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Oral History Interview with Abdul Hafeez Muhammad

Scope and Contents

In this interview, Abdul Hafeez Muhammad discusses his childhood in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn, including his adopted family; his early exposure to violence and mortality; and his exploration of the Five Percent Nation. He speaks at length about his subsequent involvement with the Nation of Islam under Louis Farrakhan, especially regarding his marriages, his service as assistant minister and minister within local mosques, his memories of Farrakhan's speech at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan in 1985; and his work with educational and religious outreach to incarcerated Black men. He also talks about his advocacy within the broader Black community, particularly regarding the Million Man March in 1995 in Washington, D.C. Interview conducted by Zaheer Ali.

Biographical / Historical

Abdul Hafeez Muhammad was born in 1963 in New York City. He was raised in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn. As a teenager, he spent time in the Five Percent Nation before becoming involved in the Nation of Islam. He became the assistant minister of Muhammad Mosque No. 7 in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn in 1984; the minister of the newly-founded Muhammad Mosque No. 7C in the Brownsville of Brooklyn in 1993; and the minister of Muhammad Mosque No. 7A in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan in 2000. He was also an activist within the broader Black community, including co-chairing the local organizing committee for the Million Man March in Washington, D.C. in 1995.

Conditions Governing Access

This interview can be accessed onsite at the Center for Brooklyn History's Othmer Library and online at the Oral History Portal.

Center for Brooklyn History
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201