Bed-Stuy's Muslim Community Sees Growth in the Aftermath of 9/11

From inside a small body care and oil shop, Osman Adam points past the large glass windows to the stores directly across the street.

“When I first came here 20 years ago from Sudan, all of those stores you see right there were boarded-up crack houses. Drug addicts walked up and down this street every day,” said Adam.

Now, the street is clean and bustling with traffic, kids eating ice cream, and mothers pushing strollers to and fro.

Adam is the assistant to the head Imam for At Taqua Masjid—a highly visible Muslim temple that sits on a busy corner of Bedford Avenue and Fulton Street. The masjid’s head Imam often is away, and while he's gone, Adam is the community’s interim acting leader.

He attests that the now-thriving population of Muslims who live and work along the busy Bedford-Nostrand corridor is largely responsible for cleaning up the streets. They have opened restaurants, convenience markets, and Halal meat shops. Adam, now a thorough part of the neighborhood's fabric, owns a busy oil shop.

As the ten-year anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy approaches, Adam reflects on its aftermath and—more specifically—how it has impacted his own Muslim community.

“At the beginning, people went through a lot of hardship and trials, especially women who are covered,” said Adam, reffering to what he saw as a perception from others that covered Muslim women might be hiding something.

“They were attacked and treated very badly,” he stated.

“Also, a lot of Muslim men who have never been arrested before in their life [were] getting pulled from planes, missing their planes because they are dressed in their garb.”

But those things are not happening as often, said Adam. Actually, today, from what he has noticed, things have gotten better overall for his Muslim community since 9/11.

“The community is getting bigger,” said Adam. “In spite of everything that has happened, people are coming—especially young people from colleges, people from all over.

“You can’t blame 1.5 billion people for the actions of a few. A lot of times, the media creates problems. But in the last few years, people are starting to see Muslims who work hard, work with the community, and realize we are not bad just because we are Muslim.”

Adam said the irony in the tragedy of 9/11 is that it made people curious about Islam. Also, he points out, the Internet opened the world up to Islam and rapidly created converts.

“Many more people now are curious because they’re wondering why people are talking about it. Christians, Catholics are converting to Islam, people from all walks of life,” he says and smiles warmly.

“Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, all these things, the world has become like a small village. Now I can sit on my computer and see my family on the Skype. It has done a lot to spread the word of Islam. Things become so easy, now they can go and read and learn so much, a lot of information.

“Allah said, sometimes, you might like something, and it’s bad for you. And sometimes, when you hate something, in it is something good for you.”