Shaykh Abu Mujaahid
Fareed Abdullah

Who He Was

He was the Shaykh, the Scholar, the Teacher, and a Pillar of his community: Fareed Yusuf Abdullah, Abu Mujaahid, of the Bahamas, the resident of Los Angeles, may Allāh have mercy on him.

He was born in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, on the twentieth of Al-Muharram, 1378 AH. He was raised on the religion of his parents, but Allāh guided him to Islam in his teenage years, while he was still in high school. From the moment he embraced the deen, he carried it with the eagerness of someone who had finally found what he had been searching for. A year after accepting Islam, he changed his name, no longer wishing to bear the names of those who had oppressed his forefathers.

In those early years, his enthusiasm for the truth could not be held back. He called his people to Islam openly and prayed wherever the time of salah found him, undisturbed by criticism. Allāh kept him firm through it all.

His Journey of Knowledge

His search for knowledge took him across continents. He traveled first to Guyana in South America, where he stayed for a year studying the Arabic language and other Islamic sciences. From there, his journey continued to India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

He then returned to the Bahamas, and from there made his way to Saudi Arabia, where he studied at the Islamic University of Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud in Riyadh. There, he memorized the Book of Allāh, became firmly grounded in the Islamic sciences, and sat with great scholars of his time, including Shaykh Abdul Azeez Ibn Baz and Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Saaleh Al-Uthaymeen, may Allāh have mercy on them all.

He took a deep love for the works of Shaykh Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani رحمه الله, which drew him into the science of hadith. He devoted himself to it until he excelled in its branches and memorized its texts. He used to narrate ahadith from memory, hardly making a mistake, and he was masterful in citing them, ranking them, and drawing benefits from them.

His memorization of the Qur'an was just as firm. Verses came easily to him, and if a reciter slipped or hesitated, he was the first to gently correct him.

His creed was pure Salafi. He memorized the narrations of the Companions and the statements of the scholars, and he returned to them in understanding the texts and acting upon them. He excelled in fiqh, particularly the fiqh of marriage, divorce, and financial transactions.

His Da'wah and His Time at Masjid Al-Mumin

In 1412 AH, after completing his studies, he arrived in Los Angeles. He settled here, became the imam of Masjid Al-Mumin, taught at Al-Madinah School, and began his da'wah to Allāh upon the methodology of the Qur'an and Sunnah and the understanding of the righteous predecessors.

For more than twenty years, he taught Tawheed, Fiqh, Hadith, Tafseer, and Arabic grammar at this masjid. He traveled to spread the da'wah, near and far: New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Kansas City, Salina, Riverside, Fresno, San Diego, and beyond. His impact reached far past the cities he visited, traveling to the Caribbean, West and North Africa, and Europe, and into the hearts of countless students who never met him in person.

In 1421 AH, the great muhaddith Shaykh Muqbil Ibn Haadi al-Waadi'ee رحمه الله came to California for medical treatment. Shaykh Fareed had already been thinking of traveling to learn from him, so the meeting brought him great joy. Shaykh Muqbil loved him, praised him, and personally attested to his knowledge and virtue. It is well known among the students of knowledge that when people would come to Shaykh Muqbil seeking his advice on traveling overseas to study, he would tell them: "Go and sit with Shaykh Fareed who is here with you." Shaykh Muqbil even referred to him as Shaykh in his own biographical writings, a clear sign of the place he held in the eyes of one of the great scholars of the Ummah.

His Character and Worship

Whoever sat with Shaykh Fareed could see the Sunnah in him, as if it had been woven into his being. He loved it, clung to it, and was careful to follow it in matters small and large. The fruits of that appeared in his humility, his gentle speech, his good manners, and his kindness toward people.

He was a man of worship. He prayed Duha and the night prayer, even while traveling. When the iqamah was called, he would walk through the lines straightening them himself.

His lessons were calm and unhurried. His voice was clear and soft, and he was fluent in both Arabic and English. Time used to slip away during his classes, and those present would wish they did not have to end.

Outside of his lessons, he was the same man. He would sit with people, eat with them, and laugh with them. A stranger entering his gathering would never have guessed he was the imam, the shaykh, the teacher, because of how deeply humble he was. He disliked being called Shaykh. He would stare firmly at whoever addressed him with it and say, "Abu Mujaahid!"

He was loved by young and old. He greeted the children, played with them, and was merciful to them. When he shook a person's hand, he was never the first to let go.

He had beautiful writings, in both authorship and commentary. He excelled in collecting and organizing evidence, conveying the words of the scholars, and adding his own beneficial notes. The books he owned were filled with invaluable footnotes in his own hand.

His Return to Allāh

In 1439 AH, he returned to his country of birth, the Bahamas, where he continued teaching and calling to Allāh. He remained there until Allāh took him back, on the afternoon of Tuesday, the twenty-first of Al-Muharram, 1445 AH, at sixty-seven years of age.

May Allāh have vast mercy upon him, raise his rank in Jannah, and gather us with him in the company of the Prophet ﷺ.

Audio Lectures and Writings

The Shaykh's lessons, khutbahs, and writings continue to benefit students of knowledge across the world. You can access his recorded lectures and works at the link below.