2009 September - Basiyr Rodney

Basiyr came to Ahmadiyyat in 1994 in Kingston Jamaica. He had learned about the faith after responding to an advertisement posted in a newspaper. Due to the preaching efforts of Brothers Nadeem Faizi and  Nasir Ahmad of Charlotte North Carolina Allah guided Basiyr to the light of Ahmadiyyat and the true teachings of Islam.

A seeker after knowledge, Basiyr studied at the University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica where he completed a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Master of Science in Government with a specialization in International Relations. During his undergraduate studies he was awarded the Ilm al Ihsan prize for studies in Middle East History and a special bursary (scholarship) from the West Indies Group of University Teachers (WIGUT). He completed his undergraduate studies with Upper Division Honors and wrote an undergraduate biographical thesis of a local Imam Abdul Samad.

Brother Samad was  Muslim as well as a Garveyite which means that politically he was  student of the Honorable Marcus Garvey, Jamaica's First National Hero and founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Garvey's organization was founded in the United States in the 1920's and was responsible for uniting some 20 million African peoples worldwide. It is worthy of note that upon brother Samad's death, Basiyr's thesis was used as the basis for a a memorial article in Jamaica's most popular newspaper. At the time of writing the thesis,  Basiyr was not yet an Ahmadi. As Allah  designed it, he would later find out that Marcus Garvey had as his special guest in the 1922 UNIA convention in Harlem a certain Ahmadiyya Missionary to the USA, Mufti Muhammad Sadiq (ra). Garvey's writings and actions continue to influence African struggles for social justice throughout the world. Basiyr continues to explore his link with Islam as well as connections with Garvey and Mufti (sb).

Basiyr moved to the USA in 1997 where he studied at Florida Atlantic University with support from a  graduate student assistantship. He completed a Master of Education (Med) in Instructional Technology and a Doctorate in Education (EDD) specializing in Curriculum and Instruction. Basiyr received the award for most outstanding graduate student in the department of educational technology and research during the 2000 – 2001 academic year. He worked at Florida Atlantic University as an Adjunct Professor in Educational Technology and Multicultural Education, he was also an Instructor of Educational Technology.  Currently Basiyr is a visiting professor of educational technology at Webster University in Saint Louis MO. He is a volunteer literacy tutor and remains committed to social justice for all peoples but is particulalry interested in improving the spiritual condition of African people.

He serves as a member of the National Majlis-e-Amila USA as Secretary of  Waqf-e-Jadid Nau Mobaeen.* He also serves as an additional secretary of Amoor-e-Tulba (student affairs) for Majlis-Khuddam ul Ahmadiyya – The youth section of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He participates at the local level of the community in the St. Louis area where he works to activley spread the message of Ahmadiyyat the True Islam – Love for all, Hatred for None.

Basiyr is married to Tamara who is a high school teacher and they have a daughter Nuriya who is five years old.

* Waqf-e-Jadid – is a special scheme developed in the Ahmadiyya community for the propagation of Islam in certain communities. A special blessing of the scheme is to encourage members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community to develop a spirit of financial sacrifice in the way of Allah. The scheme requires members to pay an amount towards the propagation of Islam in the communities targeted. The scheme supports a missionary in Pakistan, a Homeopathic medicine dispensary and temporary missionaries for the teaching of the Holy Qur'an.