Believers Bail Out (BBO)

BBO partners with several left-of-center groups advocating for left-of-center policies such as the elimination of cash bail. Such groups include the National Bail Fund Network and the Coalition to End Money Bond. ^{2 3}

Background

Believers Bail Out is a community-organized bail fund focused on paying bon for members of the Muslim community in pre-trial incarceration or in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. It advocates against the bail bond system for both immigrants and pre-trial prisoners, claiming that the bail system “criminalizes poverty and is inherently racist in nature.” ¹

BBO was formed in 2018 by members of several left-of-center advocacy groups including Sapelo Square, MPower Change, and the Chicago Community Bond Fund. It is volunteer-run and fiscally sponsored by Sirat Chicago. ^{4 5}

BBO encourages Muslims to donate their Zakat, the Islamic faith’s mandate for donating a portion of one’s wealth to charitable causes, to its organization. ^{6 7} As of September 2024, BBO had raised $1.4 million and bailed out over 200 in custody. ⁶

Focus Areas

According to its website, Believers Bail Out (BBO) has three focus areas: the “prison industrial complex,” anti-Muslim racism, and anti-Blackness. It claims that its goal is the abolition of the prison system. ⁸

In March 2021, BBO issued a statement titled “Black Lives Matter” claiming to be part of the movement to “abolish bail, abolish jails, abolish the police, abolish prisons, abolish immigration custody, abolish state surveillance” and further claiming to advocate against a system it believes “criminalizes Black people, murders Black people and then jails us for refusing to remain oppressed.” ⁹

Partnerships

Believers Bail Out is a member of the Coalition to End Money Bond along with the ACLU of Illinois, the Workers Center for Racial Justice, and the Shriver Center on Poverty Law. Along with the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, the Coalition pushed for the passage of the Pretrial Fairness Act in Illinois that ended cash bail in the state effective June 2024. ²

BBO is a member of the National Bail Fund Network, a network of over 90 community bail funds that raise funds to pay bail for those in the criminal and immigration detention systems while advocating against the cash bail system. It is hosted by the Community Justice Exchange, a project of the left-of-center Tides Foundation. ³

In 2024, left-of-center grantmaking organization Pillars Fund identified BBO as an “organizational partner” along with the Emgage Foundation, We Are All America, the Muslim Civic Coalition, and MPower Change. ¹⁰

Funding

LaunchGood is a fundraising platform that publishes campaigns each Ramadan for Zakat donations. ¹¹ All Zakat funds raised are used for bail bond expenses. BBO’s operating expenses are paid for through independent grants and donations through its fiscal sponsor, Sirat Chicago. ¹

Leadership

Kecia Ali is a Believers Bail Out (BBO) co-founder and a professor of religion and Islamic studies at Boston University. She is on the leadership council of Oxfam America and is the senior editor of Sapelo Square, which leads BBO in partnership with MPower Change, the Chicago Community Bond Fund, and Sirat Chicago. ^{12 13 14}

Maytha Alhassen is one of the co-founders of BBO. She has a Ph.D. in American studies and ethnicity from the University of Southern California and is a journalist, writer, and producer. Along with BBO, Alhassen has co-founded several left-of-center social justice organizations including religious activist group Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative and Arabs for Black Lives. ¹⁵

Hoda Katebi is listed as a staffer for BBO. She is an Iranian American writer and describes herself as “the angry daughter of Iranian immigrants.” She hosts a “radical digital book club and discussion series mobilizing local communities” and is a strategist for anti-war movement Dissenters. ^{16 17}