Masjid Al-Haqq is a Sunni Muslim mosque in Detroit, Michigan, founded in 1983. ¹ Masjid Al-Haqq offers prayer and religious services of a mosque, including daily prayers and formal Jumaa, the Muslim prayer service held on Fridays. ¹ Masjid Al-Haqq has alleged ties to the Al-Ummah group, an Islamic movement influenced by American Black nationalism. ^{2 3}

According to the right-of-center and pro-Israel Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Masjid Al-Haqq’s former imam, Luqman Ameen Abdullah, was accused of providing training to potential jihadists. ^{2 4}

Background

Masjid Al-Haqq has ties to the Al-Ummah group, an Islamic movement influenced by American Black radical-nationalism. ^{2 3} A criminal complaint against the group’s former imam, Luqman Ameen Abdullah, claimed that Al-Ummah is a fundamentalist group seeking to create an independent Islamic state within U.S. borders. ² The leader of Al-Ummah, H. Rap Brown, known as Jamil al-Amin after converting to Islam in the 1970s, is serving a life sentence in prison for murdering a police officer. ^{5 6}

Masjid Al-Haqq’s most-notable connection to Al-Ummah is through its former imam, Luqman Ameen Abdullah, who had radical views on the role of violence in Islam and allegedly trained violent jihadists. ^{2 4} Under Luqman Ameen Abdullah’s leadership, the mosque allegedly was the site of weapons and combat training for radical Muslims who were training for jihad. ^{2 4} Abdullah was fatally shot during an attempted arrest by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2009. ⁷

Luqman Ameen Abdullah

Associations with Radical Islamism

Luqman Ameen Abdullah was an imam who lived at Masjid Al-Haqq with his family and conducted religious services, as well as allegedly provided weapons and combat training for jihadists. Abdullah was a convert to Sunni Islam and one of many African-Americans who converted to Islam after the Black Power movement in the 1960s. ⁸ Abdullah preached repeatedly against the United States government and encouraged violence against law enforcement. Abdullah also expressed support for the violent overthrow of the United States government to achieve an Islamist society within America. ²

In August 2008, Abdullah allegedly told his followers that revolution was necessary and that there was no such thing as a non-violent revolution. ⁴ According to the Detroit Free Press, “the FBI said he [Abdullah] talked about how he would not let police capture him or take his guns.” ⁹ The FBI also alleged that Abdullah had been laundering money, stealing property, and encouraging his congregants to steal. ¹⁰

The FBI began a four-year probe into Abdullah and his followers after a former member of the Masjid Al-Haqq  shot two Detroit police officers in 2006. ⁹ When his group was evicted from Masjid Al-Haqq in January 2009, authorities recovered an assortment of weapons from the property and found a shooting range. ²

Shooting Controversy

In October 2009, Luqman Ameen Abdullah was killed by FBI agents in Dearborn, Michigan, while being arrested on suspicion of financial and other crimes. ⁷ His associates were arrested shortly thereafter, including three who fled across the U.S.-Canada border. Right-of-center group Foundation for Defense of Democracies stated that Abdullah’s associated faced “charges that include conspiracy to receive and sell goods that the defendants believed were stolen from interstate shipments, conspiracy to commit mail fraud through an insurance scam involving arson, providing firearms to a known convicted felon, and tampering with motor vehicle identification numbers to further the theft of a vehicle.” ^{2 11}

When Abdullah was killed, multiple Muslim organizations came to his defense and called for an investigation into government actions. The Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA) denied that Abdullah was capable of resisting arrest, breaking the law, or calling for jihad against the American government. ¹² The NAACP, citing the medical examiner’s comments on the number of shots fired and the support of then-U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), also called for a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation. ⁷

The Civil Rights Division of the DOJ investigated the shooting and the FBI’s actions leading up to it. It concluded that no civil-rights violation occurred. ¹³ The Michigan Attorney General’s office and the Dearborn Police conducted similar investigations and concluded that the shooting was justified. ⁹

1. “Masjid Al-Haqq.” Salatomatic. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://www.salatomatic.com/spc/Detroit/Masjid-Al-Haqq/CJOmjCfUup
2. Gartenstein-Ross, Daveed. “The Shooting of Luqman Abdullah.” Foundation for Defense of Democracies. November 18, 2009. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2009/11/18/the-shooting-of-luqman-abdullah/
3. Washington, Jesse. “Blacks drawn to Islam despite FBI raids.” Pocono Record. October 31, 2009. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://www.poconorecord.com/story/lifestyle/2009/10/31/blacks-drawn-to-islam-despite/51817184007/
4. USA v. Luqman Ameen Abdullah, et al., 2:09-MJ-30436, “Criminal Complaint,” (D. Mich. October 27, 2009). Accessed October 7, 2024. https://www.investigativeproject.org/mosques/396/masjid-al-haqq
5. “Death Penalty Sought for Al-Amin.” Washington Post. March 11, 2002. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/03/12/death-penalty-sought-for-al-amin/fb20aa5c-12cb-461d-8f75-fb4cc318df11/
6. Brown, Rembert. “The Many Lives of H. Rap Brown.” Time. November 1, 2021. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://time.com/6111614/h-rap-brown-jamil-al-amin/
7. “NAACP Supports the Investigation into the Shooting Death of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah.” NAACP. 2010. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://naacp.org/resources/naacp-supports-investigation-shooting-death-imam-luqman-ameen-abdullah
8. Warikoo, Niraj. “FBI’s Killing of Detroit Muslim Leader 10 Years Ago Haunts Communities.” Detroit Free Press, October 29, 2019. https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/10/28/ten-years-fbi-imam-luqman-abdullah-death-dearborn/2451750001/.
9.  Warikoo, Niraj. “FBI’s killing of Detroit Muslim leader 10 years ago haunts communities.” Detroit Free Press. October 29, 2019. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/10/28/ten-years-fbi-imam-luqman-abdullah-death-dearborn/2451750001/
10.  “Home-grown terrorists or ‘bunch of thugs’? FBI investigating Michigan Islamic group’s real motives.” NY Daily News. January 11, 2019. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://www.nydailynews.com/2009/10/30/home-grown-terrorists-or-bunch-of-thugs-fbi-investigating-michigan-islamic-groups-real-motives/
11. “Eleven Members/Associates of Ummah Charged with Federal Violations.” FBI, April 28, 2011. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/detroit/press-releases/2009/de102809.htm.
12. “The FBI Raid and Shooting Death of Imam Luqman.” MR Online, October 29, 2009. https://mronline.org/2009/10/29/the-fbi-raid-and-shooting-death-of-imam-luqman/.
13. “Justice Department Concludes No Federal Criminal Violation in the Death of Imam Abdullah in Dearborn.” U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs. October 13, 2010. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-concludes-no-federal-criminal-violation-death-imam-abdullah-dearborn