Thinking Of Those Winning and Those Losing Out This Ramadan
Plus-My Confrontation with Penn State Wrestler Aaron Brooks
When I was a teenager in St. Louis, and there were only two mosques in the metro, Muslims in the western suburbs used to pray in a house they named “The Muslim House”. I was a fly on the wall at the meetings discussing the building of a new suburban mosque and I remember sharing a sentiment with a lot of other people- no one lives in west county. Why build it out there?
Welp, guess we were wrong. That mosque was built by the Islamic Foundation on Weidman Road and a short distance away Al Manara Academy opened several years ago. This past weekend I prayed tarawih at both locations and both were jam-packed complete with chaotic parking situations. The Muslim population growth in west St. Louis County includes halal grocery stores, restaurants, and businesses. It also means Muslims are a common site in the area as I witnessed during my post-tarawih ice cream stop at Andy’s where I saw no fewer than thirty Muslims. It’s definitely not on the level of Northern Virginia, the Bay, or the suburbs of New York, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, Houston, or Los Angeles; but there is definitely a suburban Muslim boom in St. Louis. South Asians west and northwest, Arabs north and across the Missouri River, and Bosnians south.
Times have treated this community well. The first jummah was held in the 1970’s at the home of the late Dr. Huda (father of local TV anchor Jasmine Huda) and today they have a thriving suburban megamosque. Time hasn’t treated everyone so kind.
I met Rashid in 1995. He was a smooth talking and sharply dressed brother who grew-up in public housing in Washington DC. Rashid was a brother from the streets who turned his life around with the help of Islam, got married to a sister from Morocco, and moved to Northern Virginia to raise a family. He was making a good living as a street vendor in DC and would drive his van around town and sell clothing. That was the old DC. Go-go DC. Marion Barry’s DC.
The new DC didn’t really want guys like Rashid. Yoga studios, vegan coffee shops, dog parks, bike lanes, and gastropubs were in. Street vendors were out along with a large chunk of the Black population who were priced out to the Maryland suburbs as the gentrification locomotive roared on. Black residents were out and new affluent white residents with Black Lives Matter signs and copies of White Fragility were in.
Rashid struggled to survive in the new DC and his life gradually took a turn for the worse. He lost his livelihood and lost his marriage. Even the Muslim community changed. Pre-911, and primed with Saudi money, the Salafi dawah reigned supreme in the DC as it did in much of America. Far from extreme, Salafeeyah was normative American Islam. The mainstream suburban American-Muslim community post-911 didn’t see a place for a brother like Rashid. They were attempting to “reframe the narrative” that Muslims are cute, cuddly, and harmless and not a threat to mainstream white America. Theologically conservative working-class Muslims, especially Black Muslim men, were seen as a liability. The security climate also meant that the old practice of letting Muslims sleep at the mosque if needed, once a common practice, was ended.
A few weeks ago Brother Rashid passed away and he left a number of children. I’ll choose to remember the good and think of him when he was on top of his game. Make sure the Muslims like Rashid in your life are eating good this Ramadan.
Aaron Brooks Anti-Muslim Comments
I attended the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma prior to the beginning of Ramadan. The wrestling was great (here is my coverage for Bloody Elbow). The final championship session wasn’t without controversy. The sport of wrestling has a very conservative culture and a fair number of wrestlers, coaches, beat writers, and even fans I would consider right-wing loons. Therefore, it came as not surprise to me that, not only did Donald Trump attend the final session, but he was largely greeted by cheers. Then there is Penn State wrestler Aaron Brooks. Upon winning his third NCAA title, Brooks made anti-Muslim comments during his ESPN interview and called Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) “a false prophet”. I confronted Brooks after the final match and the video is below.
Wa alaikum salaam. Thanks for asking. They had a Gofundme and it raised over $13,000, but it has now been disabled.
Selam aleykum, after reading this article, I’m wondering how you see traditional Islam (ASWJ) applied to help bridge the divide between different groups or beliefs within the Muslim communities of America.