American Caliph

The True Story of a Muslim Mystic, a Hollywood Epic, and the 1977 Siege of Washington, DC

By: Shahan Mufti

Narrated by: Mirron Willis

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 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.

©2022 MCD × FSG Originals, Farrar, Straus and Giroux by Shahan Mufti (P)2023 Audible, Inc.

A story of America and American Islam

A really fascinating account of the Black Muslim movement, homegrown American Islam and global geopolitics.

Wow, what a story!

I am 65 years old and was captivated by this amazing story that took place during my youth. Fascinating—and a true story. Well told by the author, and I especially enjoyed the narrator’s telling.

Outstanding!

This is a great book and a very nice reading. I give it my highest recommendation.

As sprawling, epic account of jarring events!

Wow! This is no mere retelling of a historic event or biography of s forgotten man. This story is told with enough detail to make you feel like you are there but paced and structured in a way that keeps you engaged and wanting to listen to chapter after chapter. I was blown away by the vast collection of fascinating characters from sports, politics, American Islam and civil rights. Their cameos range from minor to pivotal but seeing how some converge over a series of tragic and intense events is absolutely worth it! Easily one of the best audio books I have listened to regardless of genre.

Applause!

This was truly an amazing and very well written book. Even the resources notes at the end blew me away. I don’t know what else to say except that I really enjoyed the journey this story takes you on and the various time periods that I found myself wondering where was I when all of this was happening. So much goes on that you just don’t know about. I had recently read the book, Black Brothers Inc about the Black Mafia so American Caliph really grabs you with even greater detail about what was going on… Amazing work!