American Society of Muslims
Encyclopedia
The American Society of Muslims was a predominantly African-American association of Muslims which was the direct descendent of the original Nation of Islam
. It was created by Warith Deen Mohammed after he assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father Elijah Muhammad
. Imam W. Deen Mohammed changed the name of the Nation of Islam to the World community of Al-Islam in 1976, and then to the American Muslim Mission in 1981 and then to the American Society of Muslims. The group largely accepted beliefs and practices based on mainstream
Sunni Islam
, abandoning many of the distinctive claims of the founders of the Nation of Islam. W.D. Mohammed retired as the leader of the association in 2003, and established a charity called The Mosque Cares
. The organization disbanded shortly after Mohammed retired in 2003.
, his son Warith Deen Mohammed took over leadership of the Nation of Islam. He quickly rejected many of his father's views, including black separatism and belief in the divinity of Wallace Fard Muhammad
, founder of the Nation of Islam. He was "determined to bring it into conformity with mainstream Islam
". In 1976 he changed the name of the organization to World Community of Islam in the West. In 1981 it changed again to American Muslim Mission, a name that was retained until 1985. Finally it settled on the American Society of Muslims.
In 1977, Louis Farrakhan
resigned from Warith Deen's reformed organization, and with a number of supporters decided to rebuild the original Nation of Islam upon the foundation established by Wallace Fard Muhammad and Elijah Muhammad
. Over time Minister Farrakhan regained many of the Nation of Islam's original National properties including the flagship National Headquarters Mosque #2 (Mosque Maryam
)in Chicago, IL. Currently there is over 130 NOI mosques in America and the world.
The original Council of Imams consisted of: 1. Sheik
James Abdul-Aziz Shabazz of Chicago, Illinois; 2. Imam Ali Rasheed of Masjid Malcolm Shabazz, New York, NY; 3. Imam Khalil Abdel Alim of Washington, DC; 4. Imam Ibrahim Pasha of Atlanta, GA; 5. Imam Ibrahim Kamal ud-Din of Houston, TX; 6. Imam Abdul Karim Hasan of Los Angeles, CA. The Auxiliary members were: Imam Muhammad Abdullah of Oakland, CA, by way of Pakistan
; Imam B. Mustafa Ali of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Sheik Tajuddin B. Shuaib of Los Angeles, CA, by way of Africa; Imam Shakir Mahmood of Boston, MA; Sheik Ahmed Rufai of New York, NY, by way of Nigeria; Imam Nuridden Faiz of Hartford, Connecticut; Dr. R. Muhammad Mazen Al-Wan of Detroit, Michigan; by way of Iran. Imam Alfred Muhammad of Baltimore, MD; Imam Clyde Rahman of Masjid Bilal, Cleveland, Ohio
; Sheik Muhammad Nur of Chicago, Illinois, by way of Sudan, and Imam Nasir Ahmed of Miami, Florida.
The change from the American Muslim Mission to the American Society of Muslims occurred in the context of problems following protracted legal challenges caused by financial claims on the estate of Elijah Muhammad made on behalf of children he had fathered out of wedlock. In 1985 Warith Deen Mohammed ordered the dissolution of the American Muslim Mission. W.D. Mohammed said disbanding the American Muslim Mission means "we are members of the worldwide Muslim community...not to be identified in geographic terms or political terms or racial terms". The decision to break up the organization meant that each mosque would be autonomous. Despite dissolving the movement legally, it continued informally, but this did not stop a legal judgement in 1987 which forced the sale of $10 million worth of property. W.D. Mohammed sold a number of properties to Farrakhan, including Temple No. 2, the headquarters mosque, which was purchased with a donation to Farrakhan from Muammar Gaddafi
. W.D. Mohammed reconstituted the movement as the American Society of Muslims in 1988. Warith Deen Mohammed and Farrakhan retained control of their rival groups before a phase of rapprochement in the 1990s.
In the July 9, 1999 issue of the Wall Street Journal an article cited the growing number of Muslims in the American Society of Muslims under the leadership of Imam Mohammed. In 2002 its numbers were estimated at near 2.5 million persons with a percentage of immigrant and naturalized American citizens from various Muslim ethnic peoples, European Americans, and a majority of African Americans representing five generations since the earliest history of Elijah Mohammed's leadership (1933) and in some cases before.
Warith Deen resigned from the leadership of the American Society of Muslims on August 31, 2003 and established The Mosque Cares
. He gave as his reason for resigning that the imams within the organization continued to resist his reforms.
On December 21, 2003, Imam Mustafa El-Amin was given W.D. Mohammed's blessing to attempt to maintain the AMS as an organization. El-Amin advertised in The Muslim Journal, expressing solidarity with the aims of the former leader. El-Amin received little support and the ASM did not reorganize. Its members have reconstituted as the "Community of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed" and its activities have been largely taken over by The Mosque Cares
, run by one of W.D. Mohammed's sons Wallace D. Mohammed II.
food. At the time of Imam W. Deen Mohammed death CPC (Collective Purchasing Conference) was underdevelopment.
into the Clara Muhammad
Schools, or simply Mohammed Schools, replacing the University of Islam founded by his father. The school system is an association of approximately 75 elementary, secondary, and high schools throughout the United States and the Caribbean Islands. The schools have been described by Zakiyyah Muhammad of the American Educational Research Association
as "models of Islamic education that are achieving commendable results".
The former members of the ASM still consider themselves a part of the Community of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, which is made up of loosely based Mosques in North America
and the Caribbean Islands. It is a decentralized community that relies on Shura
Banayhum (mutual Consultation
) among its members and Imams to arrive at decisions that effect the local communities.
Their was and is no successor
to Imam W. Deen Mohammed, but there are some Imams who are keeping his vision
of and independent
Muslim
African American ethnic community alive. These include, but are not limited to, Imam Faheem Shuaibe of Oakland, California; Imams Qasim and Nasir Ahmed of Florida
; Imam Yahya Abdullah of Desoto, Texas
, Imam Wazir Ali of Houston, Texas, Imam Ibrahim Pasha and Imam Plemon El-Amin of Atlanta, Georgia
, Imam Ezekiel Pasha of New York
, Imam Abdul Karim Hasan of Los Angeles
, California
, Wallace Deen Mohammed II and many others.
The Mosque Cares
president, Wallace Deen Mohammed II, is currently seeking to take central control over the intellectual properties (his name, picture, quotes, writings etc) of his father. This matter is currently apart of the probate case between Imam W.D. Mohammed's wives (legal and non-legal wives).
Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam is a mainly African-American new religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930 to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African-Americans in the United States of America. The movement teaches black pride and...
. It was created by Warith Deen Mohammed after he assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father Elijah Muhammad
Elijah Muhammad
Elijah Muhammad was an African American religious leader, and led the Nation of Islam from 1934 until his death in 1975...
. Imam W. Deen Mohammed changed the name of the Nation of Islam to the World community of Al-Islam in 1976, and then to the American Muslim Mission in 1981 and then to the American Society of Muslims. The group largely accepted beliefs and practices based on mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
, abandoning many of the distinctive claims of the founders of the Nation of Islam. W.D. Mohammed retired as the leader of the association in 2003, and established a charity called The Mosque Cares
The Mosque Cares
The Mosque Cares is a non-profit Islamic da'wah project founded by Imam Warith Deen Muhammad , a former leader of the Nation of Islam and a son and successor to its first Supreme Minister Elijah Muhammad ....
. The organization disbanded shortly after Mohammed retired in 2003.
History
After the 1975 death of Elijah MuhammadElijah Muhammad
Elijah Muhammad was an African American religious leader, and led the Nation of Islam from 1934 until his death in 1975...
, his son Warith Deen Mohammed took over leadership of the Nation of Islam. He quickly rejected many of his father's views, including black separatism and belief in the divinity of Wallace Fard Muhammad
Wallace Fard Muhammad
Wallace Fard Muhammad was a minister and founder of the Nation of Islam. He established the Nation of Islam's first mosque in Detroit, Michigan in 1930, and ministered his distinctive religion there for three years, before mysteriously disappearing in June 1934. He was succeeded by his follower...
, founder of the Nation of Islam. He was "determined to bring it into conformity with mainstream Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
". In 1976 he changed the name of the organization to World Community of Islam in the West. In 1981 it changed again to American Muslim Mission, a name that was retained until 1985. Finally it settled on the American Society of Muslims.
In 1977, Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan Muhammad, Sr. is the leader of the African-American religious movement the Nation of Islam . He served as the minister of major mosques in Boston and Harlem, and was appointed by the longtime NOI leader, Elijah Muhammad, before his death in 1975, as the National Representative of...
resigned from Warith Deen's reformed organization, and with a number of supporters decided to rebuild the original Nation of Islam upon the foundation established by Wallace Fard Muhammad and Elijah Muhammad
Elijah Muhammad
Elijah Muhammad was an African American religious leader, and led the Nation of Islam from 1934 until his death in 1975...
. Over time Minister Farrakhan regained many of the Nation of Islam's original National properties including the flagship National Headquarters Mosque #2 (Mosque Maryam
Mosque Maryam
Mosque Maryam is a large mosque in Chicago, Illinois, United States and the headquarters of the Nation of Islam. It is located at 7351 South Stony Island Avenue in the South Shore area. Louis Farrakhan's headquarters are located on the premises. Originally a Greek Orthodox church, it was purchased...
)in Chicago, IL. Currently there is over 130 NOI mosques in America and the world.
W. Deen Mohammed's Organizational Reforms
On September 10, 1978 in an address in [Atlanta, Georgia], Imam Warith Deen Mohammed (Imam W. D. Muhammad) resigned from his position as Chief Imam of the World Community of Al-Islam in the West and appointed a Consultative Body of Imams (A'immah) to oversee the activities of the Community. Upon his resignation W. D. Mohammed pledged to serve as an ambassador at large for the community. This was his first step in separating his ministry from the narrow confines of the Nation of Islam/World Community of Islam. The original Council of Imams, according to Imam Muhammad would consist of the 6 Imams over the Regions and it world have an Accountant as a financial adviser, an Attorney as a legal adviser and one of the Headmasters over the schools to advise on education matters. The council according to the Imam would have at least two Imams affiliated with his leadership who were from outside of America who were over Islamic Studies Departments. Also extra support and protection for the council would come from every Imam in good standing, with a good record. They would be able to write in their criticisms and have it accepted as though he was a member of the council. He would have the power to criticize and demand reprise.The original Council of Imams consisted of: 1. Sheik
Sheik
Sheik or The Sheik may refer to:* Sheikh, an honorific term in Arabic* Duncan Sheik , an American singer-songwriter and composer* The Sheik , a 1921 silent film starring Rudolph Valentino...
James Abdul-Aziz Shabazz of Chicago, Illinois; 2. Imam Ali Rasheed of Masjid Malcolm Shabazz, New York, NY; 3. Imam Khalil Abdel Alim of Washington, DC; 4. Imam Ibrahim Pasha of Atlanta, GA; 5. Imam Ibrahim Kamal ud-Din of Houston, TX; 6. Imam Abdul Karim Hasan of Los Angeles, CA. The Auxiliary members were: Imam Muhammad Abdullah of Oakland, CA, by way of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
; Imam B. Mustafa Ali of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Sheik Tajuddin B. Shuaib of Los Angeles, CA, by way of Africa; Imam Shakir Mahmood of Boston, MA; Sheik Ahmed Rufai of New York, NY, by way of Nigeria; Imam Nuridden Faiz of Hartford, Connecticut; Dr. R. Muhammad Mazen Al-Wan of Detroit, Michigan; by way of Iran. Imam Alfred Muhammad of Baltimore, MD; Imam Clyde Rahman of Masjid Bilal, Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
; Sheik Muhammad Nur of Chicago, Illinois, by way of Sudan, and Imam Nasir Ahmed of Miami, Florida.
The change from the American Muslim Mission to the American Society of Muslims occurred in the context of problems following protracted legal challenges caused by financial claims on the estate of Elijah Muhammad made on behalf of children he had fathered out of wedlock. In 1985 Warith Deen Mohammed ordered the dissolution of the American Muslim Mission. W.D. Mohammed said disbanding the American Muslim Mission means "we are members of the worldwide Muslim community...not to be identified in geographic terms or political terms or racial terms". The decision to break up the organization meant that each mosque would be autonomous. Despite dissolving the movement legally, it continued informally, but this did not stop a legal judgement in 1987 which forced the sale of $10 million worth of property. W.D. Mohammed sold a number of properties to Farrakhan, including Temple No. 2, the headquarters mosque, which was purchased with a donation to Farrakhan from Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
. W.D. Mohammed reconstituted the movement as the American Society of Muslims in 1988. Warith Deen Mohammed and Farrakhan retained control of their rival groups before a phase of rapprochement in the 1990s.
In the July 9, 1999 issue of the Wall Street Journal an article cited the growing number of Muslims in the American Society of Muslims under the leadership of Imam Mohammed. In 2002 its numbers were estimated at near 2.5 million persons with a percentage of immigrant and naturalized American citizens from various Muslim ethnic peoples, European Americans, and a majority of African Americans representing five generations since the earliest history of Elijah Mohammed's leadership (1933) and in some cases before.
Warith Deen resigned from the leadership of the American Society of Muslims on August 31, 2003 and established The Mosque Cares
The Mosque Cares
The Mosque Cares is a non-profit Islamic da'wah project founded by Imam Warith Deen Muhammad , a former leader of the Nation of Islam and a son and successor to its first Supreme Minister Elijah Muhammad ....
. He gave as his reason for resigning that the imams within the organization continued to resist his reforms.
On December 21, 2003, Imam Mustafa El-Amin was given W.D. Mohammed's blessing to attempt to maintain the AMS as an organization. El-Amin advertised in The Muslim Journal, expressing solidarity with the aims of the former leader. El-Amin received little support and the ASM did not reorganize. Its members have reconstituted as the "Community of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed" and its activities have been largely taken over by The Mosque Cares
The Mosque Cares
The Mosque Cares is a non-profit Islamic da'wah project founded by Imam Warith Deen Muhammad , a former leader of the Nation of Islam and a son and successor to its first Supreme Minister Elijah Muhammad ....
, run by one of W.D. Mohammed's sons Wallace D. Mohammed II.
Programs and Aim
The aim of the American Society of Muslims were to establish a Islamic community life (New Africa) in America and the promotion of a positive image of Al-Islam in America and the world. It's organized school accreditation, publications and business ventures relate to Islamic communal life in America, including the sale and circulation of HalalHalal
Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...
food. At the time of Imam W. Deen Mohammed death CPC (Collective Purchasing Conference) was underdevelopment.
Publications
The organization's newspaper was Bilalian News (after Bilal ibn Rabah) in 1975. In 1981 it became The Muslim Journal. It is currently edited by Ayesha K. Mustapha. In 2011 due to low readership the Muslim Journal downsized to a home office, The Muslim Journal Editor, Ayesha Mustapha was forced to find a full-time job and work on the paper online.Memo from the editor, 2011 .Education
After his father's death W. Deen Mohammed transformed the Muhammad University of IslamMuhammad University of Islam
Muhammad University of Islam is a Nation of Islam - affiliated preschool to 12th Grade school in the South Shore area of Chicago, Illinois, United States, located next to Mosque Maryam. Every major NOI mosque has a MUI, the schools are headed by the Nation of Islam's Ministry of Education, led by...
into the Clara Muhammad
Clara Muhammad
Clara Muhammad November 2, 1899 – August 12, 1972, aka Clara Poole, was born Clara Evans in Macon, Georgia. They married in Georgia in 1917, before he changed his name from Elijah Poole...
Schools, or simply Mohammed Schools, replacing the University of Islam founded by his father. The school system is an association of approximately 75 elementary, secondary, and high schools throughout the United States and the Caribbean Islands. The schools have been described by Zakiyyah Muhammad of the American Educational Research Association
American Educational Research Association
The American Educational Research Association, or AERA, was founded in 1916 as a professional organization representing educational researchers in the United States and around the world....
as "models of Islamic education that are achieving commendable results".
After 2003
On December 21, 2003, Imam Mustafa El-Amin was given W.D. Mohammed's blessing to attempt to maintain the AMS as an organization. El-Amin advertised in The Muslim Journal, expressing solidarity with the aims of the former leader. El-Amin received little support and the ASM did not reorganize.The former members of the ASM still consider themselves a part of the Community of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, which is made up of loosely based Mosques in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and the Caribbean Islands. It is a decentralized community that relies on Shura
Shura
Shura is an Arabic word for "consultation". The Quran and Muhammad encourage Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with those who will be affected by that decision....
Banayhum (mutual Consultation
Consultation
The Consultation served as the provisional government of Mexican Texas from November 1835 through March 1836 during the Texas Revolution. Tensions rose in Texas during early 1835 as throughout Mexico federalists began to oppose the increasingly centralist policies of the government. In the...
) among its members and Imams to arrive at decisions that effect the local communities.
Their was and is no successor
Successor
A successor can refer to* Someone who, or something which succeeds or comes after * Successor , an American Thoroughbred racehorseIn history:* The Diadochi, or Successors to Alexander the GreatIn mathematics:...
to Imam W. Deen Mohammed, but there are some Imams who are keeping his vision
Vision
Vision or visions may refer to:* Visual perception, interpreting what is seen* Visual system, the sensory mechanism of eyesight* Vision , inspirational experiences* Hallucination, vivid conscious perception in the absence of a stimulus...
of and independent
Independent (religion)
In English church history, Independents advocated local congregational control of religious and church matters, without any wider geographical hierarchy, either ecclesiastical or political...
Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
African American ethnic community alive. These include, but are not limited to, Imam Faheem Shuaibe of Oakland, California; Imams Qasim and Nasir Ahmed of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
; Imam Yahya Abdullah of Desoto, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Imam Wazir Ali of Houston, Texas, Imam Ibrahim Pasha and Imam Plemon El-Amin of Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, Imam Ezekiel Pasha of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Imam Abdul Karim Hasan of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Wallace Deen Mohammed II and many others.
The Mosque Cares
The Mosque Cares
The Mosque Cares is a non-profit Islamic da'wah project founded by Imam Warith Deen Muhammad , a former leader of the Nation of Islam and a son and successor to its first Supreme Minister Elijah Muhammad ....
president, Wallace Deen Mohammed II, is currently seeking to take central control over the intellectual properties (his name, picture, quotes, writings etc) of his father. This matter is currently apart of the probate case between Imam W.D. Mohammed's wives (legal and non-legal wives).
External links
- Muslim Journal
- Baitcal News
- New Africa Radio
- WDM Ministry
- WDM Publications
- A Three Day Journey
- The Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam
- Masjid Freehaven
- Masjidul Waritheen
- Muslim Community Cultural Center of Baltimore
- Houston Masjid of Al-Islam
- Muhammad Islamic Center of Greater Hartford
- Masjid Taleem Muhammad
- North East Denver Islamic Center
- Masjidul Taqwa
- Mohammed Schools of Atlanta