Adnan Syed’s (of ‘Serial’) Appeals Trial Begins with a Show of Global Support

Adnan Syed’s (of ‘Serial’) Appeals Trial Begins with a Show of Global Support February 2, 2016

Adnan Syed - photo courtesy of Rabia Chaudry's Split the Moon site.
Adnan Syed – photo courtesy of Rabia Chaudry’s Split the Moon site.

There have been too many times in the last 17 years that I thought, we thought, Adnan thought that everything would work out. That the system would get it right, that a judge would get it right. And every time, up until the past year, we were wrong.

That’s why every step of this case now is full of hopeful trepidation for us. A balance of hope and fear, which, ironically, is the Islamic attitude towards God. The hopeful expectation of Grace and Mercy, tempered by a healthy, respectful fear of not receiving that Grace and Mercy, for whatever reason. But, God says over and over in the Islamic tradition, Mercy is His default. He inclines towards Mercy. – Rabia Chaudry, “Split the Moon: House of Cards

“It took a lot to get here.” She paused, her voice becoming thick with tears. It wasn’t the appeals process. It was hard work by people like Susan Simpson, Colin Miller, Bob Ruff and so many others. “There are so many layers to this story that has caught global attention.

“I feel like it was meant to happen now.”

Speaking at a community event on the eve of Adnan Syed’s (of the Serial podcast fame) appeals hearing at the Dar Al Taqwa masjid in Ellicot City, Maryland, Rabia addressed a full room of friends, family, supporters, along with Yusuf Syed (Adnan’s brother), Saad Chaudry (Adnan’s best friend and Rabia’s brother), and Adnan’s mother. She also addressed thousands around the world.

I watched over Periscope as Rabia brought the crowd up to date on what had brought them to this moment, on how Adnan is doing and what the next few days could bring. Well, I tried to watch, as the video feed lost sound and shut down entirely for large swaths of time. It seems the interest in Adnan Syed was too much for Periscope to handle.

The news came in early November that the motion to reopen the post-conviction appeal was granted in “the interests of justice,” by the same judge who had earlier denied it, Rabia wrote in a blog post. Over the next three days, Syed’s lawyers will be presenting new evidence about his whereabouts on the day that Hae Min Lee disappeared and was found murdered.

“Syed was tried for Lee’s murder and found guilty in a case that included data from cell phone towers claiming to show his cellphone was near the location where Lee’s body was found,” but the reliability of that data as well as the lack of investigation into a possible alibi could be the key to overturning Syed’s conviction, according to this news report.

The next three days will be just about that.

I’ve been watching the global interest in Syed’s case and Rabia’s advocacy grow exponentially in the past year and a half. Truly it is remarkable. It is from God. Syed’s case was brought to the world’s attention as the first feature story of the Serial podcast. At the time, Rabia was one of my bloggers at Patheos Muslim and started blogging each episode of the podcast, drawing more and more people into the story with her behind-the-scenes posts as to what Serial was narrating. Soon Rabia set up shop on her own independent website where attention drew to a fever pitch by the last episode of the series.

Once the final podcast dropped, listeners were left hanging with no dramatic conclusion by host Sarah Koenig as to whether Syed was guilty or not. (Come on, did you really think she was going to solve the case just like that?). And they wanted to know more.

Lots more.

It has been nothing short of surreal and miraculous, watching Rabia leverage the continuing interest and move on with her own continuing investigation, along with the help of several others. Adnan Syed was no longer just her family’s friend, no longer just Yusuf Syed’s brother – he was everyone’s brother and friend.

And, in a time when anti-Muslim rhetoric and Islamophobia is poisoning the political and social climate of this country, the global support for Syed speaks volumes for those common human themes that bring people together. As Bob Ruff, creator of the Truth & Justice Podcast said in a Facebook update:

I’m heading to Baltimore to join many amazing people in prayer. A prayer for justice. It’s just hitting me now what a monumental moment this is. So many people have joined forces to help free an innocent man from prison. I am honored to have played my small part in that. But there’s a bigger picture here. Our nation is divided. Harshly divided. What divides us? Race….religion….sexual orientation….political party affiliation. The list goes on and on. For the last year, millions of Americans have joined together in this fight. We’ve put aside our differences, and more importantly realized that they don’t matter. We are all God’s creatures. He made us all. And what he requires of us is LOVE. Tonight Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc will all join together in prayer. A prayer of love, peace and justice. Atheists will add positive thoughts. Skin tone will range from white to black and everything in between. There will be straight people, gay people, transgender people. Republicans, Democrats, Tea Partiers, and Anarchists. While so many will spend their evening thinking about the faults of people different than themselves, we will join together. We will love. And we will fight…for justice!

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Here’s to praying for justice for Adnan Syed and Hae Min Lee and their families and friends who have stood by them for so long.


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