Oral History Interview with Nadir Ahmad on July 29, 2020 and August 28, 2020

Oral history interview with Nadir Ahmad. The first segment of the interview was conducted by Abdul-Zahir Sadid on July 29, 2020, and the second segment was conducted by Dr. Alisa Perkins on August 28, 2020. Interview written by Dr. Alisa Perkins (Research Director) and Abdul-Zahir Sadid. Both segments are in the same video file. Nadir Ahmad was born on September 26, 1949 on a farm in Virginia where his father was a sharecropper. Ahmad first came to Islam via the Nation of Islam in 1973, after his brother introduced him to the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Later, he embraced Sunni Islam. Ahmad had his first experience as an educator in his early adulthood, when he served as an instructor in the military. In 1978, Ahmad co-established an Islamic private school in Petersburg, Virginia. Ahmad moved in Detroit, Michigan in 1980 to study Islam and Arabic at the Muslim World Studies Program at Wayne Country Community College with Dr. Abdulmumin Shakir. Ahmad taught at the Clara Muhammad School in Detroit, where he later served as assistant principal and then principal. In 1991, Ahmad founded Al-Ikhlas Training Academy in Detroit, and he currently continues to lead the school. In the interview, Ahmad describes the history and mission of Al-Ikhlas Training Academy, the challenges it has confronted over the years, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and his lifelong work as an imam and educator.https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dream-storytelling-interviews/1001/thumbnail.jp