South Florida Muslim leader Shaikh Shafayat dies. He spent decades bridging religious divides
For most of his life, Imam Shaikh Shafayat Mohamed worked to bring people of different backgrounds together to better understand each other.
Shafayat, who died at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood on June 8 at the age of 65, devoted decades to leading interfaith councils, lecturing at mosques, churches and synagogues and facilitating hundreds of conversations on a YouTube program widely viewed in the Muslim community. Through establishing his own Islamic Institute, he brought the message of the Quran to hundreds of students in South Florida.
“His work on interfaith issues was intended to literally bridge the gap among major religious groups,” said Bob Knotts, founder of an organization that advocates for respect for all people called The Humanity Project, which Shafayat served as a board director. “He wanted to get those elements of the community, whether locally or more broadly .... talking to each other, understanding each other better.”
Interfaith work
Born in Trinidad, West Indies, Shafayat grew up with Hindu and Christian influences in his family — beginning a life-long career of interfaith work and promoting tolerance for different religions and cultures.
In Florida, Shafayat was a well-known Muslim leader, speaker and the director of Darul Uloom Islamic Institute, which he established in Pembroke Pines in 1994.
“One of his dreams was to spread the message of the Quran, and that’s what we as kids would like to continue,” said his daughter Faria Mohamed. “He has hundreds of kids in the Darul Uloom that are there following in his footsteps.”
Shafayat was also a man of many firsts.
In 1975, he was the first student from the Caribbean and North America to study Islam at Darul Uloom Deoband, one of the largest and oldest Islamic institutes in India. He was the first Muslim to serve as president of the Interfaith Council of South Florida in 2002, and the first Muslim to represent Islam at a Florida faith summit in 2000, held at the Capitol Building with Gov. Jeb Bush, according to a biography on his school’s website.
Later in his life, he returned to the Caribbean to establish the Islamic Home for Children Trinidad and Tobago.
“He was the Imam for all South Floridians, the Caribbean and across America. An irreplaceable leader, Shaykh Shafayat has left a lasting impression on the community,” wrote the South Florida Muslim Federation in an email.
Shafayat was also on the advisory board for many interfaith efforts, including the Sacred Journey Interfaith Seminary, a religious school in Oakland Park that trains people in multi-faith practices, the first of its kind in South Florida.
“To me, the true testament of education about difference is through partnering and being in relationship with ‘the other’ — whoever ‘the other’ is,” said Rev. Grace Telesco, co-founder and executive director at Sacred Journey.
Telesco said Shafayat often brought students to his mosque on Fridays to learn about Islam.
“For our seminarians, they may have come in with their own notions and assumptions about Islam, but then when they were in relationship with Shaikh Shafayat and all of the folks at the mosque … They were able to come to a new level of understanding the beauty of Islam,” she said.
Telesco said she admired the way Shafayat was able to moderate panels that tackled tough issues — religion, politics, morality — without creating a divisive atmosphere.
“That’s the beauty of Shaikh Shafayat, he listened,” said Rev. Telesco. “He never really inserted his opinion about something, he just served to facilitate a dialogue.”
Shafayat often organized events that exposed non-Muslims to Islamic traditions of fasting, prayer and iftar dinners, the meal Muslims partake in each night during Ramadan to break their fast. Earlier this year, Shafayat spoke at a city-sponsored iftar dinner in Pembroke Pines — the first of its kind there — which was attended by city officials, faith leaders and members of various South Florida mosques.
“I think it’s important especially now, for all of these cities and elected officials to get to know Islam, to get to know Muslims,” said Shafayat. “We don’t have to wait for some problem before we get together to socialize.”
Pembroke Pines Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz, who has known and worked with Shafayat since 2015, said the city plans to continue the tradition of a community iftar dinner.
“His passion to bring people together is what drew me to him, and together, we did a lot of things and I’m saddened I’m unable to continue the journey with him,” Schwartz said, adding that the city honored Shafayat with a proclamation in his memory.
Using his platform to combat misconceptions about Islam was another important goal for Shafayat, according to many friends of the Imam who spoke with the Miami Herald. It’s an effort that became particularly relevant after the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, which led to heightened Islamophobia against Muslims in America.
Shafayat traveled the country after 9/11 with the U.S. Department of justice to educate law enforcement on how to avoid dangerous stereotypes about Muslims, according to Schwartz. He was also a co-founder of JAM & ALL Interfaith (Jews and Muslims & all) along with Moshe David Kamrat, a son of Holocaust survivors, who created the organization in response to 9/11 attacks. JAM brought together Jews and Muslims, and eventually other faith communities, through round-table discussions, a Youth Initiative, town hall meetings, conferences and other special events.
READ MORE: With iftar dinners, South Florida Muslim community hopes to build bridges during Ramadan
‘Ahead of his time’
Shafayat used technology and media to magnify his outreach and educate people around the world.
His teachings on Islam were accessible to many through his magazine turned media company Al-Hikmat (Hikmat means ‘wisdom’ in Arabic) and his show Al-Hikmat TV, which is streamed on YouTube and has been viewed by millions of people around the world.
Shafayat started the magazine in 1983, writing, editing and publishing articles from Imams, Rabbis and other faith leaders. Eventually the magazine evolved to an online TV show, where today viewers can watch interviews with political and community leaders as well as tune in to Shafayat’s weekly sermons.
“He did numerous interviews and he was equally attached to every topic with a deep sense of responsibility. His interest was coupled with relentless and perpetual action,” said Asif Malik, an IT professional who conducted interviews with Shafayat about global issues. “He was in every activity, interacting with everybody and present everywhere.”
The show later expanded to a broader Islamic organization, Al-Hikmat Services Inc., which distributes copies of the Quran and other resources to the community, and is home to myriad of digital content — videos of lectures, radio shows and seminars. The YouTube channel, Alhikmat Islamic Network, has over 67,000 subscribers.
“He was ahead of his time and an innovator in outreach with his use of social media, his broadcasts, and his interfaith work,” wrote the South Florida Muslim Federation in an email. “He touched the lives and hearts of so many people.”
Shafayat’s funeral services, held on June 9, were widely attended — 3000 people showed up to the prayer and memorial services, Commissioner Schwartz said. Leaders from the Muslim Federation say it “may have been the largest attended in the SoFlo Muslim community ever.”
Shafayat is survived by his wife, Shehinaaz Mohamed, children Fauzia, Azra, Faria, Anwar, Khizr, Niamath and seven grandchildren.
“He was just a happy, jolly person. He would never be angry with someone. He loved humor, jokes. In all his sermons, he would always end it with a joke, said his daughter, Faria Mohamed. “He knew how to teach the non Muslims how we’re one, he always showed them how from the Abrahamic faith, we’re all one brother and sister..”
This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
