Posted on 01/23/2005 1:23:04 PM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John
CAIRO , January 23 (IslamOnline.net) – A perusal through the annals of American history brings back bittersweet memories for African American Muslims, who pride themselves on being the indigenous people of this country and lament the loss of the Islamic heritage throughout ages.
“Not only were there African Muslims who were here in America as explorers before Christopher Columbus, but a third of the African slaves who were brought here during the slave trade were Muslims,” Imam Al-Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid told The Seattle Times Saturday, January 22.
“We, the indigenous Muslims of America, particularly the African Americans, are still waking up from a 400-year coma.”
Abdur-Rashid acrimoniously recalled how his Muslim ancestors were brought to America as slaves and forced to convert to Christianity.
“We suffered psychic and blunt-force trauma to the head, and forgot everything, including who we are and what we are. We were told, 'Your name is not Ahmed, your name is Charlie. You don't worship Allah. You worship Jesus,'” he told the paper.
“But this could not erase the genetic code. So lo (sic) and behold, 400 years later ... our historical memory as Muslims is being rebooted,” added Abdur-Rashid, who was born a Baptist.
Stereotypes
Many African American Muslims further decry the prevailing stereotypes that their community was mainly made up of criminals, as some of them embrace Islam in prison.
“I have never been in prison except in my work as a chaplain,” said Abdur-Rashid.
“And I have people in leadership in my mosque who are college professors, and I also have people who are ex-offenders.”
African American Muslims also feel offended by affiliating the whole community with the Nation of Islam, especially that estimates showed that only a few thousands of some two million African American Muslims follow the group’s tenets.
Leading Muslim scholars have ruled that “the teachings of the Nation of Islam were extremely far from mainstream Islam in many matters especially those of doctrine”.
The Seattle Times said that the community is keen on playing an active role in developing American society.
It cited one of their famous mosques, the Islamic Brotherhood in New York, as a case in point with boy scout meetings, breast-cancer fund-raising and programs to combat AIDS and homelessness.
“Many here see Islam not just as a path to salvation but also as a social-action program and an authentic expression of black American identity,” the paper commented.
Marginalized
Many African American Muslims also complain about being marginalized not only by American society but, alas, by Muslim immigrants from Arab and southeast Asian countries.
“We are the single largest Muslim community in America . Yet the media often relegates us to the margins,” said Amir Al-Islam, a professor of Islamic Studies at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York.
He further regretted that other Muslim communities in the States treat African American Muslims as less authentic despite the fact that they have been practicing Islam for decades in the country.
“Muslim organizations from the immigrant community often view us as new Muslims who are seen as not proficient in the Islamic canons and, therefore, lacking in authenticity,” Al-Islam told the paper.
Abdur-Rashid added that the marginalization of his community was very much evident in the presidential election.
A number of major US Muslim groups gave a “qualified endorsement” to Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry, calling on Muslims to vote for him.
“There was no consultation whatsoever with those of us who have any history in this land. And then, to project their collective decision as representative of all Muslims in America was an insult,” Abdur-Rashid said.
“As Ralph Ellison would say, we are the invisible Muslims in this country,” Al-Islam concluded.
schools in san diego have to call the police when american black males lift the veils of somali females.
Tell that to the family in Newark.
Muslims introduced the international slave trade to subsaharan Africa. Europeans ended slavery in Africa. That's the truth.
You are perfectly free to defend murderous cultists all you want...we do live in a free country.
you are just as bad as liberals overstating the conclusion and then throwing it back to get a reaction......That stuff is juvenile and ridiculous.....if you show me anywhere in my posts I defended a murderous cult than I'll send you free cash..........over reacting extremists on the Repub side are just as guilty as those on the left......you are getting yourself in a tizzy.........
I'm not in a tizzy - the closest Muslims to me are about 400 miles away so I'm not worried. And where I live, we know how to protect ourselves.
But this could not erase the genetic code. So lo (sic) and behold, 400 years later ... our historical memory as Muslims is being rebooted,” added Neo Abdur-Rashid, who was born a Baptist and is now an Allahtrix. ---
Rebooted ?
LOL
glad you know how to defend yourself....I also do with several firearms and such.....let me ask though, if you are 400 miles away from any Muslims, how do you know how they are or how the respond. Listen, I hate the fu**ers over in the mideast, i'm not an apologist at all. You took one thing I said and turned me into a liberal or something. This whole thing started cause all I said is that if a Muslim preaches that terrorist are bad, what on earth is wrong with that.......you don't even know my values on the war the medeast or any of that......just my opinion on the thread that was posted
They tend to ignore the fact that Muhammed himself was the first Muslim slave trader!
“Not only were there African Muslims who were here in America as explorers before Christopher Columbus, but a third of the African slaves who were brought here during the slave trade were Muslims,”
Say WHAT??? BWwaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!! This guy is kidding, right? (please, someone tell me he's kidding...)For the love of God - how delusional can one be?
“We, the indigenous Muslims of America, particularly the African Americans, are still waking up from a 400-year coma.”
Someone ought to let this guy know that even if Black Muslims from Africa had explored the New World before Columbus...that still wouldn't make them "indigenous" to this land. (I wonder, Has he ever heard of the American Indians...oops, I mean NATIVE Americans?)
I remember that some African king did set off towards the Americas with a fleet of ships long before Columbus, but I don't remember any evidence that he actually made it.
And the wheel and the automobile and space travel and....
That's what everything on here is - opinions. I would love if we could just all get along in the world, but I think we all know that isn't going to happen. If it comes to "us" vs. "them", then so be it.
Slavery has been going on since long before the Muslims, or even the Christians. Neither religion forbids slavery, and both simply regulate it to ensure slaves are treated fairly.
yeah......and if it comes to that then I'll be with you in the trenches with my .308 trying to kill as many of them as I can......my whole thing is that people cry and wail that Muslims don't speak out about this...I'm mad about it too, so when one actually does we should at least acknowledge it, not put down our arms......
This Al-Islam dude is a revisionist f***. His blatant ignorance and idiocy can only be matched by his fervent belief in the Islamic garbage.
They need a whole bunch more to speak out before I pay much attention. Maybe the moderates are afraid of the militants.
Why stop with your "historical memory as Muslims"? Unless your race suddenly came into existence ex nihilo when the Muslims were sweeping across Africa, your ancestors were practicing some other religion before then. Do you think maybe there was similar grousing in the centuries after the forced conversions to Islam?
you are right.....the mods are afraid of the militants but until they get a backbone then nothing changes. If a major cleric says something, i hope it helps turn the tide
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