After more discussion, he convinced the investigator to meet with him that afternoon. The Imam was relieved. Although he had connections with the NYPD and the mayor, he suspected the police were hesitant to get involved because of the recent murder of Amadou Diallo, an African street peddler who had lived in a high crime area in the Bronx and was mistakenly shot by an NYPD street crime unit. The police officers thought he was reaching for a gun. But Diallo had no gun. He was reaching for his wallet, likely to produce identification. What horrified everyone was the fusillade of forty-one bullets that took his life. The murder had resulted in anti-police demonstrations that ripped through the African-American community. The Imam had expressed outrage and agreed to testify in the lawsuit filed by Diallo’s mother. However, in doing so, he had taken a stand against the NYPD and the Office of the Mayor.

The holy man worked on a speech, writing down his thoughts on African unity and peace. He was no stranger to violence. When he was younger, he had been influenced by Malcolm X. He had taken the Arabic name Ibin Saud and worked as a plumber, while observant of Salah, praying five times daily. He was rocked by the assassination and became involved in the Mosque Malcolm X had founded after separating from Elijah Muhammad. Twenty years passed and then the dying Imam Ali Rashid called him to his bedside and told him that henceforth he would be the spiritual leader, the new Imam. Saud was terrified and considered fleeing to another city rather than accept such an obligation.

One of his first tasks as Imam was to protect the African street peddlers who were being targeted by the new mayor, Rudolph Giuliani. The Mayor’s clean-up campaign was fueled by store owners who complained that the Senegalese street peddlers were hurting their businesses. The Imam established the Malcolm Shabazz Harlem Market and arranged for peddlers to obtain licenses and to relocate. It was a brilliant solution. The market soon became a tourist attraction, prompting Mayor Giuliani to pay a rare visit to the Mosque where he addressed the Imam as a ‘messenger who unites people.’ This was before Diallo was killed. Now his calls to the police and the Office of the Mayor on Isia’s behalf went unanswered.