The American Society of Muslims was a predominantly

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

association of

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

which was the direct descendant of the original

Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...

. It was created by Warith Deen Mohammed after he assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father

Elijah Muhammad Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Robert Poole; October 7, 1897 – February 25, 1975) was an African American religious leader, black separatist, and self-proclaimed Messenger of Allah, who led the Nation of Islam (NOI) from 1934 until his dea ...

.Lincoln, C. Eric. (1994)The Black Muslims in America, Third Edition, William B. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Company) page 263 Imam W. Deen Mohammed changed the name of the Nation of Islam to the "World Community of Islam in the West" in 1976, then the "American Muslim Mission" in 1981, and finally the "American Society of Muslims". The group largely accepted beliefs and practices based on mainstream

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disag ...

, abandoning many of the distinctive claims of the founders of the Nation of Islam. W. D. Mohammed retired as the leader of the association in 2003 and established a charity called The Mosque Cares.

History

After the 1975 death of

, his son Warith Deen Mohammed took over leadership of the Nation of Islam. He quickly rejected many of his father's views, including black separatism and belief in the divinity of Wallace Fard Muhammad, founder of the Nation of Islam. He was "determined to bring it into conformity with mainstream

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

".Geneive Abdo, ''Mecca and Main Street: Muslim Life in America After 9/11'', Oxford University Press US, 2006, pp. 8-9 In 1976 he changed the name of the organization to ''World Community of Islam in the West''. In 1981 it changed again to ''American Muslim Mission'', a name that was retained until 1985. Finally it settled on the ''American Society of Muslims''. In 1977, Louis Farrakhan resigned from Warith Deen's reformed organization, and with a number of supporters decided to rebuild the original Nation of Islam upon the foundation established by Wallace Fard Muhammad and

. Over time Minister Farrakhan regained many of the Nation of Islam's original National properties including the flagship National Headquarters Mosque #2 (

Mosque Maryam Mosque Maryam, also known as Muhammad Mosque #2 or Temple #2, is the headquarters of the Nation of Islam, located in Chicago, Illinois. It is at 7351 South Stony Island Avenue in the South Shore neighborhood.Bilalian News ''Muslim Journal'' September 29, 1978 The original Council of Imams consisted of: * Sheik James Abdul-Aziz Shabazz of Chicago, Illinois * Imam Ali Rasheed of Masjid Malcolm Shabazz, New York, NY * Imam Khalil Abdel Alim of Washington, DC * Imam Ibrahim Pasha of Atlanta, GA * Imam Ibrahim Kamal ud-Din of Houston, TX * Imam Abdul Karim Hasan of Los Angeles, CA. The Auxiliary members were: * Imam Muhammad Abdullah of Oakland, CA, by way of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

* Imam B. Mustafa Ali of Milwaukee, Wisconsin * Sheik Tajuddin B. Shuaib of Los Angeles, CA, by way of Africa * Imam Shakir Mahmood of Boston, MA * Sheik Ahmed Rufai of New York, NY, by way of Nigeria * Imam Nuridden Faiz of Hartford, Connecticut * Dr. R. Muhammad Mazen Al-Wan of Detroit, Michigan, by way of Iran * Imam Alfred Muhammad of Baltimore, MD * Imam Clyde Rahman of Masjid Bilal,

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...

* Sheik Muhammad Nur of Chicago, Illinois, by way of Sudan * Imam Nasir Ahmed of Miami, Florida.

Third renaming

The change from the ''American Muslim Mission'' to the ''American Society of Muslims'' occurred in the context of problems following protracted legal challenges caused by financial claims on the estate of Elijah Muhammad made on behalf of children he had fathered out of wedlock.Stephen C. Finley, Torin Alexander, ''African American religious cultures'', ABC-CLIO, 2009, p.84 In 1985 Warith Deen Mohammed ordered the dissolution of the American Muslim Mission. W. D. Mohammed said disbanding the American Muslim Mission means "we are members of the worldwide Muslim community...not to be identified in geographic terms or political terms or racial terms". The decision to break up the organization meant that each mosque would be autonomous. Despite dissolving the movement legally, it continued informally, but this did not stop a legal judgement in 1987 which forced the sale of $10 million worth of property. W. D. Mohammed sold a number of properties to Farrakhan, including Temple No. 2, the headquarters mosque, which was purchased with a donation to Farrakhan from

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by '' The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

. W. D. Mohammed reconstituted the movement as the American Society of Muslims in 1988. Warith Deen Mohammed and Farrakhan retained control of their rival groups before a phase of rapprochement in the 1990s. In the July 9, 1999, issue of ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' an article cited the growing membership of the American Society of Muslims. In 2002 its numbers were estimated at "near 2.5 million persons with a percentage of immigrant and naturalized American citizens from various Muslim ethnic peoples, European Americans, and a majority of African Americans representing five generations since the earliest history of Elijah Mohammed's leadership (1933) and in some cases before." Warith Deen resigned from the leadership of the American Society of Muslims on August 31, 2003, and established The Mosque Cares. He gave as his reason for resigning that the imams within the organization continued to resist his reforms."Imam W. D. Muhammad, Leader of the American Society of Muslims Resigns". ''Jet'', Sep 22, 2003, Vol. 104, No. 13 On December 21, 2003, Imam Mustafa El-Amin was given W. D. Mohammed's blessing to attempt to maintain the ASM as an organization. El-Amin advertised in ''The Muslim Journal'', expressing solidarity with the aims of the former leader. El-Amin received little support and the ASM did not reorganize. After W.D. Mohammed's death in 2008, its members have identified as the ''"Community of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed"'' or simply ''"Muslim Americans"'', and its national activities have been largely organized by The Mosque Cares, run by one of W.D. Mohammed's sons Wallace D. Mohammed II.

Programs and aim

The aims of the American Society of Muslims were to establish an Islamic community life (''New Africa'') in America and the promotion of a positive image of Al-Islam in America and the world. Its organized school accreditation, publications and business ventures relate to Islamic communal life in America, including the sale and circulation of Halal food. At the time of Imam W. Deen Mohammed's death, the CPC ''(Collective Purchasing Conference)'' was under development.

Publications

The organization's newspaper was ''Bilalian News'' (after Bilal ibn Rabah) in 1975. In 1981 it became ''The Muslim Journal''. It is currently edited by Ayesha K. Mustapha. In 2011 due to low readership and the decline of newspapers nationwide due to the internet, the '' Muslim Journal'' downsized to a home office with an online presence http://themuslimjournal.com/, The ''Muslim Journal'' Editor, Ayesha Mustapha was forced to find a full-time job and work on the paper online.

Education

After his father's death W. Deen Mohammed transformed the Muhammad University of Islam into the Clara Muhammad Schools, or simply ''Mohammed Schools'', replacing the ''University of Islam'' founded by his father. The school system is "an association of approximately 75 elementary, secondary, and high schools throughout the United States and the

Caribbean Islands Almost all of the Caribbean islands are in the Caribbean Sea, with only a few in inland lakes. The largest island is Cuba. Other sizable islands include Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago. Some of the smaller islands a ...

." The schools have been described by Zakiyyah Muhammad of the American Educational Research Association as "models of Islamic education that are achieving commendable results".

After 2003

The Mosque Cares president, Wallace Deen Mohammed II, was seeking to take central control over the intellectual properties (his name, picture, quotes, writings etc.) of his father. This matter is currently a part of the probate case between Imam W. D. Mohammed's family.

Notes

External links

The Community of Imam W. Deen MohammedThe Mosque CaresMuslim JournalAtlanta Masjid of Al-IslamBaitcal NewsNew Africa RadioWDM MinistryWDM PublicationsA Three Day JourneyMuhammad Islamic Center of Greater HartfordMasjid Taleem MuhammadMohammed Schools of AtlantaUmmahstream ~ A service by Taqwa Productions
{{Authority control Nation of Islam Islamic organizations based in the United States