A year after Mohammed’s death, no one to take his place

BOSTON — Like he has most of the last 25 Labor Day weekends, Imam Taalib Mahdee will spend this one in Chicago at an annual convention organized by the Ministry of Warith Deen Mohammed. The big difference this year? Mohammed, who died a few days after last year’s convention at age 74, won’t be there. […]

BOSTON — Like he has most of the last 25 Labor Day weekends, Imam Taalib Mahdee will spend this one in Chicago at an annual convention organized by the Ministry of Warith Deen Mohammed.

The big difference this year? Mohammed, who died a few days after last year’s convention at age 74, won’t be there.


Mahdee acknowledged that the death of Mohammed, whose moderation earned him the respect of Muslim and non-Muslim leaders alike, had “shocked” the community.

“Not hearing him and not seeing him, you can’t help but feel a difference. But we know what he wants. We know his vision, and our job is to carry it out,” said Mahdee, 59, of Boston. “And I’m going to show my support.”

In the year since Mohammed’s death, no one has assumed his mantle as the country’s de facto Muslim leader. Rather than naming a successor, the community elected a seven-member shura, or consultative council, in June. The council’s success or failure could have profound implications for Islam in America, and African-American Muslims in particular.

Mohammed preached living according to the Quran, full integration into American life and working for the betterment of local communities. For many African-American Muslims, Mohammed’s movement was an appealing alternative to radical interpretations of Islam or the Nation of Islam, the black separatist movement founded by Mohammed’s father, Elijah Muhammed.

Because this year’s convention is the first without Mohammed since he took over the community after his father died in 1975, its success — as measured by attendance, unity and donations — is seen by some black Muslim leaders as a good barometer of the community’s overall health.

In recent years, the convention has attracted as many as 3,000 people, organizers said. This year, based on registrations, between 1,000 and 1,500 people are expected.

“It’s a time to sit back and take stock,” said Aminah B. McCloud, a professor of Islamic studies at Depaul University who follows the black Muslim community. “His death has made Muslims more conscientious of the need for community.”


Mohammed was a revered figure whose legacy will be difficult to follow. After assuming leadership of the Nation of Islam, Mohammed abandoned his father’s black supremacist teachings and embraced traditional Islam. The organization eventually became known as the American Society of Muslims, and Mohammed became the best known American Muslim in the world.

(In 1979, Minister Louis Farrakhan revived the Nation of Islam with African-Americans who continued to believe in the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. Farrakhan and Mohammed later reconciled, but kept each other at arm’s length.)

Mohammed also founded The Mosque Cares, a non-profit organization, and the Collective Purchasing Conference, a business initiative. Today, more than 500 mosques in the U.S. are affiliated with Mohammed’s ministry.

In the last years of his life, Mohammed sought to decentralize the movement. In 2003, he resigned as president from the American Society of Muslims, turned control over to a council, and encouraged mosques to become active in charity, education, and interfaith work.

“While the imam was seen as the leader of this community, he had no legal ties to the body of Muslims who followed him,” said Imam Vernon Fareed of Norfolk, Va., head of the community’s consultative council. Several weeks before his death, according to Fareed, Mohammed told a fellow imam, “If anything happens to me, keep things just like they are.”

Last April, some 150 imams met in Louisville, Ky., to decide how to proceed, and identified several concerns for the movement, including whether or not to change the name, how to structure the organization, and how to provide for the imam’s surviving family, which includes nine children from five wives. After consulting the community, the imams returned in June and decided against a name change and in favor of continuing the shura council, whose members serve two-year terms.


“That’s what he always wanted. He wanted us to come together, to work together, and a do a lot of other things together,” Fareed said, “but he wanted us to come together freely.”

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Supporters of the shura council acknowledge that some followers dispute the council’s leadership and have left the community. On at least one blog, some of Mohammed’s followers have urged that his son-in-law, Earl Abdulmalik Mohammed, a former ministry spokesman, become the new leader.

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Nonetheless, the council hopes to carry out several projects Mohammed had planned, including a curriculum for the 25 Clara Muhammed schools (named for his mother) and building a “Model Muslim Community” complex that would include a community center, school and Imam W.D. Mohammed museum and archive.

In keeping with Mohammed’s wish that his followers be active in American life, Fareed said the council has also reestablished “The Coalition for Good Government,” a group of politically connected followers whom the council can tap for advice or as delegates to political events.

But like with the convention, success will depend on the leaders’ ability to sustain interest, said Imam Darnell Karim of Chicago, a childhood friend of Mohammed who is leading efforts to build the Model Muslim Community.

“This model would represent his legacy and his vision,” said Karim, 73, who estimated the complex could be built in one year. “But the people have to want it.”


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Mohammed also encouraged interfaith work, and cultivated a particularly strong relationship with the Catholic Focolare Movement. Monthly meetings between the two groups were established in several cities and still continue. “All these imams that we knew want to continue the relationship,” said Clare Zanzucchi, editor of Living City magazine, a Focolare publication.

Mahdee, the Boston imam, and other Muslim leaders said they do not believe Mohammed’s death will hurt their efforts to attract new adherents.

“We still have people coming into the masjid (mosque) accepting Islam. That will always be there,” Mahdee said. “We have to make sure we’re ready to provide the vehicle.”

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