asserted
court → charge → tactics
The panel also included convicted police-killer Jalil Muntaqim from the Black Liberation Army and Jihad Abdulmumit, who served time for robbing banks for the militant group in the 1970s.
asserted
who → include → 1970s
Defending Rights and Dissent, Sirat Chicago, MPower Change, Sapelo Square, and the Chicago Community Bond Fund did not respond to requests for comment.
asserted
Defending → respond → comment
Former black power activists are among many criminals that some newer on the Left give “celebrity status,” said Manhattan Institute extremism analyst Stu Smith.
asserted
Smith → give → status
“Movement elders are incredibly important to younger organizers, not only for legitimacy but as sources of information,” Smith told the Washington Examiner.
asserted
Smith → tell → Examiner
“Even imprisoned figures like [former Black Panther leader] Mumia Abu-Jamal still have contact with all manner of activists.”
asserted
figures → imprison → activists
Abu-Jamal was convicted of a Philadelphia police officer’s murder in 1981.
asserted
Jamal → convict → 1981
The trend has continued for more recent defendants, Smith said.
asserted
Smith → continue → defendants
“Eric King is a good example of a militant who served time for throwing Molotov cocktails at a congressional office and is now traveling the country on a book tour,” he told the Washington Examiner.
asserted
he → serve → Examiner
University of Michigan professor Su’ad Abdul Khabeer, a Believers Bail Out co-founder, also wrote in a 2023 paper about her mother’s legacy working with the Black Panther Party and other groups in the 1970s.
asserted
Khabeer → write → 1970s
Khabeer’s mother once wrote that America has the “most racist, despotic, slick, sly, degenerate system in the world,” according to the paper.
uncertain
America → write → paper
Fusing Sharia with prison abolition
Believers Bail Out says it follows zakat eligibility guidance from the California-based Tayba Foundation.
asserted
it → fuse → Foundation
The foundation joined a March 2024 panel with Believers Bail Out endorsing zakat for criminal justice agendas.
asserted
Out → join → agendas
“While other organizations may reference our guidance, that should not be understood as Tayba’s endorsement of every interpretation or application of it,” Tayba Foundation chief operating officer Nabil Afifi told the Washington Examiner.
uncertain
Afifi → reference → Examiner
The policy focuses on providing Muslim prisoners with religious resources rather than bail, though it echoes the Believers Bail Out argument that the detainees are “slaves” or “captives.”
asserted
detainees → focus → argument
“Tayba’s zakat policy was written and reviewed by scholars,” Afifi said.
asserted
Afifi → write → scholars
“It should be read in its full context and applied within its intended scope.”
asserted
It → read → scope
The two groups’ interpretation reflects how some Muslims exploit uncertainties about Sharia law for political ends, according to Sam Westrop, director of a counterextremism program at the Middle East Forum.
uncertain
Muslims → reflect → Forum
“The Tayba Foundation appears to belong to the same obscure ideological network as Believers Bail Out,” he told the Washington Examiner.
asserted
he → appear → Examiner
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
