Ieasha Prime – Early Sunni Movements and Jazz Musicians Islam and the Black American

			Now we get into the early 20th
century. What we find, we find
		

			another very famous Muslim
arriving on the shores of New York
		

			into Harlem. You
		

			in 1918
		

			we find Sheik Daoud Faisal, who
actually starts the first black
		

			Sunni Muslim Mission inside of New
York. Now this is actually 1918 he
		

			and his wife start not only the
Muslim Mission, which is like a
		

			non profit organization, they also
start the Bronx mosque. So his
		

			wife, which is Lady Khadijah, also
starts the Muslim ladies society.
		

			And so this lady society was known
that not only they would have
		

			classes together, but they would
also have, like womanhood
		

			training. Now, both Daoud Faisal
and his wife were responsible for
		

			leading this movement together.
Something very unique about Daoud
		

			Faisal and his wife, they were
both jazz musicians. This was
		

			really significant, because in
this time, this is the height of
		

			the Harlem Renaissance, and they
become responsible for a mass
		

			conversion of jazz musicians into
Islam. As a matter of fact, so
		

			many jazz musicians became Muslim
that it became known amongst the
		

			community that those Muslims who
had converted to Islam actually
		

			enjoyed a higher status than some
of their other counterparts. They
		

			could get into certain
restaurants, into certain stores.
		

			And why is that because they were
known for having a grasp of the
		

			Arabic language, and when they
would speak it to each other, then
		

			they would oftentimes mistake them
for not being African American,
		

			thinking that they were from
somewhere else, allowing them to
		

			enter into places that they
normally would not have. This
		

			level of freedom of movement began
to become something popular, and
		

			people began to associate Islam
with not only intelligence, but
		

			Islam with a higher status. And so
this began to spread. Now,
		

			something interesting happens with
Jazz at this time in America. It
		

			actually becomes the music of
social movement and social change.
		

			The American government actually
looks at jazz music as something
		

			that should be spread throughout
the world, and so interestingly
		

			enough, they began to send these
Muslim jazz musicians all over the
		

			world as American ambassadors of
culture. It was commented to
		

			someone that you should not that
you should be careful not to be
		

			used by America. But interestingly
enough, those jazz musicians said
		

			America might be think that it's
using me, but Allah is the one
		

			using me in order to spread this
Deen all over the world. And this
		

			movement that was started by Daoud
Faisal and his wife, which was
		

			known as Lady Khadija, was known
as the daughter Salam movement.
		

			And that daughter Salam movement
did not only remain inside of New
		

			York. It's something that began to
travel into Philadelphia, down
		

			into the East Coast, into
Washington, DC, all the way down
		

			into Atlanta, it would then begin
to spread west into Ohio. And as
		

			that movement began to spread, it
actually picked up more than a few
		

			well known characters. One of them
I want to list is the name, by the
		

			name of Wally Akram. Wally Akram
is actually later on from the from
		

			the daughter Salam movement and
its influence over him, he becomes
		

			a well known Peacemaker amongst
gang communities. As a matter of
		

			fact, he's well known for
negotiating a peace treaty between
		

			the Bloods and the Crips in the
90s. Also, another famous, famous
		

			Imam that comes out of that
movement is none other than our
		

			brother, Imam, Jamil el Amin,
formerly known as h rap brown you