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There has been much air and debate tossed around about the future of Islam, especially in America. For me, the primary community of interest has and continues to be the Blackamerican community. For many reasons, one that I’ll give here, it remains a key ingredient in my book, regarding the success of Islam as a genuine entity in the American social space. One of the biggest reasons is that Blackamerican Muslims remain to this day, the only indigenous Western community/racial group that have experienced a large, mass conversion. I have read the numbers on conversion rates and populations. I am not here to debate or inflate the numbers but as the facts stand, Blackamericans are the only group that have had a significant number of their population embrace Islam. This cannot be said of Latinos or whites. And while the number of second and third generation Muslims continues to grow, they are still very much seen as a foreign enterprise. And for the growing number of whites who are choosing to embrace Islam, they still face a tough road of skepticism, cynicism and out right bewilderment from their fellow white Americans, who see their religious choice as some sort of racial apostasy or abandonment. Indeed, Blackamerican Muslim enjoy a special kind of insulation in that blacks can convert, change their names, even where foreign regalia and still be seen as authentically black. This should not be under appreciated or go with out significant notice.

So aside from acceptance, what else does this mean? What significance should this have for us as Blackamerican Muslims? Have we even acknowledged this fact and taken advantage of it. From my day to day run-ins with various Blackamerican Muslims around Philadelphia, I must give a cautious “no”. By no means do I think that some of the Muslims I’ve met in Philadelphia represent all Muslims elsewhere but I will nonetheless use them as a test case. For in my sixteen years of having embraced Islam, many of the sentiments I’ve heard echoed by some of Philadelphia’s Blackamerican Muslims have been echoed elsewhere. It is my hope that some of this short post will provide a bit of food for thought on the subject.

It may be a cliché that to want change one must recognize that one needs to change. Status quo can be a dangerous and comfortable set of chains. Bound by our thoughts, we have forgotten that we constrained and when time, circumstance or situation demands action, we just keep singin’ that same ol’ song. Much of the tension that I see between younger Blackamerican Muslims and the Old Guard is the lack of vision or clairvoyance to see that a change is needed. But change for the sake of change’s sake won’t cut the bill. Serious thought and soul searching must be engaged to see what it is that needs to be changed and in what manner. If there’s one community that has suffered so terribly from the baby-and-the-bath-water syndrome, it’s the Blackamerican Muslim community. So desperate were we to escape the confines of “black life” in America, many of us donned costume and script from some one else’s play and we played the part [at times better than they did themselves]. What I’m getting at is what I heard from a colleague lately, who criticized Black Muslims for out Arabing the Arabs. What many don’t realize, is that the hidden impetus behind this shift, this searching, had a great deal to do with the pain that many of us felt. Stifled by the glass veil of white values [not the KKK, per se], we were eager for an outlet. An outlet that would allow us not only to express out blackness in a valid way, but our very humanity. Our souls. And while I will fault no one for those feelings, it has not proven to be a successful operation. In my opinion, one of the stumbling blocks was due to what I’d call the eclecticism of Blackamerican Islam in the wake of the Nation of Islam. I shall try to elaborate. Read more this entry »

Over the years [16 of them for me now] I have seen a disparagingly absence of manners amongst the Muslims. We have no couth in how we talk, critique and debate one another. In a recent post I came across, I felt compelled to write a little piece. My apologies if it seems to border on the polemical but I felt it needed saying anyway.

So here we have it. Muslim vs. Muslim in a virtual cage match. I have observed many of these volleys and have tried to put it to pen and pixel. It’s not an easy task. But, here ‘goes.

I think one aspect that some of the critics of Eteraz miss or don’t even look at is why does Eterez say that things that he does. Why do “liberal Muslims” say the things they do. To be sure, there are some who may have fallen into the trap of post-Enlightenment religious thinking and that is to make religion subservient to personal desires - in other words, jettison whatever is inconvenient or doesn’t reinforce our ill-perceived independence of God.

But Muslims today are under tremendous pressures from the dominant society to author and practice a version of Islam that caters to their fears, prejudices and proclivities and not towards what Muslims think is pleasing to God. As Muslims, we should be very much cognizant of this and take this into account when we have truck with our fellow brothers and sisters.

Before I continue, I should point out that I have not agreed with everything that Ali Eteraz has written. In truth, I have not read many of his posts in a while as I feel out of touch with what it was he was writing – but to say that he’s not entitled to write it, well, I think we have to tolerate and debate in a way that would uphold the ethics and standards of our Beloved Example. Simply trashing Ali Eteraz and making comparisons between him and Shaytan is in my opinion, ridiculous, unwarranted and uncouth.

But the critique doesn’t stop there. Above all, and I have seen this everywhere, there is absolutely NO LOVE BETWEEN THE MUSLIMS! The last two times I saw Dr. Sherman Jackson, he spoke about the woeful absence of love in the Muslim community. I couldn’t agree more. I have read here and in other places the critiques on Ali [and I believe many of them are warranted at least in the spirit of debate] but I have not seen one person offer to help him [if he is so satanically misguided], take the time out to correct his conduct or ‘aqueedah or what ever it is that many of his critics feel is awry. This type of mean-spirited, name bashing is NOT THE SUNNAH and is NOT OF THE CHARACTER OF THE PROPHET! I would love to have the opportunity to sit down with Ali Eteraz and discuss some of his points and maybe exchange a few words and see where he’s coming from. But I will not trash the man’s name publicly like so and NEITHER SHOULD ANY OF YOU! This goes not simply for Ali Eteraz, but for the correspondences I see all over the blogosphere.

Am I saying that none of us have the right to have a disagreement with Ali Eteraz? No. But it should be done in the best way.

We need the love. We need to get it back. And we need to get it back NOW.

And God knows best…

Above photo was taken in Detroit, Michigan, December 2004.

Eid Mubarik.

عيد مبارك

This years ALIM Winter Program is entitled “Is Islamic Thought Dying?”, and will held in Santa Clara, California, at the MCA Islamic Center (Bay Area), January 18th-21st, 2008.

The conference will discuss, among other things, William Chittick’s recent book entitled, “Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul”. The book will serve as a springboard for discussion on the broader issues and intersections of Islamic and Western approaches to learning and knowledge. Chittick argues that Islamic thought is dying, falling prey to the more short term oriented perspectives of Western educational systems.

Topics like impediments to Islamic learning, the role of “progress” and “ideology” in Western and Islamic thought, the centrality of tawhiyd to knowledge, and changes in the Muslim view of knowledge through history, among others, will be addressed through a critical lens.

The event is being held MLK weekend and includes Dr. Sherman Abdul-Hakim Jackson along with Imam Zaid Shakir and Dr. Umar, and Dr. Fareed. For more information and to register, go to: www.alimprogram.com

A couple of short videos taken from Dr. Jackson’s short talk at NYU. Hat tip to MR.

The videos has been removed per Dr. Jackson’s request. You can see his reasons why here.

S.K.I.L.L.S. [Sisters Konnected Islamically Listening Learning & Sharing] Presents: Certification in Janaazah Preparation. This is a hands-on workshop, held at the University of Pennsylvania Houston Hall, 35th & Spruce Street. Saturday, Dec. 8th, 2007, in the Golkin Room and Sunday, Dec. 9, 2007, in The Ben franklin Room. The times are 10am until 2pm each day. The cost for the two-part workshop series is $25.00. There will be an informative lecture given by Dr. Jamillah Abdus-Sabur. There will also be additional entertainment. For more information as well as registration info, please contact: Hajja Safiyah Abdul-Latif: 215-457-4042 and Hajja Alia Walker: 267-738-3842 or Hajja Saeyda Quaye: 484-486-4533.

…and other collected thoughts on the MANA conference.

So, here we are, a full week after the successful MANA conference and we’re already starting to see the mud slinging around the Muslim blogosphere. I was beginning to think real change had in fact come from this conference. But don’t mistake my sarcasm for critiquing MANA. In fact, it’s just the opposite. In fact, I would like to again extend my thanks to MANA for hosting their first conference. God willing, this is just the first of many more successful conferences.

So what should we expect from a conference such as this MANA conference? Should we emerge from it to find the streets paved with gold? Or as Conan so once eloquently put it: “to hear the lamentations of the women”? Perhaps – or perhaps not. I will have to say in defense of MANA I certainly encountered many happy and motivated faces of those who attended the various workshops. And while I didn’t attend any myself I have it on good account that they were well constructed and of value.

It is precisely that last word, value, that keeps bouncing around and around inside my head as I ponder our current condition. If we do not value ourselves then I think very little will change. And from what Dr. Jackson had to say during his speech, that seemed to be one of his underpinning points – we as Blackamerican Muslims are in a unique vantage point, one where Allah has chosen us to be in this spot, this place, and this time, as the receptacles and carriers of Islam to this part of the world at this point in Time and History. So the perduring question is: what we gon’ do? Read more this entry »

It’s amazing that it’s already November. This year has just flown by. So last night had me in gracious company, photographing the first day of MANA’s conference here in Philadelphia: The State of Blackamerican Islam. Such keynote speakers included Dr. Aminah McCloud, professor Amir al-Islam, and of course, the esteemed Dr. Sherman ‘Abd al-Hakim’ Jackson. For more info in the event, see MANA’s web site. Here’s short photo gallery of some images from last night.

Enjoy

Update

I have posted the final version of the web gallery - you can take a look here. Imam Johari also has some thoughts.

I also wanted to say thanks to MANA for letting me come and shoot and for all the MANA volunteers who, when I didn’t know where I was going, they did!

Like many of you, I had high hopes going in to this conference and I have to say that I’ve left with some additional high hopes as well. One aspect of this conference that really sank in to me last night was how happy and motivated people seemed to be after coming out of the various workshops. That is a commendable achievement on behalf of MANA and the workshop leaders, speakers, and coordinators. Hat tip to Muhammad Khalifa, who besides looking dapper in his suit, really ran around and seemed to glue stuff together.

I saw a lot of old, friendly faces. And by old, I mean OLD!! Damn!, what happened? I moved away from Michigan about eight years ago and it’s funny - when you leave a place, it has a tendency to remain a time capsule for you. And so do the people you know there. Many were shocked to find that I even live in Philadelphia now, many of us having lost contact through the years. This provided a great way to reconnect. I also had a chance to meet many new faces. I guess I should put up a better looking picture of my self as people kept saying, “oh, you’re Manrilla. I saw your picture online”. It’s amazing how well read this blog is sometimes. I enjoyed meeting other fellow bloggers, Tariq and Umar. I hope we can do so again.

One last thought; we really need to hang out more often. I say this as I saw so many people who were overjoyed at seeing faces that they hadn’t seen in years. I think the other part about this conference that gave me some more food for thought is the need for Muslims to really associate and get out and spend time with one another. And we don’t always need a conference for that. Though I am happy to hang out in Reading Terminal eating sandwiches that’ll drive my cholesterol through the roof. See you next year