Habiba Abdul-Jabbar, formerly Janice Brown, gained notoriety through her marriage to the renowned NBA star, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Despite her notoriety, Habiba has managed to remain relatively anonymous, keeping her private life away from the public eye.
Who is Habiba Abdul-Jabbar?
Full name: Habiba Abdul-Jabbar
Birth name: Janice Brown
Birthdate: October 1950
Age: 73 years (approx)
Gender: Female
Nationality: American
Religion: Islam
Marital status: Divorced
Spouse Name: Kareen Abdul-Jabbar
Famous as: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s wife
Children: Habiba, Sultana, and Kareem Jr.
Habiba Abdul-Jabbar was brought into the world in October 1950 in New York, USA, with the birth name Janice Brown. She was brought up in an American Christian family who were legitimate members of the Catholic faith.
After she married Kareem, Brown changed her faith and completely embraced Islam, and her name became Habiba Abdul-Jabbar.
How Did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Meet Habibi Abdul-Jabbar?
Habiba Abdul-Jabbar was a high school student when she was first introduced to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was attending the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Cliff Anderson, Habiba’s then-boyfriend and a basketball player, was the one who brought the two together.
Abdul-Jabbar and Habiba’s relationship began to grow after he invited her to watch a basketball game in Los Angeles. After some time together, the two chose to get married.
The pair exchanged their vows on the 28th of May, 1971. The event was conducted in accordance with Islamic rituals and held in a mosque in the nation’s capital of Washington D.C., officiated by Hamas Abdul-Khaalis, the head of the Hanafi movement. Just prior to the marriage, the bride altered her name from Janice Brown to Habiba and embraced Islam.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born in Harlem, New York as Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor. After embracing Islam, he decided to alter his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Habiba’s parents, who had come down from New York, were sadly denied the opportunity to attend the wedding service at the mosque as they were not of the Islamic faith.
Whenever Abdul-Jabbar was on the national broadcast, he regularly gave a salutation to his in-laws, saying, “Hi to Moms and Pops in New York.”
Habiba Abdul-Jabbar Children
Habiba and Abdul-Jabbar have three kids: two daughters, Habiba and Sultana, and a son, Kareem Jr. Their eldest, a daughter named Habiba, is a journalist who is published in the Huffington Post and other periodicals using the pseudonym Habiba Alcindor.
The son, like his dad, is a basketball player. Additionally, Kareem Jr. had a short stint in the film industry, featuring in the movie Weapons.
In 2008, Sultana was an assistant for the Los Angeles Lakers for about five months before she started working as an administrative assistant at Children’s Institute Inc. in December 2009, staying there for over four years.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar & Habiba Abdul-Jabbar’s Divorce
The separation of Abdul-Jabbar and Habiba Adul-Jabbar was the result of his migraines and his association with Cheryl Pistono.
Abdul-Jabbar disclosed to Al Jazeera that his nuptials to Habiba Adul-Jabbar were based on the guidance of their spiritual mentor. He professed he had a strong fondness for somebody else, yet he ultimately chose to wed Habiba because of the reverence he had for the religious figure.
Rumor has it that Abdul-Jabbar’s relationship with Cheryl Pistono while still married to Habiba triggered a huge rift between the two. Consequently, they were no longer living under the same roof. Pistono supposedly had a tremendous impact on the basketball ace, convincing him to seek a divorce, which he did.
As of December 1973, Abdul-Jabbar and his wife had stopped living together, yet he still visited her regularly and their first child, Habiba. At the time of their break-up, Habiba was expecting their second daughter, and while living apart, they had their only son.
After his divorce from Habiba was completed in 1978, Abdul-Jabbar and Pistono had a son, Amir Adam Abdul-Jabbar. Later, in 1985, Cheryl married Steven Jenkins and Abdul-Jabbar had a second son, Amir Abul-Jabbar, with Julye Olds.
Where is Habiba Abdul-Jabbar now?
Habiba has largely kept to herself over the years, rarely seen or heard from. Due to her choice to stay out of the public eye, details of her life, aspirations, and current endeavors are largely unknown.
Nevertheless, Abdul-Jabbar’s Facebook profile speaks of her passion for running and sports in general. She has a Facebook page known as “RunHabibaRun” and she is the founder of Tutu Glam, a store that specializes in extravagant tutu skirts.
