Another version of Islam, the American Black Muslim variety, which can be traced back to Detroit in the early 1930’s, is presented through the leadership of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, son of Elijah Muhammad who died in 1975. In the beginning it was a stretch to call Elijah’s religion Islam, but it has evolved over time. Deen is the leader of the Muslim of American Society, a ministry largely to blacks. Many converts to this movement have come through outreach to blacks in prison, promoting a separate "black" culture. Of non-immigrant Muslims in America about 85 percent are black. In Deen’s newspaper Muslim Journal sent out to mosques and others on his mailing list, there was much talk of interfaith unity and pictures of him meeting with big names such as liberal Christian leader Dr. Schuller, and Louis Farrakhan who, in the past has praised Hitler, and remarked that Judaism is a "gutter religion." Much of this public show is part of Warith’s effort to move toward mainline Islam and tone down the past anti-white rhetoric about "blue-eyed devils." His paper is a polite mixed bag of peace messages in one breath and anti Christian and Jewish messages in another. Quoting verses from the Qur’an which have historically been pointed at Trinitarian Christians the Imam’s paper reads, "’Say, Oh people of the Book [Bible]! Come to common terms as between us and you: that we worship none but G-d, that we associate no partner with Him, that we erect not from among ourselves lords and patrons other than G-d. If then they turn back, say ye ‘bear witness that we (at least) are Muslims (bowing to G-d’s Will).’ Civilized nations should want that their religions be also civilized. False worship is the worst form of oppression." The implication is, that to worship Christ, who they view as merely a man, is adding Gods to the Godhead, is uncivilized and the worst form of oppression. In the fashion of the Mormons and other cults, the newspaper quotes the Bible when it serves the Muslim prejudice and disregards Biblical authority when they are challenged by it. In other words, when in doubt, disregard.
Many in the black community are still having a hard time letting go of history. One black man we interviewed in one mosque had a difficult time talking about his religion of Islam without bringing up the history of slavery in America. He was rather shocked when I pointed out to him that Muslims in many countries have taken part in the slave trade. As a matter of fact Saudi Arabia, the home of Mecca, continued slavery as a common practice until it was abolished in 1962. The Islamic Republic of Mauritania in western Africa continued it as a legal tradition until 1980. Islam found that capturing young slaves from foreign countries (some such countries have come to be known as Slavic countries) provided them good young men that could be educated, trained, or brainwashed, for the sake of manning their army. These men, having no emotional ties to wives and family, in the interest of self preservation, would give their loyalty to their commanders thus to the Islamic cause of jihad. Slavery is not merely a sin of white Christian culture. Temptation to capitalize on the benefits of cheap labor is as broad as humanity itself. Even certain American Indian tribes were known to capture members of other clans. Human nature is not necessarily dictated by the color of our skin.
A version of the Qur’an translated by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall is commonly distributed in mosques around America. Judgment day is portrayed in the following verses. "On the day when (some faces will be whitened and (some) faces will be blackened; and as for those whose faces have been blackened, it will be said unto them: Disbelieve ye after your (profession of) belief? Then taste the punishment for that ye disbelieved. As for those whose faces have been whitened, lo! in the mercy of Allah they dwell for ever" (Surah 3:106 & 107). The Interpretation of the Noble Qur’an endorsed by the Saudi Chief Justice might be a difficult pill for American blacks to swallow if they read it objectively. Its describes judgment day in ethnic terms as well. "So on that Day no question will be asked of man or jinni as to his sin [because they have already been known from their faces either white (dwellers of Paradise — true believers of Islamic Monotheism) or black (dwellers of Hell — polytheists, disbelievers, criminals)]. The Mujrimun (polytheists, criminals, sinners) will be known by their marks (black faces), and they will be seized by their forelocks and their feet."
It was interesting to see how various ethnic Muslim communities came together after 9/11 to celebrate Ramadan and other festivals when they have never gotten along in the past. Traditional Islam is cautious of some of the western versions of Islam, and at the same time some poor western Muslim communities are leery of being manipulated by rich Arab money.
History has shown that the poor are often eager to accept any new leader if it softens their load. Liberal Christians and Jews have often found employment in the construction of mosques in the same way many Christians have found themselves working on the construction of modern Mormon churches and Temples, jobs attained through the union hall. Inviting the devil in is one way to keep the heating bill down. In the eighth century when Spain was invaded by the Moors those who caved in to the pressure and endorsed the Muslim faith were called "renegado," or renegades. Many stood their ground however such as the priest Perfectus who was sentenced to death and decapitated by the Muslims for publicly stating Mohammed was "the servant of Satan." From the scaffold he cursed the prophet as "an imposter, an adulterer, and a child of hell." His death inflamed a zeal among both faiths. Many Christian martyrs followed. The Zealots were led by the monk Eulogius who was martyred himself a few years later.
Much of what fueled the Spanish Inquisition of 1478-1492, was the suspicion of those who held views such as the "renegades" which would appear to side with which ever side was in control. Given the history of Muslim invaders (1480) who had slaughtered about 10,000 people of Otranto, sawing bishop Stefano Pendinelli in half while yet alive, and in front of their wives and families whacked off the heads of 800 who would not convert to Islam (on what is now called the "Hill of the Martyrs"), the Spanish government was not about to allow anyone, Christian or Jew, to live within its borders which may have sided with the enemy in the past. So, either convert to their Catholic version of Christianity or get out. Therefore Spain was purged of non-desirables which they felt a threat to the throne. Either you are with us, or you are against us. Italy’s cathedral of Otranto displays many of the skulls of these martyrs in huge glass cases as a constant reminder of the past. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 to Muslim invasion, and the ordeal at Otranto quickly brought about following crusades.
Many American converts to Islam hate their own country, which they feel for one reason or another, has failed them. Islam targets these disgruntled citizens much like any religious cult that targets those who have fallen through the cracks of traditional Christian denominations. By taking advantage of naive unguarded minds they make them feel accepted and feed their questions with answers that tickle both their ears and their egos with the idea they can be a part of creating an Islamic utopian paradise here on earth.
The late Malcolm X, an early convert to the Nation of Islam, had a falling out with Elijah Mohammad in 1963 and left the movement. He had started out in the same anti-white spirit of most Black Nationalist leaders but changed his tune after a trip to Mecca where he saw both whites and blacks rallying together around the sacred rock. Though he is dead, he lives on as a poster-boy for the glories of Islam since he changed his name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and began preaching a more unifying message of Islam’s one God and the oneness of man. One tract published by the Islamic Circle of North America tells Malcolm’s conversion story and claims Islam is the solution to all racism. It includes a conversion stamp of approval from the oldest and most prestigious Islamic University, Al-zhar in Jeddah, and a commission for such believers to propagate the "True Religion in order that it may prevail over all other religions."
No comments:
Post a Comment