The Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood and the School of Islamic and Arabic Studies (MIB), also known as the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood Inc., is a mosque located in Harlem, New York. MIB was founded on the legacy of civil rights leader Malcolm X and carved out a unique cultural footprint based on a merger of Islamic and local Black community values. It claims to be the “lineal descendant” of the Muslim Mosque founded by Malcolm X after he left the Nation of Islam to embrace conventional Sunni Islam. ¹

In 2007, the New York Times described MIB as “a fortress of stubborn faith, persevering through the crack wars, welfare, AIDS, gangs, unemployment, diabetes, broken families and gentrification.” ² As of August 2024, the Mosque’s website automatically redirects to an Islamic prayer schedule for New York. ³

History

The Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood was founded in 1964 and incorporated in 1967. MIB is the “lineal descendant” of the Muslim Mosque Inc., a mosque founded by Malcolm X after he left the Nation of Islam to embrace conventional Sunni Islam. MIB’s founders had been members of Muslim Mosque Inc. who followed Malcolm X’s spiritual transition and wanted “to create an indigenous Islamic intelligentsia” in the United States. ⁴

They were highly critical of American Sunni scholars who allegedly “lacked knowledge and discipline, and were thereby exposed to manipulation and apparent use as a political arm.” The explanation continues: “This unfortunate situation was rapidly resulting in confusion, and un-Islamic teachings within the Sunni Muslim communities.” ⁵

MIB has been a cornerstone of the African-American Muslim population in New York City for over 25 years and later opened up a health store, newspaper, and school. Its members often wore “symbols of Black Nationalism like red, black, and patches on their clothing.” Many members were inspired to join “in search of black empowerment, not black separatism,” and describe “racial equality as a central tenet of their faith” Partially due to its heavy local cultural influence, MIB remained a local operation and never integrated with national Islamic organizations, like the Islamic Party in North America. ^{6 7}

A 2007 article from the New York Times reported that MIB’s members and operations were in decline due to gentrification in Harlem. At the time, the MIB still had 160 members, with up to a third of the male members being former convicts. Its imam, Imam Talib, had the nickname, the “hip-hop imam” for his meetings with Muslim rappers Mos Def and Q-Tip. ⁸

Beliefs

In rejecting the Nation of Islam whose “religious practices diverge significantly from traditional Islamic theology,” ^{9 10 11} the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood is described as “orthodox Sunni Muslim.” ¹²

On MIB’s website before it shut down, the organization stated that “The Qur’an is our constitution,” and that “The holy book of the Muslims is not only a book of faith, but a book of divine law. Muslims believe that it is the very Word of the Almighty, and it is the prime source of our system of jurisprudence.” ¹³

MIB also asserted that “jihad is our way” and it “is the desire of the Muslim, to die in righteousness and obedience to the Creator.” MIB clarified that “Jihad is by nature… non-violent” but also means “It also means armed struggle in defense of” Islam. ¹⁴

The MIB opposes homosexuality. Its website, before being taken down, contained a section entitled, “Islamic Evidence Against Homosexuality.” ¹⁵

Police Surveillance

In a 2012 interview, Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood leader Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid alleged that he and other prominent members were on terrorist watchlists maintained by the New York Police Department (NYPD). Abdur-Rashid asserted that the NYPD had a long-standing prejudice against racial minorities and an unfounded belief that non-white communities were often infiltrated by subversive foreign elements. Abdur-Rashid also called for the resignation of the police commissioner. ¹⁶

Leadership

The Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood was founded by Shaykh-‘Allama Al-Hajj K. Ahmad Tawfiq, an African American born in South Carolina. He moved to New York as a teenager and converted to Islam. He later joined Muslim Mosque Inc. after its founding by Malcolm X. He then studied Islamic jurisprudence on a scholarship at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, and conceived of the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood, which he founded shortly after returning to the U.S. He passed away in 1988. ¹⁷

Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid is the spiritual leader of the MIB. He is also the president emeritus of the Majlis Ash-Shura (Islamic Leadership Council) of Metropolitan New York, and the vice president of the Muslim Alliance in North America. ¹⁸

In 2014, Abdur-Rashid gave a speech criticizing the Muslim community in the United States for its lack of concern for problems in the American Black community. Abdur-Rashid claimed that the ties between the two groups went deeper than most people realize; for instance, he alleged that a slave revolt in the American South was led by a Black Muslim. ¹⁹

Abdur-Rashid visited the White House in 2010 and 2011 to meet with the Obama administration to discuss U.S. relations with Iran; Abdur-Rashid reportedly defended Iran’s call for Israel’s destruction as “sentiment born of the legitimate anger, frustration and bitterness that is felt in many parts of the Muslim world.” ²⁰

In 2005, Abdur-Rashid publicly defended Rafiq Sabir, an American doctor who joined Al Qaeda and was subsequently sentenced to 25 years in prison. ²¹

1. “2.5 Mosque of the Islamic Brotherhood – Followers of Malcolm X Establish Harlem Mosque.” Sabr. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://sabr.com/index.php/history/124-islam-in-america/127-section2/1356-2-5-mosque-of-the-islamic-brotherhood-followers-of-malcolm-x-establish-harlem-mosque.
2. Elliott, Andrea. “Between Black and Immigrant Muslims, an Uneasy Alliance.” New York Times. March 11, 2007. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/nyregion/11muslim.html.
3. “Prayer Times New York.” Quaran Online. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://quranonline.net/prayer-times-new-york/.
4.  “2.5 Mosque of the Islamic Brotherhood – Followers of Malcolm X Establish Harlem Mosque.” Sabr. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://sabr.com/index.php/history/124-islam-in-america/127-section2/1356-2-5-mosque-of-the-islamic-brotherhood-followers-of-malcolm-x-establish-harlem-mosque.
5. “A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MOSQUE OF ISLAMIC BROTHERHOOD.” Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood Inc. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20161106224306/http://mibnyc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=61.
6. “2.5 Mosque of the Islamic Brotherhood – Followers of Malcolm X Establish Harlem Mosque.” Sabr. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://sabr.com/index.php/history/124-islam-in-america/127-section2/1356-2-5-mosque-of-the-islamic-brotherhood-followers-of-malcolm-x-establish-harlem-mosque.
7. Elliott, Andrea. “Between Black and Immigrant Muslims, an Uneasy Alliance.” New York Times. March 11, 2007. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/nyregion/11muslim.html.
8. Elliott, Andrea. “Between Black and Immigrant Muslims, an Uneasy Alliance.” New York Times. March 11, 2007. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/nyregion/11muslim.html.
9. “Nation of Islam.” Southern Poverty Law Center. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam#:~:text=The%20NOI’s%20beliefs%20and%20religious,seen%20by%20some%20as%20heretical.
10. “A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MOSQUE OF ISLAMIC BROTHERHOOD.” Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood Inc. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20161106224306/http://mibnyc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=61.
11. “2.5 Mosque of the Islamic Brotherhood – Followers of Malcolm X Establish Harlem Mosque.” Sabr. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://sabr.com/index.php/history/124-islam-in-america/127-section2/1356-2-5-mosque-of-the-islamic-brotherhood-followers-of-malcolm-x-establish-harlem-mosque.
12. Moawad, Sarah. “From Prison to Mosque and Back Again.” The Margins. January 17, 2019. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://aaww.org/from-prison-to-mosque/.
13. “A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MOSQUE OF ISLAMIC BROTHERHOOD.” Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood Inc. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20161106224306/http://mibnyc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=61.
14. “A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MOSQUE OF ISLAMIC BROTHERHOOD.” Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood Inc. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20161106224306/http://mibnyc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=61.
15. “Islamic Evidence Against Homosexuality.” Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20161107042859/http://mibnyc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=85&Itemid=68.
16. “NYPD Muslim Spy Scandal Grows with Newly Revealed Plan to Target Shiite Mosques.” Democracy Now!. February 3, 2012. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/3/nypd_muslim_spy_scandal_grows_with.
17. “Shaykh-‘Allama Al-Hajj K. Ahmad Tawfiq.” Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood Inc. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20161106222659/http://mibnyc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=53.
18. “Imam Al-Hajj Talib ‘Abdur-Rashid.” The Black American Muslim. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://www.theblackamericanmuslim.com/imam-talib-abdur-rashid.
19. Stein, Isaac. “Harlem mosque leader talks Malcolm X legacy.” The Chicago Maroon. February 28, 2018. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://chicagomaroon.com/18677/news/harlem-mosque-leader-talks-malcolm-x-legacy/.
20. “New York Jewish cultural center to host imam with anti-Israel background.” Jewish News Syndicate. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://www.jns.org/new-york-jewish-cultural-center-to-host-imam-with-anti-israel-background/.
21. “New York Jewish cultural center to host imam with anti-Israel background.” Jewish News Syndicate. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://www.jns.org/new-york-jewish-cultural-center-to-host-imam-with-anti-israel-background/.