Nuruddin Abdul Latif

Life of Brother Nuruddin Abdul Latif

Brother Nuruddin Abdul Latif (aka Noor Ghazali) of RTP Majlis passed away at the age of 76 on April 13, 2014 in Research Triangle, NC, Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji‘un.

Brother Nuruddin was born on July 14, 1937 in New York, NY to Oliver Seth Galloway and Eugenia Mae Johnson. His father worked as a Baker and cook and his mother was a homemaker and an aspiring journalist.

He graduated from George Washington High School in June 1955. He attended Baruch College of Business of The City College of New York, majoring in Accounting. After one year, he left school and went to work in the New York Public Library in the Reference Department, and that is where he fell in love with books.

In 1957, he went to work for the City of New York in the Department of Welfare as a Certified Accounting Machine Operator and remained there until 1961, when he left to attempt to study music formally. During those years, he worked and held various positions in operations until 1977 when he became a computer programmer. He worked as a computer professional until he retired in 2001.

He received a BA degree in Liberal Arts with majors in both Philosophy and Sociology from The City College of New York. In June 1983, he received a BBA degree in Management Information Systems (MIS) from Pace University in New York City. In 1974, he was blessed to marry respected Rabiah Amatul Haqq.

In search of truth, he became associated with the Nation of Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood. Around 1958, he became intrigued by the music and the personality of Brother Yusuf Latif. In 1965, having read The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam, Ahmadiyyat the True Islam, The Introduction to the Holy Qur’an, Where did Jesus Die, and other Ahmadiyya literature received from Seth and Yusuf Alladin of Secunderabad, India, he became convinced that the message of Ahmadiyyat was what was needed to save the world. He did Bai‘at, under the auspices of Hadrat Muslih Mau‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him), at the Leroy Place mosque in Washington, D.C.

Brother Nuruddin became active in the New York Jama‘at where he served, on and off, as the local Nazim Ta‘lim and Tarbiyat of Khuddamul Ahmadiyya. In 1967, he attended his first annual convention where he met Brother Munir Hamid, who later became the first national Qa’id of Majlis Khuddamul-Ahmadiyya, USA. Brother Nuruddin was asked to serve as the first national Ta‘lim and Tarbiyat secretary of Majlis Khuddamul-Ahmadiyya, USA. He served in that capacity from 1967 to 1977. During those years, he co-edited a newspaper entitled The Real Revolution with Munir Hamid, Akbar Tshaka Ahmadi, Jalaluddin Abdul Latif, Bilal Sunni Ali, and other Khuddam of New York, Philadelphia, and other Jama‘ats. The primary purpose of The Real Revolution was to present the claims and teachings of the Promised Messiah (may peace be on him), and secondly to serve as a tool by which the Khuddam could communicate the message of Islam and Ahmadiyyat outside the movement. The title of the newspaper was inspired by Hadrat Muslih Mau‘ud’s book The Real Revolution.

As the Secretary Ta‘lim of Majlis Khuddamul-Ahmadiyya, USA, he was instrumental in developing a three-tier educational program which included a two-year educational program based on the Ahmadiyya literature that was available at the time. He also helped in developing the first Da‘in Ilallah (callers to Allah) program under the Waqf-i-‘Ardi (short-term devotional) program at the instruction of brother Munir Hamid, national Tabligh secretary at the time.

He served the New York Jama‘at, from time to time, as Ta‘lim, Tarbiyat, and Tabligh secretary. He also served as the co-editor of the New York Jama‘at’s local newsletter. During his last years in New York, he conducted Yassarnal Qur’an and elementary Arabic grammar classes for members of the Jama‘at, including the new members. In the 1980s, he attended the New Jersey Jama‘at’s meetings, where he also conducted Yassarnal Qur’an classes for Atfal. In 1996, a consulting job allowed him to move to North Carolina. He, with his wife Rabiah Latif, lived in Cary, NC and became a member of the Research Triangle Jama‘at where he served as Tabligh Secretary of the Jama‘at.

He had vast knowledge of the Bible and the Holy Qur’an and provided extensive material for a book Son of God which will be published soon. He was also known as Noor Ghazali as he had extensively studied Imam Ghazali, a Muslim philosopher. After he accepted Ahmadiyyat, Hadrat Khalifatul Masih III (may Allah shower His mercy on him) advised him to change his name to Nuruddin Abdul Latif. Majlis Ansarullah, USA awarded a lifelong service award to him in 2003 for being an excellent mentor and a teacher. In 2009, he received the Mufti Muhammad Sadiq Lifetime Commitment Award from Majlis Khuddamul-Ahmadiyya, USA.

Brother Nuruddin was a Musi. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Rabiah Latif. May Allah elevate his station in the paradise and grant patience and steadfastness to his family, Amin.