Friday, May 10, 2013

The Birthplace of Sunni Islam in Harlem

In my recent article on Satti Majid, I discuss Sheik Daoud Faisal being Majid's representative in Harlem in the late 1920s, though I wasn't sure of the exact address where he brought together Harlem's Muslims. After some more searching, however, I believe I have located the precise building: 108 W 128th St. This address was the location of Faisal's music bureau by the early 1930s, and in a 1960s interview he claimed that he started his Islamic work in 1928 at this intersection, 128th St. and Lenox Ave (Malcolm X Blvd). 


source: Google Maps


There are reports of Muslims spreading Islam in Harlem a little before 1928 (including Abdul Hamid Suleiman and an unnamed Muslim from Madagascar), but there is no evidence that any Islamic group created a stable meeting place there before Majid and Faisal.