This wedding photo taken at Yasin Masjid in 1971 by Dar ul Islam Movement photographer Khalil AbdulKhabir at the ceremony of Mahmoud Andrade Ibrahim and Karima Amatullah, aided in establishing Islam as a cultural reality within the imagination of the larger African American community.
Family life is one of the most important aspects of a Muslim’s life. Our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (pboh) said, “Marriage is half of your Deen, for the other half, Be mindful of Allah”.
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The symbolism of this photograph is as follows:
Seated on the floor, paying tribute to our humble humble beginnings, the bride to be and her husband to be are dressed in white, the universal symbol of innocence and purity of intention. She covers her body modestly and her hair, also a sign of her beauty, is reserved only for the gaze of her husband. The groom also has his head covered in the manner of all the Prophets of Almighty Allah, as a reminder to him that there is One above him to Whom he owes divine obligations.
The Imam who sits across from these two is also dressed in white, again symbolizing the purity of intention. His head is also covered in a more elaborate fashion draping down to his shoulders in recognition of the added responsibility of leadership.
The groom is handing to his bride the mahr (dowry), in this case a silver bracelet and a gold wedding ring, which is symbolic of her right as a free woman to enter into contracts and own property. The Qur’an sits in between them as an acknowledgement of the Right of Divine Revelation to serve as the basis of the wedding contract.
An observer serves as a witness to this contract in recognition that this wedding is performed for all in the Muslim Ummah to respect as having followed the Divine Mandate for a lawful union of man and wife as described in the Last Revelation, The Qur’an.
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The Collection (the new Dar-ul-Islam Collection Website) is the product of the efforts of Sis. Kamila AbdulKhabir who holds a B.A. in Art and Visual Technology from George Mason University, VA. and Sh. Khalil AbdulKhabir, Movement photographer and former Director of Islamic Chaplains for New York State.
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The Dar ul Islam community was a grassroots movement established primarily by African Americans in Brooklyn, New York around 1962. Its purpose was to uphold life as governed by Quranic teachings and the sunnah (example) of the Prophet Muhammad. It was at Yasin Mosque, an old three-story building tucked away on Herkimer Place that congregants gathered to establish the call to God. Though the Mosque was named after a chapter in the Quran, the community as a whole was loosely referred to as, the Dar. Click here to access The Collection