CHAPTER 14
The Islamic Council
Another goal of Abdul Karim Khudairi's administration in the 80's was to organize the Islamic Council of New England, headquartered at the Islamic Center. Money ($5000) for this organization was held in escrow from 1975-1985.
In 1985, Khudairi used the money to organize the first Islamic Conference of New England, an annual event sponsored by the Council and attended by an average of 400-500 Muslims from all over New England. There were twelve charter members who joined the Council in 1983 and two more joined in 1985.
Today, the Council is an umbrella organization of eighteen mosques and Islamic Societies currently in New England. In its issue of the Islamic Forum (August 1991), Dr. Khudairi states the goals and objectives of the Council:
"To establish a forum in which each of the independent Islamic centers or societies from the New England area could come together and exchange views of common concerns, develop strategies and programs for achieving common goals, to strengthen the unity and harmony amongst the Muslims, to represent the Muslim community at the regional level with one united voice and force and much more."
The current Council members include: The Islamic Center of New England, Quincy, MA, Islamic Center of Boston, Wayland, MA, Islamic Center of Connecticut, Hartford, CT, Islamic Center of Merrimac Valley, Salem, NH, Islamic Center of Rhode Island, Providence, RI, Islamic Society of Boston (Universities), Cambridge, MA, Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts, Holyoke, MA, Islamic Society of Greater Worcester, Worcester, MA, Masjid Al-Qur'an, Dorchester, MA, Masjid Ar-Razzaq, Providence, RI, Islamic Community of Fairfield County, Norwalk, CT, Mosque of New England, Seekonk, MA, Society of Islamic Brotherhood, Boston, MA, Islamic Center of University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, Islamic Association of Greater Hartford, Hartford, CT, Islamic Society of Amherst Area, Amherst, MA, Masjid Muhammad, New Haven, CT, and the New England Muslim Sisters Association, Worcester, MA.
Training Islamic Leaders
The Quincy Center served as a training ground for many of the Islamic leaders who are now members of the Islamic Council. A prime example is Shakir Mahmoud (Afro-American convert to Islam since 1964). Shakir Mahmoud is the current imam of the Masjid al-Qur'an in Dorchester, Ma. He first heard about the group of Muslims in Quincy in 1961, after reading in the newspapers that King Saud had donated $5000 to their building fund.
At that time, Shakir was caught up in the racial problems of the 60's. He was observing with some reservation the response of Elijah Muhammad's organization, the Nation of Islam. Of particular interest to him was a certain member of the Nation, Malcolm X, someone he had known from Boston since 1953.
Influenced by Malcolm X's (Abdul Malik al-Shabazz) pilgrimage to Mecca, his split with the Nation, and his assassination in February, 1965, Shakir decided to concentrate less on racial problems and more on the religion of Islam. Motivated to learn for himself about "orthodox Islam," Shakir went to the Islamic Center. In 1973, he became a member of the mosque. He was elected to the Board of Directors from 1977-1978. He served in many educational related activities, simultaneously learning and teaching.
Meanwhile, in 1975, after the death of Elijah Muhammad, his son, Wallace Deen Muhammad, began the difficult process of dismantling the Nation and introducing the basics of "orthodox" Islam to the twenty thousand followers. It was then that Shakir renewed his relationship with Wallace Deen, meeting him in Chicago and telling him about his experience in Quincy. Wallace Deen was impressed by Shakir's knowledge.
In 1976, Imam Wallace Deen (who changed his name to "Warith Deen" in 1980), realizing his need for capable leadership, asked Shakir to go to Temple #11 in Boston (once assigned to Malcolm X) and teach. Shakir taught for a year, and in 1977, he was elected by the community as their Imam.
In 1984, the name of the Temple was changed to the Masjid al-Qur'an. The constitution was rewritten to establish a Board of seven permanent members, with Shakir as President and Imam. Imam Shakir Mahmoud is still a member of the Islamic Center and the Islamic Council. Today, Masjid Al-Qur'an also has a full-time Muslim school, the Sister Clara Muhammad School, which was founded in the early 80's and sponsored by the American Muslim Mission (Warith Deen Muhammed).
The community in Dorchester was once 95% Afro-American converts to Islam. Today, Imam Shakir called it a "rainbow community" because there are Muslim students from many countries. The community has about 25 active families, mostly professionals and about 25% blue-collar workers. Imam Shakir considers the Muslim students to be an asset because they help enforce Islamic values. His khutbah are often related to the American cultural milieu and the effects of its progressive moral and social decay. The Imam believes that there is an urgent need for strong Islamic values in America today. Imam Shakir is part-time Chaplain at two prisons in the area.
Organizing the Muslim Students
In 1982, an Egyptian engineer and member of the Islamic Center of New England, Rajab Rizk, organized the Islamic Society of Boston. The I.S.B. is also a member of the Islamic Council. The objective of the I.S.B. was for all the Muslim Student Associations in the area to be organized in order to assist each other. At the time of its founding, the Society included student associations at Harvard, Boston University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The current president of the I.S.B., a Palestinian graduate student in Islamic Studies at Boston College, stated that the organization expanded to include Northeastern University, Wentworth Institute, and Suffolk University. He prefers that it not be called an umbrella organization because "it recognizes the complete independence of each student association." At the same time, it performs certain functions which benefit all of the student associations.
For example, the I.S.B. makes certain that there is a speaker lined up at each university for Friday khutbah. On the id-ul-Adhha in June, 1991, they organized id prayers in a park in Roxbury for all Muslims. Working closely with MYA, the Muslim Youth Association, the I.S.B. sponsors Islamic scholars to lecture in the Boston area. Lectures are usually hosted either by the Islamic Center of New England or by the largest student association, MIT.
In September, 1991, a professor of Arabic at Bethlehem University, Palestine, Yasser al-Mallah, came to MIT as a visiting scholar from Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. He lectured on the Arabic language in the Qur'an. Speakers like al-Mallah are made available once or twice a month to the Muslim community and all speeches are simultaneously translated into English. Men and women are welcome to attend.