Episode 33: A 91-Year-Old Imam Still Finds Joy In The Podcast Studio

See Something Say Something

Ahmed Ali Akbar

Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 550 Ratings

🗓️ 14 September 2017

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Abdurrahim Rashada has seen a lot in his life. He served in the Navy during World War II. He survived and escaped the Jim Crow South. He worked in the GM factories of Michigan and saw their rise and fall. And then, he joined the Nation of Islam, attracted by their message of freedom, justice, and equality for black folks. And later, when the community moved towards Sunnism, he learned to adapt to a broader community of immigrant Muslims. In 1988, he met Ahmed when he had his first aqiqah (first haircut) at the mosque in Saginaw.

In this episode, Ahmed takes a step back and Khalila Rashada interviews her grandfather in the Saginaw house she grew up in.
Follow Ahmed @radbrowndads
Follow the show at @seesomething and facebook.com/seesomethingpodcast,
Subscribe to our newsletter buzzfeed.com/seesomethingsaysomething/newsletter,
Find more episodes at buzzfeed.com/seesomethingsaysomething,
Email us at saysomething@buzzfeed.com.
Our music is by The Kominas. Follow them at @TheRealKominas and kominas.bandcamp.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You know, what I tell people when they ask me about my name, I tell them to sit down.
0:07.0	Hi, everyone. This is Ahmed al-Yukber, and welcome to see something say something.
0:15.9	That voice you just heard was brother Abdurhim Rashida. He was born in 1925 in Mississippi. He converted to Islam in the 50s.
0:26.2	And he has been a community leader in the Sagina Mashid, where I grew up, for over 50 years.
0:31.2	I am the one that God blessed to cut the unbibibibald card of slavery and start a new generation.
0:39.6	So the Rashidhar started with me.
1:01.2	Growing up with Brother Rashidda, learning from him, it connected me to a pass that wasn't my own.
1:03.3	He served the Navy during World War II.
1:08.2	He escaped Jim Crow South and has harrowing tales about that experience.
1:13.2	He saw the rise and fall of the auto industry in Michigan and worked on the line at GM. He saw many, many young black Americans become just fascinated with the message
1:21.4	of Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad and of the nation of Islam, of learning to take pride in your race and in your people when
1:29.6	they were raised to have none. And with Thwarath-Din, when they moved over to Sunni Islam,
1:34.2	he learned to adapt as a Muslim to a broader international community that he is still a part of
1:39.5	to this day. So on this episode, we're going to be doing something a little bit different.
1:47.0	You're going to be hearing from me just a little bit, but mostly you're going to be hearing from Brother Rasha.
1:51.5	And we thought that a great way for you to get to know him would be to share a story about how he got his name.
1:59.4	African-American, excuse me.
2:01.6	We got to admit that we were broad hill.
2:06.6	We are the offspring of slavery.
2:09.6	We were brought in.
2:10.6	We were robbed of our name, our language, our history, our culture,
2:16.6	our dignity, our manhood, everything.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ahmed Ali Akbar, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ahmed Ali Akbar and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.