CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1463303
CityViewNC.com | 27 Imam Bobby, as many of his congregation refer to him, grew up in rural Cumberland County, adjacent to Hoke County. He attended AME Zion Church and graduated from Seventy-First High School in 1981. ere the 6-foot, 6-inch omas excelled in basketball, earning him a path to higher education. He started at Lees-McRae College, then a two-year, Presbyterian- affiliated junior college in the western North Carolina mountain town of Banner Elk. According to omas, attending Lees- McRae taught him a valuable life lesson: never judge people before you know them. "It was a beautiful place, but I thought I was going to live with the Beverly Hillbillies. But I found them to be some of the nicest people. ey invited us into their homes and churches." Aer finishing his two years at Lees- McRae, he transferred to St. Andrews College in nearby Laurinburg. He graduated in 1986 aer earning his bachelor's degree in business management. While at both schools, he became keenly interested in religion. He opted to take most of his college electives studying religion - all religions to include Islam. He says his interest and eventual conversion to Islam was based more on rational academic reading rather than passion. "Islam began to answer questions I had about God and religion. It answered questions I had been asking as a young man," he says. Following his graduation from St. Andrews in 1986, omas worked as a Cumberland County deputy sheriff at the jail. Because his bachelor's degree qualified him to teach in a program at Fayetteville Technical Community College, then- Sheriff Morris Bedsole promoted him into a position working with inmates seeking an education. Later, he transitioned to the county's Community Development Department working to provide housing to the underserved. In 1989, omas "accepted his declaration of faith" and became a Muslim, and added his Muslim name. Just as Simon became Peter and Saul became Paul, Bobby omas became Bobby Abdul Hameed omas, a Muslim name that basically translates to servant for Allah. "ere is a new mission when men receive faith. I was no different," he said. Imam Bobby Abdul Hameed Thomas leads his congregation in sermon and prayers on Fridays, and in religious instructions and individual nurturing at the Masjid Omar Ibn Sayyid mosque. When it rains, When it rains, IT DRAINS! IT DRAINS! (910) 433-1613 www.fayettevillenc.gov/stormwater