Sister Shirley Muhammad October 26, 1936 – March 09, 2019 Share this obituary Sign Guestbook Shirley Muhammad was born Shirley Temple Shaw on October 26, 1936, in Birmingham, Alabama to Ollie Mae and Frank Shaw. She legally changed her middle name, from Temple to Annette. The Shaw family were devout Christians, and members of Evergreen Baptist Church in Birmingham, where she developed a deep love for Jesus.
Sister Shirley loved to play the piano as a child, eventually receiving classical training. She graduated from Hooper City High School in Birmingham, afterwards attending Alabama State University for one year. Sister Shirley worked as a domestic worker in Alabama until she married Robert Turner in December 1958.
The new couple started their family and had two children in Birmingham before relocating to Brooklyn, New York in 1962, in search of economic prosperity. While in New York, her husband, Brother Robert became acquainted with the Life Giving Teachings of The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad by way of Malcolm X. Brother Robert would travel to Harlem to hear Malcolm X speak and in his excitement in what he had heard Malcolm teaching he would race back home and begin teaching to Sister Shirley. Of course at that time she thought he had lost his mind and gone mad.
She even called the police on him when he came home and threw the family’s ham dinner out of the kitchen window and demanded that she no longer feed the family pork. When the police arrived at the family’s home (one black, and the other white), ironically it was the white officer who advised her to heed her husband’s instructions. In her resistance to accept her husband’s new way of life, she donned her Sunday’s best and with Bible in hand, she traveled to Mosque No.
7C in Brooklyn to personally confront The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Her intentions were, in her words, “to tell him about himself” and to chastise him for rejecting Jesus as his Lord and Savior—but wound up converting instead. Lo and behold, she submitted to the Teachings and became a registered member of the Nation of Islam in 1964.
Sister Shirley attributed her devotion of Islam to her early foundation of the teachings of Jesus in her youth. She continued to propagate her faith until her dying day on March 9, 2019. Sister Shirley and Brother Robert had twelve children; eight of whom were initially educated at Muhammad’s University of Islam in Harlem, NY, until its closing in 1975.
After the birth of her last child, she entered the City University of New York and attended York College in Jamaica, NY and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Education. Sister Shirley went on to become an educator teaching grades K-12 in the New York City Public School System. She found time to give free music lessons to the children in her South Richmond Hill neighborhood and at the senior citizens center in Jamaica, NY.
Sister Shirley was often found spending time visiting the sick and shut-in, always putting the needs of others before her own. Later in life, Sister Shirley became the caregiver for some of her grandchildren and always went above and beyond what was required, whenever needed. Sister Shirley continuously travelled throughout the country visiting and attending to the needs of her family and friends.
She even observed the birth of two great grandchildren, she truly cherished this experience. She was a well-loved humanitarian in her community and loved to espouse the teachings of The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Sister Shirley was known as an energetic, kind, thoughtful and considerate person who constantly imparted knowledge and wisdom to everyone she met.
She was highly generous and always put modesty first. In March 2015, Sister Shirley’s health began to decline upon her return from her older brother’s, Frank Shaw, funeral in Miami, Florida. She was in the care of Trump Pavillion Nursing Facility at the time of her death.
Although Sister Shirley battled several health ailments, her love for Allah who appeared in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad, The Honorable Elijah Muhammad and The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan never wavered. Inspired by one of Minister Farrakhan’s Saviours’ Day lectures, she wanted her children to invest in real estate in Detroit, Michigan. She desired to see her people given freedom, justice, and equality and to have the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of Almighty God, Allah.
Sister Shirley was preceded in death by: her husband, Robert Turner; her daughters, Robin Turner and Gloria Turner; her brothers, Joe Raymond Shaw, John Henry Shaw, Frank Shaw, and Edward Shaw; and one sister, Edna White. She leaves to cherish her memory: one brother, Richard Shaw; one sister, Mildred Jelks; six sons, Ronald (Khabeer) Turner, Randall (Ali) Turner, Sherwin (Malik), Ira Turner, Ibn Turner, and Akbar Hassan Turner (Ladesha); four daughters, Medina Turner, Shallah Stevens (Alan), Fatima Muhammad, and Aliyah Muhammad (Michael); her grandchildren, Ronald Turner, Jr., Brandon Morrison, Cameron Turner, Rhamel John, Genema Forsythe, Khalid Lee, Khadir Britten, Alaina Stevens, Shallah RaQuell Stevens, Taliyah Renee Turner, Quentin Turner, Luca Turner, Maverick Turner, Amar Muhammad, Naim Muhammad, Nailah Muhammad, Saleel Muhammad, Terrence Morrison, Jacob Joe-Raymond Turner, and John Henry Turner; her great-grandchildren, Elena Maria Turner, Jade Robin Morrison, Josiah Morrison, Kendrick Pete, Brian Johnson, Jr., Sariaya Johnson, and Tyrik Carter; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and a Nation of Believers.
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