blackamericans Archive

  • The Ka'abah - Photographed by Marc Manley 2008

    Journey Into Islam – A Converts Tale Part I

     One of the questions that is most often asked of me, both by Muslims and non-Muslims alike, is how did I come to Islam. Often this query is framed around a supposed single instance, a distinct and defining event that overwhelmed my being and thus...

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  • henderson_solution

    If You’re Not Part of the Solution, You’re Part of the Problem

    There has been, in my mind, a growing trend in Black America for the last 40-odd years: the rise in secularism amongst Blackamericans. By this I refer to the increasing tendency for Blackamericans to make religion, be it Islam or Christianity, irrelevant to their daily...

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  • Sunrise North Philadelphia

    American Muslims and American Civic Religion

     Civil Religion as defined by Robert Bellah: a set of rituals, symbols and beliefs which were institutionally separate, but partly derived, nevertheless, from organized religion. According to Bellah, American civil religion had two main origins: one religious in nature, the other secular. To be more...

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  • The Crisis of the American Muslim Part 2

    The Crisis of the American Muslim Part 2

    Navigating American Individualism As was stated earlier, Cruse brings to light for us one of the primary underlining social tenants of Americanism, that is to say, individualism. Islam as a religion certainly engages the individual on his or her place in the cosmos as well as...

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