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Vision:

To see an America where justice, equality and righteousness reign and where the legacy of Islam lives on.

Mission:

A broad-based alliance of Muslims dedicated to strengthening under-served and African American Muslim communities and institutions, assisting converts, striving for justice, and promoting the life-giving truth of Islam.

What is MANA’s Focus?

To see an America where justice, equality and righteousness reign and where the legacy of Islam lives on. A broad-based alliance of Muslims dedicated to strengthening under-served and African American Muslim communities and institutions, assisting converts, striving for justice, and promoting the life-giving truth of Islam.

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MANA’s Leaders

MANA’s leadership team is representative of the diverse African American and other inner city Muslim communities.  Our leaders possess a wide range of professional and educational backgrounds.  Among them are academics, Imams, chaplains, business professionals, community activists, as well as licensed counsellors and therapists.   The organizations and institutions they represent provide a wide array of valuable services to both the Muslim and wider communities. 

  • Imam Hamzah was born and raised Muslim in New Haven, Connecticut and has a passion for maintaining the intergenerational continuity of Islam.

    He is al Azhar graduate who has studied and taught Islam for over 15 years. He has memorized the Holy Quran, and served as a teacher for Islamic schools and Masjids in Georgia, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, and in the Middle East. He also obtained a Master’s degree in Islamic Studies and Leadership from Bayan Claremont.

    He founded Miraaj Academy in 2017 to teach Qur’an, and leadership skills to Muslim American youth within an American context. He conveys knowledge and religious teaching through experiential learning with focus on internalization of concepts learned. Experiential learning projects include urban gardens, food pantry, Youth Leadership Institute and Islamic Studies Curriculum Development.

    He also co-founded Midtown Mosque in 2015 as an effort to revitalized blighted areas in Memphis, Tennessee and with the aspiration of creating a model of spiritual-based activism, in which sacred knowledge and application are cultivated and harmonized.

    Imam Hamzah is also a founder of UMMAH (United Masjids Making American History) which is a national collaborative of Imams from inner-city masjids that collaborate to uplift grassroots communities. He is currently the President of Mirage Academy and Imam of Midtown Mosque in Memphis, Tennessee.

Hazel Gómez is a coalition internal organizer with the LIVE FREE Detroit Coalition, part of a national campaign of Faith in Action to build a safer and freer Detroit.

Sister Hazel also serves as a curriculum developer, trainer, and mentor with the Muslim Power Building Project, a comprehensive community organizing and leadership development program for Muslims nationwide in which an Islamic framework is core to the curriculum. Additionally, the labor of love for her and her husband is Dream of Detroit, a nonprofit that combines community organizing with strategic housing and land development to build a healthy community and empower marginalized neighborhoods.

A Puerto Rican and Mexican convert hailing from Chicago’s west side, Hazel graduated from Loyola University Chicago with double bachelor’s degrees in Forensic Science and Biology. She is currently studying the Islamic sciences at Ribaat Academic Program and Seminary under the tutelage of Shaykha Tamara Gray and other Muslim women scholars.

Hazel is a volunteer, advisor, and board member to several nonprofits ranging from community development and convert care to anti-racism work and bail reform. She is an avid reader of all things about Muslims in America and is interested in the research and creation of an authentic Latinx Muslim experience.

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  • Dr. Ihsan Bagby is an Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Kentucky (2002-present). He holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from the University of Michigan (1985) where he studied under Dr. Umar Farooq Abdallah.

    Dr. Bagby’s research for the past 25 years has focused on the Muslim community in America, the American mosque, and the African American Muslim community. He has conducted two comprehensive studies of mosques in America (2000 and 2010) resulting in four monographs and seven articles or chapters in edited volumes. A third survey for 2020 is underway.

    Dr. Bagby served as lead researcher for ISPU’s Remaking Muslim Spaces which led to the monograph “Creating the Welcoming, Inclusive, and Dynamic Mosque.” He has recently produced two articles in referred journals on giving in mosques and on mosque governance.

    Bagby is a member of the Fiqh Council of North America, serves as Chair of the SHARE Center in Lexington, KY, is a Board member of Masjid Bilal, Lexington, and a Board member of CAIR-KY.

    He is a native of Cleveland. He became Muslim in 1969 with the Darul Islam Movement. He is married to Waheedah Muhammad with whom he shares 10 grandchildren.

  • Imam Mika’il taught and administrated at the historic Al-Ikhlas Training Academy in Detroit from 1999 to 2020. He is a former Police Chaplain, a member of the Michigan Imam’s Council and Associate Imam at the Muslim Center (Detroit). As a Detroit City Council liaison, he advocates for civic engagement, social equity, and empowerment. Imam Mika’il has become known for his political and social activism, and his passionate commentary on black and youth social issues. In 2013, he became the first Muslim to offer the invocation for a Michigan State Senate session. At the end of 2014, he gained international notoriety when he organized 65,000 people to participate in 24-hour social media blackout called The National Black Day of Silence; to protest the exploitation of violence against Blacks and marginalized peoples. The imam currently lives on Detroit’s northwest side where he and his wife raise their four youngest children.

  • Ndidi Amatullah Okakpu is a community advocate, social entrepreneur who creates equity in interfaith and civic engagement spaces. She served as the Convener of the Chicagoland Shura Council, a 501(c)(3) federation of Masajid (Mosques), businesses, and community organizations largely representing the Chicagoland community of the late Muslim American scholar and leader Imam Warith Deen Mohammed. She is also principal consultant of N. Okakpu Consulting which offers business solutions for the needs of small businesses, non-profits and community based organizations.

    Inspired by the pioneering community activism of her late mother, Amatullah Sharif, her roots began in Muslim youth organizing in school and in the Masjid. She joined the inaugural delegation sent by Imam Mohammed, to study Qur’anic Arabic at Abu Nour University in Damascus, Syria under the auspices of the late Grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Kuftaro. Upon returning to The States, she was appointed National Youth Coordinator and Organizer for the Youth Da’wah training program- which trained Muslim youth for leadership roles as teachers, Imams and propagators of faith.

    Ndidi earned degrees in both Finance and Business Administration from DePaul University. Continuing her drive for community development, she worked at Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN). There she focused on community organizing and nonprofit capacity building and became the Chicago lead to the IMAN- DC initiative (now called DC Project REACH). She later served as their Finance Manager overseeing the non-profit’s $2.5 million dollar budget.

    She notably consulted as director of operations for the historic 2015 Chicago Mayoral campaign of Jesús “Chuy” Garcia. Ndidi has been featured for her organizing work by the US State Department in its documentary on the contributions of Muslims in America along with other noted Americans such as Congressman Keith Ellison. Ms. Okakpu is honored to be a Clara Muhammad School alum, a native of Washington, DC, and a proud Chicago resident of over 17 years.

  • Imam Saffet Abid Catovic is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Parliament of the World’s Religions Climate Action Task Force. He serves on the Clergy Council and Board of Directors of Faith in New Jersey, is Senior Muslim advisor to GreenFaith, Chair and Co-founder of the Green Muslims of New Jersey (GMNJ), founding member of ISNA Green Initiatives and the Global Muslim Climate Network (GMCN), and was co-drafter of the Fiqh Council of North America “Fatwa” on fossil fuel divestment. Imam Saffet serves as the Muslim Chaplain at Drew University where he received his MA in Religion and Society specializing in Religion and the Environment.

    Imam Saffet has been a board member of several New Jersey Masjids, including Newark’s largest masjid, Islamic Cultural Center (ISEC). He helped organize the Muslim Community Leadership Council (MCLC), that brought together all greater Newark masjids, to respond to the illegal NYC Police spying and surveillance of Newark Muslims and their institutions (2012).

    In the 1990s Imam Saffet served the Bosnian Government and its Mission to the United Nations, where he dedicated himself to ending the genocidal campaign against his ancestral Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was a key organizer of the Bosnia Task Force USA (BTF)—an alliance of ten organizations including: the National Islamic Community, the Ministry of Imam W. Deen Mohammed, the Islamic Society of North America and the Islamic Circle of North America), whose advocacy included historic protests in Washington DC (1993) and in New York at the UN (1995).

  • Imam Salahuddin accepted a version of Islam (Nation of Islam) at the tender age of thirteen, which started his journey on becoming a bona fide Muslim. Originally from Harlem USA, he has been involved with community activism, and bridging the divide between diverse communities.

    An avid student of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed (RAA) he is passionate about overcoming artificial barriers that separate communities and is classified as a “peacemonger” by those who have interacted and worked with him over the past 40+ years.

    He served as chaplain at NYS Department of Corrections for thirty years, providing spiritual guidance and empowering Muslim inmates to break the vicious cycle of recidivism.

    He has led urban, suburban multi-ethnic and multi-cultural communities through his decades of service including Masjid al Ikhlas (Newburgh, NY), As Salam Islamic Center (Raleigh, NC).

    He served as president of the Association of Muslim Chaplains for the past seven years and now president in Emeritus. He has also been an adjunct professor at four colleges teaching world religions and Islam.

    He is presently the vice president of the Muslim Endorsement Council.

    He obtained a Doctor of Ministry degree in Islamic Studies-Christian/Muslim relations from Hartford Seminary and an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humane Letters from Global Workers of God Seminary and University.

  • Imam Sulaimaan Hamed serves as the resident Imam of the Atlanta Masjid of Al Islam, one of the largest Islamic centers in the southeast, affiliated with the community of his late teacher, Imam W. Deen Mohammed.

    A student of religious studies, he has taught Arabic and Islamic sciences at the Mohammed Schools and Islamic Theology and Islamic Law for the Faith Institute in Atlanta. He represents the new generation of teachers of Islamic Studies in America.

    Educated primarily in private Islamic Schools in the US, Hamed received his specialized training under the tutelage of the Grand Mufti Sheik Ahmed Kuftaro of Damascus, Syria at the Prestigious Abu Nour University. Completing courses in Jurisprudence, Arabic, Prophetic traditions, and Theology. His studies and teaching have afforded him travel opportunities to Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Senegal.

    He served as Imam of Masjid Fresno in California and assistant to Masjidul Waritheen of Oakland. Fluent in Arabic, he is currently the co-owner and operator of Professional Hajj and Umrah Guides, LLC, “Hajj Pros”, a religious-based travel agency specializing in the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

    Sulaimaan is passionate about the improvement of Islamic institutions of education. He is noted as a respected leader in the Muslim American community often called upon to assist with programs establishing a commitment to religion for the future generations. His publications include “Ramadan: The month of purification and self-restraint.” Sulaimaan currently resides in Atlanta, GA with his wife and children.

  • Imam Nadim Ali is originally from Chester, Pennsylvania and has resided in Atlanta, Georgia since 1979.

    He reverted to Islam in 1978 in Philadelphia, PA. Under the auspices of the Darul Islam Movement, and is currently a part of Al-Ummah.

    He is the Imam of the Community Masjid of Atlanta and the former Convener for the Metro Atlanta Majlis Ash-Shura and founding member of MANA (Muslim Alliance of North America.)

    Imam Nadim works as a licensed professional & master addiction counselor and serves Muslims and the general community. Offering counseling services consisting of Pre-Marital, Marital, and Individual counseling. He is a therapist and consultant in Stress Management, Violence Prevention, and Tai Chi. He has been educating communities about the dangers of addiction, counseling patients on relapse prevention, and how to make healthier life choices. He also uses alternative methods such as Tai Chi, (ancient Chinese slow-motion exercise), as intervention treatment for addiction, stress reduction and anger management.

    He has the unique ability to incorporate spiritual teachings, community activism and holistic “approaches” to deep seeded problems in the community. This unique combination had made him a bedrock in communities on which thousands have relied on for decades.

    He has authored numerous articles on counseling, and family matters, and he is also the co-founder of the Spoken word acapella Group Dawah Ensemble.

    He obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Shippensburg State University, a Master’s degree in counseling psychology from the Georgia School of Professional Psychology, and is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Master of Addiction Counselor.

  • Joshua Salaam has strong roots in the American Muslim community. He started attending national Muslim youth camps at the age of 12 and continued as a participant, counselor and speaker for over 30 years. Joshua entered the U.S. Air Force in 1995 and served as a Police officer for four years. He was a key contributor in establishing Friday prayer services on base for Muslim military members and went on to serve as an Imam in Goldsboro, NC for several years. After the military, Joshua immersed himself in community activism. He managed the Civil Rights department for the Council on American-Islamic Relations from 2000-2004 and helped oversee a Baltimore Muslim community and neighborhood development project from 2004-2007. Before starting at Duke in July 2018, Joshua worked with youth and families for 11 years at one of the largest Muslim communities in America. His diverse background gives him a unique perspective on many issues and helps him connect with students. He holds a Master’s Degree in Religious Studies and a Doctorate of Ministry from Hartford Seminary.

  • Imam Dr. Al-Hajj Talib ‘Abdur-Rashid has been the religious and spiritual leader (Imam) of The Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood Inc. since November 1989. The mosque, located in Harlem, New York City, is the fifty-three-year-old lineal descendant of the Muslim Mosque Inc. founded by the late El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) in 1964. Imam ‘Abdur-Rashid is also a former Ameer (President) of the Majlis Ash-Shura (Islamic Leadership Council) of Metropolitan New York. Currently he is its Special Assistant for Restorative Justice, Civil and Human Rights. Nationally, the imam currently serves as the Deputy Amir (Vice President) of The Muslim Alliance in North America.

    A Muslim social justice activist, the Imam’s mission of service has been rich and varied over more than three decades:

    • Retired Muslim Prison Chaplain – 40 years combined volunteer and professional service in the jails and prisons of New York.
    • HIV/AIDS educator since the early 1990s, co-founder of The African American Muslim Commission on HIV/AIDS, member – the International Muslim Leaders Consultation on HIV/AIDS.
    • Spiritual advisor, New York chapter of Millati Islami (a Muslim support network for men and women in recovery from narcotics and alcohol addiction) since the mid-1990s.
    • Author, A Muslim Manifesto on Darfur (2006), Healing Indigenous Muslim Families in America (2007), “African and African American Muslims in Early New York ( published essay, 2010) , “Souls on Fire: Christian and Muslim Insurrectionists in 19th Century America” ( paper presented at the Transatlantic Roundtable on Religion and Race, Birkbeck, University of London (2012).
    • Major spokesman as president of the Majlis Ash Shura of New York, in the successful struggle against the NYPD unconstitutional surveillance of the NY and NJ Muslim community (2011-2016).
    • 2016 recipient, The Institute for the Black World 21st Century Legacy Award, for service on behalf of people of the African diaspora.
    • 2017 Imam Talib doctoral awardee (Honoris Causa) in Islamic Leadership, the National Institute of Muslim Human Service Practitioners.
    • Recipient: the Bridge Building Award for Leadership in Community Relations; the Micah Justice Award of The Micah Institute at New York Theological Seminary; the Citizen of the City award of The Police Reform Organizing Project.
    • Founding member, A Partnership of Faith in New York City (1992).
    • Current member, CORL (the NYC Commission of Religious Leaders, with Christian, Muslim, and Jewish religious leaders).
    • 2018 member, the National Steering Committee for The Poor Peoples Campaign in the U.S.
    • 2019 recipient, the Shaykh Hassan Cisse Peace Builders Award.
    • 2020, faith presenter, Democratic National Convention.

  • Daughter of a Jamaican immigrant activist father and religious Louisiana Creole mother, Waheedah
    Muhammad is a dedicated Muslim activist, who was born and raised in New York. After high school,
    Waheedah moved to California where she become involved in Black Nationalist movements—including
    the Black Panther Party and later the Nation of Islam. Under the leadership of Imam W.D. Mohammed,
    she embraced universal Islam.

    Waheedah is the Director of Operations for MANA and a MANA Diwan member. She has been involved
    with MANA from its earliest stages and served as Conference Coordinator for two very successful
    national and several regional MANA conferences. She serves as Board Chair for CAIR-Kentucky and
    served as member and secretary of the Central Kentucky Majlis (ISCK).

    Waheedah studied Early Childhood education, ESL certification, and Educational Administration in the
    University of California system. She taught at Sister Clara Muhammad Schools in Los Angeles and
    Oakland, California and was co-founding board member and principal for the Sankore School in North
    Carolina. She studied Arabic language, Usul ul Fiqh, Islamic Philosophy and Seerah at American Islamic
    College and served as Assistant Administrator for adult education summer intensives at ISNA’s Islamic
    Teaching Center.

    Waheedah Muhammad is the devoted wife of Dr. Ihsan Bagby and the proud grandmother of 10.

Explore Our Popular Courses

MANA endeavors to elevate the level of both religious and cultural literacy in our communities.  Pursuant to that end we offer a variety of courses to help establish a firm connection between our African and Muslim forbearers in this land.  We have offered a groundbreaking class on the African presence in what is now America from the landing of the White Lion in 1619 to the present day.  We are currently offering classes in both the Quran and the Sunnah, the twin foundations of our religion.  

MANA is also presenting initiatives to strengthen our families and our institutions.  We have offered a very thorough and well-received workshop that aims to strengthen our families starting with its foundational institution: marriage.     

Teacher: Imam Zaid Shakir
Bio: Imam Zaid Shakir was born in Berkeley, California, in 1956, one of seven siblings. He was raised in Atlanta, Georgia and New Britain, Connecticut. He converted to Islam in 1977 while serving in the United States Air Force.

Get Enrolled
A YEAR IN THE GARDENS OF THE RIGHTEOUS, RIYAD AS-SALIHINCost $5
Teacher: Dr. David Akbar Gilliam
Bio: Dr. David Akbar Gilliam reverted to Islam as a young adult, shortly before he completed his undergraduate degree in Hispanic Studies at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Get Enrolled
FROM PRE-MAYFLOWER TO POST-PANDEMICCost $5
Teacher: Imam Hamzah Malik
Bio: Imam Hamzah was born and raised Muslim in New Haven, Connecticut and has a passion for maintaining the intergenerational continuity of Islam.

Get Enrolled
Developing Your Quranic CompassCost $5
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Shahadah

 to testify that there is no god except the One and Only God, Lord, and Creator

Salah

To establish the five daily prayers

Zakat

To pay the annual charity to assist the less fortunate and those in need

Sawm

To observe fasting throughout the Month of Ramadan

Hajj

To make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime

Assad Koshul

Assad Koshul is originally from Pakistan and grew up in New York Metro area.

He Is an Accounting/Finance, Organizational Development, Change Management, Leadership and Human Capital Development Professional with experience in diverse industries in developed and emerging markets.

He has been a community activist since an early age and has worked with diverse groups for social justice causes. He is a board member of Challenge Foundation, Inc., a member of the Advisory Board for The Humanity Project Orphanage in Haiti, President of ICW Toastmasters, and served as President of Rutgers University MSA.

He has been involved in several projects to benefit his ancestral home of Pakistan, including: East West Consulting and Training Lead Facilitator In Pakistan, Lahore Women’s College and University Workshop and Training Sessions for professors and department heads, and the Ansar Management Corporation, where he developed a financial model for the largest low income housing development projects in Pakistan.

His diverse professional experience and cross cultural competency equips him to create intellectual and emotional alignment in diverse environments and situations.

His current work focuses on knowledge integration, concept and framework development for professionals and activists. He also focuses on bridging the gap between academia and industry for young professionals as well as curriculum and workshop development for diverse audiences.

He is a graduate of Rutgers University, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Scrum Master (CSM) and PROSCI Change Management Certified.

Zaid Shakir

Imam Zaid Shakir was born in Berkeley, California, in 1956, one of seven siblings. He was raised in Atlanta, Georgia and New Britain, Connecticut. During his school years he was active in sports, focusing on football and track. He converted to Islam in 1977 while serving in the United States Air Force.

Even before converting to Islam, he was concerned about communal change, leading him to briefly embrace communism and working on the cases of Joan Little and the Wilmington Ten. His desire to effect meaningful change after converting led to his assisting in founding three masjids in New Brunswick, New Jersey, New Haven, Connecticut, and Oakland, California, as well as other organizations such as the Connecticut Muslim Coordinating Committee and the Tri-State Muslim Educational Initiative.

Imam Zaid is a spiritual philosopher, aligns different intellectual traditions and creates intellectual frameworks, with which to harmonize individuals, families, and societies. He is a visionary leader who is a change agent who places emphasis on spiritual, mental and physical health.

He is a graduate of the US Air Force Supervisory Training Program, ESL Teacher’s Training Program, American University, and Rutgers University Graduate School, where he obtained a Masters Degree (MA) in Political Science.

Imam Zaid is passionate about education and writing, having authored four books and a plethora of articles dealing with various subjects. He is a cofounder of Zaytuna College, the country’s first accredited Muslim College liberal Arts college.

He is a signatory of a declaration in support of the Paris Climate Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and authored the Muslim response to Pope Francis’ Encyclical on Climate Change, Laudato si’. He is an urban gardener as well as an artist and poet. His goal is to see a strong and viable Muslim community, whose roots are firmly planted in the soil tilled by the African Muslims whose sacrifices were so instrumental in building this country, and whose branches provide shade for the entire community in all of its diversity.

hamza_abdul_malik

Hamza Abdul Malik

Imam Hamzah was born and raised Muslim in New Haven, Connecticut and has a passion for maintaining the intergenerational continuity of Islam.

He is al Azhar graduate who has studied and taught Islam for over 15 years. He has memorized the Holy Quran, and served as a teacher for Islamic schools and Masjids in Georgia, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, and in the Middle East. He also obtained a Master’s degree in Islamic Studies and Leadership from Bayan Claremont.

He founded Miraaj Academy in 2017 to teach Qur’an, and leadership skills to Muslim American youth within an American context. He conveys knowledge and religious teaching through experiential learning with focus on internalization of concepts learned. Experiential learning projects include urban gardens, food pantry, Youth Leadership Institute and Islamic Studies Curriculum Development.

He also co-founded Midtown Mosque in 2015 as an effort to revitalized blighted areas in Memphis, Tennessee and with the aspiration of creating a model of spiritual-based activism, in which sacred knowledge and application are cultivated and harmonized.

Imam Hamzah is also a founder of UMMAH (United Masjids Making American History) which is a national collaborative of Imams from inner-city masjids that collaborate to uplift grassroots communities. He is currently the President of Mirage Academy and Imam of Midtown Mosque in Memphis, Tennessee.