Umar Hakim-Dey, a pillar of SoCal’s Muslim community, has died

A pillar of Southern California’s Black and Muslim communities died Friday, community leaders announced.

Umar Hakim-Dey, 55, was born and raised in Compton. He served as board chair for LA Voice, a multi-racial, multi-faith community organization, and was founder of Inkerij (pronounced encourage), a social enterprise that was an advisor for social impact organizations. A staunch advocate for the unhoused, he was the force behind Humanitarian Day, one of the nation’s largest Muslim-led charity days. His cause of death is unknown.

Hakim-Dey grew up on a street that served as the divider between the Bloods and the Crips. Raised by a single Guyanese, Episcopalian mother, Hakim-Dey would join the Crips in 6th grade before eventually leaving the gang at 18. He would often speak of his time at the Crips as giving him insight into the human need for a sense of community and loyalty.

Umar Hakim-Dey at a booth he had for his brand Inkerij at a recent Council on American-Islamic Relations events.

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Courtesy Meem Noon Productions / CAIR-LA

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“One of the things he very consciously said was that, 'I've been in Compton, I see people die over words.' So I really try to deescalate situations and look at things from a different lens because I see how quickly things can escalate,” said Arbazz Nizami, a co-founder of Sahaba Initiative, a nonprofit based in San Bernardino county addressing generational poverty, who met Hakim-Dey when he was in high school.

At 28, Hakim-Dey converted to Islam and soon met Imam Saadiq Saafir, the religious leader of Masjid Ibadillah in South Los Angeles and the founder of ILM Foundation. Masjid Ibadillah was a mosque in South L.A. primarily serving the African-American community, which would evolve into Islah LA, a nonprofit inner-city community center while ILM Foundation is a nonprofit organization.

Hakim-Dey eventually became head of ILM Foundation and, despite its smaller budget, connected and inspired young people from different backgrounds to live a life of service.

Saafir’s son, Imam Jihad Saafir of Islah LA, was set to honor Hakim-Dey at a gala on Sept. 27 before he died.

“ Christian, Jewish, homeless, a person who has membership in the gang, he was able to talk to all of these audiences and engage them,” Saafir said. “When people love their comfort zone, they love being around people who think like them and who believe like them so he was willing to come out of his comfort zone and find comfort in serving the neighbor.”

Mentor to young people

“ He was one of the first people to really inspire us and motivate us to serve the community, and give us a guidance on how to serve,” Nizami said.

On Humanitarian Day, a day during Ramadan where the Muslim community gathers to pack and distribute care packages for the unhoused community, Nizami said Hakim-Dey encouraged people to see beyond just giving people food and personal care products, but “looking at them as a human being.”

Umar Hakim-Dey, as he lead a group of volunteers at Sahaba Initiative, a non-profit addressing generational poverty in San Bernardino County.

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Courtesy Arbazz Nizami

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For Nizami, Hakim-Dey is someone he spoke with almost everyday for the last 15 years. Earlier this year, they went on the Umrah pilgrimage to Makkah during one of the holiest times of the year for Muslims, Ramadan.

And when he was at Umrah, Hakim-Dey sent a text to another community organizer and coach he mentored, Sarah Jawaid.

“ I get a text from him that says, 'Say Ameen, a prayer was made for you at the Prophet's mosque on your behalf,'” Jawaid said. “ He would remember you … he would call. He was just such a model of what it means to be in community.”

When she started working as a community organizer with L.A. Voice, Hakim-Dey was the one who introduced her to others in the space.

“He vouched for me,” Jawaid said.

His role as an activist

Hakim-Dey, she said, had a “powerful vision of change.” He knew what people needed in the moment, but was also thinking of the future.

Together with Hakim-Dey, she said, they organized in the community around issues such as removing the felony box on job applications in Los Angeles and Proposition 47, which reduced some felonies to misdemeanors.

“ We were really thinking about the long term, like how do we change the condition of people so that they understand that they actually have more power than they think they do to change policies,” she said.

Umar Hakim-Dey speaking at a past Humanitarian Day event.

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Courtesy New Ground a Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change

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Jawaid said Hakim-Dey's voice will continue to ring in her head, as well as his inspiration mantra to keep going when things get tough — Don’t leave your post.

 ”Anytime you needed a pep talk, he was there to be like, 'Allah is the most merciful, don't leave your post,'" she said. “And so I just imagined him saying that to me now, 'Keep going. Don't be sad. Don't leave your posts.'"

His work as a 'bridge builder'

Hakim-Dey was a personal mentor to Margari Hill, co-founder and executive director of Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC).

Hill said Hakim-Dey would encourage her to work towards passing the baton to the next generation.

“I guess for now, you know, not until somebody else can step into the post that he put for me, I can't leave my post,” she said.

She called Hakim-Dey a “bridge builder” connecting with Muslims from South Asian, Arab, Black and African descent to advocate for policy changes for affordable housing, police reform and immigrant rights.

And he connected with other religious groups, particularly the Jewish community.

How he showed up as an interfaith advocate

Andrea Hodos, associate director of New Ground a Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change, said Hakim-Dey was known for always showing up when the community needed him.

She had invited him to an event to show support for the Jewish community following the Tree of Life synagogue mass shooting where 11 worshippers were killed in Pittsburg, and when she arrived she found Hakim-Dey was already there.

 ”He was actually breaking up a brewing fight between an older man with Trump flags, festooned in Trump flags and a younger man who had come wearing a 'Punch Nazis' T-shirt,” Hodos said. “They were about to get into it and he was kinda standing in between and quietly, like very calmly deescalating.”

Umar Hakim-Dey speaks at a New Ground a Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change event at the Skirball Cultural Center.

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Courtesy New Ground a Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change

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And when interfaith relations soured in 2023, Hodos said that Hakim-Dey was always leading with compassion and clarity.

“ He has the capacity to listen deeply and to stand firmly on his principles, and that is what he has been doing and still being there to help our communities navigate some of the most difficult moments,” she said.

Hard to replace

Imam Jihad Saafir with Islah LA said Hakim-Dey will be hard to replace.

Hakim-Dey, he said, could go from speaking with legislators at City Hall to serving the unhoused in downtown Los Angeles and incarcerated people.

 ”It's gonna be hard to fill that void,” he said. “I don't see people with that same type of work ethic and the willingness to come out of their comfort zones.”

Funeral arrangements

Janaza (funeral prayer) will be at 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 17 at the Islamic Society of Orange County, 1 Al-Rahman Plaza, Garden Grove. Burial will follow at 3 p.m. at Rosehills Cemetery, Gate 1, 3888 Workman Mill Road, Whittier.