1977 Hanafi Muslim Siege
Encyclopedia
On March 9–11, 1977, three buildings in Washington, D.C.
were seized by 12 African-American Muslim
gunmen, led by Hamaas Abdul Khaalis, who took 149 hostages and killed a radio journalist and a police officer. After a 39-hour standoff all other hostages were released from the District Building (city hall; now called the John A. Wilson Building
), B'nai B'rith
headquarters, and the Islamic Center of Washington
.
One of those killed was 24-year-old Maurice Williams, a young radio reporter from WHUR-FM, who stepped off a fifth floor elevator into the crisis. (The fifth floor is where the Mayor and City Council Chairman have their offices). The gunmen also shot DC Protective Service Division, Police Officer Mack Cantrell, who died a few days later in the hospital of a heart attack. Then-D.C. Council member, later four term mayor, and currently a D.C. Council member, Marion Barry
walked into the hallway of the District Building after hearing a commotion and was hit by a ricocheted shotgun pellet just above his heart. He was taken out a window and rushed to a hospital.
The gunmen had several demands. They "wanted the government to hand over a group of men who had been convicted of killing seven relatives – mostly children – of takeover leader Hamaas Khaalis. They also demanded that the movie Mohammad, Messenger of God be destroyed because they considered it sacrilegious."
Time
magazine noted: "That the toll was not higher was in part a tribute to the primary tactic U.S. law enforcement officials are now using to thwart terrorists—patience. But most of all, perhaps, it was due to the courageous intervention of three Muslim ambassadors, Egypt
's Ashraf Ghorbal, Pakistan
's Sahabzada Yaqub-Khan and Iran
's Ardeshir Zahedi
."
Hamaas Abdul Khaalis. Khaalis was born in Indiana in 1921 and named Ernest McGhee. Discharged from the U.S. Army on grounds of mental instability, he worked as a jazz drummer in New York City before converting to Islam and changing his name to Hamaas Khaalis. He became prominent in the ministries and school of the Nation of Islam and was appointed its national secretary in the early 1950s.
Khaalis split with the Nation of Islam in 1958 to found a rival orthodox Islamic organisation, the "Hanafi Movement." In 1968 he was arrested for attempted extortion but released on grounds of mental illness.
In 1972 he published an open letter attacking the leadership and beliefs of the Nation of Islam. A year later five men broke into Khaalis' Washington home and murdered five of his children, his nine-day-old grandson and another man. The murderers were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. A grief-stricken Khaalis claimed the men were associated with the Nation of Islam, and that the judge in the cases had not pursued this link.
, just a few miles south of Khaalis' headquarters, and took over 100 hostages. Less than an hour later, three men entered the Islamic Center of Washington
, and took eleven hostages. At 2:20pm, two Hanafis entered the District Building, three blocks from the White House
. They went to the fifth floor looking for important hostages. When an elevator opened the hostage-takers thought they were under assault and fired, killing Maurice Williams, and injuring security guard Mack Cantrell. Marion Barry
was struck by a ricochet in the chest, and two others were wounded. "Throughout the siege Khaalis denounced the Jewish judge who had presided at the trial of his family's killers. 'The Jews control the courts and the press,'" he repeatedly charged.
, long an active Black Muslim supporter. Khaalis also demanded that he be refunded $750 in legal fees caused by a contempt of court citation due to his misbehavior in the trial of his children's killers. Time noted: "He also wanted the recently released film Mohammad, Messenger of God, to be banned on the grounds that it is sacrilegious. Khaalis' concern over the film was thought to have triggered the attack."
On the evening of the following day, following a number of phone calls, the three ambassadors, along with a few DC officials (including police commander Joseph O'Brien, who had investigated the murder of Khaalis' children and was trusted by Khaalis) met with the Hanafis. Finally, Khaalis, and the other involved in the hostage taking at the two sites where no one was killed, were allowed to be charged and then freed on their own recognizance. All were later tried and convicted, with Khaalis receiving a sentence of 21 to 120 years for his role. He died at the Federal Complex Prison in Butner, North Carolina on November 13, 2003.
In 2007, the fifth floor press room at DC's Wilson Building was named for the slain radio reporter Maurice Williams.
play The Caterers, which was produced Off Broadway in 2005, portrayed a modern-day version of the siege.
The siege is mentioned in Joni Mitchell
's song "Otis And Marlena" from her 1977 album Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
, in which the title characters travel "for sun and fun/ While Muslims stick up Washington".
John W. King wrote about the Hanafi siege in his book, The Breeding of Contempt, which chronicles the siege, and his family's entrance as the first African American
family in the Federal Witness Protection Program due to the massacre of the Khaalis family.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
were seized by 12 African-American Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
gunmen, led by Hamaas Abdul Khaalis, who took 149 hostages and killed a radio journalist and a police officer. After a 39-hour standoff all other hostages were released from the District Building (city hall; now called the John A. Wilson Building
John A. Wilson Building
The John A. Wilson Building, popularly known simply as the Wilson Building or the JAWB, houses the offices and chambers of the Mayor and Council of the District of Columbia. Originally called the District Building, it was renamed in 1994 to commemorate former Council Chair John A. Wilson...
), B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith International |Covenant]]" is the oldest continually operating Jewish service organization in the world. It was initially founded as the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith in New York City, on , 1843, by Henry Jones and 11 others....
headquarters, and the Islamic Center of Washington
Islamic Center of Washington
The Islamic Center of Washington is a mosque and Islamic cultural center in Washington, D.C., United States. It is located on Embassy Row on Massachusetts Avenue just east of the bridge over Rock Creek. When it opened in 1957 it was the largest Muslim place of worship in the Western Hemisphere...
.
One of those killed was 24-year-old Maurice Williams, a young radio reporter from WHUR-FM, who stepped off a fifth floor elevator into the crisis. (The fifth floor is where the Mayor and City Council Chairman have their offices). The gunmen also shot DC Protective Service Division, Police Officer Mack Cantrell, who died a few days later in the hospital of a heart attack. Then-D.C. Council member, later four term mayor, and currently a D.C. Council member, Marion Barry
Marion Barry
Marion Shepilov Barry, Jr. is an American Democratic politician who is currently serving as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia, representing DC's Ward 8. Barry served as the second elected mayor of the District of Columbia from 1979 to 1991, and again as the fourth mayor from 1995...
walked into the hallway of the District Building after hearing a commotion and was hit by a ricocheted shotgun pellet just above his heart. He was taken out a window and rushed to a hospital.
The gunmen had several demands. They "wanted the government to hand over a group of men who had been convicted of killing seven relatives – mostly children – of takeover leader Hamaas Khaalis. They also demanded that the movie Mohammad, Messenger of God be destroyed because they considered it sacrilegious."
Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine noted: "That the toll was not higher was in part a tribute to the primary tactic U.S. law enforcement officials are now using to thwart terrorists—patience. But most of all, perhaps, it was due to the courageous intervention of three Muslim ambassadors, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
's Ashraf Ghorbal, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
's Sahabzada Yaqub-Khan and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
's Ardeshir Zahedi
Ardeshir Zahedi
Ardeshir Zahedi was an important Iranian diplomat during the 1960s and 1970s, serving as the country's foreign minister and its ambassador to the United States and the United Kingdom.-Early life:...
."
Causes of the siege
The leader of the siege was former national secretary of the Nation of IslamNation of Islam
The Nation of Islam is a mainly African-American new religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930 to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African-Americans in the United States of America. The movement teaches black pride and...
Hamaas Abdul Khaalis. Khaalis was born in Indiana in 1921 and named Ernest McGhee. Discharged from the U.S. Army on grounds of mental instability, he worked as a jazz drummer in New York City before converting to Islam and changing his name to Hamaas Khaalis. He became prominent in the ministries and school of the Nation of Islam and was appointed its national secretary in the early 1950s.
Khaalis split with the Nation of Islam in 1958 to found a rival orthodox Islamic organisation, the "Hanafi Movement." In 1968 he was arrested for attempted extortion but released on grounds of mental illness.
In 1972 he published an open letter attacking the leadership and beliefs of the Nation of Islam. A year later five men broke into Khaalis' Washington home and murdered five of his children, his nine-day-old grandson and another man. The murderers were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. A grief-stricken Khaalis claimed the men were associated with the Nation of Islam, and that the judge in the cases had not pursued this link.
The takeovers in Washington
On March 9, 1977, seven members of Khaalis' group burst into the headquarters of B'nai B'rithB'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith International |Covenant]]" is the oldest continually operating Jewish service organization in the world. It was initially founded as the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith in New York City, on , 1843, by Henry Jones and 11 others....
, just a few miles south of Khaalis' headquarters, and took over 100 hostages. Less than an hour later, three men entered the Islamic Center of Washington
Islamic Center of Washington
The Islamic Center of Washington is a mosque and Islamic cultural center in Washington, D.C., United States. It is located on Embassy Row on Massachusetts Avenue just east of the bridge over Rock Creek. When it opened in 1957 it was the largest Muslim place of worship in the Western Hemisphere...
, and took eleven hostages. At 2:20pm, two Hanafis entered the District Building, three blocks from the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. They went to the fifth floor looking for important hostages. When an elevator opened the hostage-takers thought they were under assault and fired, killing Maurice Williams, and injuring security guard Mack Cantrell. Marion Barry
Marion Barry
Marion Shepilov Barry, Jr. is an American Democratic politician who is currently serving as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia, representing DC's Ward 8. Barry served as the second elected mayor of the District of Columbia from 1979 to 1991, and again as the fourth mayor from 1995...
was struck by a ricochet in the chest, and two others were wounded. "Throughout the siege Khaalis denounced the Jewish judge who had presided at the trial of his family's killers. 'The Jews control the courts and the press,'" he repeatedly charged.
The demands
Khaalis and his followers wanted those convicted for the 1973 murders handed over to them, presumably for execution. They also wanted to receive visits from W. Deen Muhammad and champion boxer Muhammad AliMuhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
, long an active Black Muslim supporter. Khaalis also demanded that he be refunded $750 in legal fees caused by a contempt of court citation due to his misbehavior in the trial of his children's killers. Time noted: "He also wanted the recently released film Mohammad, Messenger of God, to be banned on the grounds that it is sacrilegious. Khaalis' concern over the film was thought to have triggered the attack."
Negotiations
A large part of the negotiations were the three Muslim ambassadors, who "read to the gunmen passages from the Quran that they said demonstrated Islam’s compassion and mercy. They urged the gunmen to surrender. These ambassadors relied on their religious faith for compassion and tolerance."On the evening of the following day, following a number of phone calls, the three ambassadors, along with a few DC officials (including police commander Joseph O'Brien, who had investigated the murder of Khaalis' children and was trusted by Khaalis) met with the Hanafis. Finally, Khaalis, and the other involved in the hostage taking at the two sites where no one was killed, were allowed to be charged and then freed on their own recognizance. All were later tried and convicted, with Khaalis receiving a sentence of 21 to 120 years for his role. He died at the Federal Complex Prison in Butner, North Carolina on November 13, 2003.
In 2007, the fifth floor press room at DC's Wilson Building was named for the slain radio reporter Maurice Williams.
In popular culture
The Jonathan LeafJonathan Leaf
Jonathan Leaf is a playwright and journalist based out of New York City. He is the writer of the off-Broadway play The Caterers, which was nominated for Best Full-Length Original Script of 2005-2006 in the Innovative Theater Awards....
play The Caterers, which was produced Off Broadway in 2005, portrayed a modern-day version of the siege.
The siege is mentioned in Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
's song "Otis And Marlena" from her 1977 album Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter is a 1977 double album by the folk/pop/rock musician Joni Mitchell. It is unusual for its experimental style, expanding even further on the jazz fusion sound of Mitchell's Hejira from the year before...
, in which the title characters travel "for sun and fun/ While Muslims stick up Washington".
John W. King wrote about the Hanafi siege in his book, The Breeding of Contempt, which chronicles the siege, and his family's entrance as the first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
family in the Federal Witness Protection Program due to the massacre of the Khaalis family.