Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The riveting true story of America's first homegrown Islamist terror attack, the 1977 Hanafi Muslim siege of Washington, D.C.
Late in the morning of March 9, 1977, seven men stormed the Washington, D.C., headquarters of B'nai B'rith International, the largest and oldest Jewish service organization in America. The heavily armed attackers quickly took control of the building and held more than a hundred employees of the organization hostage inside. A little over an hour later, three more men entered the Islamic Center of Washington, the country's largest and most important mosque, and took hostages there. Two others subsequently penetrated the District Building downtown, where a firefight broke out. A reporter was killed, and Marion Barry, later to become mayor of Washington, D.C., was shot in the chest.
Who were the attackers and what did they want? Followers of the Black Muslim Hanafi movement, their leader was a man named Hamaas Abdul Khaalis, a former jazz drummer who had risen through the ranks of the Nation of Islam before feuding with the organization's mercurial chief, Elijah Muhammad, and becoming Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's spiritual authority. Like Malcolm X, Khaalis had become sharply critical of the Nation's unorthodox style of Islam. And, like Malcolm X, he paid dearly for his outspokenness: In 1973, members of the Nation murdered seven members of his family. When the Hanafis took hostages on that day in 1977, one of their demands was for the murderers to be turned over to the group to face justice. They insisted that the men who killed Malcolm X be turned over as well. And they demanded that The Message--a new film epic about the life of the prophet Muhammad--be canceled and the reels destroyed. The lives of 149 hostages hung in the balance, and the United States' fledgling counterterrorism forces--as yet untested--would have to respond.
Shahan Mufti's American Caliph gives a full account of the first homegrown Islamist attack on American soil and of the haunted man who masterminded it. Informed by extensive archival research and access to hundreds of declassified FBI files, American Caliph is a riveting true-crime story that sheds new light on the deep history of the War on Terror.
Synopsis
One of Publishers Weekly's best nonfiction books of 2022
The riveting true story of America's first homegrown Muslim terror attack, the 1977 Hanafi siege of Washington, D.C.
Late in the morning of March 9, 1977, seven men stormed the Washington, D.C., headquarters of B'nai B'rith International, the largest and oldest Jewish service organization in America. The heavily armed attackers quickly took control of the building and held more than a hundred employees of the organization hostage inside. A little over an hour later, three more men entered the Islamic Center of Washington, the country's largest and most important mosque, and took hostages there. Two others subsequently penetrated the District Building, a few hundred yards from the White House. When a firefight broke out, a reporter was killed, and Marion Barry, later to become mayor of Washington, D.C., was shot in the chest. The deadly standoff brought downtown Washington to a standstill.
The attackers belonged to the Hanafi Movement, an African American Muslim group based in D.C. Their leader was a former jazz drummer named Hamaas Abdul Khaalis, who had risen through the ranks of the Nation of Islam before feuding with the organization's mercurial chief, Elijah Muhammad, and becoming a spiritual authority to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Like Malcolm X, Khaalis had become sharply critical of the Nation's unorthodox style of Islam. And, like Malcolm X, he paid dearly for his outspokenness: In 1973, followers of the Nation murdered seven Hanafis at their headquarters, including several members of Khaalis's family. When they took hostages in 1977, one of the Hanafis' demands was for the murderers, along with Muhammad Ali and Elijah's son, to be turned over to the group to face justice. They also demanded that the American premiere of Mohammad: Messenger of God--an epic about the life of the prophet Muhammad financed and supported by the Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi--be canceled and the film destroyed. The lives of 149 hostages hung in the balance, and the United States' fledgling counterterrorism forces--as yet untested--would have to respond.
Shahan Mufti's American Caliph gives a full account of the largest ever hostage taking on American soil and of the man who masterminded it. Informed by extensive archival research and access to hundreds of declassified FBI files, American Caliph is a riveting true-crime story that sheds new light on the disarray of the 1970s and its ongoing reverberations.
Synopsis
One of Publishers Weekly's Best Nonfiction Books of 2022 A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
The riveting true story of America's first homegrown Muslim terror attack, the 1977 Hanafi siege of Washington, DC.
On March 9, 1977, Washington, DC, came under attack. Seven men stormed the headquarters of B'nai B'rith International, quickly taking control of the venerable Jewish organization's building and holding more than a hundred employees hostage inside. A little over an hour later, three more men entered the Islamic Center of Washington, the country's biggest and most important mosque, and took hostages there. Two others subsequently penetrated the municipal government's District Building, a few hundred yards from the White House. When the gunmen there opened fire, a reporter was killed, and city councilor Marion Barry, later to become the mayor of Washington, DC, was shot in the chest. The deadly standoff brought downtown Washington to a standstill.
The attackers belonged to the Hanafi movement, an African American Muslim group based in DC. Their leader was a former jazz drummer named Hamaas Abdul Khaalis, who had risen through the ranks of the Nation of Islam before feuding with the organization's mercurial chief, Elijah Muhammad, and becoming Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's spiritual authority. Like Malcolm X, Khaalis paid a price for his apostasy: in 1973, seven of his family members and followers were killed by Nation supporters in one of the District's most notorious murders. As Khaalis and the hostage takers took control of their DC targets four years later, they vowed to begin killing their hostages unless their demands were met: the federal government must turn over the killers of Khaalis's family, the boxer Muhammad Ali, and Elijah's son Wallace so that they could face true justice. They also demanded that the American premiere of Mohammad: Messenger of God--a Hollywood epic about the life of the prophet Muhammad financed and supported by the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddhafi--be canceled and the film destroyed. Shahan Mufti's American Caliph gives the first full account of the largest-ever hostage taking on American soil and of the tormented man who masterminded it. Informed by extensive archival research and hundreds of declassified FBI files, American Caliph tracks the battle for control of American Islam, the international politics of religion and oil, and the hour-to-hour drama of a city facing a homegrown terror assault. The result is a riveting true-crime story that sheds new light on the disarray of the 1970s and its ongoing reverberations.