Imam Talib Abdur-Rasheed Responds

Imam Talib Abdur-Rasheed, Imam of New York’s Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood and Deputy Amir of MANA, sent me a response regarding my series on ‘Why Blackamerican Muslims Don’t Stand for Justice’

I will respond to Imam Talib’s concerns, Insha Allah, but for now, this is what he had to say:

“Brother Abdur-Rahman Muhammad:

As-Salaamu ‘Alaikum wa Rahmatullah. I’m just writing to thank you for your blog, ‘ Why Black American Muslims Don’t Stand for Justice ‘ . It is insightful, needed, and I believe widely appreciated; or at least it should be.

A couple of particular points of feedback:

1- Regarding the tragic conflict between members of the M.I.B. and Darul-Islam movement three decades ago, as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz once stated, “Those who know don’t say. Those who say don’t know.”

2- You mentioned appropriately the decline of the Islamic Party and the Darul-Islam Movement, but not the enduring work and legacy of The Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood (go to mosqueofislamicbrotherhoodinc.org, also google “Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid”), consolidated and incorporated in 1967, and still standing for justice against overwhelming odds . I think that would be appropriate as it is the truth.

3- Not only the M.I.B.(under first Shaykh Tawfiq’s leadership, and then mine), but other Muslim communities like the National Jamaat (under first Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, and now under Imam Aasim Abdur-Rashid of Philadelphia), the Jamaat of Shehu Uthman Dan Fodio (as organized under the leadership of Amir Muhammad Shareef), the As-Sabiqun Movement (under the leadership of Imam Musa Abdul-Alim), and others , do in fact stand for justice.

We are outnumbered or have been marginalized by the larger Muslim community, because of exactly the factors you wrote about. There are also organizations and activists like the group Women in Islam based in NYC, and individual activists like (Washington, D.C. based) Mauri Saalakhan of the Peace and Justice Foundation, as well as perhaps the MAS Freedom Foundation under brother Mahdi Bray. Collectively we up-hold the torch of justice in the Muslim community. I hope that you will make reference to these efforts and realities in your excellent commentary.

4- It is no coincidence that the founders of MANA include brothers who were products of the Darul-Islam, Islamic Party, and MIB.

May Allah bless you. Keep writing,

Imam Al-Hajj Talib ‘Abdur-Rashid

The M.I.B. Inc.

Harlem, NYC “