Photo credit: Khalil AbdulKhabir
Photo credit: Khalil AbdulKhabir
photo credit: Khalil AbdulKhabir
A Dar-ul-Islam Oral History Project
The People's Effort
DAR-UL-ISLAM MOVEMENT TIMELINE
This timeline of key events is intended to provide an overview of the growth and evolution of the the Dar.
It is by no means exhaustive. Where possible, information is cited from primary sources and first hand accounts. Information listed in green is meant to offer historical context regarding events which my have been of significance in shaping the course of individual and collective history.
The People's Effort
1939
1931: Elijah Poole joins the Nation of Islam in Detroit.
1937: Imam Al-Hajj Wali Akram establishes the First Cleveland Mosque in Ohio.
1939 - 1945: World War II
1942: Elijah Muhammad sentenced to 4 years in prison for preaching sedition and for avoiding the WWII draft. NOI grows under wife Clara Muhammad's leadership
1941: Great Depression ends
1954: Brown vs Board of Education
1910-1970s: Great Migration - African Americans migrate Northeast, Midwest and West from Southern States
Shaykh Daoud Faisal & Mother Khadijah Faisal
immigrants originally from Grenada and Bermuda (respectively); co-founded the Islamic Mission of America in Brooklyn NY on State Street. Known today as the "State Street Mosque", or Masjid Dawood, the institution is the second-oldest operating mosque in the city.
Feb 1960: Greensboro Sit-Ins (Woolworth, Greensboro, NC)
March 1960: Vietnam War - The United States announces that 3,500 American soldiers will be sent to Vietnam
May 1960: President Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights Act of 1960 into law.
Sept 1960: Summer Olympics - Cassius Clay [Muhammad Ali wins the gold medal in boxing.
State Street Mosque
Hafiz Mahbub Ilahi [Pakistani missionary from Tabligh Jammat] hired by Shaykh Faisal.
"Sensing trouble and acknowledging his own limitations as a teacher, Sheikh Daoud hired a Quran teacher in 1960 and assigned him the task of instructing new Muslims in proper adab (etiquette) to bridge the risky cultural gulf with new Americans. Mahbub led the Americans in fajr prayer every morning and taught them Arabic directly from the Qu'ran patiently dispensing its wisdom."
- Dannin, R. [2002] Black Pilgrimage to Islam
1960
1961
Jan 20, 1961: John F. Kennedy inaugurated as 35th President of the United States.
Growing dissatisfaction amongst the African American Muslims attending the State Street Mosque. "Up until this time, the indigenous American Muslims attended Friday Jumuah services at Islamic Mission of America at State Street in Brooklyn. However... founding brothers grew dissatisfied with the directional focus of the Islamic Mission, whose leadership came exclusively from the Middle East and who were either unaware of, or unresponsive to the needs of the indigenous people in whose midst they had settled."
- Al Jihadul Akbar, July 1974
"The idea of Dar-ul-Islam was first conceived in 1962 by 3 brothers: Rajab Mahmud, Ishaq Abdush Shaheed and [Yahya] Abdul-Kareem.. motivated by a sincere love of Islam and by a sincere love for the people from which they had sprung... A pledge was drawn up by which Muslims in general might ally themselves with these three brothers in an inspired effort."
- Al Jihadul Akbar, July 1974
photo: Shaykh Yahya Abdul-Kareem
Apr 19, 1962: Dakota Stanton [African American Muslim convert jazz singer] featured on cover of Jet magazine
Oct 1, 1962: James H. Meredith, escorted by federal marshals, registers at University of Mississippi.
Oct 15, 1962: USSR sends arms to Cuba, setting off the "Cuban Missile Crisis" with the U.S
1962
1963
Jan 1, 1963: Muslim Students' Association [MSA] founded by immigrant [Arab and South Asian] Muslims at the University of Illinois -Urbana Champaign
June 12, 1963: NAACP state field director Medgar Evers is murdered in his driveway,, shot at close range with a high-powered rifle by white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith of Greenwood. His two children and wife Myrlie witness his death.
Nov 22, 1963: Assassination of JFK
Rajab Mahmud elected as the first Imam "on the basis of his greater knowledge of Islam in accordance with the laws of Islam... A pledge was drawn up by which Muslims in general might ally themselves with these three brothers in an inspired effort." By Oct 1963, nearly 150 men had taken this pledge. Community met at 1964 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, then moved to an apartment on Downing Street.
- Al Jihadul Akbar, July 1974
Splintering occurs within the fledging movement; [lease on apt in Downing Street is lost]. "The embryonic community, was not without its expected share of problems. Internal disorders arose due to personality conflicts, misunderstandings of the religion, world desires and the misuse of knowledge. These temporary problems shattered the unity and eventuated the moving of the community to Manhattan's lower east side."
-Al Jihadul Akbar, July 1974
Feb 1964: Cassius Clay publicly announces his conversion and membership in the Nation of Islam.
March 12, 1964: Malcolm X announced the establishment of Muslim Mosque, Inc.
June 24, 1964: The Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) was founded by Malcolm X, John Henrik Clarke, and other Black nationalist leaders on June 24, 1964 in Harlem, New York
July 2, 1964: Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson.
July 16-22, 1964: Harlem riot began after James Powell, a 15-year-old African American, was shot and killed by police Lieutenant Thomas Gilligan in front of Powell's friends and about a dozen other witnesses.
1964
Feb 21, 1965: Assassination of Malcolm X at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, NY.
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"The Sunni Muslim brothers (the indigenous Orthodox Muslim brothers) were hoping that Malcolm would come to us - come directly over into Sunni Islam, but as is known, Malcolm started his own particular thing. He established the Muslim Mosque Incorporated. None of the people affiliated with him at that time became an active part of our community."
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-Imam Yahya Abdul-Kareem interview in Al Jihadul Akbar, July 1974.
The community regroups. "As the awareness of the seriousness of Islam and the movement began to gab hold and take effect, there was a change in the overall outlook of the young community and it began to strive and struggle in the cause of Allah with the patience and perseverance becoming of Muslims. The community eventually moved back to Brooklyn and at various times met in apartments, in storefronts, and in lofts before settling at [777] Saratoga Avenue" in 1965.
-Al Jihadul Akbar, July 1974
1965
April 4, 1968: Assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, TN.
June 5, 1968: Robert F. Kennedy assassinated in Los Angeles, CA
October 16, 1968: During the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, two black athletes, American medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos, staged a silent demonstration; as Smith and Carlos were awarded the gold and bronze medals for their performances in the 200-meter race, they bowed their heads and each raised a black gloved fist during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner.
Nov 1968: FBI raid on Dar [in pursuit ofa "draft dodger"
​Nov 1968: FBI raid on Dar [in pursuit of a "draft dodger" Reggie Oliver]
"Long, Hot Summer" 1967: riots erupted in nearly 160 cities across the United States, including Newark, Detroit and Harlem. "A riot is the language of the unheard." - MLK, Jr.
The community continues to grow slowly in Brownsville-East New York at the apartment on Saratoga Avenue.. Some folks in the neighborhood began to refer to Dar members (men) as "Baldies". This stemmed from the fact that men's heads were closely shaven underneath the distinctive turban many wore - distinguishing them from other Black/Muslim groups in NY.
April–August 1966: Race riots break out in more than 100 cities throughout the nation
Oct 1966: The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP) was founded in Oakland, California by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, who met at Merritt College in Oakland.
1966
1967
"Identification cards": Stemming from disputes and animosity between Sunni Muslims and members of NOI, Shaykh Dawood "announced that all of the African American Muslims who attended the Islamic Mission had to carry Sunni identification cards". Many refused, galvanizing renewed commitment to establishment of Jumuah (Friday services). "This was a significant statement of independence. The converts chose not to defer to the larger mosque... 5-7 brothers, Yahya Abdul-Kareem included, prayed within a one-bedroom flat on Lewis Avenue in Brooklyn... Bilal Abd al-Rahman offered his 4 bedroom apt in the 100 block of Saratoga Ave... two months later the Muslims outgrew the place, forcing them to move the Friday prayer to another Brooklyn location, 240 Sumpter Street in Brooklyn.
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- Urban Muslims: The Formation of the Dar-ul-Islam Movement by R.M. Mukhtar Curtis
Yahya Abdul-Kareem elected Imam [formerly Amir of Tabligh (or "propagation/Dawah"); community held services at 240 Sumpter Street in Brooklyn.
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"As the community grew in both size and complexity, Yahya Abdul-Kareem gained the confidence of the expanded community... it is clear that... Imam Yahya was the very face and embodiment of the Dar, both locally and nationally. His unique personality combined with rare attributes of soaring competence and... unassuming, disarming charisma that, for us, nearly completely filled the emotional void left by Malcolm."
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- Dar-ul-Islam: Principle, Praxis, Movement by Kamal Hassan Ali [p. 10]
1968
1969
Imam Yahya makes pilgrimage to Hajj