August 12, 2007 | Greetings of peace! My dear brothers and sisters in humanity, it has been a true blessing and a pleasure to congregate with you all here on this blog. There is so much more information to be shared but our time together on this blog has come to an end. Thank you BET for this wonderful opportunity to learn from each other. I have enjoyed reading all the comments; I hope you all have too. That being said, I would like to share some final comments.

At the start of this blog last week, BET asked, “Will the Nation of Islam remain relevant without its aging leader?” Imam W.D. Mohammed, the son and successor of Elijah Muhammad who transitioned the original Nation of Islam to traditional Islam, recently talked about how ministers in the Nation Islam—under Minister Farrakhan—have been studying with orthodox Muslims and why he believes “there’s a merger coming.”

In my first post I stated:

“From a strictly historical perspective, no one can reasonably argue against the Nation of Islam’s historical significance which spans more than three quarters of a century and is inclusive of the path of Imam W.D. Mohammed as a traditional Muslim. And this also includes the Nation of Islam’s significance in the history of Islamic civilization, America’s Muslim heritage, African and African American history, and how it changed the lives of people all over the world regardless of their faith.”

I believe this is true because—and these are just a few of the many reasons—most of the pioneering firsts for all Muslims in America, immigrant and indigenous, were accomplished by orthodox African American Muslims who have a shared Nation of Islam heritage; Muslims the world over love Malcolm X for his propagation of Islam—even Caucasian Americans have talked about becoming Muslim after reading his autobiography—but Malcolm’s greatness, and some want to overlook this, evolved out of his beginnings with the Nation of Islam; and finally, the original Nation of Islam will forever be known, in the history of Islamic civilization, as the critical mass out of more than a billion Muslims worldwide, that was most successful in attracting the vast majority of Muslims who are African American to traditional Islam.

Some things to keep in mind:

People of African descent have had a unique relationship with Islam ever since Bilal became the first black person to accept Islam and the first muezzin, one who calls the Muslims to prayer (see this post); and ever since the Prophet Muhammad sent the first group of Muslims to Abyssinia, under the protection of the black Christian ruler there, in order to escape the persecution they were facing in Mecca for accepting Islam.

According to Sylviane A. Diouf, author of the award winning book Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas, Islam was the first religion freely chosen by the slaves, as a significant percentage of them were Muslim when they arrived here. She writes, “The African Muslims may have been, in the Americas, the slaves of Christian masters, but their minds were free. They were the servants of Allah.” And of course, as I expressed before, “Allah” is the Arabic word for God meaning, the one, incomparable, unique God, the same God of Adam, Moses, Abraham, Jesus, and Muhammad.

On another note, I would also like to point out that African American Muslims and African American Christians have an unbreakable bond that is too often overlooked. That is, the vast majority of African American Muslims have majority Christian family members and they live in majority Christian neighborhoods; there is no way they could not love their Christian brothers and sisters and not want to build community with them, as with all of humanity of course, because these people are often their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, neighbors, and so forth.

As Reverend Al Sharpton pointed out at the 2002 State of the Black Union program in Philadelphia, Muslims are nothing new in our communities because many African American families have Muslims in them. This was in response to a question—most likely because of the horrors of September 11 a year earlier—about the African American community’s position on working with Muslims in the community.

Finally, all I can say is read, read, read, study, study, study. When we were very little, my father used to have my siblings and I line up and read the encyclopedia to him. I did not enjoy that very much back then but I have such a fond memory of it now. It gave me a love for “understanding.” I am humbled by this opportunity I had to be a guest blogger and I thank you all for being so patient with my overlong posts and me .

Speaking of understanding, I would like to leave you with words of one commenter on an earlier post. Wazir Ali wrote:

“I own an Arabic Bible – and in genesis the first thing that it says is “Fil Bad-e Kkalaqa Allah Samawaati wal ardi – in the beginning “Allah” created the heavens and the earth. When Mohammed mentioned “Allah” the Jewish and Christian Arabs of his time knew Who he was taking about. We often look at these things only from the prism of our particular societal context. Many Americans are not aware of what the name “Allah” means. I was once on a panel with a Christian Minister and a Jewish Rabi – and the moderator said that we are three different religious with on G-d – who call him by three different names: The moderator then said Yahweh, Allah and G-d. I smiled – and thought to myself – same Creator – three different languages.”

Any final thoughts you would like to share?

-Precious Rasheeda Muhammad
http://www.preciousspeaks.com

(I hope you will visit me over at www.preciousspeaks.com, I will be posting a new article every week on the history of Islam in America overall–not just in the African American community)

August 12, 2007 | Greetings of peace! Sadly, my time with you all is coming to a close. I will be posting one final entry after this one. My first post gave some what of an introduction to the evolution of the original Nation of Islam (NOI) to traditional Islam under the leadership of Imam W.D. Mohammed. Accordingly, I just wanted to share with you all a few related research resources that might be of interest to you.

Please note that this is just a sampling of resources and is in no way meant to be a comprehensive list.

1. Nation of Islam: A Portrait

This is a link to the Boston WGBH series “Say Brother” and their October 1975 program titled “Nation of Islam: A Portrait” which gives insight into the Nation of Islam shortly after the death of its leader, Elijah Muhammad.

You can also watch a clip of the renowned poet Sonia Sanchez talking about the physical and spiritual role of women in the NOI. As many of you know, she used to be a member of the Nation of Islam.

2. Evolution of a Community: Muslim African Americans after Elijah Muhammad

The two programs listed below were written, produced, and directed by Fatimah N. Muhammad. She used to have a website but it is no longer online. However, here is a link to her CV.

Evolution of a Community: Muslim African Americans after Elijah Muhammad, 1975-1995, audio documentary, 58 minutes, 1995

Evolution of a Community: Muslim African Americans after Elijah Muhammad, 1975-1995, video documentary, 65 minutes, 1995

3. Bilalian

This is a feature length documentary about the evolution of the Muslim community under Imam W.D. Mohammed’s leadership and about their use of the name “Bilalian” as an alternative to being called “Black.” I know I mentioned it earlier but I think it is worth listing it here for those who have not read the earlier posts.

4. Collections and Stories of American Muslims (CSAM)

CSAM is a traveling museum and exhibit with hundreds of documents, photos, text, and other resources covering America’s Islamic history as far back as the 1600’s. The CSAM collection also includes photos and other resources on the evolution of the original Nation of Islam to traditional Islam.

5. A History of Muslim African Americans by the Islamic History Group

The book is meant to be “a comprehensive history book on the chronological development and establishment of Al-Islam among African Americans.” Included in this is an extensive, year-by-year history of the evolution of the original Nation of Islam to traditional Islam under Imam Mohammed’s leadership.

6. This Far By Faith series on PBS

This Far By Faith chronicles the spiritual journeys of African Americans from the 1500’s to the present.  The page I have linked to above includes a historical overview of Imam W.D. Mohammed’s religious life and a video clip of him talking about his relationship with his father, Elijah Muhammad.

Do you have any interesting historical sources to share?

-Precious Rasheeda Muhammad
http://www.preciousspeaks.com

August 12, 2007 | Greetings of peace! Before Rev. Jesse Jackson became a leading voice of “black” Americans’ quest to be called “African Americans”; before a Time magazine writer mocked another possible name change for “blacks,” jokingly asking, in reference to the proposed name “Dobanian” (Descendant of Black African Natives in the American North), “Just think of it: The National Association for the Advancement of Dobanians?”; and before the famous Harvard neuroscientist Dr. S. Allen Counter coined the term “Afrindeur,” a combination of the first three letters in the words African, Indian, and European, because, he professed, “Genetically, almost all of today’s “Black Americans” are a racial mixture of African, Native American Indian and European bloodlines…”; before all of these possibilities, a mass movement of African American Muslims had already declared to the world what they were to be called. They were to be called “Bilalian” after Bilal ibn Rabah one of the greatest historical figures in world religious history. And they had hoped that all people of African descent in America would embrace this name for themselves as well, as an alternative to being called “black.”

As the story is told to Muslim children all over the world, Bilal was the seventh person to embrace Islam and is said to have been the first “black” person to do so. He embraced Islam while he was a slave and even under extreme torture by his polytheist slave master, he would not renounce it. The more he was tortured and ordered to accept false gods, the more he would cry out, “Ahad (One)! Ahad (One)!” And of course “one” was in reference to his belief in the one, unique, incomparable God; the same God of Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Eventually, a close companion of the Prophet Muhammad purchased Bilal’s freedom saving him from these injustices.

Bilal soon became a very close companion of the Prophet Muhammad and the prophet appointed him to be Islam’s first muezzin, the one who gives the Muslim call to prayer. It is Bilal who perfected the stunningly sonorous call that is heard five times a day wherever praying Muslims are found worldwide. For Muslims, Bilal is the quintessential example of universal brotherhood in Islam.

In support of “African American” being used instead of “black,” Rev. Jesse Jackson had argued “black tells you about skin color and what side of town you live on. African American evokes a discussion of the world.”

In support of “Afrindeur” being used instead of “black,” Dr. Counter had professed, “Historical, biological and cultural integrity is what’s in a name. We must be true to all of those.”

But in 1975, more than a decade earlier, Imam Mohammed, the son and successor of NOI leader Elijah Muhammad, had already found all of this in the word “Bilalian.” He chose the name “Bilalian” for the Muslim community under his leadership because it was inclusive of their racial and religious identity and a powerful alternative to being called “black.” It also symbolized, for these descendants of slaves in America, the transition from slavery to dignified life. What better example of this transition than an African ex-slave elevated to being not only a close companion of one of the world’s greatest religious and historical figures, and not only the first “black” person to become a Muslim, but also the one to perfect the sonorous call of a entire faith’s adherents to worship of God? If this name change could not evoke a discussion of the world, as Jesse Jackson desired; and if this could not be inclusive of historical, biological (at the very least African Americans can be considered racial descendants of Bilal), and cultural integrity, as Dr. Counter preferred—what could?

Although it never caught on with the greater African American community as Imam Mohammed had hoped, the name was loved and widely accepted by the thousands upon thousands of Muslims under his leadership. Muhammad Speaks, one of the most widely circulated “black” newspapers ever, even became Bilalian News from 1975-1981.

Unfortunately, the name choice of “Bilalian” garnered considerable criticism from Muslim leaders overseas who feared it might represent, or morph into, an alternative form of Islam. Even though this was not the intention of the Bilalians, the name eventually fell out of collective use in the community that was so sincerely striving toward traditional Islam; but it is still loved and appreciated by the former Bilalians to this day. If you search the word online you will find thousands of references to it and uses of it, especially in the names of businesses from a fashion line to a security company and much more.

Several years ago, I worked closely with Dr. Counter, who is also director of the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, to bring the film Bilalian to Harvard. During that time, Dr. Counter intimated that he could not understand why “Bilal” had not become a more popular name among African Americans in general and African American Muslims in particular. Looking back, I think that is a really good question especially given the fact that “Muslim” names are so popular amongst African Americans who are not even Muslim.

Given Bilal’s historical relevance, and how popular “Muslim” names are even amongst African Americans who are not Muslim, why do you think “Bilal” is not a more popular name in the African American community in general and the African American Muslim community in particular?

-Precious Rasheeda Muhammad
http://www.preciousspeaks.com

August 10, 2007 | Greetings of peace! I believe that the two greatest misconceptions that one can have about Muslims, of any race or ethnicity, are that Muslims either do not believe in God or that they believe in a “different god” who is named “Allah.”

This leads people to say things like:

“I believe in God but you believe in Allah.”

“If you believe in God, then we can talk. Do you believe in God?”

Oprah to an African American Muslim woman on her show:

“So you do believe in God?”

And from a commenter on this blog to me:

“Precious, how were you brought up in America? A Baptist? My point is…why did you switch faiths? Isn’t there really one Bible…GOD’s Bible? Do you really know who GOD is? So you think the prophet Ali created men and the universe and all living creatures? Are do you not believe in our one GOD? The king of kings…Ali is only a prophet. When did you loose your faith in my GOD and find a prophet? Shame on you ! TK”

Since this blog is supposed to be interactive, following are my answers to TK’s comments.

“Precious, how were you brought up in America? A Baptist? My point is…why did you switch faiths?

As I mentioned in my first post, I was born a Muslim and have been a Muslim my entire life. And just so there is no confusion as to what I mean by that, I will share that I grew up an “orthodox” Muslim. I only hesitate to use the word “orthodox” or any other descriptive because my father always stressed that I should not do so. He always taught me to say that I am a “Muslim” period. Muslims are not identified in the Qur’an as orthodox, Sunni, Shia, Sufi, traditional, and so forth.

Isn’t there really one Bible…GOD’s Bible?

Muslims believe in all of the revelations revealed by God to all of the Prophets from Adam to Muhammad; and this includes Abraham, Noah, Lot, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, John the Baptist, and Jesus—just to name a few. Muslims believe that the Qur’an is the uncorrupted culmination of these revelations.

Do you really know who GOD is? So you think the prophet Ali created men and the universe and all living creatures? Are do you not believe in our one GOD? The king of kings…Ali is only a prophet. When did you loose your faith in my GOD and find a prophet?

I am not sure who this “prophet Ali” is that is being referenced unless the commenter is referring to the word “Allah,” the Arabic word for “God.” In one of my previous posts, I did point out that millions of Arabic speaking Christians in the world use the word “Allah” as it is the Arabic word for “God; and that the word “Allah” is used throughout Arabic Bibles as the word for “God.” Furthermore, Muslims acknowledge all prophets as God’s creation not as creators. Muslims believe in the God of Adam, Moses, Jesus, and all the prophets.

In an earlier entry, I did explain what Muslims believe about God. But, since the commenter posed the question to me directly, about “who God is” I will revisit this very important matter.

My parents taught me at a very young age that whenever someone praised me, I was to remember and to say that God is the one to whom belongs all the praise. At any given time during my childhood, I could be heard declaring “Alhamdulillah!” (Praise be to God!/All praise is due to God!) after even the slightest praise directed toward me. This is the practice of Muslims worldwide. Muslims also respond with “Alhamdulillah” when asked how they are doing.

One of the first chapters of the Qur’an that Muslim children memorize, and I was no exception, is Chapter 112. At a very young age, in Arabic and in English, I recited the following constantly:

“Say: He is God, the One and Only! God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not nor is He begotten. And there is none like unto Him. (112:1-4)

As a little girl, I often heard my father recite the most famous verse from the Qur’an in English, which further helped me understand early on in life, as much as a mere creation of God can, who God is. Verse 2:255 can be found on the walls of mosques and the homes of Muslims of diverse races and ethnicities worldwide.

This Verse 2:255 is called Ayat al-Kursi:

“God! There is no god but He – the Living, The Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him Nor Sleep. His are all things In the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede In His presence except As He permitteth? He knoweth What (appeareth to His creatures As) Before or After or Behind them. Nor shall they compass Aught of His knowledge Except as He willeth. His throne doth extend Over the heavens And on earth, and He feeleth No fatigue in guarding And preserving them, For He is the Most High. The Supreme (in glory).”

This is the belief of African American Muslims as it is the belief of all Muslims.

And finally, there is the understanding amongst Muslims, and I believe other faith traditions as well, that no mere creation of God can fully comprehend God.

Why do you think so many people believe that Muslims, of any race or ethnicity, believe in a “different god” and/or no God at all?

– Precious Raseeda Muhammad
http://www.preciousspeaks.com

August 10, 2007 | Greetings of peace! Recently I was on the National Public Radio (NPR) show ‘News & Notes,’ which “explores the development and relevance of faith in various aspects of African-American culture.” The topic for the segment of the episode that I was a part of focused on the role and treatment of African American women in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities in the United States.

The first question I was asked was about whether or not Muslim women were oppressed. I explained that Islam is clear on the position of women, and their rights, and that men and women in Islam are considered full moral and spiritual equals. But, I also acknowledged that there are Muslim men who oppress Muslim women, whether as a result of the oppressors’ cultural beliefs, ignorance about Islam, or for any other number of reasons. The point being that there is a difference between the religion and how some adherents choose to practice the religion.

I then went on to explain that oppression of women is not acceptable in Islam. The Prophet Muhammad led his life by example on this; and, in his final sermon, even reminded the believers to uphold the rights of women. And in fact, as I noted on the show, during the time of the Prophet Muhammad, Muslim women were full participants in the society and were not prevented from speaking their minds and even openly challenging Muslim men in the community and in the mosque regarding disagreements on matters faith. After clarifying these issues, which of course apply to all Muslim women regardless of race or nationality and so forth, I then gave the listening audience examples of African American Muslim females who are very active in the American public square.

Following is just a sampling of the awesome work being done by African American Muslim females that goes a long way to dispelling the myth, in the African American community especially, that, on the whole, African American Muslim women are oppressed.

The Emmy-Award nominated ESPN feature ( watch) on the nearly undefeated Lady Caliphs basketball team of W.D. Mohammed High School inspired Americans of diverse races, genders, and religions countrywide.

(I fondly refer to this feature as “Covered Girls Can Jump” because even though the Lady Caliphs were constantly ridiculed and denigrated—for being Muslim and covering during games donning long pants, scarves, and fuller jerseys—they played on to victory.)

Aisha al-Adawiya, the founder and executive director of an educational social justice and human rights organization called ‘Women in Islam, Inc.’, played a leading role in the publication, and ongoing distribution, of the booklet titled Women Friendly Mosques and Community Centers: Working Together to Reclaim our Heritage.

The young Dr. Jamillah Karim (also see this), Assistant Professor of Religion at Spelman College, is a leading voice in academia and on the lecture circuit with regard to the intersection of race, class, gender, immigration, and authority in American Muslim communities. She authored the following articles “To Be Black, Female, and Muslim: A Candid Conversation about Race in the American Ummah” and “Through Sunni Women’s Eyes: Black Feminism and the Nation of Islam.”

In 2002, Yaphett El-Amin became the first female Muslim legislator in Missouri, and possibly in United States, history.

Iman Abdul-Haqq co-founded, along with her mother, Gamma Gamma Chi Sorority, Inc., the first Islamic-based sorority in the United States. The sorority, also open to non-Muslim women, is dedicated to sisterhood, scholarship, leadership, and community service.

Dr. Althia F. Collins, co-founder of Gamma Gamma Chi, is possibly the first Muslim to become president of a non-Muslim college or university in the United States. In 2001, Dr. Collins became the 13th president of Bennett College but resigned after seven months. Some believe she was forced out because she is a Muslim.

Anisah Rasheed (also see this) made international news when the almost completely non-Muslim student body of North Carolina A & T University voted her homecoming queen despite her modest dress and traditional head covering, something many might assume would be a turnoff to the voters.

Aminah Abdul-Jabbaar directed and produced the internationally acclaimed, award winning film Bilalian, a feature length documentary about the African American Muslims that evolved out of the Nation of Islam into traditional Islam under the leadership of Imam W.D. Mohammed.

Stacey Salimah Bell, a New York City corrections officer, assisted with ground zero cleanup after September 11 despite being easily identifiable as Muslim, and discriminated against, because she wears the traditional Muslim head covering. She also helped to form the American Muslim Law Enforcement Officers Association (AMLEOA).

Khadija Sharif-Drinkard is a nationally respected corporate entertainment attorney, businesswoman, and humanitarian who is writing a book about prominent African American Muslims.

Zakia Mahasa is considered by most to be the first female Muslim Judge in United States history. Although this is not technically correct, as her official title is Master in Chancery  (Family Division, Circuit Court for Baltimore City), her accomplishment is no less significant. Even without the official title of “judge,” she is still the first known Muslim woman to preside over a courtroom in United States history and she does so while wearing a modified version of the traditional Muslim head covering.

African American Muslim women in Detroit, Michigan founded The International League of Muslim Women, likely the largest service organization of Muslim women worldwide. The League includes Muslim women of diverse races, ethnicities, and nationalities and provides social services for all regardless of their religion.

African American Muslim women in Atlanta, Georgia founded Sisters United in Human Service, an “organization of Muslim women working in the spirit of sisterhood to promote, support, uplift and serve human concerns for the pleasure of God.” This organization also provides services for all regardless of their religion.

Cristal Chanelle Truscott, playwright, director, and actor, founded the acclaimed Progress Theatre (also see this). Progress Theatre is “a touring ensemble of multi-disciplined performers committed to using art to encourage social consciousness, cross-community dialogue and cultural awareness.”

What can you share about amazing African American Muslim women?

-Precious Rasheeda Muhammad
http://www.preciousspeaks.com

August 9, 2007 | Greetings of peace!  “Either they don’t know, don’t show, or don’t care about what’s going on in the hood.” This is a famous line from Boyz n the Hood, the socially conscious, Oscar-nominated 1991 film directed by John Singleton that the Library of Congress designated as “culturally significant” and accordingly preserved in the National Film Registry. I am sure if one could replace the word “hood” with the words “African American Muslim community” this would accurately express how many African American Muslims feel about how their history and current experiences as Muslims are often portrayed in academia, studies/polls, and the media.

Many African American Muslims are increasingly frustrated with what they see as the constant coverage of Islam in America primarily through the lens of immigrant Muslims. One such example is the recent Pew Research Center study that identified African American Muslims as more inclined toward extremism than the majority of Muslim Americans, as well as less educated, lower income, and more disillusioned about their plight in this country than most Muslim Americans. One might mistakenly glean from this a number of inaccurate assumptions about the African American Muslim community.

And here is where many African Americans might just utter, “Either they don’t know, don’t show, or don’t care about what’s going on in the [African American Muslim community].” Because the reality on the ground is that African American Muslims have done more to show how Islam can “co-exist with the United States,” something many non-Muslims believe is near impossible, than any other Muslims in the history of this country.

Yet the findings in the aforementioned Pew study, titled “Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream” basically sends the message all over the world, as this study was dispatched worldwide and also translated into Arabic, that the good majority of African American Muslims are outside the mainstream and are really of little productivity in terms of progress for Muslims.

Beyond how African American Muslims made many Islamic names and terms a part of the American lexicon, which is of no small significance (especially when many immigrant Muslims changed their names and so forth just to fit in), they have also achieved the majority of pioneering firsts for the Muslim American community in general. And it must not go without saying that much of this is thanks to the orthodox communities of African American Muslims that evolved out of the Nation of Islam. So how is it possible that so little positive information is known about African American Muslims?

Click here to read an excerpt from an article I wrote for the Muslim Journal titled “To Tell The True Story of African American Muslims.” It gives many examples of the pioneering achievements in the African American Muslim community from the first Muslim mayor in United States history being an African American to the two first known Muslim Americans ever to receive the highest civilian awards in the country (the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal) being awarded to African American Muslims; to a Muslim “town,” founded and run by African American Muslims since 1987, being given a symbolic key to a nearby city by the mayor for their positive community building efforts with people of all faiths—and so much more! In fact, there is enough back story in these accomplishments to be made into any number of films that I am sure would be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant [enough] films” to be preserved in the National Film Registry as well.

How is it that the African American Muslim community can have so many positives and yet be viewed so negatively? Also, do you know of any pioneering accomplishments achieved by African American Muslims?

– Precious Rasheeda Muhammad
http://www.preciousspeaks.com

August 8, 2007 | Greetings of peace! This post will be very brief, a welcome break I am sure from my earlier posts that have been overlong.

I would like to add a few points to my earlier discussion regarding the diversity amongst African American Muslims. Please know that this is no way an exhaustive list.

Many non-Muslims, and some Muslims, may not be aware of the following points of information.

There are African American Muslims who are Shia in the United States. Professor Tariq al-Jamil, Assistant Professor of Religion at Swarthmore College, is one example of a native-born African American Muslim who is Shia.

There are also African American Muslims who identify as Sufi. One such Muslim is Mara Brock Akil, the creator of the television show “Girlfriends.” She describes herself as being “born into the Nation of Islam,” then growing up Methodist and then A.M.E. Akil now identifies as a practicing Sufi Muslim along with her husband Salim Akil.

There are many African American Muslims who are very active in the African American Muslim community, and the Muslim American community in general, but do not identify with any one particular community or leader. One example of this is Professor Aminah McCloud, director of the Islamic World Studies Program in the Department of Religion at DePaul University. She recently authored a book about the Nation of Islam titled “The Religion and Philosophy of the Nation of Islam.”

More than African Americans populate congregations of mosques led and attended by African Americans. In fact, some congregations in primarily African American mosques have included Africans, Arabs, South Asians, Caucasians, and others as exampled in the Boston Globe article “Keeping the Faithful,” which highlights the 50-year history of Boston’s Masjid Al-Qur’an.

Because Islam teaches universal brotherhood, and identifies the whole world as a masjid/mosque (meaning the place of worship is not confined to a particular type of building or space), no Muslim of any race can be justly prevented from attending any mosque, predominately immigrant or otherwise. Accordingly, there are many African Americans who may regularly attend a mosque with a predominately African American population but also attend one with a predominately immigrant population for events, traveling, and otherwise as needed or desired.

Finally, the majority of native-born Muslims in the United States are African American.

Ok, maybe this post turned out to be a long one as well. Forgive me, I know I said it would be brief.

What can you share about the diversity in the African American Muslim community?

-Precious Rasheeda Muhammad
http://www.preciousspeaks.com

August 8, 2007 | Greetings of peace! I really appreciate everyone’s comments. There is a lot of insightful history being shared and lively discussion taking place. I hope you all have time to read some of the comments as time allows.

Since this blog is supposed to be interactive, I would like to remark on a few of the comments that have been posted.

One commenter wrote:

“This is another example of why african americans are so confused about Islam, and what true Islam is. The Nation of Islam IS NOT AN ISLAMIC ORGANIZATION. People in the Nation of Islam ARE NOT MUSLIMS!”

The above comment was actually the impetus for the question I posed at the end of my last post asking, “What is your understanding of what a “true” Muslim is?”

As you can see from the next comment, and as I stated in my last post, many Muslims do not feel comfortable declaring that a person who self identifies as a Muslim is not a Muslim. This commenter wrote:

“I am not feeling the word “true” because only Allah knows what is truely in our hearts.”

I should point out that there is also a verse in the Qur’an that motivates a lot of Muslims, African American or otherwise, to stop short of stating explicitly that a particular person, who self identifies as a Muslim, is not a Muslim. The verse is as follows:

“O ye who believe! When ye go abroad in the cause of Allah, investigate carefully, and say not to any one who offers you a salutation: “Thou art none of a believer!”" (4.94)

Finally, many African American Muslims are very careful about declaring another Muslim a non-Muslim. This is because they have often experienced incessant challenges themselves, to their status as Muslims and often based solely on the fact that they are African American, no matter their Islamic background or training. We see this in the words of one commenter who writes:

“They just cannot understand why I don’t feel the need to be accepted by those they deem “real Muslims”(Muslims who are non-African-American).”

On a completely different topic, another commenter posted the following:

“This blog should be about Imam WD Mohammed.”

Many African American Muslims get very upset when, more often than not, the discussion of Islam in the African American community gets limited to the Nation of Islam, especially when the majority of African American Muslims are not members of the Nation of Islam.

However, even though Imam W.D. Mohammed (also see here and here) is considered the leader of the single largest constituency of Muslims in this country, African American or otherwise, he is not the only African American leader respected in the African American Muslim community. Other recognized African American Muslim leaders include Imam Siraaj Wahhaj and Imam Zaid Shakir. All three of these leaders are scheduled to speak at the November 2-4, 2007 conference: “THE STATE OF THE BLACKAMERICAN MUSLIM COMMUNITY.”

When I was a graduate student, I spent a lot of time reading primary sources on Islamic history including centuries-old biographical dictionaries. What I learned from these sources, is that unlike the many Muslims today who often pick and choose whose history is relevant enough to discuss or record, earlier Muslims tended to record all the history as it unfolded, even the history of those Muslims they did not agree with, those that were unorthodox, and those they deemed to have “seceded.”

This brings me to one commenter who posted his feelings about African Americans in general “promoting ourselves above others.” He wrote:

“As African Americans, perhaps it’s a ghost of slavery, but we seem to manifest an insecurity related to acceptance or approval of others – at times even to self-promoting ourselves above others in an effort to prove our worth. “

The message here seems to be that African American Muslims should not make the same mistake of exclusion that others have made toward them.

Considering that there is a conference coming up on the state of the African American Muslim community, what are your thoughts on the state of the African American Muslim community, what it is now and/or what you hope it to be?

-Precious Rasheeda Muhammad
http://www.preciousspeaks.com

August 7, 2007 | Greetings of peace! Throughout the history of world religions, there have always been differences between the message a particular religion teaches and the variations in practice amongst those who consider themselves believers of the message, or practitioners of religion. Accordingly, the practice of Islam in African American Muslim communities is very diverse not unlike Muslims the world over and as depicted in the history of Islam.

However, there is a difference between variation in practice and variation in the basic beliefs. This is the issue at the heart of some of the contention I see in the comments area of this blog. And so the unasked questions become what is a “true” Muslim and are African Americans “true” Muslims?

A Muslim is anyone, African American or otherwise, who submits to the will of Allah (God). Like all Muslims, African American Muslims also use the Arabic term “Allah” which is the Arabic translation of the word “God.” This should not be misunderstood to imply that Allah is a “different god” as some non-Muslims assume. In fact, the Arabic word “Allah” is also used for the word “God” in the Arabic translation of Bibles used by Arabic speaking Christians.

Anyone, African American or otherwise, can become a Muslim. They need
only testify that “there is no god but God and Muhammad is His messenger.” Most implicit in this testimony of faith is the understanding of the uniqueness and incomparability of God, that nothing can be associated with God, and that God begets not nor is God begotten. Also implicit in this understanding is that the “Muhammad” reference is to the Muhammad of Arabia born in 570 AD to whom Muslims believe the Qur’an was revealed through the Angel Gabriel.

In addition to the oneness, uniqueness, and incomparability of God, Muslims also believe in the prophets from Adam onward, including Jesus, who Muslims also consider a prophet, and ending with Muhammad; in the books of revelation revealed to the Prophets; in the Angels; in the Resurrection; and in the Day of Judgment.

Anything contradicting these basic beliefs are not considered by the vast majority of Muslims in the world as “true Islam,” “traditional Islam,” “mainstream Islam,” or “orthodox Islam” and so forth.

When Imam W.D. Mohammed became leader of the Nation of Islam in 1975, he immediately began to transition the NOI to Islam as practiced by the majority of Muslims in the world, to Islam as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. He made it clear that whatever contradicted with this— the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, which were the manifestations of the teachings of the Qur’an itself—could not be kept but that whatever did not contradict this and was of good to the community life could remain. Two of the most problematic teachings, done away with that were incompatible with the religion of Islam, were the beliefs that God came in the person of a man and racial separatism.

Although, as evidenced in some contentious posts in the comments section, many Muslims do not consider members of the current Nation of Islam as “true” Muslims, the answer is not as clear-cut as it appears. Firstly, most Muslims are very cautious of pronouncing someone as an unbeliever who has professed to be a believer. Secondly, Minister Farrakhan’s recent Saviours’ Day speech spoke to universal brotherhood and the incomparability and oneness of God. Thirdly, an orthodox Muslim gave the Friday sermon and led the congregational prayer during the Saviours’ Day weekend and many orthodox Muslims of various races and ethnicities attended as they have in recent years. These factors indicates that there is a great desire, amongst Muslims in America, to build community with the Nation of Islam and that the current Nation of Islam, not unlike the changes of 1975 with Imam W.D. Mohammed, is constantly evolving.

Finally, the majority of African American Muslims today are not members of the Nation of Islam. The majority are, in fact, supporters of Imam Mohammed, who makeup up the single largest constituency of African American Muslims, as well as other smaller, but continually flourishing, African American Muslim communities. Unlike the Nation of Islam, this majority does not require formal membership, have no hierarchy as in accordance with traditional Islam, and, even though they have spiritual leaders, simply consider themselves as a part of the worldwide community of Islam.

What is your understanding of what a “true” Muslim is?

Stay tuned…

-Precious Rasheeda Muhammad
http://www.preciousspeaks.com

Truly This Far By Faith

August 6, 2007 | Greetings of peace! My name is Precious Rasheeda Muhammad. I am a third-generation African-American Muslim, my daughter and nieces make a fourth. Although I hate to describe myself as anything more than “Muslim,” for the sake of clarity, I can technically be described as orthodox.

My grandmother joined the Nation of Islam (NOI) in Boston, MA when my mother was just a toddler. Her parents, born in the late 1800’s, were the grandchildren of slaves. Grandmother, and her children, regularly attended Muhammad’s Mosque No. 11 where Malcolm once taught and Louis Farrakhan was the first minister. This mosque was also attended back then by a young Harvard college student, also a member of the NOI, who eventually married my aunt later producing, like my parents, orthodox Muslim children. This afforded us the benefit of extended Muslim family with whom we could relate in matters of faith when our families made the transition to traditional Islam in 1975.

My father joined the Nation of Islam in the same city when he was still a teenager fresh from the abominable racism of the Deep South, a place where he remembers vividly being called the “N” word by threatening white racist males. That was long before some African Americans would so readily call themselves the same word and peg it as a so-called term of endearment. My parents married when my mother was only 17 and my father was 19. His parents’ mother and father were also the grandchildren of slaves.

When Elijah Muhammad passed in 1975, my father, a Fruit of Islam (FOI), helped lower the Nation of Islam leader’s body into the grave. He also stood honor guard as the late leader’s son, (Imam) Wallace Deen Mohammed, took over as leader of the Nation of Islam on February 26, 1975. That was the day that Jesse Jackson professed that Elijah was “the single most powerful Black man in the country and the father of Black self-consciousness” and that “People are less because of his passing but more because of brother Wallace.”

On that cold day in Chicago, I too was in the room of thousands, snuggled safely in my mother’s womb as she listened intently dressed in her NOI garb. By the time of my birth, less than a month later, the original Nation of Islam was already on a steadfast path to transitioning to traditional Islam as practiced by the majority of Muslims worldwide. It is as this type of Muslim that I attended the first, first-grade class of Sister Clara Muhammad School in Boston, named after Elijah’s wife and founded, in part, by two of my classmates’ parents. I also attended the fourth grade and final fifth grade class of Sister Clara Muhammad School in Chicago. At that time it was under the leadership of Imam W.D. Mohammed. Today it is the headquarters of the Nation of Islam, which was reestablished, with the original teachings, in the late 1970’s by Minister Farrakhan even as Imam W.D. Mohammed continued his steady march to traditional Islam. Today the two leaders, though still spiritual leaders of different communities, are committed to working together for social causes within the African American community.

It is out of this historical context that I grew up understanding that the history of the Nation of Islam extends beyond just being a history of “Black Muslims,” a term never freely used or chosen by the NOI.

As a someone who has lived in many places from Iowa to Morocco, as someone who has traveled from Jerusalem to France and beyond; as someone who has studied everywhere from Harvard to a little old elementary school in Mobile, Alabama; as someone whose Christian cousins were gunned down in inner-city Boston and the Nation of Islam stood as security at their funeral even though my cousins were not Muslims and I was not a member of the Nation of Islam—I have seen enough to know that one can argue all day about the Nation of Islam’s theology but, from a strictly historical perspective, no one can reasonably argue against the Nation of Islam’s historical significance which spans more than three quarters of a century and is inclusive of the path of Imam Mohammed as a traditional Muslim. And this also includes the Nation of Islam’s significance in the history of Islamic civilization, America’s Muslim heritage, African and African American history, and how it changed the lives of people all over the world regardless of their faith. We will talk about this more during our time together this week.

How has the history of the Nation of Islam, regardless of your faith, affected your life and/or the life of your home communities?

-Precious Rasheeda Muhammad
http://www.preciousspeaks.com