Back Of The Camel

Over the weekend I saw this article entitled: Between Black and Immigrant Muslims, an Uneasy Alliance Which had some very out there inaccuracies which appear to have been the fault of those interviewed rather than that of the NY Times. I'm using the phrase "Back of the Camel", which is normally a phrase I wouldn't use in reference to African-American Muslims, because I generally think it to be insensitive, but it is exactly what came to mind when I read the full article.

In brief, the Harlem Imam, Al-Hajj Talib ‘Abdur-Rashid, has been out ingratiating himself to Muslims of other nationalities in order to grow his Mosque, among other things. In the process of trying to get funds for his Mosque, and in the background of this article a number of rank inaccurate statements went completely unchallenged by the NY Times which I feel really needs to be set straight.

Let me start with this near opening statement:

For many African-American converts, Islam is an experience both spiritual and political, an expression of empowerment in a country they feel is dominated by a white elite. For many immigrant Muslims, Islam is an inherited identity, and America a place of assimilation and prosperity.

This italicized portion is one of my issues with many African-Americans who convert to Islam, the perception that it is a black thing to do and is THE credible act of resistance to White Supremacy. Much of this is due to the work of the Nation Of Islam and more importantly Malcolm X. There are many African-Americans who are Muslims today on the strength of Malcolm X's Auto-Biography, including Al-Hajj Talib ‘Abdur-Rashid. He says of his converstion:

Raised a Christian, he spent the first part of his youth in segregated North Carolina. As a teenager, he read “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” twice. He began educating himself about the faith at age 19, when as an aspiring actor he was cast in a play about a man who had left the Nation of Islam.

But his conversion was more spiritual than political, he said.

“I’d like to think that even if I was a white man, I’d still be a Muslim because that’s the orientation of my soul,” the imam said.

He has learned some Arabic, and traveled once to the Middle East, for hajj. Yet he feels more comfortable with the Senegalese and Guinean Muslims who have settled in Harlem than with many Arabs and South Asians.



This background is familiar ground for many African-American converts. You'll have to recall that because segregation in the US was done by Christians, to have Islam appear to be in opposition to such a practice is a powerful incentive to joining the faith. You'll note that Brother Talib claims that his change of faith was driven by a quest for spirituality. I reject this claim, given that black folks, specifically those in the Bible Belt are VERY spiritual and it would be particularly insulting to them to claim that they are less spiritual than any given Muslim. No, it is clear that the blackness of Malcolm X and his fortitude in the face of White Supremacy is what actually affected brother Talib. In terms of spirituality he could have easily studied Quakers, Buddhism, etc. but he did not. Nor did brother Talib study any of the traditional religions of Africa. Why not? Maybe it wasn't mentioned, but I don't believe that he did. Here's the reason for my statement:

“And we can’t let other people, from other cultures, come and try to make us clones of them. We came here as Muslims.”

We what? Excuse me? Exactly how did this individual come to such a conclusion? What historical facts back that up? None whatsoever.

Anyone who is familiar with the Atlantic Slave Trade would know that Ibos, Mandinkas, Yorubas Housas, Igbos, Kubans, Ngolans, Twi, Assante, Fante's of all manner of faiths were sold to white men and shipped to the Americas. How then can anyone Muslim or not, even make such an untenable claim? Well actually I've covered this phenomenon of "yellow-washing" African history by certain Muslim scholars, who much like their Christian counterparts feel the need to clean up the Arab and Muslim history in Africa. You can find detailed discussions of this phenomenon here:

http://garveys-ghost.blogspot.com/2006/02/afrocentricity-and-islam.html
and
http://garveys-ghost.blogspot.com/2006/02/afrocentricity-and-islam-ii.html

Now I'm not one to tell people what religions they should follow, but I think it isn't unfair to expect that people would at least be accurate in their statements about African people. As a Pan-Africanist, I would wonder why brother Talib would not be more concerned with his other African Muslims and "do for self" as taught by Malcolm X. I would also ask why he isn't on record as trying to form bonds with African and African-Americans of other non-Christian faiths. But then this is why the post is entitled the way it is.

Many of the mosque’s members embraced Islam in search of black empowerment, not black separatism. They describe racial equality as a central tenet of their faith. Yet for some, the promise of Islam has been at odds with the reality of Muslims.

One member, Aqilah Mu’Min, lives in the Parkchester section of the Bronx, a heavily Bangladeshi neighborhood. Whenever she passes women in head scarves, she offers the requisite Muslim greeting. Rarely is it returned. “We have a theory that says Islam is perfect, human beings are not,” said Ms. Mu’Min, a city fraud investigator.

If non-Black Muslims are acting as foul as white Christians then you've essentially put oneself into the same position as before. And besides, the historical question still stands, how is converting (reverting as some say) to Islam synonymous with "black empowerment"? Let's look at it like this 'Aqilah' and Mohammed are not African names. They are definite not West African in origin, where most African-American ancestors came from. Thus why is taking an Arabic name "black empowerment"? It is Islamic empowerment, but definitely not "black empowerment." I believe that such disrespect that many African-American Muslims experience will be solved in one of two ways:

1) They will subsume their own history and practices in order to be accepted by those with "unshattered Islamic heritage" or
2) They will wise up and do for self within' the faith. They will do as other African Muslims have done before them and adopt the faith to their own realities and do so in an unapologetic manner.

If individuals such as brother Talib want the respect of those of us who are outside the "big three", then they will have to cease with the pseudo history. In fact let me say this to all of us, since I've witnessed pseudo-history propagated on all sides. All of us really need to stop with the pseudo-history both between and within our respective groups.

Technorati Tags: Africa, Islam, Pan-Africanism, Religion