Hamaas Abdul Khaalis: Rise to Power and the 1977 Hanafi Siege
Hamaas Abdul Khaalis was born Ernest Timothy McGhee in 1921 in Gary, Indiana. He worked as a jazz drummer in New York before discovering Islam in Harlem and rising to national secretary in the Nation of Islam. Dissatisfied with the group’s leadership, he broke away in 1958 to form the Hanafi Movement based on orthodox Sunni jurisprudence. He set up centers in New York and Washington, D.C., and even guided NBA star Lew Alcindor into mainstream Islam. In 1972, gunmen aligned with the Nation of Islam attacked his Washington home, killing seven family members. Overcome by grief, Khaalis led an armed hostage siege across three D.C. buildings in March 1977, holding 149 people and demanding justice and the banning of a Hollywood film. The 39-hour standoff ended when Muslim diplomats intervened. Khaalis was arrested, convicted of kidnapping and murder, and spent the rest of his life in prison until his death in 2003.
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