Recently, the FBI raided the house of Imam Mujahid Abdul Karim, a philanthropic scholar who is best known for helping quell violence between the infamous Bloods and Crips gangs of South Central LA. The Imam has been confirmed to be a peace maker and people wondered why his house had to be raided by FBI.
Reports confirmed that the Imam’s newly opened Chicago-based mosque, Masjid Al-Rasul, explained in a press release that dozens of Federal agents stormed the Imam’s house without warning at around 5 am. It added that flash grenades were thrown into the house, which shattered the windows of the building. All members of his family were held at gunpoint, and his 4-year old son was snatched from the Imam’s wife. While the Imam was held at gunpoint, he was warned by agents not to move or they would “blow his head off”.
Further more, his family were handcuffed and forced to leave the house, with the female members of his family forced to leave without wearing their hijabs. It was confirmed that the basis for the arrest was not known to anyone. The California-based Imam lives in Watts, Los Angeles, neighbours the Compton area and is known to be one of the most deprived areas in the State. Watts is a predominantly African-American community.
Record shows that the Imam opened Masjid Al-Rasul in Watts in 1980, as part of a vision to open mosques in the most deprived areas of the United States. It was in 1992 that the mosque became the site of the first-ever ceasefire truce between the two largest national rival gangs, the Crips and the Bloods. Imam Mujahid makes the parallel of a truce made between the Aws and Khazraj tribes of Arabia during the time of the Holy Prophet. The truce between the two rival gangs began a ripple effect that led to similar ceasefires being agreed upon by gangs all over America, which was followed by the drastic decline of gang violence.
It was also reported that on the same day when the FBI raid, Imam Mujahid was meant to fly to Chicago to facilitate the opening of the Chicago branch of Masjid Al-Rasul, similarly opening in a deprived area of America. Despite this incident, he still flew out regardless.
It has been recently confirmed that the Imam is currently safely back in Los Angeles, consulting with lawyers about the ordeal. They couldn’t yet figure out the cause of the incident and hope that the root of matter will be openly known soon.
