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Among Muslim American youth, there are those who are sincerely concerned for the future of our community, and whenever I come across such youth, it is at once heartening and reassuring. Their energy, the speed at which they speak and express their ideas, and most importantly, their creative proposals at addressing contemporary challenges facing our community, give me confidence that with their hard work, and the guidance and protection of Almighty Allah, our community will continue to thrive.
Inevitably however, there is an awkward pause in the conversation when I ask them anything about the work of the people who came before us; the generations of Muslims who preceded us right here in the United States. They look at me with wonderment, when I mention certain names, places, and projects from the recent and some not-so-recent past.
I often use the opportunity to remind them that no matter how much or what we are able to accomplish today, we are doing so by the Grace of Allah the Almighty, and because we are standing on the shoulders of giants – the men and women who preceded us in the unselfish use of their talent, energy, wealth, skills and career, to help build our community.
The Story of the Two Giants
During the month of April alone, the Muslim community has been tested by the departure from this earth of two giants, among so many others, men who had so much in common and yet contributed in such diverse and profound ways to our community, and indeed to society at large.
These two giants are: Dr. Ahmed Elkadi and Dr. Hassan Hathout. Both were of Egyptian descent, both were preeminent medical doctors, both chose to make America their home, and both shied away from seeking leadership, despite the fact that they were highly sought after! No doubt they could have pursued with full force their lucrative medical careers, but instead they chose to do both: serve people with their medical knowledge, and call people to know the message of Islam.
Why then is it particularly important to reflect on the lives of these two giants? With each generation, less and less mention is made of the predecessors, until not even a memory remains of those who came before us.
And so it was that as their age caught up with them, and various health issues emerged, both of these prominent public speakers appeared less frequently on the stage, and the young Muslims who came of age in the mid to late 1990s were deprived of the opportunity to meet with them, to hear them speak, to interact with them, and most importantly to benefit from their wisdom, and lived experience as veterans of the Muslim community in America.
So, it is left to those of us who were fortunate enough to have benefited from their writings, their speeches, and in general, their contributions to the betterment of the Muslim community and society at large, to tell those who come after us something about those who came before.
I came to know both Dr. Ahmed and Dr. Hassan through my own involvement with the Muslim community at the national level. I will always cherish the fond memories I have of my interaction with each of these most humble people. In the late 1990s, Dr. Ahmed Elkadi was enjoying good health, and was able to travel often to speak at conferences in various communities throughout most of the United States, and also in Canada and other parts of the world.
I was blessed during one such conference to be in the company of both Dr. Ahmed and his wife, Sr. Iman, and Br. Dawud Zwink, as we were being hosted by the local volunteers in Tulsa, Oklahoma for lunch prior to the program that evening. Caught up in my then youthful impatience with the pace and direction of the growth of the Muslim community, I regretted keeping him from eating as I posed challenging questions to Dr. Ahmed about the future of the Muslim community; about how his generation could have done more to institutionalize their efforts, and so on.
Sessions' Memories
All the while, a soft smile never left his face, as he ever-so-humbly and patiently responded to my questions. Profound words were spoken at lunch that day. As the conference program was underway that weekend, Dr. Ahmed addressed separate sessions for adults and youth and his command of Islamic teachings, his ability to contextualize those teachings for daily living in North America, his versatility in switching between speaking to adults and youth, and throughout, his sense of humor, clearly made him a beloved and much sought after speaker and teacher.
Another beautiful memory of that weekend is a session in which Dr. Ahmed and Sr. Iman were co-panelists on the topic of parenting, and how they deferred to each other, and how he clearly respected her for her expertise in the area of counseling and raising children.
Dr. Hassan was similarly sought after and beloved as a speaker and teacher. I personally benefited from his writings as well, because he was able to translate complex Islamic issues into comprehensible bits of information for those of us who were growing up Muslim in a dominant secular society.
My fondest memory of Dr. Hassan was when he was honored by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) in 2006 with the Community Service Recognition Award in Los Angeles, California. I had traveled to Los Angeles to speak in the ISNA West Zone conference and often the challenge I faced in these conferences is that I am sometimes unable to sit and listen to lectures by other speakers because their sessions might be scheduled parallel to a session in which I am speaking.
On that Saturday in December, 2006, I was blessed to be asked to serve as a moderator of the banquet program in honor of Dr. Hassan. I recall vividly his most humble demeanor, as he was brought to the stage and how despite his physical weakness, it was clear that his intellectual acumen was strong by the Grace of Almighty Allah.
His daughter, Eba, a professor of Pediatrics at Loma Linda University Medical School in Southern California, had prepared a video presentation about her father’s contributions and life in general. The air conditioning system in the banquet room was not functioning well, and the room was too cold, so his family sent a shawl for Dr. Hassan. There he was, the wrapped one, waiting his turn to speak, and showing obvious discomfort at the praises being showered upon him by his colleague, Sheikh Abdalla Idris ‘Ali, and ISNA assistant secretary-general, Ahmed El-Hattab.
When Dr. Hassan rose to speak, he removed the shawl, stood tall, and by the Mercy of Allah the Almighty, transformed from an elderly man with health issues into the giant of a scholar, intellectual, and reformer that he was. He spoke with great strength, imparting wisdom, appealing to the community for action, and aptly his topic was, “Rejuvenating the Spirit of Islam in the American Community.”
Muslim America has lost two giants, and although they are not physically with us, generations to come will continue to benefit from the knowledge they have left behind. We make du`aa’ for them and their families and ask Almighty Allah to reunite all of us under His shade on the Day when there will be no shade but His.
Sources:
Qaism, M. U.S. Muslims Remember Pioneer LeaderAccessed 15 June 2009
Abu Asood, T. American Muslims Mourn Visionary Hathout. Accessed 15 June 2009
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