Imam Warith Deen Mohammed

With Emilie Christy

Imam W.D. Mohammed

As Living City was going to press, we were saddened by the news that Imam Warith Deen Mohammed died on September 9 in his home in Markham, Illinois. The leader of the largest constituent of Muslims in America, he was a great friend of Chiara Lubich and of the Focolare Movement she founded.

Imam Mohammed worked tirelessly for peace, unity and reconciliation. After Mohammed inherited the Nation of Islam community in 1975 from his father, Elijah Muhammad, he worked to move its followers toward more mainstream Muslim practice, emphasizing the faith’s racial tolerance and universality. He was also deeply committed to building bridges between African-American Muslims and immigrants from the Middle East and Asia.

His profound relationship with Chiara Lubich and his openness to the Focolare spirituality of unity made history when, in May 1997, he invited her to speak at the historic Malcolm Shabazz Mosque in Harlem, New York. The two would appear together and collaborate in the years that followed, and deep bonds between their two communities continue.

“Such a powerful unity has by now been established that I think the whole world should see it!” he once said, inviting Chiara to return to the U.S. in 2000 for the “Faith Communities Together” event in Washington, D.C.

When asked about her relationship with Imam Mohammed, she answered: “I feel at ease with him because it seems to me that the Lord has put him next to us, as he has put us next to him, perhaps for a plan of love of His, which we will be able to understand in as much as we go ahead in our communion and by working together.”

We will pay special tribute to Imam Mohammed in the next issue of Living City, and we invite you to join us in giving thanks for his extraordinary and inspiring life.

“We will continue our work of building upon the bond of faith and goodness that formed our commitment to work together,” wrote Imam Mohammed in his tribute for Chiara Lubich’s death in March 2008.