The African-American’s Journey to Al-Islam

Right now, in the western planet, when we hear the phrase “Muslim” or “Islam” lots of American individuals tend to assume terrorist or people today from the middle east(the un-educated one particular). As of 2017, there are at the very least 3 to 3.5 million American Muslims dwelling in the United States of The united states. The vast majority ethnic group that makes up this inhabitants is the African-American folks. Yet, the concern “How does this arrive about?” arises. If you want to know about the heritage of Muslims in America and its large unfold, a person cannot communicate on this issue with no mentioning the African or should really we say African-American’s journey to Al-Islam.

In the Trans-Atlantic slave trade there were about 15 to 20 million enslaved Africans and of these slaves there were being in between 2% to 4% African Muslims. These Muslims had been from the tribes of Mandinka, Fulani, Wolof, Soninke, Songhai, Ashanti, Taureg, Nupi, Yoruba, Susa, Kanuri, Mandara, and Vai. We are all familiar with and have uncovered from Alex Haley’s book (and motion image) Roots, which was a tale about an enslaved African Muslim, named Kunta Kinte, wherever he lived in a smaller village in West Africa, practiced Islam, was a university student of Arabic and lived his everyday African rituals. He was captured and brought to America as a slave, sold and presented the title Toby. He attempted to escape innumerable instances from captivity, and married a household cook named Bell wherever they had a daughter named Kizzy who went on to have quite a few little ones. There is certainly also documentation and tales wherever you can uncover details about other enslaved African Muslims this sort of as S’Quash, The Moor, Phillip The Fula, Sambo, Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua, Lamine Kebe, Lamine Ndiaye, Yarrow Mamout, Charles Larten, William Rainesford, and numerous more that were being all perfectly-educated and literate in Math, Arabic, Science, and unique spoken languages. During the years of slavery, the African men and women were oppressed and their cultural and spiritual procedures ended up suppressed. Slaves took on names immediately after their slave-masters as id of one’s residence and experienced Christianity forced on them. Era following era, Al-Islam experienced ultimately dissipated.

In the 20th century concerning 1900 and 1975, there were several African-American civil appropriate activists and leaders this kind of as Marcus Garvey, Father Divine, Noble Drew Ali, and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad who brought distinctive teachings and ideologies to African-American communities to make blacks a lot more self-acutely aware, self-adequate, and to strengthen themselves socially and economically in just these communities. Since the subject is “The African-Us citizens Journey to Al-Islam”, Noble Drew Ali and the Moorish Science Motion was just one of the first and earliest actions to deliver Al-Islam again to the African-American individuals. Ali’s teachings weren’t from the Holy Qur’an or nor did the Moorish Science Temple stick to any techniques of Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh), but his claim was teaching Islam or “Islamism.” The Moorish Science Temple methods had some correlation to mainstream Al-Islam. For occasion, followers would stand and face east through prayers, their religious company and prayer were being on Friday, gender separation in seating, ladies instructed to don a head scarf or turban, males to use a crimson fez at all periods and to dress modest. Noble Drew Ali also wrote his very own Koran, calling it “Circle 7 of Koran”.

The number of Moorish Science adherents nowadays is not exclusively regarded, but it has been believed that there about 10,000 scattered throughout 15 distinctive cities in the United States. Subsequent in the center of this motion was Allah Temple of Islam, which was began by Fard Muhammad in 1930 the name would transform to the Misplaced-Found Nation of Islam where Minister Elijah Muhammad would succeed Fard Muhammad as a chief and inevitably direct the Country of Islam. As time went on, he assumed the title of prophet and messenger of Allah, and Fard grew to become obviously determined as being Allah or incarnation of Allah. This is not what Muslims imagine. Muslims imagine that there is only one particular G-d and by itself he has no associates, no associates, nor was he born, nor would he die or have any begotten kids and that Muhammad (Pbuh) is the seal of all prophets and he is the final messenger. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught the knowledge of G-d, self and to be self-independent. In 1960, the Country of Islam had 69 temples scattered throughout 27 states, and membership was believed to have achieved as superior as 100,000.

Two yrs later on, some estimates put the membership of the NOI at 250,000 and at its peak 1 million users. The NOI was also really energetic in marketing African-American overall economy and had founded a quantity of profitable organizations in the 1950s and 1960s. For instance, the NOI owned grocery outlets, bakeries, clothes suppliers, dining establishments, office retailers, and a lot of institutions offering many providers. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad was a mentor to Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Louis Farrakhan, and Imam Warith Deen Mohammed. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad experienced 7 kids and out of those 7 small children was Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, born as Wallace Delaney Muhammad. His name was picked for him by Fard Muhammad who predicted that the newborn would just one day be successful Elijah Muhammad as the leader of the Country of Islam. Wallace was only about 12 years outdated when he to start with became conscious if the discrepancies amongst the concept of the Qur’an and the teachings of his father. Since of his refusal to be drafted in the military services, in 1961 he was sentenced to prison for a few many years. He had time to analyze the Qur’an and when he returned to the Nation of Islam he was hoping to change it into a actually Islamic movement.

Adhering to the death of his father on February 25, 1975, Wallace became the Supreme Minister of the Nation of Islam and quickly started a course of action of change that would result in the biggest conversion of men and women to Al-Islam in the background of America. In 1976, he changed the name of the Nation of Islam to the Entire world Group of Al-Islam in the West and changed his individual name to Warith Deen Mohammed. He led a systematic and mass motion of his followers into the fold of orthodox Al-Islam. He taught the five obligatory prayers, Ramadan, Zakat, and encouraged building Hajj. In 1992, Imam Mohammed became the 1st Muslim to carry out the early morning prayers in the United Condition Senate. Right now Imam Mohammed’s teachings nevertheless provide as a spiritual and religious information to about 2.5 million Muslims in The usa. It is possible that he has been influential in changing a lot more men and women to Al-Islam than any other Muslim in the planet now.

To conclude, the journey to Al-Islam for the African-American people today has been a extended still effective battle. It can be coincidental that there had been approximately 3 to 6 million African Muslim slaves in the slave trade and as of these days there are about 2 million African American Muslims in the United States of The us. It really is coincidental that even Non-Muslim African Americans have Muslim names these as: Ahmad, Rasheed, Jamal, Kamal, Aisha, Jamela, Tariq, Shakur, Jaleel, Malik, Malika, Khadijah, and Amina, just to title a few. Even while Al-Islam arrived to the African-American communities in a corruptive way these pioneers have been “stepping stones” for the African American individuals to coming into the light of the Holy Qur’an and adhering to the practices of Prophet Muhammed (Pbuh). If G-d wills it then it will be.