As salaamu alaikum,

Today I was honored to be a guest khatib at Masjid Mujahideen in Philadelphia, PA. Masjid Mujahideen is one of the last bastions in Philadelphia that represents that balance of old school “City of Brotherly Love” and that gritty, don’t take no mess mix that is warm and intense. Under the leadership of Imam Jamil al-Amin (may Allah free him), they are keen on structure, protocol, and order. They have also been blessed with an Imam for a long term, Imam Asim Abdur-Rashid, who passed away this month 2 years ago (may Allah have mercy on him). Imam Asim was a pillar in that community, and they have a number of elders like him who are still there who represent manhood, wisdom, experience, and dedication. Pictured here are two of those brothers. I didn’t get a chance to get the name of the elder on the right, but I had a nice, brief conversation with the one on the left, Shaykh Sayed Abdul-Hadi. Whenever I go there, I am pressed to match that Philly brotherly love, so I go around to try to engage and greet all of the brothers, especially the elders.

As I approached Shaykh Sayed and before I could say anything, he blurted out, “Boom Bap!” 😂 I asked him what did he know about that, and he mentioned that he watches the weekly podcast that I am apart of with my fellow Imams Amin Muhammad and Na’eem Abdullah, and together we make up the B.I.R.T. (Black Imams Roundtable). Shaykh Sayed mentioned that he knew Imam Amin, and he knew of Imam Na’eem, and he had yet to meet me. He proceeded to ask me what did “Boom Bap” mean, so I told him it meant the sound of the drum in honor of our ancestors, and it also meant lyrics with purpose over beats. Since he is an elder who is older than Hip-Hop itself, I wanted to put it to him in a context that he could relate to, so I said to him, “It’s the Last Poets 2.0!” Come to find out, one of the members of the Last Poets, Sulaiman Abdul-Hadi, was Shaykh Sayed’s brother. In addition to the honor of engaging him, I got a history lesson! Al hamdu lillah for the privilege and honor to be a guest at Masjid Mujahideen, and I look forward to the next opportunity to hang out with my brothers from across the Blue (Ben Franklin Bridge)!