The Muslims to the rescue; community patrol chases drug dealers out of Washington's Mayfair Mansions

Ebony, August, 1989

THE MUSLIMS TO THE RESCUE

THERE used to be a saying that if you lived in the Mayfair Mansions apartments it was the next best thing to being in heaven. Forty years ago this community was the showcase neighborhood for emerging Black Washington, D.C., professionals. But in the '60s and '70s, when the upwardly mobile began integrating other areas around the city, the neighborhood changed. Mayfair Mansions and neighboring Paradise Manor underwent such a metamorphosis several years ago that this once tranquil community quickly became one of the worst drug- and crime-infested areas in the city.

But something happened almost overnight. Without a penny of federal or city money. Mayfair Mansions and Paradise Manor were transformed again -- into drug- and crime-free zones.

"Credit the Muslims," says Arthur Reynolds Sr., managing general partner of Kenilworth Associates, Ltd., the owners of Mayfair Mansions. "They have done a tremendous job."

When a Nation of Islam gorup under the national leadership of Minister Louis Farrakhan opened Muhammad's Mosque No. 4 several blocks from the housing units, they saw the area as a ripe spot for community development. The problem was that the community of some 7,000 residents was virtually held hostage by drug trafficking.

Ruth Holmes, a Mayfair Mansions resident for 16 years, says the community had become "a 24-hour drug block party. They were like zombies walking around. Everywhere you looked, you saw someone strung out on drugs."

Seeing the mance, the Muslims took a strong stand. Armed with walkie-talkies adn dress in their customary tailored suits and bow ties, the Muslims began patrolling the buildings and ridding them of drugs and drug dealers. Tenants who had turned their apartments into "crack houses" were evicted.

"This drug mess won't get cleaned up until the Black community and Black men, in particular, stand up," says William Muhammad, chief of the Muslim patrol. "Black men have got to have faith in whatever God they believe in and take a stand. That's what we're doing."

Muhammad says millions of federal dollars have been spent on failed solutions to the drug crisis. "Maybe the federal government should look at programs that are working like ours, and finance them. I believe that a solution to this national drug problem is in our midst. The answer may be in the least expected place."

The Muslim Patrol's efforts, however, have not been without controversy. During a patrol last year, one suspected drug dealer pulled a sawed-off shotgun on one of the patrollers. He was quickly disarmed, "spanked" and held for police.

"We're well-organized and well-trained," says Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad, a physician who heads the nearby mosque and operates a full-service medical clinic inside Paradise Manor. "We have a sincere love for and commitment to our people. We didn't move in here to cause trouble. What we have accomplished is in line with the spritual teaching of Islam. What we did here, we did because God wanted us to do something."

Dr. Muhammad says crime is virtually nil in the community, and the 24-hour patrols are no longer necessary. However, they still maintain a visible force. The patrollers, or "dopebusters," as they are commonly called, now assist the elderly with chores and escort children to and from school. And the medical clinic has expanded to include a drug-treatment program for area residents.

Diana Briscoe, property manager for Mayfair Mansions, says she has seen an overall change in the attitude of the residents since the Muslims moved into the community. "The children can once again play in the plaground," she says. "The elderly residents feel more secure. The Muslims have provided positive male role models for the children and have instilled a sense of pride in the community that had been missing."