[
OCTOBER 5, 1992
RELIGION 13
Nation Of Islam: Part Two of Moving Beyond the X
By Scott Johnson
Ink Stc^ Writer
ni
^ One of the major misconcep-
surrounding the Nation of Is-
^ Ti today is its religious concepts,
a seem s that many people in Ameri-
society don’t understand that
^ ere is a very clear difference be-
een the Nation of Islam and the
'’DfldwidereligionofIslam. While
e Nation of Islam is purely limited
African-Americans in the United
lates, the religion of Islam is uni-
d' rsal. Al-Islam doesn’t cater spe-
^ fically to black men and women
' the U.S.. it is a religion for every
"' ember of all races and all coun
ts.
The religion of Al-Islam is cur-
®!idy practiced by over one billion
‘•"lople. Al-Islam means peace and
10
tl
oil
^Malcolm X: In Search of the True Meaning of Al-Islam
complete submission to Allah
(God). Muslims believe that Islam
was the religion of Adam and thus
the beginning of life. According to
the book. The ReUgion of Islam and
the Nation of Islam: What is the
difference?, by Mustafa El-Amin,
Islam was not “perfected as a sys
tematic way of life” until nearly
1400 years ago, when the Prophet
Muhammad struggled for 23 years
to establish the religion in Egypt.
Prophet Muhammad was the last
prophet sent by Allah, and he was
left with the task of bringing Al-
Islam to the Arabs. On the other
hand, the Nation of Islam began in
the United States in 1930 when
Master W.D. Fard appeared and
taught a group of followers, which
included the Honorable Elijah
Muhammad. After W.D. Fard dis
appeared in 1934, the Honoarable
Elijah Muhammad took over the
movement and went to the streets to
show the prostitutes, pimps, and
hustlers the way of the Nation.
In terms of their view point of
God, the Nation of Islam and Al-
Islam differs as well. Al-lslam be
lieves that Allah is infinite. Allah
does not have a beginning or an
end, and is not capable of making
mortal mistakes. Allah is respon
sible for everyone’s creation and
has made every member of every
race beautiful. This concept is much
different from the Nation of Islam,
because the Nation believes that
God is a black man, who possesses
vast knowledge which is passed on
with the death of each God. The
Nation of Islam’s God is a human
being which is capable of bearing
By: An«eqab Siddeeq
InkSt^Writer
In the minds of a large num
bers of African-Amwicans, es
pecially on college campuses,
there exists an interesting cli
mate: On the one hand, we are in
constant search of our past and
almost forgotten legacy, while
on the other, we look for avenues
CO channel the friistrations we face
as a result of other’s prejudices
and false perceptions of us. We
I)artake in many discussicms and
debates in which the works of
great African-American reform
ers such as Elijah Muhammad,
Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm
X, W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T.
Washington and the likes are fre
quently cited. But what I find
most troubling is the rising trend
in the African-American commu
nity to become attached to people
such as Malcolm X and refusing
to acknowledge what it is that
made him the person he was.
Too many people miss the
point entirely. I have encoun
tered many people who think they
understand Malcolm X and say
things like...”Yeah, I’m down
with my brother Malcolm; I too
support the Nation of Islam...Such
st^em^ts reflect a conflict of in
terest when one becomes conscious
of the turning point in Malcolm’s
life.
The climax in Malcolm’s life
was not when he was turned on by
the teachings of the Nation of Is
lam, but rather when he, upon mak
ing pilgrimage to Mecca, realized
that Islam is not just a religion for
blacks; it was about realizing that
God never came in the form of any
nian, not even Fard Muhammad. It
was these realizations by Malcolm
that set him apart from the majority
of ministers in the Nation of Islam
during the 1960s.
Malcolm (El Hajj Malik El
Shabazz), like Imam Warith Deen
Muhammad before him, realized
the serious flaws in the old teach
ings that Fard Muhammad gave to
Elijah Muhammad. So when stat
ing support for the Nation of Islam,
it is unfair to cite indviudals like El
Hajj Malik El Shabazz or
Muhammad Ali because they later
came to reject the spiritual philoso
phy of the Nation.They did this
after receiving knowledge of true
Islamic principles, which possed a
more universal scope. To continue
this, is to do him a dishonor. The
worst disservice anyone can do to
a leader is to remember him for his
past mistakes or misunderstand
ings and ignore his philosophical
and/or spiritual growth. So please
my brothers and sisters, feel free
to sui^rt what you wish, but re
member El Hajj Malik El
Shabazz...the Muslim.
For further information on the
difference between Al-Islam,the
universal religion for all people,
and the black nationalistic move-,
ment that is called The Nation of
Islam, which was a by-product of
American oppressive society of
the 1930s, please read the. book
“The Religion of Islam and The
Nation of Islam, What is the Dif
ference?” written by Mustafa El-
Amin. Another good source is C.
Eric Lincoln’s, “From the Nation
of Islam to Islam.”
Editor’s Note: Aneeqah Siddeeq
is a first year graduate student in
the School of Public Health in the
Bio-statistics department. She is a
Muslimandwill present a number
of articles on the history of Islam
in America.
children and making mistakes. The
Honarable Elijah Muhammad in
Message to the Blackman in
America, says that Allah came to
America, from the Holy City in
Mecca, in the person of W.D. Fard
who took it upon himself to revive
the mentally dead which is the
American so-called Negro. An
other example of the existence of a
mortal God in the Nation is Yakub.
Yakub is the enemy of Allah, and
was bom 6,000 years ago. The
Nation of Islam believes that Yakub
created the white man, and there
fore the white man is the devil, who
has oppressed the righteous (blacks
all over the world) for the last 6,000
years. This beliefis obviously quite
different from the belief of Al-Is-
1am, because the religion of Islam
teaches that everyone is beautiful
and it makes no distinction between
people of different races.
Another important difference
between the Nation of Islam and the
religion of Islam is the belief in life
after death and the judgment. The
belief in life after death is an impor
tant element in the reUgion of Al-
Islam. Al-Islam teaches that Allah
will raise all of the dead, and at that
point, all human beings will have to
account for their actions in the physi
cal world. The Nation of Islam
doesn’t believe in physical resur
rection, butmental resurrection. The
Nation believes that it is impossible
for some spirit to rise out of a dead
body and continue to live in spirit
form. This way of thinking, accord
ing to the teachings of the Honarable
Elijah Muhammad, was a device
used by the devils during slavery.
Elijah Muhammad said that the dev
ils (whites) created the concept of a
spiritual resurrection so that the righ
teous (blacks) wouldn’ t dwell in the
current conditions and would in
stead look forward to an everlasting
good life in heaven. The slave
master could say, “I know things
are bad now, but if you are a good
slave and do as you are told, then
you will go 10 heaven where you
will live with the angels forever.”
The Nation believes that these ideas
are ludicrous, and that the only res
urrection is mental resurrection.
Mental resurrection involves being
made aware that blacks are cur
rently living in what Christians and
Muslimsrefer to as heaven and hell.
Blacks have been oppressed for four
hundred years by a system which
first enslaved African Americans
and now institutionally keeps us in
an inferior position. The Nation
believes that blacks are in hell right
now, and being mentally resurrected
and uplifting yourself and your race
is the key to experiencing the ben
efits of a heaven like atmosphere.
A final crucial distinction be
tween the Nation of Islam and Al
lslam is Judgement day. Islam
teaches that on Judgement Day,
Allah will destroy everything, and
each individual will be granted ei
ther life in paradise or fire in hell.
On this day, Allah will save the
righteous (those individuals which
believed in Allah and the word of
the Holy Koran) and destroy the
wicked (nonbelievers). The Nation
of Islam teaches that on Judgement
day, the wicked (the white devil)
will have to be destroyed for their
continual persecution of the righ
teous (the black man and woman)
for the last6,000 years. On this day,
a ship will take the righteous to
another place for a year, and in the
meantime, a fleet of smaller ships
will bomb and destroy the devils.
By destroying the devil, the righ
teous will be able to control and rule
the earth as they did before Yakub ’s
creation.
There are many more religious
differences between the Nation of
Islam and Al-Islam. It is also im
portant to realize that many mem
bers of the Nation of Islam move
onto Al-lslam or the Five Percent
Nation (started in Harlem in the
I960’s by Clarance 13X).
Muhammad Ali and Malik Shabazz
(Malcolm X), both began in the
Nation only to move towards the
religion of Islam. While the Nation
of Islam preaches separation of
races, and eventually the destruc
tion of a whole race, Islam takes in
all members of society. Islam
teaches how to have peace within
yourself and live amongst members
of all races and cultures through a
common goal. And that goal is lo
love and submit to the will of Allah
(God).