Prayers for Imam Ayman, Prayers for Us

In this moment of crisis, while Ayman Soliman remains locked in a Butler County Jail cell without facing any criminal charges, we are witnessing something important: a rising wave of interfaith solidarity rooted in love, prayer, and hope.

Across Ohio and beyond, more than 450 religious leaders came together to call for the immediate release of Imam Ayman, a deeply respected spiritual leader and chaplain who has been unjustly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Their open letter is a powerful testament to what it looks like when communities of faith speak with one voice: across traditions, across identities, across differences — united by a commitment to human dignity, and to each other.

Ayman is known for his devotion to his faith and to his people — all of us, everyone he meets and the people he has yet to meet. For years, he served at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, offering grief counseling, prayers, and spiritual guidance to families from all walks of life, often in their darkest moments. With deep empathy and unwavering presence, he held their hands and their spiritual hearts. As faith leaders wrote in their letter:

“Ayman provided spiritual and grief support to families of any faith background facing some of the worst moments of their lives. His ability to provide skillful spiritual care to families in Arabic and English meant that parents from all over the world had someone who could understand and support them.”

The community also held a Dua Night at Clifton Mosque, just ahead of one of Ayman’s hearings. Imams Hossam, Yahya, Fawzan, and Ihab led the community in prayer, offering spiritual strength not only for Ayman, but for all who have had their liberty taken and are in need of justice. In that space, collective prayer became an act of coming together and being together, despite the bars that separate those living in freedom from those deprived of choice and control.

Just days later, on Sunday, July 27, Chaplain Grace Olson of Clifton United Methodist Church offered a sermon that spoke not only of Imam Ayman’s service, but of his continued ministry—even while he is incarcerated.

“[Ayman] believes in the power of prayer,” she said, “not as wishful thinking, but as a way of bringing the sacred into conversation with some of the most challenging circumstances that we can imagine.”

Even now, detained and far from his community, Ayman Soliman ensures others behind bars have access to their sacred texts. He continues to minister. He continues to lead. He continues to pray. This is a man who has shown up, again and again, for others. Now, the faith community is showing up for him.

And they are not alone.

• Twelve Imams and Islamic faith leaders from Ohio issued a powerful joint statement urging DHS and ICE to review Imam Ayman’s case with urgency and transparency, and to fully consider his character and contributions to the community.

• Thirty-one Rabbis with the Greater Cincinnati Board of Rabbis echoed that call, affirming: “Imam Soliman represents precisely the type of person we want to remain in Cincinnati: compassionate, intelligent, and collegial.”

• Eleven Muslim institutions from greater Cincinnati expressed their “deep concern about the incarceration of members of the Greater Cincinnati community who are valued members of society…. The local impact of these detentions is tremendous,” they write.

• The Metropolitan Area Religious Coalition of Cincinnati, representing hundreds of thousands of Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Unitarian Universalists, joined the chorus of voices demanding his release and the reinstatement of Ayman’s asylum protections.

• Local congregations, including St. John’s Unitarian Universalist Church, physically showed up in solidarity — standing alongside the Clifton Mosque community during Friday prayer, as a sign of unity.

Imam Ayman does not belong in any jail, in any country. He belongs with his family, and his community. 

And he is not the only one. Every day, thousands of immigrants across this country are detained, criminalized, and separated from their loved ones simply for seeking safety, opportunity, or a better life. Before that, this country benefitted from their presence in countless ways. But benefitting from migrants’ labor while rejecting their humanity and mistreating them goes against the fundamental values of the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic religions. 

Both the Old Testament of the Bible and the Quran instruct that it is hypocritical — and spiritually dangerous — to accept immigrants’ labor and then scapegoat, punish, or discard them. Malachi 3:5 says: “I will be a swift witness against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages … and those who deprive the foreigner of justice,” and Deuteronomy 24:14–15 says: “Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner.”  

The Quran honors migrants, particularly those who leave home because of oppression, seeking peace or faith, and understands migration as a sacred experience that is also a necessity when lives and beliefs are threatened. Refusing to grant dignity and protection to such migrants goes against the Quranic message, as well as Christian and Jewish values.

Quran 4:100 says: “And whoever migrates in the way of God shall find in the earth many a place to settle and a wide dimension of resources.” The Quran specifically praises those who use their resources to assist immigrants, describing them as exemplary in faith and character. The story of the Prophets and their followers shows that helping migrants is a sign of righteousness. Islam strictly forbids exploiting anyone, especially those who are vulnerable, and upholds prompt payment and good treatment for all workers. The Prophet Muhammad said, “Give the worker his wages before his sweat dries,” linking fair labor practices directly with faith.

As the faith leaders have shown us, we must all continue to raise our voices not only for Imam Ayman, but for all people facing deportation and family separation. Because migration is as old as humanity itself — an act of hope, resilience, and the basic instinct to survive for ourselves and our loved ones. It is as fundamental as breathing. It is, and always will be, a simple part of what it means to be human.

When Ayman walked into his check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on July 9, he knew there was a chance he might not come out on his own. Before he went in he said, “If anything happens, speak about me. Say that this is unfair. Going back to Egypt, for me, is a death sentence. I didn’t come to America seeking a better life. I was escaping death.”

Right now, the U.S. government is punishing Ayman for insisting on surviving. But religious leaders of all faiths are speaking with moral clarity. His future is ours. He is brave and beloved. He belongs back in his community.

We pray for him and we pray for us. We are all Ayman.