Who are the
Producers of Miracle in America?
The Miracle in America project is spearheaded by a
husband and wife team, Nashid Abdul-Khaaliq and his wife Akanke Abdul-Khaaliq, both
African American Muslims. Akanke initiated the idea
for Miracle in America in 1998 and has since held it
close to her heart—seeing it as her "life's work", a
mission assigned to her by Allah, Most High. They
are excited that, with Allah's help and the help of
Muslims and others who believe in the significance
of this project, the
great task of bringing Miracle in America to
fruition is
finally being implemented.
Akanke has a degree in
Film and Television from Georgia State University
with a minor in Anthropology. She accepted Islam
in 1992 after studying the Qur'an and being deeply
moved by its clarity and the answers it
provided. She took her shahadah (declaration of faith) at the Atlanta
Masjid of Al-Islam. This historic community
incubated Akanke's sustained development and growth
over the years, and today she sees herself as an
idealist—a student with many teachers who embraces
the ideal of Muslim sister/brotherhood—united under
tawheed (belief in the Oneness of GOD) and the guidance of Qur'an and
sunnah (the way of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him).
Since
1990, Akanke has been an independent television
producer of progressive television projects, with a
strong commitment to community-based programming.
From 1991 to 1996 she produced the popular live talk
shows, The Africentric Agenda and Creating
Empowerment, which aired on local cable networks
in Atlanta. In addition to her credits as a
television producer she has hosted several
television programs including Conversations,
Inner Views, and Faith and Good Works.
She has also appeared in short films, corporate
videos, and has worked as on-screen and voice talent
in television and radio. In 2004 she founded
7adinkras Creative Media, a network of women artists
focused on documentary production.
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Nashid is a writer whose writings about Islam,
Middle East issues and 9/11 have been read by
thousands on the Internet as well as published in
numerous magazines and newspapers. He also
co-produced "Nite Beat", an Internet radio show
hosted by Lewis News in Washington State reaching an
audience of more than 400,000 people weekly. This
2-hour weekly program, which started in January 2006
and ran for more than one year, featured interviews
with Muslim scholars and Imams whose aim was to
dispel the demonization, misinformation and wrong
portrayal of Al-Islam and Muslims. He also was
the owner of Al-Amin radio station, an Islamic
Internet radio station devoted to Dawah and
correcting media misinformation. Nashid joined the Nation of Islam in
1973 and later made the transformation to orthodox Islam
following the leadership of Imam Warith Deen
Mohammed.
Nashid
has a Bachelor of Science degree from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has had extensive Information
Technology experiences working for IBM, ARAMCO in
Saudi Arabia and running his own computer-consulting
firm, Computer Solutions Incorporated (CSI), in
Houston. At IBM, one of his responsibilities was
spearheading the development and implementation of a
video and satellite education center. In that
capacity he produced video training films.
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There
is also a core group of diverse Muslims who are working with
them to help implement this project.