Aquil Abdur-Rasheed
Aquil Ibn Abdur-Rasheed Sr (born c. 1946 in Ozark, Dale County; died March 31, 2004 in Midfield) was an insurance underwriter and founder of the Music-N-More record store chain and the Kottage Boy Entertainment record label.
Abdur-Rasheed was the son of Winslow Lathan and Juanita Jolly. He graduated from Tuskegee Institute and converted to Islam in the 1970s. He left his job in insurance to go into business for himself in 1986. After five years of selling door to door, he and his wife Hafeeza opened a booth at the Bessemer Flea Market. He eventually opened three music stores in the western section of the metro area. As a record dealer he was known for his broad knowledge of jazz and soul music.
Abdur-Rasheed was honored in 1998 by the Birmingham-Metro Jefferson Chamber of Commerce for his service to the African-American community. He founded Kottage Boy in 2002. He also served as secretary-treasurer for the Masjid Qur' Ân.
Abdur-Rasheed was murdered during a robbery at his Midfield store on March 31, 2004. Sandrekus Watkins, Jimmie Martez Lee and Gary Robinson were convicted of the murder. Watkins and Lee were also charged with robbing Abdur-Rasheed's Heritage Towne Centre location two days earlier.
After a funeral "Salat al-Janazah" service at Fair Park Arena, Abdur-Rasheed was buried at Elmwood Cemetery. His widow and oldest sons, Aquil Jr, Wali and Bilal kept the stores open until 2008. Aquil Jr reopened the store at Five Points West in 2009.
References
- Williams, Roy L. (March 9, 1998) "Mrs. Arrington, others presented with awards for business service." The Birmingham News
- Abrams, Vivi & Victoria L. Coman (April 1, 2004) "Music store owner killed." The Birmingham News
- "Aquil Abdur-Rasheed" obituary (April 5, 2004) The Birmingham News
- "Killer of Midfield music store owner gets life without parole." (December 4, 2005) The Gadsden Times