In November of 2023 Wadee Al Fayoumi, a Palestinian American Muslim child, was stabbed to death by Joseph Czuba, the landlord for the Al Fayoumi family. Wedee’s mother, Hanan Shahin sustained multiple stab wounds in her futile effort to save her son. On May 2nd, 2025, Joseph Czuba was sentenced to 53 years in prison for Wadee’s brutal murder.
Czuba targeted Wadee and his mother solely because of their ethnicity and religion. This hate-inspired crime sent shockwaves through communities already burdened by rising incidents of violence and threats fueled by Islamophobic rhetoric and speech. While the sentencing of Czuba delivered a legal reckoning for his heinous acts, complete justice remains elusive for its immediate victims and the communities from where they come.
We are witnessing a time in our society where language, regardless of how irrational, can serve to demonize or devalue another person’s life. Wadee’s death reminds us that hate speech can not only feed irrational reactions, but deadly ones as well.
In Islam, human life is precious. In one of his narrations, the Prophet (SAS) said, “The killing of a believer is a greater tragedy to Allah than the passing of the world.” (Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 1395). Chicago is a community of faith traditions that share this value for the sanctity of human life. Other faith traditions, including Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, and Zoroastrian, joined us shortly after Wedee’s death to publicly denounce the killing. Each made expressed their community’s commitment to uphold and we made a collective call to remain unwavering in the sanctity of each human’s life.
The Illinois Senate recently passed the Wadee Resolution, establishing Wadee Day on September 21, 2025, aligning with the International Day of Peace for Children. The resolution condemns the dehumanizing rhetoric that contributed to Wadee’s murder and calls for broader public education and interfaith solidarity.
Let us use Czuba’ sentencing as a reminder that the struggle to protect human life is a responsibility that we must bear each day of our life.