A DAR-UL-ISLAM HISTORY PROJECT
The People's Effort
Project Director: Dr. Kameelah Mu'Min Oseguera | Founding Executive Director, Muslim Wellness Foundation; Assistant Professor of Psychology & Muslim Studies, Chicago Theological Seminary
ABOUT DR. KAMEELAH MU'MIN OSEGUERA
This oral history project is being conducted by Dr. Mu'Min Oseguera, the Founding Executive Director of Muslim Wellness Foundation (MWF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting healing and emotional well-being in American Muslim communities. Through MWF, Dr. Mu’Min Oseguera has established the Omar ibn Said Institute for Black Muslim Studies & Research, and the annual Black Muslim Psychology Conference. Dr. Mu’Min Oseguera is an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Muslim Studies at Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS) and CTS' ASPIRE Project Director, an initiative to engage diverse faith communities in anti-racist work. Dr. Mu’Min Oseguera teaches the following courses: Self-Care and Self-Development for Spiritual Care Providers, Intentional Community Building in/through the Black Muslim Imagination, the Psychology of Christian Hegemony and Religious Oppression in the United States, and Black Muslim Psychology, Activism & Healing. Her research and clinical areas of expertise include: healing justice and faith based activism, racial trauma and healing, psychological impact of anti-Muslim bigotry and anti-Blackness, Black Muslim psychology and Black Muslim intersectional invisibility.
Dr. Mu’Min Oseguera graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Psychology and MEd in Psychological Services. She holds a second Masters in Restorative Practices & Youth Counseling (MRP) from the International Institute for Restorative Practices. Dr. Mu'Min Oseguera completed her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, PA.
Project Director: Dr. Kameelah Mu'Min Oseguera | Founding Executive Director, Muslim Wellness Foundation; Assistant Professor of Psychology & Muslim Studies, Chicago Theological Seminary
I hold dear a few vivid memories of my stepfather El-Hajj Ali Muhammad as a member of the Dar-ul-Islam movement in Brooklyn. These memories alongside occasional anecdotes he would share about his life during that time served as a catalyst for the focus of my project: The People’s Effort To Return to Allah: The Formation, Dissolution and Reconfiguration of the Dar-ul-Islam Movement in the United States. For decades I have been eager to explore how my family’s experiences fit within a broader narrative and understanding of Islam in America, as well as religious identity formation with the African American community.
Dr. Kameelah Mu'Min Oseguera
Project Director: Dr. Kameelah Mu'Min Oseguera | Founding Executive Director, Muslim Wellness Foundation; Assistant Professor of Psychology & Muslim Studies, Chicago Theological Seminary
Acknowledgements
Dr. Oseguera @1982 | Brooklyn, NY
I was born & raised in Brooklyn, primarily in Brownsville-East New York and I am proud of my Black Muslim roots & heritage. In fact, one of my earliest memories I have is of my Abu [stepfather] El-Hajj Ali Muhammad in a black leather jacket and tam. In my 4 year old eyes, he was larger than life. Only later, did I come to understand that these memories were formed during his time in Rad - the security/paramilitary arm of the Dar-ul-Islam movement. It has long been my desire to write about the legacy & impact of the Dar,, highlighting the stories of women in particular. Indeed as Elders pass (such as Imam Asim Abdur-Rashid, Allah yerhamo), I feel a heightened sense of urgency to document our history.
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The People's Effort Dar Oral History Project builds upon past & ongoing efforts to preserve the legacy and history of the Dar. I am indebted to the Dar-ul-Islam Collection (Kamila Barbour & Khalil Abdul-Khabir), The Black American Muslim, and After Malcolm Project as well as personal accounts written about the Dar. Scholars such as Dr. Ihsan Baby, Dr. Aminah Al-Deen and researcher Akil Fahd contributed greatly to my thinking and gathering of information for this project which is still on-going. I would also like to express my gratitude for those former Dar members (and children of the Dar) who shared their stories with me. Special shout out to my Abu El-Hajj Ali Muhammad who never fails to indulge my persistent curiosity and endless list of questions with hours of stories about his life in the Dar.
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This research was funded by a Community Fellows Grant from The Crossroads Project, a collaborative research initiative co-directed by Anthea Butler, Lerone Martin, and Judith Weisenfeld, based at Princeton University and supported by the Henry Luce Foundation and a Black Interfaith Fellowship grant from Interfaith America; institutional and technical support provided by Muslim Wellness Foundation's Omar ibn Said Institute for Black Muslim Studies & Research.