A Blues Jihad

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Listening to the musical genius of the late Yusef Lateef takes us to a blues place.  The complexity of notes, innovative compositions, Lateef blended soul-stirring sounds from all over the world…blues sounds if you will, translated to what he called 'autophysiophsychic' music.  In his masterful sonnets you can hear the blues of Arabia, Africa, Brazil, Asia and America.  His musical lane covered most of the suffering world as his Blues found existential harmony with theirs. The world has always found a common language in the blues of struggle and music.  Music scores across hues and ideologies landing on the spirit of humanity…this is where we find the Blues.  This isn’t an ode to the 'Gentle Giant' but a reflection of the Muslim women and men of his generation who weren't afraid to express their Blues and triumphed in a bipolar world.

To borrow Cornel West’s contextualization of the Blues, catastrophe and struggle lies within the quiet beats of the Blues.  In other words, out of struggle, pain, agony and despair of living with one's 'back against the wall', the Blues is born, bearing testimony to atrocity while applying comfort and perspective to the pain-filled disciple.  This Blues, popularized through African-American music, has roots everywhere there is struggle, it is the elixir of the sufferer, activating them on a spiritual journey, confronting their struggles and finding resolve through compassion.  As the Blues teaches many lessons, there’s an important message for a group of people who culturally rarely partake of its musical feast…Muslims.

The term for struggle in Islam is Jihad.  Like the Blues, it is the struggle against the catastrophic.  Oppression, poverty, abuse, sin are all catastrophic events affecting the body-spirit and community.  Islam teaches its disciples to combat the evils with compassion and prayer.  To uplift and correct the spirit through reflection and community transformation.  Like the Blues, Jihad speaks to and speaks out against injustice to the body-spirit and humanity while covering both with peace and love.

You see, Islam means Peace and Jihad is its Blues song.  Have you ever witnessed a Muslim Bluesman or Blueswoman recite al-Fatiha in prayer? Like any great Blues song, the first verse draws the supplicant in as the disciple's somber tones reflects the difficulties of the day and pains of the community.  By the 2^nd verse (rakaa), the disciple has transported the congregation to the foot of the Creator, crying a Blues hymn for himself and the community, begging for relief and peace from a world filled with catastrophe.  

The Blues is the yang of Jihad, without it, Jihad becomes chillingly misconstrued and out of balance.  If Muslims learn from a Bluespeople who have suffered with perseverance, revolted with compassion and exercised liberation with inclusion and forgiveness then perhaps Islam could become a 'gentle giant' in the world.  A faith fighting against the catastrophic with love and compassion...a Blues Jihad.   

Mipsterz; A call for Acceptance or Freedom

Hipster Muslims are nothing new.  I was raised surrounded by Muslims who were the hippest folk around.  In the 70’s it was nothing to see Muslim men in leather coats, kufis, dashikis and dark glasses walking with a lean and Muslim women in heels and afros with nose rings draped in colorful garb, scarves and hijabs included.  American Muslims have always been hip with social and spiritual swag.  As with every generation there’s a reinvention of what was, a neo-defining of the past…the old Muslim cool is now Muslim hipsters or Mipsterz. 

There’s already been a ton of talk on the Mipsterz video so I won’t describe its contents but let’s just say if you haven’t seen it see it. Visually it’s stunning; socially it’s thought-provoking depicting the humanity of Muslim women.  Muslim diversity is what’s in the ring not Islam the faith. There also seems to be a deeper message, a latent cry for freedom, more than acceptance by the majority and popular, but an underlying message to Muslim families that our women are still wrestling with equality.

The humanness of Muslims makes us as different as snowflakes.  Allah(swt) created us with a variety of styles, looks, colors, views, likes, ideas, etc. so how could we be expected to constrict our community to a monolithic Muslim identity. What would that monolithic identity dress like, talk like, look like.   Should it be like Afghan women under Taliban jurist or like the American Muslim artist Me’shell Ndegeochello (Suhaila Bashir-Shakur).  

Ok, I probably lost some Muslim readers by now but seriously, what amazes me is a faith that has touted the freedom and equality of women for over 1400 years is still embattled with the role and position of women within its own community.  Like Plessey v. Ferguson, separate but equal, African-Americans were legally free and equal but socialized inequalities resulted in Jim Crow rules and years of social oppression and discrimination.  I wrestle with the fact that in too many cases, Muslim women have been given a ‘bad check’ under the notion of ‘equality’ under various interpretations of Islamic jurisprudence.  I’m not a jurist, a scholar or even a wanna-be Imam, neither is this an exegesis on Quran but as a born and bred Muslim I bear witness to the mask we wear when addressing equality. We can’t equal the playing field because we’re playing on the same field.

Whatever side you are on, whether you agree that a Muslim woman should be viewed publically or not, we as Muslims have to take a serious listen to the rumblings in our community for the salvation of our community. What’s interesting, we already know Muslim women like this so why the shock and divisiveness…it’s the mask that Paul Laurence Dunbar describes in his famed poem ‘We Wear the Mask’ or as Jaz Z raps in the soundtrack, “New money, they looking down on me, Blue bloods they trying to clown on me, you can turn up your nose high society, Never gone turn down the homie”.  Muslimahs, let the haters hate, look down on you and clown you but know that they can’t turn you down…only the One that create you wears the Crown.  Blaze a path so the ones to follow know, not that it’s cool to be Muslim but it’s cool to be themselves while keeping their faith.

#Mipsterz

This Might Be Scandalous

 “It’s handled!” The now famous affirmative statement known to ‘Gladiators’ the world over who are not only consumed by, but in love with Olivia Pope and the creator of Scandal, Shonda Rhimes.  I must admit as a big, burly, brash, angry, macho black man…I love the show!  For real, I’ve watched it from the first episode completely enamored with Olivia Pope, her style and sassiness but probably most of all, her get-it-doneness.  This show is about a black women getting it done…I mean seriously…getting it done!  She’s the ultimate fixer fixing the White elite’s problems while dawned in black skin and a white cape.  Every episode is filled with jaw-dropping drama, intrigue and a crazy-mad-love affair with the POTUS.

Now, I can write pages on the show and give a review on each episode but that isn’t the crux I’m faced with today…I actually got beef with my beloved Thursday night affair.  Last night, watching the “Vermont is for Lovers, too” episode we finally begin to get a deeper look into Liv’s family dynamic.  Per usual, the writing and acting was flawless, by far the best since the original ‘Dallas’ and ‘who shot J.R.’ but I couldn't help leaving the episode reflecting on the Pope family.

This affluent, accomplished Black family looked just as dysfunctional suffering from the stereotypical pathologies of poor and disenfranchised black families.  Absent father, self-absorbed, violent; Mom, angry, contentious relationship with Dad, psychotic and in prison. Then there’s Liv, privileged, independent, unstable, can’t maintain or build a functional relationship.  I became frightened at the thought that my favorite show that I call ‘our’ own could be victim to perpetuating a stereotypical image of another broken Black family...however fantastic.

Us ‘Gladiators’ know the love affair dynamic is pretty infectious.  From the first episode, with Liv blowing our minds as she was able to walk directly into the White House, wearing her Sheroic white coat, passing through security and into the oval office.  To the first kiss that made our jaws drop and then with the second…we hit the flo...she and President!  Granted, a passionate and irresistible love affair makes for great television…but…last night I started thinking.  How could she get with POTUS after learning he shot down the plane killing her Momma and conspired with her evil father!  Yea he built the crib for her but seriously... he killed yo mama!

Let’s forgo my momma loyalties for a minute and look again at the dynamic presented.  Perhaps I’m a bit sensitive after seeing ’12 Years a Slave’ but my thoughts went back to the historical placage relationships between white men and quadroon slave women who were courted at 'quadroon balls' to become a common law wife, without marital legal rights or social inclusion. But in these relationships, Massa would provide housing for his slave mate. Or even Patsey from ’12 Years a Slave’ who was adored by Massa but hated by Massa’s wife…hmm…Millie don’t like Liv too much either…

Ok…I said it and I’m sure Ms. Rhimes has no intention of portraying our shero in such a light as I’ve described.  Being of a community struggling with the demonization of our men, the hyper-sexualization of our women, the purposeful incarceration of our young and the scandalizing of our blackness, this subliminal imagery is all to familiar.  Perhaps, I’m just being to sensitive or maybe we’ve become too desensitized, nonetheless….I can’t wait for the next episode! #Gladiatorsrule

Black Liberation: The Tree of Ahmad

The below speech I delivered at the Sadiq Mosque in Chicago, IL during an African American History program, February 2012.  The excerpt is lengthy but is being posted per requests.

Over the last two years I have been engaged in the research and preparation of a historical exhibit of the early African-American pioneers of Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam.  This exhibit is now ready and is called, “And they Prayed Too…”

In this research, I learned the value of perspective and narration. The narrator of a story controls the angle of the story and directs the conclusion of the story for the listener.  For example, in the story of Columbus discovering America we find considerable disparities between the story we learned as children being taught that Columbus DISCOVERED America from today’s offering of...he ARRIVED in America.  Or the ill-conceived narrative of pilgrims and the turkey dinners vs. the mass slaughterings, poison blankets and genocide as told from the Native American perspective.  

Who tells the story controls how the story is told.  We can move forward in history to the discourse around the Emancipation Proclamation, again, depending on which perspective the story is being told creates a different resolve. Was the emancipation proclamation intended to free the slaves or was it intended to save the union.  Who is telling the story...however, the narrator in this case rarely ever mentions the pre-emancipation proclamation act called the 2nd Confuscation which focused on freeing the slaves, was signed by Lincoln but later retracted for...well...today we aren’t talking about that.  The point here...is the one who tells the story controls how the story is told.  Truth and accuracy in the narrative is critical to preserving honest history.

The history of Muslims in America is a fairly young discourse.  The study, research and conversation is recently being addressed within the last 20-30 years and is being told from various perspectives.  Scholars and historians are beginning to include the Muslim in the context of American history. It is being included as part of the American fabric, not quite like baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and chevrolet but more like Honda...yea, they’re made in America but they’re really not American. Islam’s inclusion in the American fabric is speckled and suspect in most cases. Following this trend, if we were to fast-forward 20 years from today we could agreeably presume Islam in America to be severely slanted and tainted with post 9/11 narratives, corrupted with terrorist significations and an American public suffering from Islamophobia.

In this effort to capture the Muslim in American history, is the study of the African-American in Islam.  This is exciting work and greatly important not for it to just be told but for it to be told accurately and inclusively.  We have seen the story on PBS of Prince Abdur Rahman, the Muslim Prince who was captured and brought to America in 1778.  Some of us remember Roots, Alex Haley’s, monumental work depicting the African Kunta kente as a Muslim and shows him greeting other slaves with the greeting Salaam Alaikum.  Historians differ on the percentage of Muslims brought to America during the slave trade with numbers ranging between 5-20%.  We can look prior to 1492 and find African Muslims in America before Columbus.  Leo Weiner, Ivan Van Sertima and others show African Muslims in Native American communities before America’s DISCOVERY. 

This information not only weaves Islam and Muslims into the fabric of America but actually makes Islam in America even more ‘indigenous’ than Christianity. However, Islam remains nearly absent in celebrations and observances of African American history and American history.  

We are limited to iconic figures as the source of relevance instead of the systems and regular folk that created the iconic figure being the architects and support systems.  This limited narration debilitates the historic value for future generations to find a similar source for growth.  Although, 'American Islam' is beginning to find footing in African-American discourse, the impact of Ahmadiyya in America isn't being represented in it's full contributing fare.

Ahmadiyya is referenced by many African-American historians as being significant in the development of African Americans in Islam.  However, recent notables such as Dr. Sherman Jackson have began using references  like "proto-Islamic" and "early Islamizers" in place of Ahmadiyya.  This increasing mis-labeling and negation of credence has inspired myself and others to embark on a journey to tell our story, to give our narrative and as we say, to set the story straight.

In 1921, just a few miles down the road in Chicago, once was the center of Islam in America and still one of the most important historical locations of Islam in America.  Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, the Ahmadiyya missionary was sent to America with specific directives to spread the message of Islam. After establishing 4448 Wabash as the headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Movement in America, he quickly developed a publication that would be used to promote and educate Americans on Islam called the Moslem Sunrise.  

In the Moslem Sunrise, Sadiq would narrate events and stories like that of Br. James Soddick,  who found this location and Br. Muhammad Yaqub who worked to renovate, create the dome and add other Islamic significations to make it into a mosque.  Madam Rahatullah, who, described by Sadiq, “has been busy in New York and has already secured one American convert and one Muslim to the Ahmadia order”. He says “Madame will start lecturing in New York assisted by Mrs. Emerson (Allahdin)”.  We see early the use of women in leadership roles during a pre-women’s rights era.  Sadiq would also list the former and Muslim names of these early pioneers.  Like Mr. Andrew Jacob of Chicago (Muhammad Yaqoob), Mr. Ellis Russel, of Chicago (Ghulam Rasul), Mrs. Carolina Bush (Hameeda), Miss Loucille Fraser of MI (Fatima) and many other names would grace the pages of the Sunrise...names from all over the country, various ethnicities, white, Latino but mostly African-American. These early editions are the primary source for accurate historical information of what the Ahmadiyya Movement was doing and achieving in America between the 1921-1924. 

Sadiq didn't set out to focus his efforts on the African-American community. In a country where forcible captivity, oppression, dehumanization, lynching, stripping of language and religion, orphaning of children, emasculation of black males were all legal, Islam committed the most criminal of acts... to restore, to empower, to educate and liberate those suffering in America.  It wasn't that we were Black, it was just the way of Islam, the promise of ease after hardship.  William R. Jones raised a question in his book, 'Is God a White Racist', Islam answers this question of Theodicy or how does God resolve this evidential problem of evil or simply put, “Where is the benevolence of God when it comes to black sufferage?"   

In a place where the defamation and criminalization of skin color were to create shame in a race of people, the eternal spirit of the oppressed could not be deterred. Islam awakened our Souls, rejuvenated our hope, promised a future and was the answer to the prayer of the sufferer.

Now let’s address the theology of liberation and social justice within Ahmadiyya around the world.  At the turn of the 20th century, most countries of darker races were under colonial rule.  The domination of the British had created an imperialist ruled Africa and Asia for generations.  They would invade under the pretense that the inhabitants were barbarians, or in the language of Franz Fanon, the Wretched of the Earth. A Christian Hegemony would develop in the process... offering civilization with a bible in one hand and a gun and chains in the other.  This Christian Hegemony or Christian Imperialism would be an abomination to the teachings of Jesus...an anti-Christ if you would, that would be used to dominate and oppress people of color and their nations.

When we speak of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in the context of liberation and social justice, we must look beyond the standard narrative of the cosmic reformer.   Yes, we as Ahmadis know of him as a reformer and Messiah to Islam and savior to all religious traditions and we advertise and promote his to the public as such.  But we must also view him as an existential hero in the struggle of the oppressed.  A Messianic liberator raised to speak truth to power...Like Moses to Pharoah, like David to Goliath, like Jesus to the Ceasar.  Ahmad’s Jihad of the Pen would be a nonviolent protest to oppression and injustice...let me repeat that...Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s Jihad of the Pen would be a nonviolent protest to oppression and injustice.  His works would preceed the nonviolent movements of Ghandi and the Civil Rights movement in America.  His prophetic ideology of “Breaking the Cross” would challenge the sociological, psychological and theological chains of White Supremacy and Christian Hegemony that was being brutally enforced throughout the black and brown world.

His message would resonate in the hearts of those victimized by an imperialist and discriminating Cross.  It would remind the faithful of the love and justice filled teachings of Christ. It would reach the ears and inspire future revolutionaries and freedom fighters.  Edward Blyden’s Pan-Africanism and Ahmad’s Pan-Islamism, would cross paths in a young Jamaican student in London.  Marcus Garvey would be heavily influenced by Duse Muhammad and Khawaja din, who was a follower of Ahmad.  Garvey would develop his vision of connecting African peoples all over the world and saw Islam as it's spiritual source.  Tony Martin, in his book "Race First",  speaks of these connections and how in UNIA meetings greetings of As-salaam Alaikum and chants of Allahu Akbar would be common.  This Pan-Islamic thought is directly from the Islamic discourse of Ahmad.  Sending Missionaries to America and Africa, the Ahmadiyya Movement would embark on a mission to liberate those oppressed...a spiritual revolution.

Taking a quote from The Black Studies Reader, “Just as the UNIA was the Universal Negro Improvement Association with universality in the political sphere, the Ahmadis connected the faithful to a worldwide, multiracial, but ‘non-white’ religion.”

Richard Brent Turner would say in his monumental work, Islam in the African-American Experience, “Thus, its global perspective was as expansive as Garvey’s and almost as radical in its strategies for the liberation of people of color.”

Mufti Muhammad Sadiq trained ‘local’ Americans to be missionaries.  These ‘American’ missionaries, Black men, would be named ‘Sheiks’ and their duties included preaching, teaching and leading local congregations in their respective communities.  Sheik Ahmad Din of St. Louis was touted as, “a Zealous worker for Islam”, by Sadiq.  Ahmad Din led a committed group of early African-American Muslims like Brother Omar (Mr. William Patton) and Sister Noor (Mrs. Ophelia Avant) in the 1920’s.  Richard Brent Turner, would say, “African-Americans in Sadiq’s new American Ahmadiyya Movement played integral roles in its success.  From street-preaching with slogan’s like, "Come change your name, get back your original language and religion, and you won't be a nigger anymore!" 

These ‘Sheiks’ were vital to the spread of Ahmadiyya in burgeoning African American communities. Robert Danin takes note in Black Pilgrimage to Islam, “Before returning to India in 1923, Sadiq had ordained at least a dozen indigenous “Sheiks” who, in his opinion, were doing their utmost to promote the Ahmadiyya doctrine.  Their efforts had spread throughout a network of approximately sixteen missions in cities stretching from the Mississippi to the Atlantic.  Besides Sheik Ahmad Din, Sheik Ashiq Ahmad and their protégé Wali Akram, one must include Sheik Nasir Ahmad and Sheik Saeed Akmal of Pittsburgh, Sheik Ahmad Omar of Braddock, Pennsyvania, Abdullah Malik of Columbus, Ahmad Rasool of Dayton, and Shareef Ali of Cincinnati.  

At a time when there were only 1 or 2 missionaries in America, these Sheiks, these Black men trained by Sadiq would raise Muslim communities throughout the country. They would lecture at local Masonic Halls, Temples, Churches, they would write articles speaking out against racism and on Islam.  African-Americans dispersed across the middle of America helped to build the American Islam to thousands strong.” And let me add here a quick correction to the African American Muslim narrative.  Some of these Sheiks did move away from Ahmadiyya and are credited with establishing significant Islamic communities that still today facilitate the journey of African Americans to Islam. But again, we’re setting the story straight.  Their foundations, the spark that lit their fires, the message that awakened their spirits...was Ahmadiyya.

Sadiq would speak out against racism during this post-reconstruction period of legal segregation in America in articles such as; "Crescent or Cross?" and "True Salvation of the American Negroes--The Real Solution of the Negro Question", Ahmadiyya would address the "color line" in Christian worship.  The divide between the Black church and White church.  Sadiq would say, "I saw black people walking past two and three white churches before he dare stop to say his prayers.  And I saw white people walking and riding past dozens of black churches before they would stop to say their prayers….The question of color must be erased from the church service…”.

This isn't to lessen the importance and role of the Black church,  particularly, in the current absence of substantial Muslim voices.  The works of Richard Allen and George Leille who founded the AME and 1st Baptist churches respectively, recognized the need to pray to a just God who wanted Black folk to fight for freedom, as opposed to remaining confined to the upper pews in the church of the slave master and listening to prayers for good crops and "obedient" slaves.  In the message of Ahmadiyya Black folk would find Liberation long before James Cone would develop in his work, “A Black Theology of Liberation” in the context of the church.  

Meanwhile, Islam’s Theology of Liberation just was...

Over the next few decades, the Ahmadiyya Movement would continue to grow and influence the African-American community by providing Islamic literature and Holy Qurans.  African-Americans continued to struggle through the Great Depression, discrimination, Jim Crow laws and racial inequieties.

Daud Salahuddin, a Chicago based musician would say in Minorities in the West by Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, "there was only one process for an African American to become Muslim during the 1940s and 1950s; the Ahmadiyya Movement.  If you were not an Ahmadiyya, you were nothing.  There was not a Sunni presence to be found in our community.  If you were fortunate enough to be able to find a Muslim prayer book, you had better believe that it was produced by the Ahmadiyyas. "

I would be remissed to end this presentation without briefly recognizing the heavy influence of Ahmadiyya in the jazz community.  From actual musicians to folk who just loved the music, Ahmadiyya would be the source of many conversions.  Aminah McCloud observes in her book, Islam and the African American, "Ahmadiyya converts to Islam drew heavily from jazz musicians and created a distinctly Islamic culture that was highly visible in African American urban centers between 1917 and 1960…these musicians were major propagators of Islam in the world of jazz even though the subject of music was often a source of debate with the subcontinent Ahmadis.  Some even developed a distinct jargon—a unique blend of bebop and Arabic.”

Robert Danin would note in Black Pilgrimage to Islam, “…Gillespie’s big band was a training ground for many of the great names in modern jazz…Curiously, it also proved to be fertile soil for Islamic dawa.  In Philadelphia, Rainey met Sheik Nasir Ahmad.  He soon converted to Islam, taking the name Talib Dawud.  The band’s young tenor saxophonist, Bill Evans, followed him, taking the name Yusef Lateef, as did Lynn Hope, who became Hajj Rashid after making pilgrimage to Mecca in 1958.  The drummer, Kenny Clarke, changed his name to Liaquat Ali Salaam and Oliver Mesheux became Mustafa Dalil.” Others included, Art Blakey, Fard Daleel, Nuh Alahi, McCoy Tyner, Ahmad Jamal, Dakota Staton (Aliya Rabia) and many more.  Even the late Etta James speaks of joining Ahmadiyya in her autobiography, Rage to Survive, saying she did well for awhile but it became too "hard to keep up hanging with characters like James Brown..."

There are so many chapters we could cover in this story of Ahmadiyya in America and its influence and impact on not just African-American Islam but Islam in America.  We’ve barely scratched the surface here today but hopefully this little scratching has gotten you itching for a little more...

In closing, I’d like to speak directly to the members of the Ahmadiyya Movement.  Our hero is Our history...this is our story to tell to the world. What will they say about our time.....our generation .... What will future history books say about you and I? Will we help the statistics improve from the alarming, genocidal rates seen in violence, drugs, fatherlessness, disease, illiteracy,pain,agony, hopelessness and despair....I want to offer this reminder for those of you who are still listening ...  Our Muslim legacy is rich with history makers, risk takers, community builders, like our fathers... Ali Razaa, Abdul Malik, and Abdul Hakeem, who weren't afraid to establish new Muslim communities....pulling personalities from the toughest to the most talented. They weren't afraid to step beyond their comfort zone to do the needed prophetic work.  Or our mothers... Nasirah Razaa, Mubaraka Malik, and Rashidah  Saeed, who all modeled what love in action looks like...providing a cozy bed, a hot plate and constant encouragement with open arms. They were our first teachers. They established and welcomed us as family...never judging...just loving us through. As African-Americans we take pride in our Black history.  

We find strength in Fredrick Douglass, tenacity in Harriet Tubman and great resolve in W.E.B DuBois. But we must bring our muslim american history to life...be firm...authentic...be heard and know we/you are relevant. These are early pioneers who sacrificed, who endured, who paved this road, poured this foundation that we stand on today.  We thank Almighty Allah for those that came before us ...Brother and Sister Ali of St. Louis, Sister Ameenah and Brother Uthman Khalid,  Br. Hanif Ahmad, Br. Abdul and Sis. Mubarak Malik, Sis. Hameeda Khatoon Chambers, Br. Abdul Jamil, Br. Mohsin Rashid, Br. Sultan Lateef, Br. Muhaimam Karim,  Br. Muksit Saabir, Br. Fahim Ahmad, and my own heart Sis. Rashidah Saeed.  For them and countless others who live in our hearts and prayers we ask Allah, the Most High to provide them the best of rewards and to give us the strength to be the answer during this era,  Assalaam Alaikum.

Hafiz Nasiruddin

Sadiq Mosque, Chicago, 2012

Where are the American Muslims in the media?

With a second round of Congressional 'Radicalization' hearings complete, Islam in America continues to be under fire. Americans continue to be misled into thinking Islam is any less American than Judaism or Christianity. If we go by strictly numbers, Christianity would be the religion of America, although, it landed on American shores the same time as Islam. Some may argue Islam preceded Christianity as Muslims have been documented to have traded and lived among Native Americans. However, it is a known fact that Muslim 'Moors' accompanied Columbus on the Santa Maria.

Today, Christianity is the religion of the land. Our national holidays, historical context and 'natural' religion of the majority comes from the Christian tradition. It is important to note that race has played an unfortunate role in American religious culture. During slavery, traditional African religions and Islam was forcibly rooted out of the enslaved population considered to be dangerous to the oppressive institution. For all practical purposes, there was only one acceptable American religion, Christianity and it was being unfairly used to segregate and oppress.

American religion evolved as racial status progressed. As African-Americans found freedom, Black Churches were established to support the welfare and advancement of Blacks. The Black church found itself in contention with the racial theology of mainstream America as it provided a theological foundation for the liberation of slaves and later a platform for the Civil Rights Movement. Still today, Black churches are primarily segregated but are now considered a part of mainstream American religion.

The journey of Islam in America has been rooted in a similar struggle for liberation as the Black church. Enslaved African Muslims are documented to have maintained their faith, although not allowed to openly practice. To practice meant physical reprimand, abuse and death. Islam represented the antithesis to the slave doctrine and oppression. Theologically, it abolished slavery and could not coexist in a system of injustice. Islam still survived through slavery and continued to be relevant in Black life during the turn of the 20th century up through the Civil Rights movement. African-American Muslims played a critical role in the American struggle to freedom and equality.

Looking at Islam in the media, few could determine its long and important history in America. Media outlets are either choosing immigrant Muslims to address issues of radicalization, terrorism and the dangers of Islam in America or Muslim organizations are making the choice. Some representatives are born Americans, usually 1st generation but they still look and feel non-American. Their appeal is closer to what and who we are being led to fear...a stereotypical prototype of a Muslim or worse a terrorist who is of middle-eastern or south Asian descent.

I can't help to think that the lack of indigenous Americans being shown in the media is aiding in creating a climate of Islamophobia. African-Americans makeup the largest single ethnic segment of Muslims in America, yet they are rarely seen in the media. Immigrant Muslims are commonly seen usually attempting to look more 'american' to accommodate the American public. This is a poor image to present as most terrorist are seen wearing the traditional dress of Muslim immigrants. By not presenting a 'normal' Muslim, in traditional dress, speaking of peace and inclusion in the context of Islam, then the 'radical' Muslim becomes anyone who doesn't 'appear' to have assimilated into American culture.

To make a better impact in the fight against unjust discrimination, why not bring forth the folk, whose very image is wrapped in the liberation movement of America. The image of the American Muslim, is an indigenous American image. An image historically rooted in American religion and culture. It comes with the historical wherewithal of discrimination and segregation. It maintains a voice of justice and equity for all Americans and maybe, most importantly, reminds America to be weary of repeating her crimes against humanity.

A lot of damage has already been done since 9/11 to the image of Muslims in America. Without question, immigrant Muslims are taking the biggest hit in this era of Islamophobia. But just as the history of America reflects, we can overcome injustice. To do so, Islam in America needs to employ representatives who have the seniority and experience in speaking out against injustice. The people whose image is not only wholly American but has helped shape what is considered to be American tolerance and humanity. The African-American image is already normalized as American and being the oldest Muslim population in America, it should be represented. By doing so it will help in bringing clarity and focus to the conversation of terrorism and injustice.

My Father's Book

Today I found my Father's Book. I picked it up in the process of cleaning, an old book that has held little if any significance in my library. I moved it from shelf-to-shelf, room-to-room never opening or even paying much attention to the cover. I thought it was just an old book I'd found at an old sale or picked up from someone's throw away.

Today I picked it up and read the cover, "Arabic Grammar" by G.W. Thatcher. I thought 'oh nice', I have an old arabic grammar book. This point alone raised it's value as I a Muslim, who strongly believes that Islam has to go through an indigenation process in America in order for us to ingenuously cipher and internalize God's message. This evolution and development is critical so that native people control the interpretation, application and destiny of faith and not assimilate the 'deliverers' of the message. The learning of the translation and interpretation of arabic has been high on my list as I learned to read and recite the Quran in arabic as a youth.

As I perused the book, I caught interest in it's layout and familiar grammatical lessons and thought I will have to add it to my 'reading' shelf and commit to a daily read. Before I shelved it, I turned to the beginning to check the publish date, since it looked like a classic. I turn the front cover and I see the name, "Amin Hafiz Nasiruddin". For a split second I thought my mother had written my name in the book, then, in an epiphany, I realized, this was my father's book.

My father, whose name I carry but have never known. I have one picture with him that has always been in my life except with his face bended back to only reveal my Ummi and I. My father accepted Islam in the 60s, my mother described him as a very intelligent man but from a familiar struggle of Black male survival. A background that would catch up with him removing him out of my life. In my conscious, I don't remember anything about him as he was taken from me when I was 3 or 4. My mother, told me he loved me so, like I was the hope that, at least to that point in his life, he was yet to know. I affectionately relate to that emotion as I have 3 children and there existence gives me that same hope.

The only other story I know of him is pieced by a couple of his contemporaries who are now deceased. They all agree that he was a 'supreme' brotha who was loyal and honest, committed to his family and faith, ever-working to improve the condition of his community. They tell me of how he would arrive at Juma (Friday prayer service) and I would religiously be awaiting by the door to greet him at the 'Wabash Mosque'. After his imprisonment, I would continue to wait at the door but never to see him enter that door or any ever again.

I don't know what my life would have been with him. I don't have any regrets in my present life as the Most High chose a different journey. But my one regret maybe not knowing or even able to recognize his voice or image. His absence in my life ignited a focus in me to be in my children's lives. To make decisions as a young adult, young husband and young father to put the odds in my favor to be relevant in their lives and available. His absence gave me presence in my journey. I was blessed with another father who taught me to be a man and to him I give gratitude and honor.

My father may no longer be in this world. To date, I've haven't reached out to discover the part of me from which I derive. I honestly don't know if he is still in his earthly condition but today he came alive again in my heart as I read his name in the book I found. Today, I found my father's book. I offer a prayer for him where ever he may be. I give thanks for him and beg forgiveness for my absence and forgiveness for his. Today, I'll try to reach deep into my subconscious to find him and maybe tomorrow, I'll reach into the world to find my father. But right now, I'm gonna hold on to my father's book.

Is Allah Sexist?

The other night I was talking with family about equality of women in the religious sphere. The conversation started with a reference to Eric Michael Dyson's 'Making Malcolm' book where he accuses both Malcolm and Martin as being sexist. The indictment in the book caught me off guard because it is something I've never considered in my reading or critique of either.

Our family friend, who is a 'womanist' and intellectual, began to provide support for Dyson's position. As she referenced the place of women in the religious tradition, I began to see the legitimacy of such an accusatory statement. She continued and posed the question, could a woman be an Imam in Islam?

Before I could answer, my daughter quickly retorted a common but flawed Muslim response, that a woman could not perform all the duties of an Imam because of her menstrual cycle. In the midst of her answer and the anticipation of my sister's refutation of such a medieval notion, I had a semester of thoughts. I quickly scanned every familiar verse and hadith on the subject. The reform efforts of women leading mixed congregations in prayer (salat). The position of women in Quran and it's mostly patriarchist interpretations. The oppression and inequities enforced on women in Muslim countries and the undiscerning sexism in my own Mosque and Muslim community.

Then I thought of the response of my daughter whom my wife and I have always taught she could achieve anything, that ceilings were meant to be shattered, yet, she defended a limitation that we've never submitted or even conceded as an improbability. I knew where it had come from but didn't realize the power of influence from which it came.

Sexism, is discrimination based on gender, prejudice + power. The struggle of women throughout history dates back to Eve from bearing the blame of 'temptation', through the early women movements and continuing through the 21st century as women continue to be subjugated to socioeconomic inequities.

Inside the hallowed walls of faith, particularly, those of the Abrahamic traditions, patriarchy remains dominate. Those who choose to see 'man' prioritized in scripture continue to render women as secondary patrons. In most cases, partriarchy is so entrenched that male members rarely recognize any inequality. The subtlety of religious-sexism has become engrained in the mosque/church culture, denomination/sect and even the hermaneutics of the texts.

The Islamic tradition is particularly challenged with sexism and some would argue having the larger 'elephant in the room'. Of the three Abrahamic faiths, Islam is theologically the more liberating. In the Muslim text woman is set as equal to man, given rights over her husband, property and inheritance. The equal rights of women are well documented in the fiqh of Quran and hadith (traditions of Muhammad).

However, pre-Islamic traditions and cultural influence blur the equity of the Quran in the treatment of women. This most unfortunate behavior is played out too often in Muslim countries with unfair, unequal laws against women from illegal driving to not being allowed in public after dark to not being deserving of education. Men, dictating and interpreting how women should live and function in society has created a blasphemous list of injustices against women that are too frequently mis-charged to God. Much of this discriminatory behavior has crossed the seas with those of 'authority' providing their interpretations.

The blame of sexism in American Mosques isn't solely an immigrant product. Sexism has been a long-time partner in American and African-American culture. We've seen it played out in advertising, music, hiring, salaries, purchases, jobs, etc, etc. Although we rarely acknowledge the possibility, we all bring our own 'bags' of 'isms' to our places of worship and in too many venues, the bags of sexism are still being carried where they were banned long ago.

We can continue this thought with more specifics and offer examples and solutions but this writing isn't about what dress is oppressive or should walls stand between men and women. Those are products of the issue of sexism and it's ignoring in Islamic spaces. We as Muslims must do a better job at giving attention to the subtle practices of sexism within our walls. We are very adept at responding to criticism of unfair treatment of women by stating Quran and Hadith but it's in the application where we become decrepit.

I purposely haven't given any anectdotes, I'll leave that to the reader, the believer, the Saint, the Minister and the Imam. Or maybe I'll write in more detail at a later time but for now, it's about changing the culture within the walls of faith and the focus on the response of my daughter.

My daughter who served as Commander of the largest JROTC command in St. Louis. She successfully led and trained young men and women in discipline and order. From Senior Class President to being the protective 'big sister', she embodies the dignity and courage of her fore-mothers. Yet, in the space where women are to be anointed, my daughter inhaled faith and with it, it's latent patriarchy. For her and all of the daughters, we must change.