Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Adil Imdad, 41, moved to the United States as a teenager from his native
Pakistan in 1981. Five years later, he became an American citizen, and in 1995,
he moved to St. Louis to pursue a master's degree in environmental engineering
at Washington University.
Imdad loves his adopted country. He also loves Islam, and his story embodies
the reason the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri is launching
the Muslim Rights Project. The program, which ACLU officials say may be its
first nationwide, will provide volunteer attorneys for Muslims questioned by
law enforcement officers.
Imdad is a devout Muslim. He wears a long beard, in honor of Islam's prophets.
His forehead is occasionally bruised from bowing to the floor in frequent
prayer. He travels to Pakistan to see his family there, and to Saudi Arabia for
the Muslim pilgrimage known as hajj. He's a leader at the Bilal mosque on St.
Louis University's campus.