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Hashtag BlackMuslimFamily is Virally Gorgeous

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To be Muslim in America is to be a direct beneficiary of the gorgeous triumph of Black Muslims since the inception of the young nation. On December 26, 2016, the Muslim Wellness Foundation, led by its founder UPenn Chaplain Kameelah Rashad, headed up a symbolic initiative to get Black Muslims to share their photos, stories, and sentiments with #BlackMuslimFamily. It’s success is still barreling through cyberspaces reaching 3.5 Million people via Twitter alone. This weekend has been a controversial one in which endeared Scholar Hamza Yusuf came under fire after being asked about Muslim Solidarity with Black Lives Matter and the Muslim Brotherhood at the Reviving Islamic Spirit Convention “RIS2016” in Toronto. “We have between 15-18,000 homicides a year, 50 percent are black on black crime… There are twice as many whites that have been shot by police but nobody ever shows those videos. It’s the assumption that the police are racist and it’s not always the case” he said to interviewer Mehdi Hassan.

After receiving continued critique, he returned to the stage the next evening to apologize. In regards to his dismissal of the need to solidify the relationship between Muslims in the movement for Black Lives he cited,  “The most damage to Black people in America does not come from racism, but is from the breakdown of the Black family.” Many believed he only continued a false pathology about Black people, summarily erasing the strides of families all over the world.

#BlackMuslimFamily brutalized this misconception while celebrating the sheer elegance of Blackness in Islam. In these hard times ahead, we need to love each other. All of us. Our shuyookh, our families, our communities.

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“One thing that I always think about is a quote from Elijah Muhammad where he said, “Don’t condemn a dirty glass, stand a clean glass next to it.” I thought about how much we took to refuting these stereotypes and realized we needed to put a clean glass next to it. Instead of laboring in condemning this perception we decided to celebrate ourselves. I use the word celebrate often because it isn’t merely pictures and words but a proactive way of finding beauty” Rashad offered. Rashad believes that what’s happened is part strength and  part beauty. She reflected “It was an acknowledgment of our hardships and the fact that we still seek joy. I believe that’s nothing short of miraculous.”

-Tariq Toure

 

 

 

 

Vibrant family photos were shared celebrating Black Muslim Families

4 generations of my #BlackMuslimFamily May Allah Protect us – Ameen pic.twitter.com/G0i5m9NkX8

— PhillyDesertSwag (@TaifaSafiya) December 27, 2016

There were many powerful tweets of fatherhood

My Daddy said shine your light on the world!!! #BlackMuslimFamily pic.twitter.com/Z2ZOE7sg8J

 

It was the Number 1 trending topic on Twitter in the United States

So, #BlackMuslimFamily was the no. 1 trending topic on Twitter last night.

because we’re so freakin beautiful #BlackMuslimFamily pic.twitter.com/TaRTbnNnZb

“[M]y husband’s family is in Florence & Pamplico where they own the land of their great grand’s former white slave masters.”

If this doesn’t make you weep – don’t know what will

This heart breaking tweet offered a way to support a family going through the loss of the father.

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Tariq Touré is a Muslim essayist, poet, educator and public speaker from Baltimore, Md. He uses prose as medium for shedding new light on issues such as social justice, racial inequality, black culture and Black Muslim narratives. In 2015, he was honored with the Real Men of Baltimore award by 92q jams radio station and the Alumni Excellence award by his Alma Mater Bowie State University.

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. A Idris Palmer

    December 27, 2016 at 10:20 PM

    Kameelah Rashad’s reminiscing of Elijah Muhammad’s aphorisms is far worse than Hamza Yusuf’s disparagment of blacks.
    For any Muslim, even more so a leader like Ms. Rashad, to esteem a false prophet like Elijah in any way, raises serious questions about their understanding of Islam and claim to leadership, since the basis of all leadership is an understanding of the Shahada itself.

  2. Rene

    December 30, 2016 at 11:34 PM

    ” Wow!” is how I can describe these beautiful pictures of these beautiful Black Muslim families.

    I had to look at these pictures over and over again because of how wonderful the people look in them and though I have no desire in doing it..I like seeing the truth..the family unity..the part that people won’t acknowledge with African American families.

    As a young child growing up in a predominantly White/ Jewish community in Georgia it was super imperative about our heritage. Besides my mom wanting her 3 kids to be proud of who they were, she also wanted to learn the beauty and truth about my culture.

    I remembered going to my grandparents house, on the ” Black folks ” side of town and they didn’t live in crime ridden neighborhood, they lived in a really big house. My grandpops received 2 degrees..in education and theology from an HBCU and was a teacher and the same for my grandmother.They lived around teachers, doctors, lawyers, politicians and civil rights in a well to do upper middle class Black community and many of these Black families stuck it out until they died,including my grandparents who stayed married for almost 60 years until my grandfather died.They’re African American. The lessons from them: get a good education, a job that I love and far as marriage ? love that man,understand what commitment means and make sure that you and your spouse are mentally/ spiritually equipped in being committed.

    Though my own parents divorced, through my grandparents and other Black families, I got to learn the truth about Black families. I’m a realist, I won’t pretend that there are problems in our community that needs to be resolved,but as I just mentioned there is a of hidden beauty in it as well. Mom would tell me
    ” Don’t accept the first that you see ” . I just imagined what would have happened if my world would have never exposed me to my grandparents Black community?

    You constantly we the saying that ” We( African Americans) are not a monolith ” and were not in every way. I’m also grateful that my mom didn’t let me get too absorbed in my White community or else,I would probably be swallowing the unfounded stereotypes that exist in the Black community.

  3. James

    January 1, 2017 at 5:40 AM

    Women are selfish and only think about themselves. Women see men as wallets, ATMs, and bank accounts. A woman doesn’t feel any love or connection for you besides a fake bond her genetics create to keep her magnetized to the one providing for her. She’s just happy to be your “possession” and only “loves you” because you fulfill her criteria and nobody better has come along.

    If a better male comes along with more money and is famous etc she’ll ditch you, and she won’t feel bad about it whatsoever. A woman’s level of care and consideration towards you exists on a “what have you done for me lately?” level rather than any true affection built up between two people from spending time together.

    A woman is your possession and a direct cause of the things you have. You have good looks, lots of money and fame? You will have a hot woman by your side as your possession. You are with her for 10 years, loving each other every day, then you lose everything; your looks, your money, your fame. She’s gone, just like everything else you owned, just like your car. It’s only there as long as you have the resources to keep it there, because it’s just an object it feels no “bond” with you.

    • NS

      January 2, 2017 at 11:15 AM

      something somewhere must have happened in your life to have such a low view of women. Your mother is a woman. She the same vile way you portray women in your comment here? It seems by your avatar pic, it’s you who has it all wrong. take a deeper look within yourself and root out the evil from within. Woman or man – we are all human and some have suffered in ways that you may not know of. In response some people may act a certain way. That doesn’t mean you paint everyone with the same brush. May God help you – but furthermore, may God help the women in your life and around you. May Peace be with you.

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