Posted on 11/01/2002 10:39:29 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
ROMULUS NY- Deacon Gregory Kiley, the Roman Catholic chaplain at Five Points Correctional Facility, believes Muhammad is a member of a cult founded in the New York state prison system.
"I'm quite sure that he belongs to a cult ... called the Five Percenters," said Kiley, who works with prisoners of all faiths at the maximum security facility.
"They are not a part of 'Al-Islam,' the worldwide Muslim community. The references to 'I am God'; the five stars on the letters to police; the phrase [used in the letters] 'Word is bond.' All these suggest a connection."
The Five Percenters spun off from the Nation of Islam in the early 1960s. The Nation of Islam was and is a black nationalist group, founded in 1930. Ted Swedenburg, an anthropology professor at the University of Arkansas, says on a Web site about Five Percenters that much of the Nation of Islam ideology is based not on mainstream Islamic beliefs but on theories of black supremacy.
The founder of the Five Percenters was a man who called himself Clarence 13X. Like his mentor, famed black activist Malcolm X, Clarence 13X became disenchanted with the Nation of Islam and decided to form his own organization.
13X adopted most of the Nation of Islam race theory, adding the doctrine of "I am God." According to this doctrine, a man who masters himself takes control of his own destiny, effectively becoming God. Women are referred to as "Earths," and the religion itself is commonly referred to as "The Nation of Gods and Earths."
The name "Five Percenters" refers to the 5 percent of humanity who are believed to be truly divine, or god-like, according to Kiley, who lives in Clyde.
"A true Muslim would never say 'I am God.' That would be blasphemy, a horrible sin," Kiley said. "Even a person who flies planes into buildings would never say such a thing. Muslims say the prayer, 'There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.'
"Also, a convert to true Islam would change his first name, not his last name, like Mr. Muhammad did. Changing the last name shows disrespect for the convert's father, according to Islam."
John Muhammad's former name was John Allen Williams.
Kiley said he has worked with Five Percenters, Nation of Islam members, and orthodox Sunni Muslims. He says that today's Nation of Islam, headed by Louis Farrakhan, is moving closer to the worldwide Islamic mainstream. By contrast, the Five Percenters cling to old black supremacy theories and are mostly made up of gang members who are often violent and specialize in extortion, Kiley said.
Investigators believe that one of the purposes of the sniper killings was to extort $10 million from the government. A note left by the snipers in Manassas, Va., demanded that $10 million be left in the account of a stolen credit card. The same note said, "Your children are not safe anywhere, at any time."
The Five Percenter ideology has been embraced by members of the modern rap music community, according to Kiley, Swedenburg and the hip-hop music site, www.africana.com. A song by the Jamaican reggae/rap group Brand Nubian has used the Five Percenter phrase "Word is Bond," a phrase used by the snipers in at least one of their letters, the Washington Post has reported.
Rapper Busta Rhymes, members of the highly influential Wu-Tang Clan, are also reported to be active Five Percenters. Kiley speculated that this is how Muhammad learned of the movement and adopted some of its teachings.
When reached yesterday at the command center in Montgomery County, Md., where the investigation into the sniper case is headquartered, Capt. Nancy Demme said investigators had no knowledge of Muhammad's possible connection to the Five Percenters.
Jihadis in the Hood
Race, Urban Islam and the War on Terror
JIHAD IN AMERICA:
| To find all articles tagged or indexed using JIHAD IN AMERICA, click below: | ||||
| click here >>> | JIHAD IN AMERICA | <<< click here | ||
| (To view all FR Bump Lists, click here) | ||||
I got my information from a coworker who used to be a 5%er because her live-in boyfriend was.
When she left him, she left them - and she told me quite a bit about the group.
This case keeps growing legs..
See this new column expressing the same: The Real Lesson of the DC Sniper (by Liz Michael, ignore that).
Expect more. Chatter is up, right before Ramadan.
The Five Percenter connection is not improbable, but this story (and others)seek to disassociate it from the NOI and Islam, and to make the NOI somehow more respectable because it is moving toward mainstream Islam, that wonderful religion of international peace...
This article gives a good picture of the relationship of NOI and the Five Percenters -- and it is not a positive one.
The Seamless Garment Of Hate: The Beltway Sniper Shootings And Islam
An terrorist influenced by Islam is, by any other name, still an Islamic terrorist....
The newest version of political correctness is to not insult anyone by failing to differentiate their particular form of Satanism.
Could you post what you know?
Its hispanarepublicana
Oh that's comforting.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.