1973 Hanafi Muslim massacre
| Hanafi murders | |
|---|---|
| Location | 7700 16th Street NW, Washington, D.C. |
| Coordinates | D.C. 38°59′00″N 77°02′11″W / 38.983372°N 77.036479°WCoordinates: D.C. 38°59′00″N 77°02′11″W / 38.983372°N 77.036479°W |
| Date | January 18, 1973 |
| Target | Home invasion |
|
Attack type
|
Mass murder, shooting, drowning |
| Weapons | ] |
| Deaths | 7 |
The 1973 Hanafi Muslim massacre took place on the afternoon of January 18, 1973. Two adults and a child were shot to death, 4 other children were drowned whose ages ranged from 9 days to 10 years old. Two others were severely injured. The murder took place at a Washington D.C. house purchased for a group of Hanafi Muslims to use as the Hanafi American Mussulman's Rifle and Pistol Club. The property was purchased and donated by then Milwaukee Bucks basketball player, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The target of the attack was Hamaas Abdul Khaalis, the son-in-law of Reginald Hawkins. Khaalis had written and sent 50 letters calling Black Muslim leader Elijah Muhammad "guilty of 'fooling and deceiving people - robbing them of their money, and besides that dooming them to Hell.'" The letters were mailed to ministers of all 50 mosques of the Black Muslims, a sect that Khaalis had infiltrated and once been a leader. The letters were also critical of W D Fard and urged the ministers to leave the Black Muslim faith.
At the time of the murders Black Muslims were formerly known as the Nation of Islam and then changed their name to World Community Islam in the West.
Hamas Abdul Khaalis was originally a Roman Catholic and Seventh Day Adventist born in Gary, Indiana as Ernest Timothy McGhee. He converted to Sunni Muslim and on the advice of his Islamic teacher, Tasibur Uddein Rahman infiltrated the Black Muslims. He changed his name to Ernest 2x McGhee and served as principal of the sect's school, and then went on to become Elijah Muhammad's national secretary at their Chicago national headquarters from 1954-1957. In an interview, Khaalis said, “Elijah once said that I was next in line to him, that it was me, not Malcolm X." Elijah Mohammad was originally born, Elijah Poole.
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