ID#: 1936 Oct 25 : Houston : The Man Who Forgave His Shooter

 

Show mercy to those on earth, and the One above the heaven will show mercy to you.
 - Prophet Muhammad (s)
 

Could you forgive the person who shot you?
 

Just weeks after the tragic events of 9/11, Rais Bhuiyan was shot in the face by a white supremacist, who at that time called himself "the Arab slayer."
 

The man who shot Bhuiyan was Mark Stroman, who confessed to shooting Bhuiyan, killing two other South Asian workers and was sentenced to death. Bhuiyan survived, but with the use of only one eye and he still carries 35 shotgun pellets embedded deep within in his face. Many wouldn't blame him if he were to respond to Stroman's misguided actions with hate and anger. However, Bhuiyan chose to take the high road, mounting an aggressive campaign to convince Texas authorities to reduce his assailant's sentence from death to life in prison.
 

Bhuiyan worked tirelessly to save Stroman's life with pleas for clemency that in 2011 reached the U.S. Supreme Court and even met multiple times with his attacker to get to know him as a human being. Though Stroman was executed, Bhuiyan continues his World Without Hate campaign to promote healing, compassion and forgiveness.
 

Throughout this ordeal, Bhuiyan relied on his strong Islamic faith as an anchor, citing it as the sole reason why he forgave his aggressor.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

HAROON ULLAH is a member of the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff, where his portfolios include countering violent extremism and public diplomacy. Previously, he served as director of the Community Engagement Office at the U.S. embassy in Pakistan. Dr. Ullah has also worked as a Belfer Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, focusing on democratization, counterterrorism, and religious political parties in the Middle East and South Asia.
 

RAIS BHUIYAN is a peace activist and an IT professional. After graduating from Sylhet Cadet College, a military School in Bangladesh, he joined the Bangladesh Air Force and was commissioned as a pilot officer following two and a half years of vigorous training. He received a BS in Aeronautics from the National University in Dhaka and completed numerous information technology courses in New York and Dallas where he continued his education, taking courses in computer system engineering, programming, and database administration. In 2001, he was shot in the face by Mark Stroman, a white supremacist seeking vengeance for the 9/11 tragedy. Bhuiyan responded to this by forgiving his attacker and attempting unsuccessfully to prevent his execution. Bhuiyan currently holds a position with Sabre Holdings, a global technology company, in Southlake, Texas. His time is divided between managing a team of system engineers and data centers in Europe and touring the globe giving talks about the regenerative power of forgiveness.

This event is brought to you by Risala.

 

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