Al-Qalam 
Fuad Hendricks
Dr Debra Majeed, also known as Debra Mubashir, made her transition to the next world on 20 March 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. She died due to complications after undergoing surgery.
She lovingly impacted on the community when the visited South Africa in April 2001 as a guest of the International Propagation Centre International (IPCI). On meeting her during her visit to South Africa, nationally acclaimed poet, Dr Don Umar Matera, was fascinated with her charismatic and characteristic heartfelt smile to communicate with her audience.
Debra and brother John Ramadan were the advanced delegation preparing the ground for a visit by Imam W.D. Muhammad. When Imam Muhammad could not make the visit Debra was deputised to undertake the lecture tour. She visited Ladysmith, Pretoria, and Cape Town.
She was not overbearing but humble in her disposition when engaging others in dialogue or conversation. To her it was never about winning the argument but connecting or linking with the hearts and minds of people. Persuasive listening was her strongest ability. Debra was well schooled in her role as a Pastor of a Church to connect with people. She brought these skills into her proclaimed faith as a Muslim.
I could still fondly remember her address to the audience at the Gatesville Al-Aqsa Musjid in Cape Town. Her gender was never a limitation in a male dominated world. Dr Debra was never cowed or browbeaten by male chauvinism and patriarchalism. Her predominantly male audience was captivated by her address. She was frank in her discourse but convincing without tramping on anybody’s toes. Dr Hakim Quick, a fellow African-American, the resident Imam of the Musjid at the time was highly impressed with Debra’s demeanour.
Dr Debra has a very high regard for Dr Hakim and viewed him as a notable teacher.
Debra’s disposition and personality was reflected in her happy face mirroring the Qur’anic counsel: “O MAN! We did not bestow the Qur’an on thee from on high to make thee unhappy, but only as an exhortation to all who stand in awe (of Allah)” (Qur’an, 20:1-3).
The female students at the Hazelmere Islamic Centre could not have enough of their conversations with her. Debra warmed their hearts and gave them hope of a better future in a country like South Africa where their parents were part of the historically disadvantaged and racially discriminated. It was Shamila Mohamedi, the superintendent of the girls, who urged Debra to stay on and teach at the Centre.
Debra was the personification of their aspirations to become the best that they could be and more. Of course, Dr Debra had similar battles back home in the United States where African-Americans are still struggling to achieve equity and equality in a historically racially divided society and country. Combatting racial discrimination in the United States was a site of struggle that she would waged right up to the end of her days.
She exemplified World Boxing Champion Muhammad Ali’s credo: “A champion must be able to take a punch.”
Ahmed Sayed Moola who was a trustee of the IPCI at the time, recalled her reflections on the conversation she had with her mother when she asserted her faith as a Muslim. “My mother saw me changing my way of dress, my dietary habits and saw me prostrating when I prayed as well as this that and the other. She was concerned that I would also change my birth name Debra. I promised her that I will keep my name Debra that she affectionately named me.”
Dr Debra was the first African-American woman and first Muslim to receive tenure at Beloit College in Southern Wisconsin as Professor of Religious Studies. A position she held for more than twenty years until she retired in 2020. She was the Edwin F. Wilde Jr. Distinguished Service Professor. Her writings and discourse furthered a public understanding of Islam, most notably through her acclaimed 2016 book Polygyny: What it Means When African American Muslim Women Share Their Husbands. She received the Underkofler Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teachings in 2017.
Debra had a strong sense of community, kindred spirit, and valiantly spoke truth to power right up to the end of her days on this earth. She understood and lived with the awareness of the Oneness, the Uniqueness, and the Almightiness of Allah (God). She grasped the Qur’anic reminder: “Verily, Thou seest all that is within us. Extoll Allah’s limitless glory and remember Allah without cease.”
She was on the winning side of the Messiah Jesus’s (peace be on him) reminder: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul.”
It is so hard to say goodbye. She will be sorely missed by the many whose lives she touched so profoundly in so many ways.
