By Niraj Warikoo
Free Press Staff Writer
Upset yet content with God’s will, Muslims called for justice Saturday at the funeral of an Islamic leader who was killed by FBI agents in a shootout last week.
More than 1,000 packed the Muslim Center in Detroit in a spillover crowd that was at times teary-eyed over the fatal shooting of Luqman Ameen Abdullah, a Muslim leader, or imam, who led another Detroit mosque. One speaker called him a martyr.
Muslims from metro Detroit, Virginia, New York, Philadelphia, and Atlanta attended the hour-long ceremony followed by a burial at Knollwood Memorial Park in Canton. At the burial, speakers urged the crowd not to seek revenge on the police or the informants they used in the case, saying that any punishment would come in the afterlife.
“We are looking for justice,” Imam Mohammad Elahi, head of the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights, told the crowd Saturday at the funeral. “We hope for a fair and just investigation in this case…because the closest road to Allah is justice.
Detroit FBI Special Agent in Charge Andrew Arena said his agents acted appropriately when they shot Abdullah during a raid Wednesday at a warehouse in Dearborn. Agents had gone there to arrest Abdullah and a group of nearly a dozen other men suspected of federal crimes and Islamic extremism. They said Abdullah shot at a police dog, which prompted them to return fire, killing him.
Elahi said at the service: “If you are saying they had to shoot, well, shooting is one thing, killing is something else.”
The crowd was primarily African -American, but included Muslims with roots in Asian countries, Iran, the Balkans, and the Arab world. In keeping with Islamic custom, the service was simple and featured a short funeral prayer known as janazah.
Speakers stressed that life and death are ultimately up to God.
“All power is in Allah’s hands,” said Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid, a Muslim leader who heads the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood in New York City and was a leader along with Abdullah with the Muslim Alliance in North America.
“Allah Akbar,” God is great, the crowd said at times during the service.
The funeral started inside the center’s prayer room about 10 a.m. with short talks by Muslim leaders — Sunni and Shi’ite — about Abdullah and what Islam teaches. In the front of the room, Abdullah’s body was laid inside a simple, white casket, per Islamic tradition. Wrapped around the casket was a black cloth with Islamic verses.
Some in the crowd wore traditional Muslim dress: white robes, worn just above the ankle and full beards with no mustaches, per Islamic custom. Like Abdullah was known for, some in the crowd also wore turbans.
As the mourners entered, they took off their shoes and sat on the carpet inside the prayer room: men in the front, women in the back. Some eyes welled up as the crowd heard stories about Abdullah, who was praised as a man who always remembered Allah, God, and helped needy people in the west side Detroit neighborhood around the mosque, Masjid Al-Haqq, that he led.
Federal authorities say Abdullah was a criminal and an extremist, bent on creating an Islamic nation in the United States through violence against law enforcement. But Imam Aly Lela of the Islamic Association of Greater Detroit in Rochester Hills said that Saturday’s large crowd proves how much Abdullah was respected in the community.
The size is “testimony of the good character of” Abdullah, he said. “That makes a strong statement that he was a very good person who used to help other people…not only Muslims, but non-Muslims who needed the help.”
The funeral concluded with a brief prayer in Arabic. Then, the body was taken in a hearse driven by Imam Abdullah El-Amin, the head of the Muslim Center and organizer of the funeral. The caravan’s cars had little orange flags on them with the Islamic crescent and star.
As cold winds and a drizzle blew across the Canton cemetery, the Muslims huddled together around the grave of Luqman Ameen Abdullah.
“La ilaha illa Allah,” a Muslim leader repeatedly intoned in a melodious voice. “There is no god, but God.”
While many were angry over the death of Abdullah, others urged Muslims during his funeral and burial services to accept God’s plans.
“Nothing happens except what Allah commits,” Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid, a Muslim leader who heads the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood in Harlem, New York City, said to funeral attendees inside the Muslim Center of Detroit, prior to the burial. “No soul enters this life, and no soul departs from this life, expect by permission from Allah…He has created death and life.”
Abdur-Rashid, a leader with the alliance, said during the funeral that Abdullah was an example of a good Muslim.
“Imam Luqman had faith and constantly strived to righteous deeds,” Abdur-Rashid said. “Imam Luqman had the consciousness, taqwa,…I never heard him discuss any subject whatsoever, even sports, without talking about Allah.”
He called Abdullah a martyr, saying that “those who disbelieve among the people of the book, and among the polytheists, will be in hellfire, to dwell in there forever. They are the worst of creatures.”
Abdur-Rashid also asked God to help the Muslims in Palestine, Chechnya, and the U.S.
In Canton, other speakers urged Muslims to stay united despite attempts to divide them. Federal authorities used undercover informants in a 2-year investigation of Abdullah and his followers, according to a criminal complaint. The use of informants by the FBI has been a source of contention between Muslims and the agency over the past year.
Still, Muslim leaders reminded mourners that the death of Abdullah should not be seen solely as a tragedy because Abdullah was on his way to heaven.
“It’s a very blessed time,” said one speaker at the burial in Canton. “Imam Luqman is having a blessed time…We are here to pray for our brother…remember the good that he stood for."
"He stood for solid faith… He was committed to his beliefs.”
Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com
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