"Articles About the Community of Imam W. Deen Mohammed"

By Q. Daawud Grey

The voice of the community of Imam W. Deen Mohammed, in many ways, is a sleeping giant, a movement yet to fully awaken and arrive on the stage of American social discourse. Q. Dawuud Grey, the Internet Reporter, is among the too few journalists seeking to capture the true essence of this important movement that is behind the personality of Americas late Great Imam.
Mikal Naeem Nash, Author of Islam Among Urban Blacks, Muslims in Newark, NJ: A Social History

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514458495

Q. Daawud Grey

Shortly before publication, Donald J. Trump became the first citizen in American history to be criminally charged, after serving as President of the United States. His one term in office sparked the collapse of the nation's two–party system wherein one political party, essentially, morphed into a cult of personality worshipers. Also, at the time of publication, America was leading twenty of the highest–income nations in gun related deaths. According to the 2023 available data, the USA's death rate by citizen–held firearms was 4.12 individuals for every 100,000 in the population which was twice the death rate in second place Chile; eight times the rate for third place Canada, and 10 times the rate for fourth place Portugal. It was also well–documented that the U.S. has the largest percentage of civilian–held guns—an estimated 393 million (also based on data at the time), out of a total of 857 million worldwide. This means that a little under five percent of the world's population possessed 45 percent of the world's civilian firearms. This social mindset can not sustain itself. The author contends that a careful study of the evolution of the community of Imam W. Deen Mohammed will help brake America's social and civil decline.

Book preview

"ARTICLES ABOUT THE COMMUNITY OF

IMAM W. DEEN MOHAMMED"

Q. DAAWUD GREY

Copyright

© 2016 by Q. Daawud Grey.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2016902145

ISBN:                  Hardcover                      978-1-5144-5850-1

                            Softcover                        978-1-5144-5851-8

                            eBook                            978-1-5144-5849-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 03/30/2016

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Contents

Foreword

Preface

Section 1 COMMUNITY PROGRESS

Article 1 M.A.L.I.’s First Qur’anic Conference Raises the Bar

Article 2 M.A.L.I.’s Second Conference: Rising to the Level of the Ramadhan Sessions

Article 3 Young Adult Panel, Businesses and Workshops at M.A.L.I.’s Sixth Conference

Article 4 Ummi’s Feet Sponsors Education Conference

Article 5 Masjidullah Hosts Symposium on Education

Article 6 First IWDM MadhHab Conference

Article 7 First Annual IWDM Imams’ Conference

Section 2 CULTURAL DIRECTIONS

Article 8 Shuaibe Supports Revival of Ethnic Name ‘Bilalian’

Article 9 Preserving America’s Islamic Heritage

Article 10 Instr. Benjamin Bilal Explains the Bilalian ‘Brain Drain’

Article 11 Out of Cordoba - A Film Review

Article 12 Halal Laundry Detergent and Elijah Muhammad’s Relative Featured at Community Breakfast

Article 13 Waris Cultural Center -- Up For Sale

Section 3 RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE

Article 14 IWDM Students Develop Leader’s Concepts

Article 15 Fitr Lecture: Work Together and Face the Issues

Article 16 Adha Message: Community Development

Article 17 Conversations with Muslim Neighbors

Article 18 Jesus & John: Main Course for Kitchen Fundraiser

Article 19 Uswah Conference Unwraps Divine Principles

Section 4 FEATURES

Article 20 IWDM’s Widow Discusses Court Case

Article 21 Dr. Zakiyyah Muhammad: ‘Male Assaults on Women’

Article 22 Dr. Akbar Lectures on Islamic Ethics

Article 23 Jewels’ Flea Market and Baltimore’s Tiye Mulazim in Philadelphia

Article 24 A Startling Disclosure from Imam Siraj Wahhaj

Article 25 Imam Abdullah Leads Washington, D.C.’s First Ramadhan Sessions

Dedicated to our Human destiny . . .

the ethically-governed society.

Foreword

By

Dr. Mubaashir Uqdah, Imam and Author

When I first became aware of Qasim Daawud Grey, he was asking a tough, sensitive question in the midst of a large, group of followers of Imam W. Deen Mohammed (IWDM). For insisting on a response to an issue that had the status of the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about, he was escorted out of the auditorium by security. I thought to myself: That is one courageous man.

I later met this man at the first Muslim American Logic Institute conference in Charlotte N.C. and it so happened that he and his wife and me and my wife ended up taking a tour of a plantation site during our free time at the conference. It was there that I got to know Brother Daawud (as he prefers to be called) and learned of his background in journalism and interest in writing.

I recall reading a report that he wrote and I thought to myself, This is very good; this is real journalism. This is the kind of stuff people want to read. I was so impressed that I encouraged him to write articles for the Muslim Journal, our national weekly newspaper, on a regular basis. I told him that we need a reporter or two like him in every section of IWDM’s community.

I later learned that Brother Daawud had a problem. He writes the nice, informative, heart-warming articles that we all love, but he also reports on issues that can be sensitive, controversial, and may cause discomfort to some of the people in the stories.

Now, the courage that I witnessed when I first saw Brother Daawud ask those hard questions at that public gathering, makes me believe that he is a true investigative reporter at heart. He has a drive to get at the heart of a story and he is true to his craft. In other words, he reports what he sees, whether it is pretty or ugly; makes people happy or upset.

This makes some people, perhaps many people, uncomfortable when they see him come around with his pen, pad and camera. But, I believe that Brother Daawud is our investigative reporter. He is made of the same journalistic material as TV news icons, Barbara Walters, Walter Conkrite and Dan Rather.

Mr. Grey’s reporting is not frivolous. He researches his stories in depth. He calls people to get the facts, over and over again, if he has to. He records the obvious and he will search for the information that is not obvious. When he works on a report and the pieces don’t add up, he doesn’t skip it. Mr. Grey goes hunting and prying; he investigates what’s missing and he reports the story wherever it takes him.

Sometimes, this kind of integrity leads to unpopular information being made public. While this has led to controversy sometimes, the facts of his stories have usually been solid.

They call Mr. Grey the Internet Reporter, because most of his stories are not carried in the Muslim Journal (I hope this will change), so he has had to resort to sharing his reports through email networks and his website, The Internet Reporter (www.the-internet-reporter.com).

This book is a compilation of some of his articles and it serves as a treasure trove of historical information. Mr. Grey’s reporting is about news in IWDM’s community. Yes, he covers events, but he not only describes what took place; he seeks to also capture the meaning and the significance of the event for those he is reporting about, as well as for the reader.

Q. Daawud Grey embodies the true journalist/reporter amongst us. I encourage him to continue his reporting. I encourage all who read this Foreword to encourage reporters in the community of Imam W. Deen Mohammed to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Let us not be afraid or overly sensitive to criticism and critical reports, so that we can encourage honesty and growth in the community.

I am honored to write this Foreword to Articles About the Community of Imam W. Deen Mohammed. It is the first of its kind, at least in our community. It is a special book by a special journalist. I pray that Brother Daawud keeps writing articles and documenting our community-life with all of its ups and downs for a long time to come. We need more Q. Daawud Grey’s in the print media.

With High Regards,

Mubaashir Uqdah, Ph. D.

Author of the Series,

Applying the Teachings of Imam W. Deen Mohammed

Preface

Why publish a book of news articles about the community of Imam W. Deen Mohammed, or about the followers of the language and logic of W. D. Mohammed?

One would think that such news would be either, outdated or obsolete.

So, the question is: Why?

Well . . . for two reasons.

Muslims are obligated to follow the model behavior of our Prophet, Muhammad ibn Abdullah (peace and blessings be upon him), as given in the suitable narrations of his actions and sayings, known as Hadiths (reports) and Sunnah (traditions) of the Prophet.

A favorite hadith of mine is: Those who are present should inform those who are absent. (Sahih al-Bukhari and the Prophet’s Farewell Address).

Therefore, every Muslim is, in reality, a news reporter because they are obligated, as witnesses or participants in an event, to inform the absentee parties of what has happened, according to the Prophet.

Now, it can be argued that what is considered news remains new until the significant or relevant information is communicated to the members of society.

Conversely, if the news has not been communicated to the public, the information doesn’t become outdated until the significance or relevance has been established in society.

A case-in-point: A cure for cancer is discovered but not made public until 20 years later. Assuming it is the only cure, the discovery would still be news, 20 years after the fact.

Similarly, a two-year-old report, contained herein, about the inevitable sale of a Muslim-owned building, that forced a popular masjid within to vacate, will probably be news to most readers. Sadly, under-reporting the news results in an uninformed public which translates into an ignorant society.

The second reason for publishing the book is to help document the history of this unique community - from the Nation of Islam (NOI) into the community of Imam W. Deen Mohammed.

Every community, like every individual, must have the faculty to store and retrieve its collective thoughts, experiences and ideas. The memory bank of a particular people or movement is its recorded history which begins with journalism, the discipline of reporting significant, social events.

In a May 25, 2008 address contained in his book, Life: The Final Battlefield, IWDM reflected on the significance of the NOI: There was no organization like the Nation of Islam in the history of mankind . . . . Nothing like it had ever been done on the planet Earth, and I don’t think it will ever be done again.

Just a couple of weeks after assuming leadership in 1975, IWDM addressed the group’s new direction in a Muhammad Speaks newspaper article entitled The Second Resurrecton - Part 2: Baptism with the Water of Revelation. He wrote: Brother and Sisters, if we are not ready to stand up and be representatives in the Earth for Almighty God, then the Earth will never produce a people or a community, fit to show the power and glory of God to the whole of humanity. You have a great, divine mission.

Indeed, IWDM, himself, embodied the divine mission and his accomplishments made him the most successful Muslim leader in American history.

Let us review some of his achievements. IWDM devised the first, popular series of Christian-Muslim interfaith meetings called Spiritual Life Jubilees in Los Angeles CA (May 23, ’76), Atlanta GA (Aug. 22, ’76) and Chicago, IL (July 15, ’78). He created the Committee for the Removal of All Images that Attempt to Portray the Divine or CRAID (June ’77); was the first Muslim to address the Washington (D.C.) Hebrew Congregation under the leadership of Rabbi Joshua O. Haberman (Feb. ’78); was the only Muslim-American invited to the 10th Annual Islamic Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Morocco (May 8, ’79); served on the World Supreme Council for Mosques from 1986 until his passing in 2008; represented Muslim-Americans at the first Global Forum of Spiritual and Parlimentary Leaders on Human Survival in Oxford, U.K. (April 11, ’88); and addressed the Palestine plight at the Annual Conference of the Islamic Committee for Palestine (Dec. 23, ’89).

IWDM was also the first Muslim to deliver the U. S. Senate Invocation prayer (Feb. 6, ’92); the first Muslim-American to receive Egypt’s prestigious Gold Medal of Recognition award (Sept. 10, ’92); the first Muslim-American selected as a co-president of the World Council of Religions for Peace (Jan. ’95); the keynote speaker at the first public dialogue between Reformed Judaic and Islamic leaders, the Muslim-Jewish Convocation in Glencoe IL (Mar. 26, ’95); was the first American-Muslim leader to meet a pope - John Paul II (Oct. 3, ’96); the first Muslim leader to speak at The Vatican in Rome (Oct. 28, ’99); and the only Muslim-American invited to the Jubilenium Interfaith Conference for World Peace in Tiberias, Israel (Nov. 20-23, ’99).

With such extremist groups as al-Qaeda, the Taliban, ISIS and the state-sponsored terrorism of Israel, a reading of some news articles about the community of Imam W. Deen Mohammed may come as a breath of fresh air to anyone seeking a more balanced, world view.

All 25 reports, herein, have datelines which reflect the exact dates of the events (except one), indicated in capital letters just before the narrative. The articles are divided into four sections: Community Progress, Cultural Directions, Religious Knowledge and Features. Many reports fit into two or more categories; therefore, the sections are not etched in stone.

Unfortunately, the first two articles do not have accompanying photographs because the author did not possess a camera at the time.

The reader should be reminded that because of the temporal aspect of news reporting, references to individual affiliations and positions may no longer apply.

I would like to thank Almighty Allah (s.w. t.) for the gifts of al-Islam, my Bilalian ethnicity, my journalism training and Imam W. Deen Mohammed and his community.

With that said: May Allah and the reader, forgive me for any errors or misinformation.

Enjoy!

Section 1

COMMUNITY PROGRESS

Article 1

M.A.L.I.’s First Qur’anic Conference Raises the Bar

JUNE 21, 2009 --- In holding the first Qur’anic Conference in the community of Imam W. Deen Mohammed, the Muslim American Logic Institute set a new standard for Islamic conferences in America.

With such presentations as The Qur’an as User-Friendly and a Conceptual Analysis of the Qur’an, as well as public displays of the grammatical expertise of the M.A.L.I. students, the bar was raised for future Qur’anic conferences in America.

The conference was held from June 19th – 21st.

Formed in 1990, M.A.L.I. is an institution devoted to the study and preservation of Imam W. Deen Mohammed’s Qur’anic logic and teachings of Al-Islam in America, according to its website.

The three-day conference, held at Masjid Ash-Shaheed in Charlotte NC, featured four main addresses, all presented on June 20th. A fifth address by Imam Abdullah Yahya of Dallas, TX was cancelled because of his inability to attend. The order of the four addresses were: (1) The Impact of the Usage and the Loss of the Classical Arabic Language on the Muslim World; (2) Consonantal Connections in the Qur’an; (3) The Qur’an as User-Friendly; and (4) A Conceptual Analysis of the Qur’an.

In the June 19th Jumu’ah khutbah (lecture), Imam Qasim Ahmed, founder and director of the traveling Islamic Learning Institute, Inc. and then-imam of the Mercy Community College in Tampa FL, set the tone for the conference. Are you going to learn to read the Qur’an in Arabic this weekend? No! he emphasized. But what he hoped the conference would achieve, was to build an appetite for studying the Arabic language.

Imam Qasim’s position was that there is a natural, inborn appetite for the Qur’an in the human. To this end, he related a conversation with an estranged uncle who had a different mindset and died, sometime before the conference.

The Bilalian (African-American) imam said his written material reminded his uncle of stories about the Arabic his great-grandfather used write in the ground as the slaves sat around, in a circle. There is an innate nature in the souls of our people for Qur’anic Arabic, Imam Qasim declared.

More proof of this innate connection, he said, was given in the Qur’an, where Allah reveals that the Message was place in Prophet Muhammad’s heart.

And surely this is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds. The Faithful Spirit has descended with it upon your heart . . . (Qur’an 26:192 -194, A. Yusuf Ali Translation).

Imam Qasim also stressed to the audience that Allah revealed, He has not created two hearts in anyone’s body. Allah has not made for any man two hearts in his (one) body . . . (Qur’an 33: 4). The heart was created by Allah to love him, and the only way to show our love is to follow His book of guidance, Imam Qasim concluded.

So, the Jumu’ah lecturer or khateeb asked two rhetorical questions: "Why is it that you don’t have a strong appetite for this Qur’an, where you are knocking down the doors (to learn the Qur’anic Arabic)? Who