LATE IMAM HAROON ABDULLAH

Imam Haroon Abdullah helped to lay a solid foundation for Islam to thrive in America.

In the 1960s, Brother Henry 10 X struggled to spread the message of racial pride and inclusiveness in world humanity to those trapped in the ghettoes of America, especially Southern California, the Bay Area, and Las Vegas, Nevada. Initially, the vehicle he used to raise the self-esteem of African Americans and to broaden their world view was the Pittsburgh Courier and the Muhammad Speaks newspapers. He soon became a Minister and helped establish two Temples in Southern California-one in Watts in1967, and another on the Westside of Los Angeles in 1969.

Long Beach was blessed to receive him in the summer of 1972. Then, Minister Henry and approximately twenty believers started out with just a storefront for meetings. By 1975, Long Beach Temple #42 had grown to over three hundred believers and many changed their names. His in depth experience as a Christian gave him understanding into scriptures of the Holy Bible and together with his many years (now 60 years) as a convert to the Islamic religion (Holy Qur’an) gave him conceptual and contextual knowledge that prepared him to be one of the most respected Imams in our community. He gives the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Imam W. Deen Mohammed credit for his success in being led to the Sunnah path of Prophet Muhammad(S).

Masjid Al-Shareef has been a cornerstone in Long Beach since 1972. The building was once a heavy duty factory and Imam Haroon noted that it was built to withstand the weight of heavy machinery and spearheaded its purchase. In 1975 the Mosque became completely an Al-Islamic place of worship under Imam W.D. Mohammed’s leadership. Masjid Al-Shareef is the proud home of Muslims from many countries. Imam Haroon’s experiences expanded serving as the President of the Shura Council of Southern California. He enthusiastically embraced interfaith dialog and world peace championed by his leader Imam Mohammed and he made Hajj in 1977.

Imam Haroon stated that, “Imam W. Deen Mohammed provided the guidance to lead us into a clear vision of the many planes of understanding that light our way into the Love of Self; thus, providing us with the fuel to ignite the real human ability to seek Paradise and find rivers flowing underneath, bringing us to understand Islam’s path to Freedom, Justice and Equality.”