Hamaas Abdul Khaalis

Hamaas Abdul Khaalis (1921 – November 13, 2003), born Ernest Timothy McGhee, was leader of the Hanafi Movement, a Black Muslim group based in Washington, D.C.

Khaalis founded the group following a split with the Nation of Islam in 1957. In 1971 he won the support of the basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but in 1973, his family was murdered. Enraged by the murders, he organized a 1977 siege of Washington, D.C. in which two of 149 hostages died. He spent the rest of his life in prison after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit kidnapping while armed, second-degree murder, two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, one count of assault with a dangerous weapon, and 24 counts of kidnapping while armed. parents in Gary, Indiana,

He attended Purdue University and Mid-Western Conservatory. He was discharged from the U.S. Army on grounds of schizophrenia. He was a talented jazz drummer and played with Bud Powell, Charlie Parker, Max Roach, Billie Holiday, and J.J. Johnson in New York City.

Hanafi Movement Influenced by the popularity of Islam in the New York jazz scene, Khaalis joined the Nation of Islam (NOI) and, in accordance with the group's rejection of "slave surnames," changed his name to Ernest 2X (also going by Ernest X or Ernest XX McGee). In 1954, at the suggestion of Malcolm X, Elijah Muhammad named Khaalis the National Secretary of the NOI, a position he held until 1957. Muhammad also sent him to Chicago to head the University of Islam. In an interview, Khaalis said, "Elijah once said that I was next in line to him, that it was me, not Malcolm X." The same year, militant blacks at Howard University formed a group called the Kokayi family. When that group was disbanded, many of its members became members of Hamaas' Hanafi American Mussulman's Rifle and Pistol Club, which was given a group membership charter by the National Rifle Association of America.

In 1971, Khaalis converted basketball player Lew Alcindor to Islam; after his conversion, Alcindor adopted the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Abdul-Jabbar donated a fieldstone mansion, 7700 16th Street NW, to serve as the headquarters of Khaalis' organization in Washington, D.C.

Feud with Nation of Islam

In 1972, Khaalis circulated an open letter that referred to Elijah Muhammad as a "lying deceiver" and asserted that he lured "former dope addicts and prostitutes to monk-like lives of sacrifice" that would "lead them to hell."

Khaalis claimed credit for Malcolm X's leaving the Nation of Islam. The Hanafi Madh-Hab Center is still operating today but is mostly used by Khaalis' descendants.