I was born on August 4th, 1932. I am the third child of immigrant parents to America from the island of Jamaica, British West Indies. I grew up in Detroit, Michigan and migrated to New York in my late teens which opened up a whole new world for me. A fellow Jamaican, Vincent, who had heard about Islam, told me we should visit the Mission House at 110 E. 116th street. The missionary at that time was Brother Ghulam Yasin who was a strict disciplinarian in the teachings of Islam and Ahmadiyyat which I later learned resulted in the conversion of many new members of which 2 or 3 became Hafiz of the Holy Quran. Alhumdulillah.
Several months later, I began reading more about Islam and Ahmadiyyat. It became more appealing, so one day I decided to embrace Ahmadiyyat - True Islam but Brother Ghulam Yasin said that I should study Comparative Religions and then return and see if I still felt the same about Ahmadiyyat. So I did and shortly after embraced Ahmadiyyat - True Islam in September 1951.
Shortly thereafter, I was drafted into the U.S. Armed Services where I practiced being an Ahmadi Muslim as best as possible. Following 2 years in the Service, I returned home to become an IBM operator in the US Government.
Ironically, one day at work I decided I did not want to do this for the rest of my life I called the Center - the American Fazl Mosque - in Washington, D.C. and asked the Missionary-in-Charge, Dr.Khalil A. Nasir, whom I became acquainted with earlier and who later became my mentor, if I could come there to study Islam and Ahmadiyyat. He said he would be most pleased and delighted if I would. So I arrived that summer, started my studies of the Holy Quran, Sunnah, Ahadith with Dr. K.A. Nasir and his assistant, Syed Jawad Ali.
Alhumdulillah. I was blessed with a job at the General Services Administration in Washington, D.C. and started going back to college - I had spent one year in college before going to the Service.
With my arrival in the summer of 1955, my life at the American Fazl Mosque in Washington, D.C. turned out to be one of the most rewarding time in my life and helped to bring about unimaginable blessings that significantly shaped my future. I studied under Dr. Khalil A. Nasir who profoundly influenced me and helped shape my spiritual, moral, and intellectual life in a most positive way and became like a father to me.
I also had the extreme honor and fortune to be in the presence and spending many days and hours with Dr. Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khan whose last position was the President of the International Court of Justice at the Haque. He was an eminent scholar in the world of law, politics, diplomacy, and religion.
On June 9th, 1956, I had an arranged marriage with an East Indian - American woman, Fatima Begum Kaloo, whom I did not know but she was a born Ahmadi. She was not Jamaican. We had 4 boys: Muqit, Jalaluddin, Zafrullah, and Asif. By the Grace of Allah, we have been married for over 52 years. Alhumdulillah.
I completed training from Howard University College of Dentistry in 1963, and later returned in 1971 to Howard University Hospital and Veterans Administration Hospital in Washington, D.C. to become an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon. As a result in 1963, I became the first American born Ahmadi to receive a Doctorate.
I traveled to many Ahmadi Mosques in Europe, Africa, Middle East, Pakistan. Made Umras and Hajj. I have also been blessed with the honor of addressing the Jalsa, the International Gathering in Rabwah in 1967 which was presided by Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad, Khalifatual-Masih 3. I had the pleasure of meeting Sheikh Rehmatullah of Karachi with whom a very close relationship has endured thorough the years. Sheikh Rehmatullah is the father of Dr. Nasim Rehmatullah, the Naib Amir of USA jamaat currently.
I have been the President of the Washington, D.C, Detroit, Michigan, and Cleveland, Ohio Jamaats. Allah- ta-Ala has abundantly showered His Grace on my family and me, in addition to giving and receiving a shared love and friendship of Muslims and non Muslims all over the world.
With deep humility and knowing that all praise is due to Allah,
Bashiruddin Usama
Cleveland, Ohio
November 11, 2008
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