By Nadrat Siddique
Dr.
Abdulalim Shabazz brought together many of the positive ideals for which we in the
Jamaat al-Muslimeen strive in the slender, dignified frame of one man. He was
deeply Islamic; spoke little of what should be done, but rather did what needed
to be done; and was hard on himself, but did not judge or denigrate others for
their weaknesses.
Although
he inspired me on many levels, the aspect of his character which captivated me
the most was his dedication to building the love of math in his students. He
was determined to reach each and every student, and not just with rote
learning, but with the aim of
inculcating true understanding of this integral subject.
As
a bioscience person, I know that math is the language in which chemistry,
biology, biochemistry, and especially physics is written. If you cannot easily
write algebraic expressions, you will have difficulty expressing biological
phenomenon, such as the flow of blood through a blood vessel; the rate of growth
of a bacterial population; the amount of heat released as a steak ingested by a
human is metabolized and much else.
Looking at the dearth of black and brown people in bioscience, I
felt strongly that math was the major stumbling block for these students, which
precluded them from entry into the life sciences. So, a strong understanding of
math was vital to a science or engineering major in college. And weakness in
math precluded many black students from these fields.
By uplifting the marginalized, those whom society wished to
write off—and perhaps relegate to janitorial work, flipping burgers, or prison—Dr.
Shabazz challenged the world order. And he was so effective that he turned out
the largest number of Black math Ph.ds in the country.
I once asked him about his teaching method. He said simply. “If
my students aren’t grasping what I’m teaching, then I have failed. If
students don’t understand something one way, it is up to the teacher to find
other ways to explain it until they understand.”
Still he seemed to sense that math, which is not intuitive, or
something which one can see, would be difficult to grasp for many of his
students---unless they were given a reason to own it.
Again, he challenged the existing order, teaching his students
something all high school--and certainly most college—curricula ignore. He
impressed on his students about the origins of mathematical knowledge. Their
ancestors, black people of Ancient KMT—not Newton or Euclid—were the first to
elucidate geometry, trigonometry, algebra, and physics, and that they ought strive
for the same high standard. He taught them to think, and not to memorize.
Later on, despite his gargantuan achievements, he was,
bizarrely, demoted from the position of Math Department Chair at Lincoln
University, to an ordinary teaching position. Even more bizarrely, he was
replaced by a white Jewish, woman who did not hold even a math degree. My sense
of fairness made me incensed at the development, but he did not seem fazed, instead
using the opportunity to accept the prestigious position of professor emeritus
at Gramlin University where he had a lighter work load.
Of
his many appointments at math instruction, one of the most interesting was in Saudi
Arabia. Since his students included
Saudi women, the class was sexually segregated. As occurs in most classrooms in
that nation, the men were in the same room as him, while the women were in the
adjoining room. Incredibly, despite having to teach the women via a video
screen, he was able to reach them, and they succeeded in his class.
He
lived a full and beautiful life, travelled frequently to Africa and other parts
of the world; and spoke and lectured broadly on math and Islam. He seemed to
have a particular love for Ethiopia, and adopted, raised, and mentored Ethiopian
children. He was also honored by the Kikuyu (Kenyan) tribe, which conferred on
him the status of honorary Kikuyu.
Dr.
Shabazz’s life was also a commentary on the state of racial affairs in the U.S.
He never referred to himself as an American, and rarely wore American clothing,
usually sporting an African suit in the tradition of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. Like
many Black men, he served in the U.S. military—only to return to the U.S. to
experience numerous traumatic racial incidents. He did not dwell on the past,
but selectively shared some such incidents with us at the Jamaat al-Muslimeen shura which he attended quarterly for
the last very many years of his life.
For
instance, while a young Ph.D. candidate at Cornell University, he was walking
around searching for housing. Repeatedly, he had the door slammed in his face,
and was told that they did not rent rooms to “n---.”
The
incident with Dr. Shabazz occurred in New York. My husband, when he was a small
child of about seven, went to a park not far from his house. An old white man
who happened to be there, and thought he had more of a right to be in the park
than a small black boy from Baltimore, called him the n— word, and then took
away a toy of considerable import to my husband. Just a few weeks ago, after my
husband, spoke at a “Baltimore for Ferguson” rally, decrying the murder of
Michael Brown in the American state of Missouri, as well as police murders of
many other Black men in Baltimore city, tens of Whites responded with death
threats and ephithets of n----- and “ape” to him.
Talking
to Dr. Shabazz, my husband, and others opened my eyes to American racism, which
I as an Asian and a member of a privileged group, was unlikely to ever encounter
in my lifetime. For a Black man in America, it didn’t matter if one was young
or old, in New York, Baltimore, or down South, but one could be called the n-
word and treated accordingly on a whim by White Supremacist America. Through it
all, Dr. Shabazz neither bowed nor bent to anyone but his Creator, leaving us
with a bright shining example of humility, brilliance, and taqwa.
This piece
originally appeared in the New Trend Magazine, October 12, 2014:
http://newtrendmag.org/ntma1571.htm
