NEICC Volunteers Attend the 17th Annual Reflections on the Legacy of Imam W. D. Mohammed at Princeton University

On Wednesday, October 28th, NEICC volunteers joined Muslim Life at Princeton University and Masjid Waarith ud Deen for the 17th Annual Reflections on the Legacy of Imam W. D. Mohammed. This year’s program was titled Clara’s Fruit and the Roots of Islamic Education. It honored Sister Clara Muhammad (1899–1972), a pioneering educator whose legacy still shapes Muslim education in America.

During the 1930s, in the hardest years of the Jim Crow era, Sister Clara founded the first private Muslim school system in the United States. In 1975, her son, the late Imam W. Deen Mohammed, renamed his community’s national network of schools in her honor. The Clara Muhammad Schools have educated generations of Muslim children since then.

The evening featured a screening of Clara’s Fruit, a short documentary honoring Sister Clara’s life and work. Multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker Aïdah Aliyah Rasheed then gave a talk, and a panel discussion followed. It was a moving reminder of how faith, courage and a commitment to education can change a community for generations.

For our NEICC volunteers, the night was more than a lecture. It was a chance to learn from the history of Muslims in America, build bonds with neighboring communities and reflect on our own mission in education. Sister Clara’s story speaks directly to the work we do through our educational and youth programs: planting seeds of faith and knowledge that bear fruit for years to come.

We thank Muslim Life at Princeton University and Waarith ud Deen community for organizing this meaningful program, and we’re grateful to our volunteers for representing NEICC.