Imam Adéyínká "Muhammad" Mendes, aka Adé, is a son of Dayton, Ohio, born to a Christian African-American mother and a theist Nigerian father in 1975. His mother is a retired attorney who fought against workplace discrimination and his late father was a physician who found immense joy in treating the sick. Respecting and appreciating diverse religions and cultures was a core value in their home.
In 1982, Adé’s parents sold their suburban home and relocated to Lagos, Nigeria. There he experienced the wisdom, elegance, and healing power of traditional African living, and witnessed people of different religions coexisting peacefully.
Adé returned with his family to Houston, Texas, in 1989 for high school. In 1993, following a life-changing journey to Jerusalem, he felt called to embrace Islam, the Way of Love and Path of the Prophets. After attending Morehouse College and the Ohio State University, he traveled around the world studying Classical Arabic, theology, sacred jurisprudence, contemplative arts, and the science of spiritual illumination from living masters in Syria, Sudan, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, and Senegal. He has been teaching these and other sacred sciences since 2001.
Adé worked as an educator and award-winning sales executive before discovering his mission to serve as an Imam dedicated to the liberation of the human spirit in 2010. He is the founder of The Nibras Foundation, the Bilal Spiritual Center for Peace and the Arts, as well as co-founder of the African-American Healing, Ancestry, and Development (AHAD) Collective. Adé speaks nationally and internationally on Quranic Spirituality, Youth and Adult Rites of Passage, Peace-building, and the healing wisdom of Black Muslim cultures and civilizations. His research interests include the political implications of mystical poetry, the history and adaptations of Islam in Black Africa and the African diaspora, and Muslim-led anti-slavery revolts in the Americas. He also translates sacred literature, teaches at retreats, and builds community.
Adé served as Imam at Masjid al-Mo’mineen and the Madina Institute Masjid in Georgia and as both Imam and Scholar-in-Residence at the Muslim Center of Greater Princeton in New Jersey. He currently serves on the advisory boards of Goodtree Institute and the Islamic Society for Holistic Education and teaches regularly with CelebrateMercy, Wasat, and the Rumi Center for Spirituality and the Arts. He is a recipient of the Center for Global Muslim Life "2020 Spiritual Impact Award" and his latest work, The Spirits of Black Folk: Sages Through the Ages, a translation of Imam al-Suyuti’s text on early Black Muslim luminaries is due to be released in 2021, God willing. Imam Mendes currently resides in New Jersey with his spouse Rukayat Yakub, a Montessori educator and award-winning children’s author, along with their seven lovely children.
