I as BLACK MUSLIM feel very little love for the so-called orthodox Muslims. You sons of Satan have no love for ALLAH or Islam, let alone the Blackman and Woman of AmeriKKKA. Those of us who are members of the Holy Nation Of Islam will never bow down too you. When you beast stop selling PORK and alcohol, then maybe we will dialogue.. Think about this soon we will be in POWER in this country SOON, then WE will see who is closer to the Shariah.

Jazaka Allahu Khair for the very informative post. I attended the conference this year as well and can second all that Shaykh Yasir said. My only critique is that I think it is important to point out the fact that the NOI is evolving for the better. Although the process may not be as fast or thorough as we would like. I know personally numerous members of NOI who pray five times a day (qiyam, ruku, sujud), fast during Ramadan, and their mosques are now holding Jumuah prayer services on the floor. If we attempt to marginalize them and beat them over the head (metaphorically), this illicit a very negative response. NOI members naturally and logically represent a wide spectrum of thought, a few more extreme than most. As a student of Imam WD Mohamed I have worked with many Ministers and members closely. I even have some NOI members in my Arabic class. They visit our mosque regularly and we will continue to be kind and respectful to them and always keep the door and lines of communication open to them.

I know personally numerous members of NOI who pray five times a day (qiyam, ruku, sujud), fast during Ramadan, and their mosques are now holding Jumuah prayer services on the floor. If we attempt to marginalize them and beat them over the head (metaphorically), this illicit a very negative response.

Is there a site or forum where we can find these masaajid and help them out? We could hold events and bring teachers like Sh. Yasir Qadhi or Imam Zaid Shakir to these masaajid and gave basic talks on Islam, Iman and Ihsan.

:)

Ma sha Allah, I really love how the roots of Muslims are extending deeper and deeper into North American soil. And it’s great to see how these roots have allowed them to bear these storms. In Canada, although we have some very local Imams, we don’t have anything of this nature, but we are getting there in parts of Toronto and bigger cities. I remember meeting one uncle who had been doing street dawah in downtown Toronto for like 20-30 years.

It’s great to see the cultural divide is being shored up with these sorts of gatherings and personally would like to thank Amad and Sh. Yasir for taking the time to visit MANA and post these discussions. :)

Baraka Allahu feek.

Is there a site or forum where we can find these masaajid and help them out? We could hold events and bring teachers like Sh. Yasir Qadhi or Imam Zaid Shakir to these masaajid and gave basic talks on Islam, Iman and Ihsan

MR,

To my knowledge there is no online forum or site for this. Our relationship with the NOI has developed over the years. We didnt just go knocking on the Mosque doors and requesting to come in and teach and vice versa. Not only do we have this relationship where they are learning the tenants of the deen, but we also go out in the community together and bring relief to some of the most economically depressed areas of certain cities. This is the trademark of the NOI and a significant amount of African American muslims. Members of the NOI have not had favorable experiences with immigrant Muslims. This is due to some fault on their part as well as on the part of some immigrant brothers. When someone knows that you beleive that they are not a ‘real’ Muslim, this shuts the door on about 90% of your dialogue.

I thank Student of Imam WD Mohammed (RA) for their posts in response to this article. They are demonstrative of the brotherhood and love that is shared between the NOI and Iman Mohammed’s commuinity. This article came up in my Google Alerts. I am a member of the NOI and follower of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. I take issue with the fact that you claim that I and those like me are not a real Muslims.

Yasir Qadhi wrote: None of the people that I met at MANA considered the NOI to be Muslim (laymen and speakers), so it is merely a matter of keeping a line of communication open with them, for their own good.

That is hard for me to believe. I just left a class where I taught salaat to a group of inmates and came to my office to check my email, but yet I am not a Muslim? I give in charity, give alms to the homeless, fast during Ramadan, conduct Jumuah prayers and bear witness that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger, but I am not a Muslim?

I do all of this because I have been taught by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan to do this. He is my guide and exemplar in following the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (WAS). He is a student of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad who is a student of Fard Muhammad. Master Fard Muhammad came from the Holy City of Mecca in Arabia. He is an Arab and gave Elijah a curriculum of study comprising 104 books which were on the life of Prophet Muhammad (WAS).

Elijah and his works were based on his belief in, love for and attempt to folow in the footsteps of Prophet Muhammad(WAS). This is why his work looked strange to the world of “orthodox” Muslims. But if most “orthodox” Muslims were actually striving to apply what the prophet taught they would understand what the Honorable Elijah Muhammad did.

If you consider the continuity inherent in all revelatory messages you see that Elijah picked up where the Prophet left off in addressing the problem of racism. The prophet addressed this in his farewell address to his followers because he detected that this disease had begun to manifest itself among the early ummah. He said that there is no superiority of the white over the black or the black over the white, but that superiority rests solely in keeping one’s duty in obedience to Allah.

By 1930 when the NOI began this disease had become an epidemic and that which saturated American life and all of its institutions. So anyone attempting a work of reform and spiritual upliftment would be a fool to ignore this probelm. So in order to establish equality his message ameliorated and uplifted the so called American Negro and humbled and condemned the inhumanity of the slavemasters children.

I could go further, but perhaps you should get some of Minister Farrakhan’s lectures and study them. In 1997 he was turbaned as an imam of the Muslim world by the World’s Islamic Peoples Conference. He has toured the world 3 times and everytime he goes to the Muslim world he is treated as not just a Muslim but as a leader of Muslims. In Iran which is one of the staunchest Islamic republics he spoke to over 60 million Musilms! In Dagestan he was received with a celebration on the airport runway by Caucasian Muslims. In Nigeria he was honored with the Durba celebration and given a white horse. He has taught at the main Mosque in Moscow. The imam of Al-Aqsa mosque in has flown to Chicago just to meet with him.

Now again there is more that I could say but this is not the treatment of one whom you are courting to Muslim “orthodoxy.” This is the treatment of one whom you are seeking to honor for their leadership and righteous example. And it should be noted that righteousness is always orthodox with Allah, while it is most times unorthodox to man.
As-Salaam-Alaikum,
Brother Demetric Muhammad

@Demetric Muhammad – Do you believe Prophet Muhammad (saas) is the last and final messenger?

is that amad’s voice? Wow, that is so different that what I had imagined in my mind.

As for the NOI, I agree that we should be softer with these people. They are on the verge of accepting the true path and the worst we can do is to slam that door shut. I’m not saying that we should call them Muslims, but I feel we should be less harsh. Remember as Shaikh Yasir said, before the 90s, Islamic information was very hard to get, no internet, not many scholars, etc.

Today, as the Muslim come to America, the resources are getting better but we should explain to NOI what we believe and how they have strayed in a soft manner so that their hearts may open.

Assalaamu a’laikum everyone,

My opinions/observations on MANA’s role, the black Muslim movement, and the comments above:

One must bear in mind the baggage various Muslim subgroups have.

Most immigrant Muslims to the US/Canada have an attitude of overt condescension, subtle patronization, or a tendency to co-opt the egalitarian spirit of Islamic brotherhood/sisterhood, while maintaining a “not with my daughter/son” attitude in their hearts and lives.
I think racism and the ummah has been so blogged to death by Muslims, that we no longer have the attention span for hearing more.

A brother at the MANA convention mentioned how almost 50% (or more?) of America’s Muslims (whether you go with the 2 million, or 6 million figure, Allah knows best) ARE of African-American origin. This really should not surprise anyone – given the history of the civil rights and black political movements in the 20th century alone. Philadelphia has generations of Muslim families. “As-silsila al-qawm aswad,” if you will (forgive my bad Arabic).

Now, lest anyone ask, “but were they really Muslim?” one should inquire how a Muslim is defined to begin with – given current sociopolitical contexts. Were families at the time of the Mihnah where Imam Ghazali and Imam Juwayni al-Haramayn were on the run, where Hanafis and Shafis were fighting till blood spilled, questioning the Islamic authenticity of their neighbors and fellow townsmen? Were those who opposed Imam Ahmad for upholding that Qur’an is created, “not really Muslim enough?”

If history is a sheikh, then we have much to learn from him.

MANA is run by Imam Siraj Wahaj, someone who has tirelessly dedicated himself to the upliftment of Muslims. Now he may not attend those gatherings where people complain about the high fundraiser surcharge, or whether the Biryani is cooked to perfection. And that’s ok alhamdulillah – because Muslims NEED people who are eager for khidma (servanthood). Too many people chase positions of leadership and fame, and do NOTHING when they sit in those chairs.

So for non-black Muslims to sit and pontificate whether the aqidah of those ‘kallus’ is sound enough for the ahlussunnah position as outlined on their SunniPath link, while they munch on the last plate of baklava at 2am in the morning, somehow strikes me as pathetic and out of touch with reality.

Sh Hamza Yusuf was once interviewed about the Rihlas and Zaytuna’s future (disclaimer: I am no supporter of either, nor am I publicizing with intent to appraise either). He basically said, any organization will rise and remain as long as the people within it are committed to the cause – and that one should not dependent on personality cults or charismatic leadership alone, to carry the torch.

This has been a real problem, in my view, with many Black political movements in the US – Islamic or otherwise. Many await the next Martin, Malcolm, Marcus, Malik, or whomever. It’s in clear view whenever you take a look at the pews and the chorus in many Black churches, stirred to a frenzy by a firebrand preacher. Then everyone goes home, the spirit fizzles, and it’s back to mindless sinning and distraction again.

This ALSO remains a problem with the current Muslim dynamic of MANA/ISNA/RIS conferences. It is not much different from the financially robust evangelical preachers, who are popular with contemporary Christians.

The fundamental vacuum is that of genuine Islamic leadership. Until the day when it arises, the ummah may remain scattered, divided and leaderless. Allah strengthen us, and may we pray that Qur’anic du’a – O our Lord! Make our spouses and children the comfort of our eyes, and make us leaders of the God-conscious!

bismillah. writing as a first-generation immigrant — well, i was a one-year-old at the time :) — i pray that Allah will forgive my parents’ generation for their sins and excesses, and will magnify the good of what they did contribute to Islam’s growth in America.

for me the chief excess of that generation of immigrants was a sort of blindness to the indigenous African American Muslim community. in Houston, many (including me) have spoken of the early 1970s as a kind of golden era. when Muslims gathered at the old masjid on Richmond (which most of the readers of this blog have never seen — no, i am not talking about the masjid on Eastside, off of Richmond. subhanAllah) there was no separate masjid for the shia, much less for arabs, pakistanis, nigerians, and indonesians. all of them prayed in one hall, mashaAllah. ibrahim yazdi — who became foreign minister for the islamic republic of iran, and then a political dissident — was among our imams (the kind that lead salat, lol). and egyptians, iraqis, and pakistanis served the community’s needs with love and mutual respect. but seeing an African American at the masjid was rare. too rare.

it is a testimony to how much good that generation of immigrants did accomplish, though, that despite such an epic and willful distance from indigenous Muslims, those immigrant Muslims built so many masajid and Islamic institutions in this country. and that the only “prejudices” they passed on to their kids are the ones that have led to masajid that are predominantly arab or pakistani, or almost unilaterally turkish, bosnian, nigerian, indonesian, etc.

sometimes that natural desire to be with people who share a common culture with you does go too far, as can be seen in the politics as some very large masajid. but the same common thread that allows all the youth of all these groups to work together is the same common thread that binds us all together as Muslims, a term that finally and without doubt includes African American and Latino Muslims, too.

alhamdolillah.

-Edited. Unrelated to subject.