BY WALTER ELLIOTT
NEWARK – When one enters Masjid Muhammad’s Imam Hassan Sharif Community Room, it mostly looks like any other assembly or conference room found in any other house of worship – except, when “Local Talk” paid a visit Jan. 14, there was an arch of white and blue balloons where a speaker would address an audience.
Its import, however, is found on to the left of the room’s door. There is a plaque dedicating the room in Imam Sharif’s memory and, just below, his biography in a picture frame.
The dedication was made here before 300 people on Jan. 3 – one year to the day from when he was shot dead outside.
Some readers may remember that Sharif, 52, was approached by a man in the parking lot just when he was opening 253-55 South Orange Ave. for Fajr prayers. He was found and rushed to University Hospital – where he died that Wednesday afternoon.
The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office detectives arrested three men – 36-46- and 49-years-old – were arrested and charged for weapons possession. ECPO said that the investigation continues. Hundreds of people came to his Jan. 6 funeral at the NIA Masjid and Community Center, also known as “The Roseville Mosque.”
There are still handbills on Masjid Muhammad’s lobby table and bulletin boards with “$10,000 Reward” posted by the Council for American-Islamic Relations New Jersey Chapter, “$25,000 Reward” from the Esse County CrimeStoppers and for an overall “$35,000 Reward.”
But Sharif’s framed in glass biography chronicles his life, starting with being born into a Muslim family and being taught in Newark and East Orange public schools. He attained a degree in criminal justice from the University of Connecticut and became a longtime Newark Housing Authority Security sergeant.
The married father of four kept studying and following Al-Islam to where he became Masjid Muhammad’s imam.
Masjid Muhammad, according to its website, started its worship life as Nation of Isam’s Muhammad’s Mosque No. 25 and Clara Mohammad School. in 1957 NOI co-founder Elijah Muhammad became the face of Islam to many mainstream Americans from the 1940s until his 1975 death.
Son W.D. Muhammad decided to take part of the nation towards Sunni Islam, which Masjid Muhammad is based on. Mosque No. 25 still exists in another part of Newark. The has since been several upgrades to the two three-story building, which goes back to 1913 as the Victoria or Congress Theater. until 1955.
The Masjid is currently guided by two Imams: Antar Mateen and Yasin Shabazz. There is a rotation of imams to lead Friday’s Jumu’ah prayers. It is holding a weekly instruction of salat prayers Thursdays through Feb. 23, “Just in time for Ramadan.” The K-12 Clara Mohammad School continues on Sundays, followed by weekly Quran studies.
