Tag: history
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When Knowledge Grows, the Label Fades: Why Modern Salafism Rarely Survives Maturity in Black Muslim America, Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد Modern-day Salafism in Black Muslim America has always had a paradox at its core: it attracts people with the promise of “pure Islam,” yet the deeper a person actually studies Islam, the more likely they are to outgrow the movement. It is a…
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From Crisis to Covenant: The Case for an Independent Muslim Marital Infrastructure, Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد One thing that is certain. There exists Black Muslim America, a critical gap between the spiritual aspirations of our community and the legal mechanisms used to govern and manage our most important and intimate institutions, marriage and divorce. For decades, a familiar refrain has echoed through the hallways of…
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The Evolution of Leadership: Why the Next Generation of Black American Muslim Imams Will Lead Differently in sha Allah, Imam Luqman Ahmad
The dream of a unified front, where Imams sit across from one another to solve the pressing issues of Black American Muslims and national governance, remains elusive for now, largely a dream. While the need for collaboration amongst Imams is high, the current landscape of leadership is often defined by fragmentation rather than cooperation. To understand why this generation struggles with unity, and why…
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Same People, Different Labels: The Inevitable Convergence of Black American Islam, Imam Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد We are not quite there yet. In fact, we are still a long way off, and Allah knows best. But sometime in the near or perhaps distant future, a mindset will emerge, in sha’ Allah, in which Black American Muslims, descendants of the enslaved, from the W.D. Muhammad community,…
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How Black American Muslims Can Build Civil Governance Across Communities, Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد For many Black American Muslims, the idea of building civil governance across communities feels new, overwhelming, unprecedented, or unreachable. But in truth, Muslims have always created order out of disorder. Across every region and every era, Muslim communities, large or small, powerful or marginalized, have organized…
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Imam al-Shafi’i and the Synthesis of Traditions, Explaining the Shaafi’i Madhhab, by Imam Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد The Shafi’i school occupies a distinctive place in the history of Islamic jurisprudence, representing a synthesis of the two major legal traditions that preceded it: the Medinan tradition of Malik and the Iraqi tradition of Abū Ḥanīfa. Its founder, Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shāfiʿī (150-204 AH/767-820 CE), was uniquely positioned to achieve this synthesis through his training…
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THE URGENT NEED FOR BLACK AMERICAN MUSLIM COMMUNITIES TO ESTABLISH COMPREHENSIVE CIVIL GOVERNANCE, by Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد Black American Muslim communities have maintained vibrant masjid life for decades—establishing places of worship, appointing Imams, collecting zakat, and organizing Jumuʿah and Eid prayers. Yet despite this long-standing presence, we still lack a unified, comprehensive system of civil governance that addresses…
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When Scholars Spoke Truth: Why American Muslims Must Build Their Own Scholarly Class, by Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد Throughout Islamic history, scholars have often been placed in difficult positions when their religious integrity brought them into tension with political authorities. This is not a flaw of Islam — it is a reality of human power. Real‑time scholarship sometimes requires…
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Why Black American Muslims need to be talking about order, and governance, and talking about it now, by Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد Throughout much of Islamic history after the Khulafa al-Rashidoon, the roles of the ‘alim (scholar) and the sultan (ruler) were often separate. The Umayyad, Abbasid, and Ottoman empires, among others, were largely led by political and military figures who, while (ideally)…
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Why Muslim Communities must document and record it’s history, by Imam Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد When we document the story of a masjid or a community, we are doing far more than preserving dates and names. We are capturing decisions, their consequences, the moments of unity, and the fractures of discord. We record what worked—and just…
Imam Luqman Ahmad Mosque Without Borders 