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Respected Brother Abid Haneef was born on the 12th of December 1927 in New York, and went to school in Durham, North Carolina. As a young man who was interested in music and Jazz, he move to New York on 138th street. That is when he came into contact with a couple of Ahmadi missionaries - Dr. Khalid Ahmad Nasir and Chaudhary Ghulam Yasin - and started spending time with them along with some other musicians. Brother Haneef has tremendous respect for the dedication of the early Ahmadi missionaries to the U.S., whom he says “were doing it for us” despite the hardships they faced.
Brother Haneef recalls that Dr. Nasir and Chaudhary Yasin emphasized discipline, encouraged him to go back to college for higher education, and distilled in him the dignity of labor and hard work. Brother Haneef engaged in prayer a lot at the time as he wanted to do the right thing. Given his musical bent of mind, he was struck by the natural rhythm in the Holy Quran. As a result of his prayers, study, and personal interactions with his Ahmadi teachers, Brother Abid Haneef decided to join Ahmadiyyat in 1948 at the age of 21.
Brother Haneef fondly remembers the frequent visits by Sir Zafrullah Khan to New York. Sir Zafrullah Khan was the first foreign minister of Pakistan and a renowned jurist who later went on to become the president of the International court of justice. Sir Zafrullah Khan also took a keen interest in the new African-American Ahmadi brothers and would lovingly remark, “I am going to see my boys”.
The second head of the Ahmadiyya community, Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad, indicated his desire around 1948-49 that candidates from the U.S. come to Rabwah (Pakistan) to become scholars in Islam, and to dedicate their lives for the spread of its message. Brother Haneef remarks that at that time the Ahmadiyya community was over 90 percent made up of African American converts in New York – the Ahmadi immigrants from South Asia came later. He says it was “all our dream” to answer the call of our khalifa (spiritual leader). The recruiting process began, but one had to be single to qualify and Brother Rasheed Ahmad from Chicago was selected to go to Rabwah. As Brother Haneef recalls, “he was our national hero … everyone wanted to be Rasheed Ahmad”.
Brother Haneef therefore enrolled in New York University in 1952 to further his education. However, his desire to study Islam and become a life devotee to spread its message never dwindled. It must have been his prayers and sincere desire to serve the cause of his Creator that many years later his son, Imam Azhar Haneef, would go to Rabwah and become a missionary!
The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) said that “whoever builds a mosque, desiring thereby Allah's pleasure, Allah builds for him the like of it in paradise”. One of brother Haneef’s many contributions to the cause of Ahmadiyyat is his effort to build an impressive mosque at Sharon near Boston during the early 80’s. There is a lot more to be said about the services of Brother Abid Haneef to his faith and community.
Contact Information: Muthamim/Director of Tarbiyyat NauMobaeen (Coverts) Email: naumobaeen@mkausa.org
A precious and examplary senior Muslim Ahmadi, each spoken word of whom eminates from the depth of his sincere heart and goes directly to the sincere heart of the listeners refreshing and increasing their faith,by the grace of Allah. May Allah bless him with the best of health. Aameen.
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A precious and examplary senior Muslim Ahmadi, each spoken word of whom eminates from the depth of his sincere heart and goes directly to the sincere heart of the listeners refreshing and increasing their faith,by the grace of Allah. May Allah bless him with the best of health. Aameen.
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