Film Screening: I'd Rather Be Dead Than Silent

Film Screening and Panel Discussion:
I'd Rather Be Dead Than Silent
Directed by Tina Mascara

SYNOPSIS: After 9/11, fear and Islamophobia spikes in America. Into this storm steps Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl. Professor El Fadl is an Islamic jurist, human rights advocate, and one of the fiercest critics of Wahhabism and the Saudi regime. His refusal to stay silent makes him a lightning rod: vilified, threatened, and nearly killed for his words. Surrounded by a private library of half a million books — some banned for centuries — Khaled fights for an Islam rooted in pluralism, democracy, and justice.

Panel discussion: What 'a humanistic Islam' means and stands for in the present and future days to come. What it means for academic institutions to truly fight for freedom of speech, preserve rare Islamic texts, and support Muslims in the face of extreme right-wing attacks on universities and Islamic scholarship.