Why Islam is my choice — Page 101
101 a controversial organization, and Malcolm X had just started to become known. There was a Jazz musician most popularly known as Art Blakey, whose Muslim name was ‘Abdullah Bin Hannah. He was a drummer, and lived with his wife Zainab on 117th Street between 5th and Lenox. When he was in town he used to hold meetings at his place. These meetings were informal discussions that revolved around various themes. The one that hooked me was “Who are You?” As this question caused me to look inside of myself to find out who I was, I became actively involved in these discussions. Eventually, I came to realize that my roots were from Africa and Isl ā m. ‘Abdullah was an A ḥ mad ī Muslim and was also the president of the New York A ḥ madiyyah Muslim Jam ā ‘at at the time. Back then there were not a lot of foreign Muslims, and A ḥ madiyyat was not very controversial. Isl ā m, however, was controversial, as it seemed to be the religion of the Renaissance movement. I mean people were searching out their past, seeking their identity and Isl ā m was it! Isl ā m suddenly seemed to be a powerful source. The underlying message was to declare to oneself that one individual could make a difference in helping the Black people. People saw Mo ḥ sin Ma ḥ m ū d