The Islamic Revivalist Movement is headquartered at Masjid Al Mumin, a mosque in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded by Afzal Nabi in 1953. ^{1 2}  It is run by a group of permanent trustees and offers “Jumaa,” or Friday prayers. ³

The movement is tied to Dar ul-Islam, an African American Muslim movement that has roots in Brooklyn, New York. ⁴

Dar ul-Islam Movement

Dar-ul-Islam was founded in Brooklyn, New York. At its height, there were over forty mosques connected with the movement in the U.S. ⁵

In the early 1970s, the Masjid al-Mumin mosque, which now is the headquarters of the Islamic Revivalist Movement, joined Dar ul-Islam, a network of Black mosques that promoted the Muslim religion as an escape from American culture, which it saw as unjust and immoral. Dar ul-Islam began in New York and the Masjid al-Mumin was the first mosque outside New York to participate in the movement. ⁶

Prison Ministry

Black orthodox Muslim movements gained influence among the prison population in the 1950s. In the 1960s, these movements found themselves at odds with the Nation of Islam over political, racial, and religious differences. The emergence of Malcolm X in the early 1960s helped reconcile many of these Black Orthodox movements into the Black Nationalist movement, forming the Black Power Movement.

The Islamic Revivalist Movement is one of these orthodox groups. These groups encourage Islamic worship in prisons and prison-based mosques. Malcolm X continued to promote Islamic communities in prison, following his own story of converting to Islam during a prison stint in the 1940s. ⁷

In the 1970s, the Islamic Revivalist Movement conducted an active prison ministry program to minister to prisoners and convert them to the Islamic faith. ⁸

1. “Finding aid for the Masjid al-Mumin/Islamic Revivalist Movement Photographs.” OhioLINK Finding Aid Repository. Accessed March 13, 2024.

   http://ead.ohiolink.edu/xtf-ead/view?docId=ead/OCLWHi3309.xml;query=;brand=default

2. “Masjid Al-Mumin.” PrayersConnect. Accessed March 15, 2024. https://prayersconnect.com/mosques/84099287-masjid-al-mumin-cleveland-ohio-united-states
3. “Islamic Revivalist Movement.” Salatomatic. Accessed Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.salatomatic.com/spc/fYGgaAmPjk?msg=
4. Maggie Schreiner. “Bedford-Stuyvesant’s Dar-ul-Islam Movement.” Brooklyn Public Library. February 12, 2021. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://www.bklynlibrary.org/blog/2021/02/12/bedford-stuyvesants-dar
5. Maggie Schreiner. “Bedford-Stuyvesant’s Dar-ul-Islam Movement.” Brooklyn Public Library. February 12, 2021. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://www.bklynlibrary.org/blog/2021/02/12/bedford-stuyvesants-dar
6. “Finding aid for the Masjid al-Mumin/Islamic Revivalist Movement Photographs.” OhioLINK Finding Aid Repository. Accessed March 13, 2024.

   http://ead.ohiolink.edu/xtf-ead/view?docId=ead/OCLWHi3309.xml;query=;brand=default

7.  Copeland, Kameron J. (2017) “”I Do Feel the Fire!”: The Transformations of Prison-Based Black Male Converts to Islam in South Central, Malcolm X, and Oz,” Journal of Religion & Film: Vol. 21: Iss. 1, Article 35. Accessed March 18, 2024.  https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol21/iss1/35
8. “Prison Program 1973”. After Malcolm: Islam and the Black Freedom Struggle. Accessed March 15, 2024. https://aftermalcolm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Y007x_Shaheed_PP1973_Redacted.pdf