(RNS) — Imam Al-Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid, the longtime leader of the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood in Harlem and a pillar of the African American Muslim community in New York City and beyond, has died at 74.
Abdur-Rashid, or Imam Talib, as he was known to his community and to Muslims across the country, died Saturday (Nov. 15) in Harlem. No cause of death has been announced.
“It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that our beloved Imam, Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid has returned to Allah,” the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood, where Abdur-Rashid served as senior imam since 1989, posted on Facebook Saturday.
He was buried at Rosedale Cemetery in New Jersey on Monday, following a funeral prayer at the Masjid Malcom Shabazz in Harlem.
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said at the funeral prayer Monday morning that Abdur-Rashid was a mentor who encouraged Mamdani to embrace his Muslim faith and use it “to deliver positive change and justice.”
“He made clear that there was no contradiction, no matter how often or how loudly he heard it, between being proud of your faith and being proud to be a New Yorker,” Mamdani said.
The Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood, which Abdur-Rashid described as “a congregation born out of a spirit of resistance,” is Harlem’s oldest Sunni orthodox mosque and traces its roots to El-Hajj Malik Shabazz (Malcolm X). The mosque was both a hub and sanctuary for its predominantly African Americ …