Temple Folk

Temple Folk is a collection of short stories that recount the lives and experiences of Black Muslims in America. The 10 stories span several decades, and each one centers around a distinct set of characters with different connections to the Nation of Islam.

In “Blue,” Sister Memphis is helping to lead a group of Muslim girls on a bus trip to the Saviours’ Day Celebration in Chicago. She meets a young girl named Danielle, who reminds her of her own upbringing in a “no-good family,” leading to flashbacks to Sister Memphis’s difficult childhood. Over the course of the journey, the women also learn the news of the Messenger’s death, which causes Sister Memphis to question her faith entirely.

In “New Mexico,” Calvin Baxter is on a mission with the FBI at the Mirage Hotel. His task is to gather information on the Swan, the Messenger’s mistress, who is traveling with her son. While on the mission, Calvin recalls the time when his father was released from prison and criticized him for “working for the white man.” Meanwhile, while he is undercover at the hotel, the Swan treats him like “the help.” Calvin realizes that she is passing for white and, consequently, has internalized the racial hierarchy imposed by white superiority.

In “The Spider,” Omar runs into Iklas at a Jamaican restaurant a few months after a purchasing committee meeting turned sour and resulted in Suleman insulting Iklas and punching another committee member. Omar apologizes for the other men’s behavior, but Iklas is more interested in trying to recruit Omar back into the Nation of Islam. Omar left the Nation long ago and is now part of the worldwide ummah, led by the Messenger’s son. Though he is tempted for a brief moment by the thought of a new future with the Nation, he knows based on past experience that nothing will really change.

In “Candy for Hanif,” Sister Norah is invited to go on a riverboat cruise with the “kitchen sisters” she works with at the Temple. Norah is at first reluctant to join them, as she rarely leaves her adult son Hanif, who has special needs. The other sisters convince her to go, and they get Brother Akil, who runs the Temple facilities, to watch him for the afternoon. Hanif recently pushed Norah in front of a moving bus, and during the cruise, Norah realizes he may have done it on purpose. When they get back to the temple, Norah claims she forgot to grab candy for Hanif. But instead of going to the store, she heads to the bus station and purchases a one-way ticket to a city on the coast.

In “Janaza,” Harold is at Captain Michael 2X’s funeral. While waiting outside of the funeral home, he encounters James Shabazz, an old classmate of his at the University of Islam. While they talk about their lives and their past with Captain Michael, Harold is obviously dodging calls from his wife, Vanessa. Despite the fact that Captain Michael abused them, Harold confesses that he is proud of him. Then, to everyone’s surprise, Captain Michael’s wife, who is white, tells the crowd that there will be no Muslim service. When Harold leaves, he realizes that he doesn’t feel at home with Vanessa. He decides not to go home to her but instead to return to his old life with the Temple folk.

In “Woman in Niqab,” Imani is having Friday night dinner at the temple with her mother, Sheila, and her Aunt Linda. Imani has just returned from a trip to Egypt with another family. While on the trip, Imani learned that her father may be having an affair with a woman from the Temple who wears niqab. She also witnesses an Egyptian woman in niqab engage in suspicious behavior. As a result, Imani decides she no longer wants to cover her hair in public.

In “Who’s Down?” the narrator, who is a young teenaged girl, has lunch with her then-vegetarian Dad at a restaurant run by Black Hebrews. The narrator and her dad are Muslim, but Dad believes that their shared Blackness matters more than religion at the restaurant. While they are eating, news about violence in Israel-Palestine flashes across the television, and Dad strikes up a conversation about it with a waiter. Dad is upset by the waiter’s sympathy with Israel, and they leave. Though she does not express it, the narrator is also deeply affected by this interaction. Two weeks later, Dad gives up his vegetarian diet and asks his daughter to buy him a burger.

In “Nikkah,” Qadirah has just created a dating profile on the Nikkah Network and begins chatting with Arik. Qadirah’s parents are prominent Christian pastors, but she left that life and converted to Islam in search of a more pious lifestyle. She wants to get married and start a family with Arik, but his unfamiliarity with matters of race concerns her and she stops talking to him. In the meantime, Qadirah learns that Ihsan, her roommate, had sex with her fiancé before they were married. Qadirah, who maintains incredibly high standards for morality, is very upset by this behavior and insults Ihsan. Later that night, Arik apologizes to Qadirah, and she resolves to devote herself even further to him and to their shared faith.

In “Sister Rose,” Intisar is visiting Sister Rose, who is very ill. Intisar left Temple life as a teenager, when Abiola accused her of behaving improperly with a boy. Sister Rose remembers what happened and reassures Intisar that she understands why she left. She then shares a story about the time she contemplated killing her husband in his sleep after he took a second wife. Sister Rose acknowledges that her anger at her husband was really misdirected anger toward herself. She tells Intisar that she is proud of her and urges her to keep living her own life. Intisar promises to return to visit again soon.

In “Due North,” Taqwa, who has always been devoted to her Muslin faith, is receiving visits from the ghost of her deceased father, the Imam, who is always holding a notebook. The visits began a few days after his death, when Taqwa was home with her brother Jabril. Jabril has been estranged from the family for 15 years, since around the time their Arabic teacher caught him painting his nails under the table. Taqwa believes Jabril is gay and that this is why he and the Imam did not get along. The week after the Janaza, Taqwa and Jabril head south to Ossacola, where the Imam, who was once a Baptist pastor, is originally from and requested he be buried. There, they learn the truth about why the Imam fled so many years ago, and this discovery causes Taqwa to question her entire relationship to her faith. The next day, while attempting to deliver the eulogy, Taqwa has another vision of the Imam and passes out. When she comes to, she learns she has missed the funeral and asks Jabril if they can go back north. On the drive, they decide to go fishing in memory of their father, who took them often when they were kids. Over the course of the night, Jabril asks Taqwa about Zainab, their old Arabic teacher’s daughter. He tells Taqwa that he read what she wrote in her notebook about Zainab all those years ago, suggesting that he knows Taqwa had romantic feelings for her that she has been repressing. On hearing this, Taqwa sobs in Jabril’s arms.