Why Rais Bhuiyan is my hero

What makes someone a hero? Judging by the heroes in our popular culture, such as Rambo, General Schwarzkopf or even Superman, the answer would seem to be that a hero is someone who is stronger than everyone else, who obliterates all of his enemies through violence, and who would never just take an insult, or injury to a loved one, without exacting revenge.

This is no doubt the kind of hero Mark Ströman tried to be when he took to the convenience stores in his area to kill Arabs in retaliation for 9/11 (although I should add that he was also just completely drugged out and mentally ill). And by this definition, Rais Bhuiyan, who survived being shot in the face by Mark, was no hero at all, but just another loser.

But there is another kind of hero, the one advocated by Islam, Christianity, and many other worldviews – the person who chooses forgiveness, mercy and compassion instead of bitterness; the person who, when slapped (or shot) in the face, does not seek revenge but instead turns the other cheek. This kind of hero is much harder to recognise – and hence much less likely to receive any kind of recognition – and, I daresay, much more difficult to become.

In most of the death penalty cases Reprieve works on which have involved a killing, the families of the victims are deeply hurt and traumatised, and they want the alleged offender to be given the worst punishment available, namely death. And I completely understand that. In fact, I’m sure I would struggle to feel any differently if I were in their shoes.

That is what makes Rais Bhuiyan all the more remarkable. Shortly after being shot by Mark Ströman, and before Mark had even been tried or sentenced, Rais, motivated by his deep Islamic beliefs, decided in his heart to forgive Mark. Years later, when Rais had had a chance to recover somewhat from the serious physical injuries and the emotional trauma he sustained during the shooting, he decided that his own personal forgiveness was not going to be enough to counter the message sent out by Mark’s hate crime. So Rais decided to speak out publicly of his forgiveness – and to campaign actively for mercy for Mark Ströman (by seeking to have Mark’s death sentence converted to life imprisonment), and for an end to the cycle of hate and violence that prompted Mark’s actions.

I had the privilege of meeting Rais briefly when he was in Europe to seek support for his cause and I was deeply moved by his gentleness, kindness and humility. Sadly, the State of Texas was not as impressed. Determined to hang on to the “hero model” of violent revenge, Texas executed Mark Ströman on 20 July 2011, completely ignoring Rais Bhuiyan’s wishes in the process.

Does that make Rais a failure, an even bigger loser than he already was for getting himself shot? I don’t think so. Islam has a saying that “he who saves a life, saves the whole world”. I would add to that: “he who changes a life, changes the whole world”. And Rais’ actions may not have saved Mark’s life, but they certainly changed Mark. Hours before his death, Mark asked my colleagues to encourage Rais to go on in his heroic efforts, changing the world, and changing Texans. Also, at the time of his death, Mark joined Rais Bhuiyan in saying hate in the world needed to end. Let us all join Rais and Mark in hoping that this message does not get lost in the clamour for vengeance that normally fills our media.