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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…
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The Basics of Classical Athari Aqeeda, by Imam Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد I make a deliberate effort to avoid argumentation concerning Allah and matters of creed. Rather than debating, I prefer to explain my position clearly and in writing. Over the years, I have written about the harms of disputation over ʿAqeeda and the divisions…
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The Three Faces of Modern Salafism and Their Impact on Black American Muslim Life, Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد Modern Salafism did not enter Black American Muslim life as a single, unified ideology. It arrived as a current, as a wave if you will. A global religious stream shaped by oil wealth, geopolitics, missionary institutions, and the intellectual anxieties of the modern Muslim…
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Why Arabic Still Matters: Protecting Our Connection to the Quran and the Sunnah of Rasoolillaah ﷺ, by Imam Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد In every generation, Muslims have faced new challenges that test their understanding of faith. Today, one of those challenges is emerging quietly within parts of the Black American Muslim community: a growing suspicion toward the Arabic language and, by extension, toward the Arab…
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The Islamic Ruling on Attending the Funeral of non-Muslim relatives or non-Muslims in General, by Imam Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد Muslims praying over a deceased Muslim, burying him and attending his or her funeral is a communal obligation (fard kifaya). There is no difference of opinion on this according to the consensus of all Muslim scholars. However, a Muslim attending the funeral of a non-Muslim is a matter where scholars differ…
Imam Luqman Ahmad Mosque Without Borders 