11/24/2025
I interviewed Kairi Al-Amin and Dr Mazhar Kazi in the same year, 2019. It was exactly 400 years after 1619, when the first recorded group of African Muslims were enslaved & brought to America. So I interviewed Kairi about his father, Imam Jamil, who is one of the top voices in the African American struggle. 2019 was also 50 years since 1969, when the Islamic Society of Greater Houston was founded. So I interviewed Mazhar Kazi, one of the founders. Both Imam Jamil and Imam Mazhar passed away today. One of the leading indigenous Muslim leaders & one of the leading immigrant Muslim leaders.
Our generation has huge shoes to fill. We’re standing on the shoulders of giants. May Allah give us the knowledge & wisdom needed to continue their legacies of contributing positively to humanity.