Bridge of Grace

Masih Alinejad is a 45-year-old Iranian journalist and human rights activist who was publicly spoken out against the Iranian regime.  Her campaign gained supporters from all over the world and enabled her to meet man prominent figures who expressed support for her efforts, individuals such as former Secretary of state Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.  In addition to publicly speaking and publishing many articles opposing Iran, Masih wrote a book detailing her struggle entitled The Wind in My Hair.    However, history has long proved that tyrants will do everything in their power to silence their dissidents, and Iran is no exception.   For years, Iran waged a smear campaign seeking to discredit Masih, but they have not stopped there.  In 2021, the FBI revealed that they foiled a plot by Iran to kidnap Masih.  The FBI stated that four Iranian agents had been following Masih's movement for a year and plotted to try a...

On July 21st, 29-year-old Sania Khan was preparing to leave Chicago and begin a new chapter of her life in Chattanooga Tennessee.  Tragically, this was not to be as she was found dead, shot in the back by her estranged husband in the condo that the two once shared.  A Pakistani-American who took great joy in her work as a photographer, Sania was married to 36-year-old Raheel Ahmed after courting each other for five years.  However, the relationship was mostly long-distance, which did not allow Sania to understand the full truth about Raheel prior to marrying him.  Sadly, it was not a happy marriage as Raheel suffered from significant mental health issues that turned their relationship into an abusive one.  Sania ultimately decided the the only recourse was divorce.   Divorce was something that she was reluctant to do as women of South-Asian Islamic communities often suffer great stigma in their communities if they seek to divorce their husbands, no mat...

Salman Rushdie, author of the book "The Satanic Verses" was recently stabbed 15 times by 24-year-old Jihadist Hadi Matar when he was about to give a speech at an event in Chautauqua, New York.  Rushie's book, published in 1988, was considered a controversial & satirical account of the life of Muhammad, the founder of the Islamic faith.  It led to an uproar in the Islamic world.  Many Islamic nations banned his book, violent riots broke out, and Ayatollah Khomeini eventually placed a $3 million dollar Fatwa on his head.  The ongoing threats forced Salman to live his life in lockdown.  However, he remained a vocal supporter of free speech and continued to advocate for it.   Yet even now, 30 years later, we see that his life is still filled with danger at ever turn.  As Rushdie prepared to give a talk about free speech at the Chautauqua Institution, Hadi Mater rushed to stage and stabbed Rushdie 15 times.  Though Rushdie is expected to survi...

In June of 2022, 21-year-old Egyptian college student Naria was brutally stabbed to death.  Naria was riding on a public bus on her way to Mansoura University to taker her college finals.  She hoped that after she graduated that she could pursue a career as a flight attendant.  However, unbeknownst to her, a spurned suiter by the name of Mohamed Abdel was stalking her.  Naria had previous rejected Mohamed's advances toward her, and what was Mohamed's response?  Kill her.  As Naria prepared to get off of the bus, Mohamed attacked her with a concealed knife, stabbing her repeatedly before brutally slitting her throat ( Link to Article ).   Many in Egypt were horrified by the murder and Naria's family is demanding justice.  However, what happened to Naria is sadly not uncommon.  In Sept. of 2019, 22-year-old Pakistani school teacher Farwa Shakeel was killed by a spurned suiter.  Four days after Naria's murder, Jordanian college st...