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The Origins of the Salafi Three‑Fold (Trinity)Tawḥid System: From Medieval Pedagogy to Modern Salafi Doctrine, by Imam Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد “This is the Book wherein there is no doubt, a guidance for the God‑conscious.” Qur’an 2:2 Few ideas are more central to modern Salafi identity than the division of tawḥīd into three technical categories: tawḥīd al‑rubūbiyya, tawḥīd al‑ulūhiyya, and tawḥīd al‑asmāʾ wa‑ṣifāt. For many Muslims—especially converts and those shaped by…
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THE SALAFI APPEAL, WHY IT ATTRACTS POOR BLACKS IN AMERICA, by Imam Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد When we talk about the rise of Salafism among Black American Muslims, we must start from a place of honesty and compassion. These brothers and sisters come from our neighborhoods, our families, and our social conditions. They are not outsiders; they…
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Racism in Muslim America Is a Spiritual Disease—And American Muslims Can No Longer Afford to Ignore It, Imam Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد By any honest measure, racism is not just a social problem; it is a spiritual disease. And it’s not a problem just in America—it’s a problem in Muslim America. The Qur’an tells us that Allah created human beings in different colors, tribes, and nations as…
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The Fatwa That Fueled a Revolt: When Mecca’s Scholars Fought to Keep Slavery, Imam Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد Slavery has always been a touchy topic in the Muslim world. In 1855, when the Ottoman Governor of Hijaz sent the order banning slavery to the District Governor of Mecca, he was instructed to read the order aloud in the sharia…
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The Last Salafi Holdouts: How a Fading Movement Desperately Tries to Keep Its Grip on Black American Salafis, by Imam Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد For more than three decades, Saudi religious institutions played a central role in shaping the Salafi movement in the United States. Their books, tapes, translations, and fatwas flowed into Black American communities at a time when many new Muslims were searching…
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The Free Qur’an That Fractured a Community. How a State‑Funded Qur’an Translation Reshaped Black American Muslim Identity, by Imam Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد The translation known as The Noble Qur’an (often called the Hilali–Khan translation) was produced in Saudi Arabia by Dr. Muhammad Taqi‑ud‑Din al‑Hilali and Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan, and published by the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an in Madinah. It was…
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When “Wahhabi” Became “Salafi”: How an Imported Ideology Reshaped Black American Muslim Life, by Imam Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد Before the 1980s, the word “Wahhabi” circulated in Muslim communities as a pejorative label—an accusation of harshness, rigidity, and an almost mechanical approach to faith. It started as a name people chose for themselves, and wore proudly, but outside the Kingdom…
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The Anti-Madhhab Paradox in Modern Black American Salafism, by Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد One of the most striking, and clearly ironic features of modern-day Salafi street culture is its loud, almost obsessive anti‑madhhab rhetoric. Spend ten minutes around a newly minted Salafi convert and you’ll hear the same slogans: “We don’t follow madhhabs. “We follow the Qur’an and Sunnah directly.” “Madhhabs cause division.” “Blind following is haram.” Yet here’s the paradox: Nearly every scholar they quote,…
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THE GLOBAL SALAFI INDUSTRY BUILT ON THE BACK OF BLACK AMERICAN MUSLIM CONVERTS, by Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد Walk into almost any Black Muslim bookstore in America — from Philadelphia to Atlanta, from Detroit to Brooklyn — and you’ll see the same pattern: shelves lined with glossy paperbacks stamped with the same familiar branding. “Salafi this.” “Salafi that.” “The…
Imam Luqman Ahmad Mosque Without Borders 