Remembering the life of Adam Adib Shakoor, First Muslim American Judge

August 6, 1947 - March 20, 2022

Judge Shakoor was born as Adam Caddell, on August 6, 1947 in Detroit, Michigan in a segregated ward at Henry Ford Hospital. He is the first Muslim judge in the United States, appointed to the Court in 1981 by then-Michigan Governor William Milliken. Judge Shakoor served for two terms as Chief Judge of the 36th District Court in Detroit, the largest court of its kind in the nation.

Judge Shakoor's parents were one of the first black families to move into the Sojourner Truth Homes, one of the first low-rise public housing projects built specifically for African Americans by President Franklin Roosevelt's administration. Shakoor’s parents were noted for their human rights and labor activism in Detroit in the 1930s and 40s. One of their early efforts as activists involved resisting attempts by the City of Detroit, assisted by Caucasian mobs, to intimidate and force African Americans out of their newly government constructed housing. His father, Harvey L.. Caddell Sr., was a Detroit labor organizer to the first black local union CIO-UAW President, Hodges Mason. Shakoor’s mother Esther Hart-Caddell, was a pioneering public schools educator and one of the first African-American teachers hired at Detroit's former Durfee Junior High School. Mrs. Cadell was celebrated for her innovative STEM education techniques, such as the SUAM DWYPES scientific method used today to engage and help students excel in science, technology, engineering and math.

Judge studied labor organizing at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan. He continued his studies at Wayne Sate University earning a bachelor of science degree (1971), a master of education (1974), and Doctor of Law (1976).

In addition to practicing law, he also taught several courses at Wayne County Community College District (WCCCD). While teaching at WCCCD, Judge Shakoor met his first wife, Nikki Graves Henderson, who was one of his students. Between them, they had eight children, Malik, Sahir, Lateef, Keisha, Khalidah, Koya, Kareena, and Jelani.

Shakoor's interest in law and Islam was sparked by his studies at Wayne State University. "We had the greatest discussions about what was going on and how we were going to change the world," Shakoor reflected. "The people I met at Wayne were very strong in their convictions about what they believed and about the obligation that lawyers would have in helping build a better society. That was an attraction for me."

Judge Shakoor discusses his early years including his conversion to Islam.

Fellow students at Wayne State exposed Shakoor to the Quran. After reading the English translation of the holy book, in 1967, Shakoor accepted Islam. Three years later, at the age of 30, Shakoor made the sacred pilgrimage to Mecca. Through that pilgrimage, Shakoor became known as Al-Hajji, which he called his most cherished title.

One of the people he met through his college activism was then-state Sen. Coleman Young. As the features editor of the independent WSU student newspaper The South End, Shakoor wrote an editorial in 1969 suggesting that Young was the right person to serve as the first African-American mayor of Detroit.

When Young did decide to run for mayor in 1973, Shakoor was asked to join his team and ran a campaign office. He considered joining the new mayor's administration, but decided to go on to law school instead. At Wayne Law, he was elected as president of the Black Law Student Association.

After graduation, he worked as an associate attorney with Pitts Mann & Patrick PC, and, from 1979 to 1981, he practiced as a partner with Ashford Cannon Edison Lumumba & Shakoor. The firm was known for challenging racial injustice.

In 1979, Shakoor successfully represented Masjid Wali Muhammad in Detroit in court for its right to call the Muslim call to prayer (adhan) over outside loudspeakers in the first such ruling in the country.

Shakoor, considers Derrick Ali and Samuel Rahman v. Perry Johnson, a federal case against Michigan's state prison system as his most memorable. This case led to sweeping changes for Muslim inmates—- the prison system’s hired its first Islamic chaplain, were required to respect Muslim inmates' religious dietary practices, and allowed Muslim inmates to observe the holy month of Ramadan.

He also was celebrated for a criminal case during that time, winning acquittal for Ameer Mujahid in the homicide of jazz vocalist Eddie Jefferson outside of Baker's Keyboard Lounge in Detroit. The trial lasted four weeks and was one of the few cases that Detroit police Detective Gil Hill (made famous by his role in the Eddie Murphey film "Beverly Hills Cop") ever lost in his career, Shakoor said.

In 1981, Shakoor was appointed as a judge of the Common Pleas Court for Wayne County by Gov. William Milliken. It was the first time in the nation's history that a Muslim served as a judge. That year, the state Legislature joined the Common Pleas Court with the Traffic and Ordinance Division of Detroit Recorder's Court to create the 36th District Court in Detroit.

Shakoor went on to lead the 36th District Court for two terms as chief judge, overseeing the judicial and administrative operations of 31 judges, six magistrates and more than 500 employees. The court was the largest district court in the country housed under one roof and the busiest court in the state.

Shakoor reflected fondly on the innovations he was able to make there, including establishing a drug docket to focus on the city's drug problems and an environmental court that cleared up a backlog of cases dating back more than 10 years. He set up Saturday court sessions and acquired funding from the Legislature to fully computerize the court for the first time.

After eight years on the bench, he was heartsick over the many young men he saw who had no skills, no jobs - and no hope. Crack cocaine use was an epidemic in the city. So, in 1989, when Young asked Shakoor to serve as deputy mayor of Detroit, he was ready and eager to help make a difference.

Judge Adam Shakoor (far right) captured in discussion with Detroit Mayor Coleman Young and legendary Detroit Civil Rights Lawyer, Carl R. Edwards.

One project Shakoor developed in his new role was the Boot Camp After Care Detention Program for young males, which was so successful the state adopted it as a model. The boot camp project, operated as a cooperative effort of the Michigan Department of Corrections, Detroit Board of Education and city of Detroit, was the first time in the nation that a boot camp detention program involved substance abuse counseling, vocational training and health education, he said.

He became known as Detroit's "crime czar" for his efforts coordinating city, state and federal agencies to fight the drug problem, for his development of crime-fighting activities that also involved substance abuse treatment and prevention, and for overseeing the forfeiture of all assets seized from drug dealers by Detroit police.

At the end of Young's term as Mayor, Shakoor was approached to run for mayor himself, but he turned it down.

In 1994, Shakoor returned to private legal practice at Reynolds Beeby & Magnuson PC. In 1997, he became the managing shareholder of Shakoor Grubba & Miller PC. He founded his current practice, Adam Shakoor & Associates PC, in 2004.

Judge Shakoor was the first to introduce the concept of making Election Day, the first Tuesday in November, a national holiday. In 1996, he founded the National Day of Freedom, Inc., a non-partisan, non-profit corporation toward that end, saying that “...any movement we make as a nation toward full participation in our elections only enhances our democracy” (Detroit Democratic Club letter dated 8/12/96). At the time the idea was put forth, the United States ranked last in voter turnout among 15 countries, at 53% of registered voters. The Congressional Black Caucus voted its unanimous support for the measure, along with numerous national African American organizations as they pledged each of their 1.5 million members would take at least ten people to vote on November 5, 1996, in support of the presidential elections.

Judge Shakoor speaks in support of his proposal to make the November general election day a national holiday.

Shakoor also served as the personal attorney for civil rights legend Rosa Parks from 1995 until her passing in 2005. This representation included advising Ms. Parks in her suit against the hip-hop duo Outkast. Shakoor noted that during all of his work for Parks, he never charged her a dollar. He called this work, his "payment for his rent for life."

During his life, Judge Shakoor received more than 200 awards. These include an award from the Academy of Muslim Achievement (AMA), which in 2017 honored him with a lifetime achievement award.

Judge Shakoor accepts 2017 Golden Minaret Lifetime Achievement Award flanked by “Muslim Firsts,” (l-r) Delegate Bilal Ali, first Muslim to represent Baltimore in Maryland General Assembly; Judge Hassan El-Amin, first Muslim Judge in Maryland Circuit Court; Raheemah Abdulaleem, first Muslim Deputy White House General Counsel; Sylvester Johnson, first Muslim Philadelphia Police Commissioner; Talib I. Karim, first Muslim Congressional Chief Counsel & Legislative Director; and Omar Karim, first Muslim lead developer in multimillion mixed use construction project in Washington, DC.

That same year, AMA renamed its honor given to lawyers as the Adam A. Shakoor Service in Law Award. During Shakoor’s last year of life, he presented that award to Keith Ellison, who also grew up in Detroit inspired by Shakoor and later became the first Muslim in Congress and the first Muslim to serve as a state Attorney General.

Judge Shakoor and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison reflect on their shared experiences growing up in Detroit and the inspirations that led them to Islam and later to pursue careers in law and politics.

Judge Shakoor was a lifetime member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., an organization dedicated to achievement and service. He was initiated in the organization while a student at Wayne State University in the Fraternity’s Alpha Beta Chapter and maintained an active financial membership of the Kappa Detroit Alumni Chapter.

Shakoor hoped that when remembered, people would say of him that, "I stood for those things I believed were right, and I advocated for those.”

For more details about Judge Shakoor’s legacy, contact his lovely wife, Gail Lawrence-Shakoor here.