Salaams, 

Thank you for your continued support of Believers Bail Out. In the 3 years that we’ve been organizing, you’ve helped us free 55 believers and support an additional 386 of our incarcerated siblings. Mashallah!  

As we gear up for another Ramadan, we’d like your help to make our month of fundraising successful. Our campaign launches today at launchgood.com/BBO2021. Here are ways you can support us this Ramadan: 

• Donate! Early donations create buzz and encourage people who are browsing through fundraisers to donate as well. Can we count on you to be among the first to support us?

• Create your own BBO fundraiser. This year, community members can host their own campaigns for BBO with goals of raising money or reaching a target number of supporters. Follow these easy directions to set up your own fundraising page for BBO.

• Host a BBO iftar for your loved ones to talk about mass incarceration. 

• Finally: don’t forget to signal boost our posts on social media, and tell all your friends and family about us!  

Can we count on your support this Ramadan? 

BBO Team

Note: This is the last update we will be sending through LaunchGood this year. To join our mailing list and continue to stay informed, please sign up on front page of https://believersbailout.org/

Salaams BBO supporters,

We’re happy to announce that the Believer’s Bail Out Ramadan Campaign was a huge success! Thanks to your generosity and support, we were able to raise $123,262 from over two thousand donors -- with donations still trickling in! We far surpassed our initial goal of $15,000. Thank you also for your efforts at raising awareness. Alhamdullilah!

With our funds, we have so far paid bonds for two brothers and are assisting the Chicago Community Bond Fund in facilitating another brother's release with post-bond support. These men are cherished by their families and communities; they are fathers, partners, and active volunteers. Our team is currently reviewing other cases. We will continue to support others in their struggles for freedom, insha’Allah.

Our work so far has focused on Cook County, Illinois, but we are also in the process of developing an agreement with the National Bond Fund Network to make our funds available to eligible Muslims held in pre-trial detention outside of the Chicago area. We are also exploring the possibility of using the funds we have raised to help Muslims with immigration bonds. Please get in touch if you know of someone who might need our help in Cook County (mention Believers Bail Out) or elsewhere.

We will continue bailing out believers using the funds we collected and resume our active fundraising next Ramadan. In the meanwhile, we are trying to educate ourselves and our communities and build a movement to end money bail and mass incarceration.

We encourage you to get involved where you live. Here are some ways to start:

• Become a regular donor to community bail/bond funds in your area.

• Donate to support groups that provide commissary funds, books/educational materials, and supplies to individuals who are incarcerated. There isn’t a national network but projects include http://dcbookstoprisoners.org and https://prisonbookprogram.org. You can search online for one closer to you. The Tayba Foundation also provides education and support to incarcerated Muslims.

• Volunteer with a community visitation program, a particular need in immigration detention contexts (try Freedom for Immigrants or Detention Watch Network).

• Donate to or get involved with a campaign to hold DAs accountable. You can sign up to meet your DA (e.g., https://meetyourda.org) and press them on policy or work to elect more responsive DAs.

• Support the campaign to challenge E-Carceration and work to stop substitution of bail/pretrial detention with electronic monitoring.

• Support the work of Survived & Punished or other criminalized survivor groups

• Join a court-watching effort if there is one in your area such as New York City or Massachusetts.

• Join the campaigns to #endmoneybail if there is an established one in your area or follow those in places like NYC and Chicago to see how to begin your own.

• Join the campaign to end immigration detention which is closely linked to larger systems of incarceration.

Ongoing education is also important. Remember that you can download our Believers Bail Out toolkit which has further resources. If you’d like to host an educational event before next Ramadan’s campaign, feel free to contact us for support. Of course, you can share what you’ve learned even without hosting a formal event. Talk about money bail and mass incarceration with  family, friends, and people in your community. Make an announcement at your local mosque. Share, like, and boost our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Share news stories about us and our campaign with your mailing lists and Whatsapp groups.

Thank you again for your support,

BBO Team

As we enter the last few days of the Believer’s Bail Out Campaign, we’d like to share some exciting updates:

We are happy to announce Believers Bail Out posted bond for our first believer this Friday! Our dear brother is a father of four and we thank Allah we were able to help him regain his freedom in the holy month of Ramadan. Bail out will continue this week and after Eid so stay tuned for stories and updates.

Thanks to your generosity, we’ve raised over $71,000 of our stretch goal of $80,000! Alhamdullilah! Please help us reach our goal and in these last few nights of Ramadan by spreading the word. We’ve had nearly 1,800 donors so far. We’d like to have 2,000 by the end of the campaign--and even a few dollars helps. May Allah multiply your rewards.

Our Twitter Town Hall last week with Mariame Kaba, Linda Sarsour and Hoda Katebi was a huge success. Check out #BelieversBailOut for links, answers to questions, and to connect with other folks organizing around ending money bail. Also, read (and share!) this op-ed at Teen Vogue by Liz Bucar and Amanda Randone. Watch our social media feeds for more articles on the campaign as they come out.

A number of individuals and community groups have hosted Bail Out iftars - thank you! If you are in Chicago, consider attending the iftar hosted by Mosque Maryam’s this Thursday - the final night of Ramadan!  

Thank you for your support of Believer’s Bail Out. We hope you’ll continue to raise awareness. Tell your family, friends, and people in your community. Make an announcement at your local mosque. Share, like, and boost our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Share news stories about us and our campaign with your mailing lists and Whatsapp groups.

May Allah bless us all in these last sacred nights and multiply our rewards,

- BBO team  

We have exciting news from Week 3 of the Believer’s Bail Out Campaign!

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we raised $20,000 for the matching challenge we announced earlier this month. Alhamdullilah! We’ve raised over $45,000 from more than 1600 donors so far. Raising funds is only part of our project, though. We’re also committed to educating Muslims about the injustices of money bail and mass incarceration. Please consider sharing information about our project with your friends, family, and community - we’d love to get 2000 donors by the end of the month.  

On Wednesday, June 6 at 10 a.m. PDT/1 p.m. EDT, join us for a Twitter Town Hall (follow the #BelieversBailOut hashtag) featuring Mariame Kaba, Linda Sarsour and Hoda Katebi.

Or check out some of the media that has featured BBO this week: Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer’s interview with WNYC’s The Takeaway and this story on Al-Jazeera’s The Stream. Watch our social media feeds for more articles on mass incarceration, and explore information and resources on our website and in our toolkit.

Thank you for your support of Believer’s Bail Out. We hope you’ll help raise awareness. Tell your family, friends, and people in your community. Make an announcement at your local mosque. Share, like, and boost our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Share news stories about us and our campaign with your mailing lists and Whatsapp groups.

May Allah bless us all these last ten nights of Ramadan,

- BBO team  

As Week Two of Ramadan and the Believers Bail Out Campaign draws to a close, we’d like to share some highlights:

Just after we updated you last week, two families made a joint commitment to match donations received in Week Two up to $10,000. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we were able to raise that amount in 5 days! Alhamdullilah! These families then doubled their commitment, agreeing to match another $10,000 through the third week of Ramadan, for a total gift of $20,000! Please help us spread the word and give generously if you’re able to. Your gifts this week will be doubled.

Events coming up this week include a Muslim Perspectives on Prison Abolition panel discussion and iftar on 6/2 hosted by Chicago’s Masjid al-Rabia. This will be a fundraiser for Believer’s Bail Out (no one turned away for lack of funds). Individuals are hosting bail out iftars too. We’ve got an upcoming webinar with Maytha Alhassen to talk about California organizers working towards ending mass incarceration; There will be a Twitter town hall, too, on 6/6. Stay tuned for details!

Money bail has been in the news, with John Legend and Rashad Robinson’s op-ed about ending money bail and Gabrielle Hernandez’ article on organizing around ending bail in the south. Listen to Nabihah Maqbool’s interview about Believer’s Bail Out on WBEZ 91.5 Chicago. Want to learn more? Watch our social media feeds for more articles on mass incarceration, and explore information and resources on our website and in our toolkit.

Thank you for your support of Believer’s Bail Out. We hope you’ll help raise awareness. Tell your family, friends, and people in your community. Make an announcement at your local mosque. Share, like, and boost our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Share news stories about us and our campaign with your mailing lists and Whatsapp groups.

Hope you are all having a blessed Ramadan,

- BBO team  

The campaign to bail out believers has begun! In the first week of the campaign:

Our generous donors gave over $23,000 to bail out our siblings in pretrial incarceration. With most bail bonds in the $500 - $5000 range, we are on our way to freeing several people. Alhamdullilah!

In collaboration with MPower Change, we hosted a Facebook Live Chat with Dr. Su‘ad Abdul Khabeer, Hazel Gomez, Imani Mflame, Omar Suleiman and Bilaal Evans. The powerful discussion touched on racism in the carceral system and the reasons why we can use our zakat to free fellow believers.

The first community iftar was held in Chicago. Sirat Chicago's annual Hyde Park Community Iftaar hosted Believers Bail Out lead organization Sapelo Square and our partner organization, the Chicago Community Bond Fund. Thank you to everyone who came to break bread and help us free believers!

In addition to raising funds, we’re looking to educate ourselves and our communities about money bail, mass incarceration, and their links to systemic and structural racism, including anti-Blackness and anti-Muslim racism. We’re encouraging folks to host a Bail Out iftar. Our toolkit has further details and resources for those who want to learn more - iftar optional!

As we move into our campaign’s second week, please help us spread the word by following us and liking/boosting/sharing our Facebook, Twitter, IG posts, sharing news stories about us, and letting people know about our campaign. Visit our website to learn more and take action.

- BBO team