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The Threat of the Nation of Islam to African-American Churches By Detective Sergeant Sam Smith The Growth of Islam in the United States Islam is expanding rapidly in the United States. The growth of Islam in the United States is largely fueled by immigration. However, up to one-third of American Muslims are African-Americans who have converted to Islam during the last seventy years, first into the Nation of Islam and then into mainstream Sunni Islam. According to a major survey done by the Pew Research Center and released in the spring of 2007, most of the Muslims who were born in the United States are AfricanAmerican converts and descendants of converts, but a fast-growing number are the children of immigrants, and this last group is extremely young; nearly half are between 18 and 29.1 According to Pew, 60 percent of Muslims age 18 to 29 think of themselves as "Muslim first," compared with 40 percent of people older than 30, and they are much more likely than their parents to go to mosque every week.2 The frightening thing is that within this age group, 26 percent of Muslims age 18 to 29 believe that suicide bombing can be justified.3 The grass-roots movement of Islam in America has grown from recruiting AfricanAmericans on college campuses, converting inmates in prison, and proselytizing Christians who have converted in an attempt to connect with an AfricanMuslim, religious-ethnic identity. Wendy Zoba in a Christianity Today cover story entitled “Islam, U.S.A." wrote, “Islam is gaining most of its U.S. converts in prisons and on university campuses. The majority of American converts to Islam — 85 to 90 percent — are black.” 4 In addition, the number of American women who marry Muslim men and convert is estimated to be about 7,000 per year.5 Statistically speaking, African-Americans in the United States are two hundred times more likely to convert to Islam than whites. Islam has only modestly appealed to white Americans (who usually convert to Islam after marrying a Muslim or convert for mystical reasons). Nevertheless, Islam has become a powerful presence among the black population.6 An Un-Godly Alliance of Christianity and Islam Many African-American churches have aligned themselves with Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam (NOI) for political reasons and for racial unity. But there is a danger. For example, one African-American Christian mother told a reporter that she actively hopes that her son will join Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam. “I have to leave my son where he’s going to get protection. Before I close my eyes in this world, he’s going to be Farrakhan’s.”7 One Baptist woman, whose son converted to Islam, spoke favorably, “This Islam sounds like true religion to me. They don’t believe in smoking dope, drinking liquor, and no adultery. I say we could use more teaching like that…When my son reached over to be a Muslim, I was not going to fault him. I enjoy listening to him talk about it, and how it came out of Africa, and that sounds pretty good.8 This mother’s statement illustrates the importance that Christians need to study the origins, and culture of Islam, the beliefs and doctrines, and the bloody history of its founder, the prophet Muhammad. It is especially important for African-American ministers to educate their members about Christian history. Islam did not come out of Africa! It came out of the Saudi Arabian desert. Africa’s Christian Heritage The truth is that Islam destroyed the rich cultures and civilizations of many North African nations, including indigenous, African Christian communities in Nigeria, Sudan, and Ethiopia. Some people mistakenly believe that Christianity was brought to Africa by European missionaries. Not true. Christianity was long established in Africa before it ever spread to Europe. In Acts chapter 9, Philip the Evangelist baptized a member of the Ethiopian royal court and he is credited with starting Ethiopia’s first Christian church. Mark the Evangelist, established a Christian community in Ethiopia in 42 AD. In 325 AD, the kingdom of Aksum (northern Ethiopia and northern Sudan) was the world’s second nation (after Armenia in 301 AD) to declare Christianity as its official religion and the first nation to ever use the image of the cross on its coins. In fact, in 525 AD, the Abbyssinians (Ethiopians) were such ardent defenders of Christianity that the Negus Kaleb (Emperor of Abyssinia) conquered the Yemeni kingdoms of southern Arabia and stopped the persecution of Christians by the evil Jewish king Yusef Dhu Nuwas, who tried to purge his country of Christians by burning their churches and killing almost 20,000 believers. Additionally, Ethiopia is mentioned 37 times in the King James Bible. The Book of Psalms rarely praises any other nation other than Judea, however, in Psalm 68:2, the author prophesied “Ethiopia shall soon stretch her hands unto to God.” Farrakhan and his NOI proselytes have intentionally misled African-American Christians by telling them that Islam is Africa’s true monotheistic religion. Wallace Fard, the founder of the NOI, in the 1930’s, convinced his followers (most were former Christians), that “The white man was devil himself. The embodiment of evil, whites had enslaved the blacks and robbed them of their African names, giving them Christian names instead.”91 American Islamic ideas and traditions have seeped into many African-American churches. In my community on the eve of Mother’s Day of 2007, city police officers were dispatched to a suicide involving a juvenile. An African-American 10-year-old boy hanged himself with his shoelaces. Earlier, the boy had argued with his mother and she sent him to his room to cool off. Approximately two hours later, she went upstairs to check on him and found his lifeless body hanging inside his closet. When the officers, who were on location, keyed up their radios to talk, I could hear the mother and the two sisters crying, praying, and travailing in the background. It was heart rendering. I read the boy’s obituary a few days later. His Christian mother gave him the Islamic middle name of “Malik.” Malik is Arabic for king or tribal leader, but according to the Hadith (the verbal traditions of the life and habits of Muhammad and the second highest written authority next to the Qur’an), Malik is the “Keeper of Hell!” It says, “They (the people in hell) will cry: ‘O Malik, would that your Lord put an end to us.’”10 (See footnote)11 Islam and the Recruitment of Prison Inmates A significant number of American Muslims are in fact convicted inmates who converted to Islam in various state and federal prisons.12 According to the Washington Post, the number of converted inmates is in excess of 250,000. Most of these converted inmates are African-Americans.13 Colbert King, the black columnist wrote that the FBI have investigated and traced terrorist plots to African-American Muslims incarcerated within the California Correctional Institutes.14 The Leaders of NOI were formerly Christians The key leaders of the NOI, after the mysterious disappearance of its founder Wallace D. Fard, were not only once Christians, but were the sons of Christian preachers. Elijah Muhammad, his wife and two brothers were once Christians Elijah Muhammad, born Elijah Poole, was the son and grandson of Baptist preachers. In 1915, he met his wife, Clara Evans, at a church meeting. In 1929, Elijah and his two brothers joined Fard’s Islamic Temple in Detroit. After Elijah replaced Fard as leader of the NOI in 1934, he assumed Fard’s title of “Prophet,” and added “Messenger of Allah” for good measure.15 Elijah Muhammad immediately continued his vehement attacks on Christianity and African-American churches. He also denied the divinity of Christ but yet he deified Fard. His followers to this day still believe that Wallace D. Fard is God; a lie that is further propagated by the minister Louis Farrakhan. Elijah continued Fard’s relentless attack on Christianity with success. It is estimated that four million African-Americans who converted to Islam did so after reading pamphlets and books written by Elijah Muhammad or after visiting one of the hundreds of storefront mosques he opened over a period spanning five decades.16 Malcolm X and his two brothers and sister were once Christians Malcolm X, was the son of Earl Little, a Baptist preacher. Malcolm recalled memories of his “father leaping and jumping in the pulpit, his resonant voice igniting the worship and praise of his listeners.”17 After the death of his father, Malcolm became a ward of the state and turned to a life of crime. He became a Moslem in 1950, while serving time in Norfolk State Prison in Massachusetts. Fellow inmates had nicknamed Malcolm “Satan” for his vehement hatred of God, the Bible, and religion in general. His brother, Reginald converted Malcolm to Islam while he was incarcerated. Two of Malcolm’s brothers and one sister were already NOI members. Shortly thereafter, Reginald was later expelled from the NOI for adultery. Malcolm X was ordained as an NOI minister after he earned an early release from prison. Malcolm vented his rage towards white people, black Christians, and Christianity. Malcolm X ranted and railed in his newspaper articles against the Christian message of the black church, characterizing black ministers as “yelling and spitting out foam all over the pulpit,” and dismissing as “nonsense” their messages about “hell-fire after death, and the dying of Jesus on the cross.”18 During one of Malcolm’s fiery sermons he lifted a Christian Bible up in the air and dared God to verify its miraculous claims. Malcolm worked his Moslem audience into a frenzy after he threw the Bible down on the floor and shouted the Bible was no different from any other book.19 He was known to stomp on the Bible during his sermons and denounce the verses as packs of lies. Malcolm mocked the hymn the “The Old Rugged Cross,” and other Christian principles and doctrines. In 1959, Malcolm told his parishioners that they had someone greater than Jesus, “…someone to open the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, heal the sick, raise the dead-Elijah (Muhammad) is doing all of this.”20 Malcolm blamed his criminal behavior on Christianity. At an NOI convention he said, “There was a time when I didn’t know the Truth. I was then in total darkness. I was deaf, dumb and blind. I did many things that were bad. I was dope-addict. I was a liar. I was a thief. I hated my own kind. I was a drunkard. But then I couldn’t help being what I was. I WAS A CHRISTIAN! 21 On February 21, 1965, NOI members assassinated Malcolm X at the direction of his teacher and mentor, Elijah Muhammad (I will write more about Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad in the future). Malcolm’s funeral was held at the Faith Temple Church of God in Christ. Malcolm X has since become a role model to many African-American youths and many have converted to Islam after being introduced to him by Spike Lee’s 1992 movie, “Malcolm X.” Even Louis Farrakhan was once a Christian The current leader of the NOI is Louis Farrakhan. He was born Louis Eugene Walcott and left the Episcopal Church and joined the Nation of Islam in 1955. On Saviours' Day 2000, Minister Louis Farrakhan prophesied that "Islam is to consume America. Islam is to consume England, and one day, these great nations will become servants of God.22 The NOI’s Influence into the African-American Christian Community The Nation of Islam’s current membership is estimated to be between twenty thousand to fifty thousand members at the most, maybe one hundred thousand members worldwide. However, the NOI influence is far greater among African-Americans than its membership. For example, in 1995, several hundred thousand African-Americans (most were Christians) came to Washington, D.C. to support Farrakhan’s Million Man March. Will Islam Replace Christianity as the Primary Faith of Black Americans? In the early 1930s, NOI founder, Wallace D. Fard made a bold prediction that one day Islam would replace Christianity as the primary faith of black Americans.23 Despite vicious attacks by NOI leaders on Christianity, the black church has barely responded. The result has been that the NOI has provided a bridge for African-American to move in large numbers toward Islam. Daniel Pipes, wrote “By now, that long-ago prediction no longer seems inconceivable, indeed, it has somewhat come true, with toward one million African-Americans identifying as Muslims. An even brief visit to various black neighborhoods quickly confirms that not only is an Islamic infrastructure a visible and important part of black life-mosques, Islamic schools, female head coverings, and male skullcaps are very much in evidence-but an active ambitious drive to propagate Islam is underway. So vital is it, the director of a California-based church effort to stem the conversion of black Americans to Islam has made a memorable prediction: ‘If the conversion rate continues unchanged, Islam could become the dominant religion in Black urban areas by the year 2020.’”24 Pipes elaborated about the impact of Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam has had on urban black churches. “All African American Muslims, not just NOI members; nearly every one of them has a direct connection to the NOI, personal or familial. (Elijah) Muhammad can claim to have spawned a substantial new Muslim community. Without his efforts, the hundreds of thousands of African-Americans who are now Muslims would presumably still be Christians.25 The NOI is a bridge to mainstream Islam The threat that the NOI poses to America’s black churches is that it has had a historical role in introducing African-Americans to Islam. E.U. Essien-Udom, author of a book length study on the NOI, noted as early as 1962, that, “few join the nation and remain in it.”26 Some members return to Christianity, while most feel the magnetic pull of mainstream Islam and become Sunnis or Shia’s (for example, Muhammad Ali, who joined the NOI in 1964 and later moved on to Sunni Islam in 1975). The Horrific Events of 9-11 has Caused Islam to Grow in the United States There has been an increase of conversions to Islam since 9-11 in America’s cities. The majority of the conversions are African-Americans. For example, Pittsburgh has seven mosques, and between 8,000 to 10,000 Sunni Muslims.27 Converts within the black community say they are attracted to the disciplines of prayer, the emphasis within Islam on submission to God and the religion's affinity with people who are oppressed. Others are suspicious of government warnings about the emergence of new enemies since the 2001 attacks because they share memories of how civil rights leaders Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were demonized. Now as a result, they are willing to view Islam as a legitimate alternative to Christianity. “It is one of the fastest-growing religions in America," said Lawrence Mamiya, professor of religion at Vassar College, speaking of Islam among black Americans.28 "I am both Muslim and Christian”-Reverend Ann Holmes Redding There are even African-Americans that claim to be both Christian and Muslim. For example, in Seattle, Washington, the Reverend Ann Holmes Redding, an Episcopal priest converted to Islam. She preaches in her church on Sundays, but dons a black headscarf and worships at a mosque on Fridays. She told the Seattle Times, "I am both Muslim and Christian, just like I'm both an American of African descent and a woman. I'm 100 percent both.”29 Ironically, it was in a Christian church that she converted to Islam. She told the Times, that in the fall of 2005, a local Muslim leader gave a talk at the cathedral. When he prayed before those attending, Redding was moved. “As he dropped to his knees and stretched forward against the floor, it seemed to her that his whole body was involved in surrendering to God.” Then in the spring, at a St. Mark's interfaith class, another Muslim leader taught a chanted prayer and led a meditation on opening one's heart. The chanting appealed to the singer in Redding; the meditation spoke to her heart. She began saying the prayer daily. Benjamin F. Chavis, formerly of the NAACP, and a Christian minister (holds credentials with the United Church of Christ) announced in 1997 that he was joining Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam. Standing before the assembled Black Muslims with a Bible in one hand and a Qur’an in the other, Chavis proclaimed: “I find no theological contradiction between being a black Christian and a black Muslim.”30 The Great Compromise The minister Farrakhan once called for black Americans to renounce Christianity which he called a “white man’s religion,” and to embrace Islam.31 However, he now preaches that believers can be both Moslem and Christian. In fact, he has stated that he is now a “Christian too.” He said “A good Muslim is a Christian and a good Christian is a Muslim.”32 (Refer to my article “The Farrakhan Controversy-A Wolf in Sheep Clothing” to read what he preaches and teaches. It is the anathema to basic Christian beliefs). Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. (a Ph.D, an ordained minister and seminary professor) insightfully wrote that the Nation of Islam is not truly Muslim, nor has it ever correctly taught its followers about the religion of Islam. Instead, the NOI has been far more proficient at demeaning Christianity than it has been in introducing people to the religion of the Qur’an.33 DeCaro writes, “As a leader in the black community, Louis Farrakhan longs for the very thing he shall never possess: the mantle of the black church. Like the leaders of the precursor Nation of Islam organizations, Farrakhan is hopelessly at odds with the black Christian Church. He may win the hearts of individual Christian pastors and may even enjoy the arm’s length favor of many Christian people, but, like Simon Magus of old, he is caught in the galling trick bag of his own religious legacy. One discerning rabbi noted after Farrakhan’s World Day of Atonement in October 1996: “Let’s face it, the Million Man March and the World’s Day of Atonement are really about getting people to attach to Farrakhan religiously. The religious power buttons he’s jealous of aren’t really held by the Jews. They’re held by the black Christian leaders. That’s the constellation he wants. Farrakhan knows that as soon as he says Jesus, he’s lost. So he goes about it differently. He’s not really after the Pharisees, he’s after Jesus. Jews are just the effigy.34 Note: The next article will be about the good works of the NOI 1 Miller, Lisa. “American Dreamers: Muslim Americans are one of this country's greatest strengths. But they're vulnerable as never before.” Newsweek, July 30, 2007. 2 Ibid 3 Ibid 4 Zoba, Wendy Murray. “Islam, U.S.A.” Christianity Today, April 3, 2000, p. 42 5 Dretke, James P. “The Growth of Islam in the United States,’ article awaiting publication, 2000. According to Dretke, this statistic is mitigated by the fact that many of these women revert back to their Christian roots when their children get older (i.e., above 7 or 8 years old). Also, cf., Zoba, p 42. 6 Ibid 77 The New York Times, March 5, 1994 8 Louise Blake quoted in The Washington Post Magazine, April 3, 1983. 9 Halasa, Malu. Elijah Muhammad, Chelsea House Publishers, New York-Philadelphia, 1990, p. 44. 10 Al-Zukhruf 43:77 11 I am not superstitious. I don’t believe that names predestine a child to infamy or greatness. Otherwise, prisons would not be full of Peters, Pauls, Marks, and Johns, and Hispanic criminals named “Jesus.” I emphatically do not believe the mother cursed her baby by naming him after the “Angel of Hell.” I mention this only to illustrate the ignorance (lack of knowledge) about the threat of Islam to Christianity and how Islam has already seeped into many African-American churches. However, I do recognize that there have been other historical people named “Malik” 12 Cuthbertson, Ian. “Exclusive: America’s Prisons: Breeding Grounds for Muslim Converts,” Accuracy in Media: For Fairness, Balance and Accuracy in News Reporting, January 9, 2007 13 King, Colbert I. “Muslim Converts, Meet FBI,” Washington Post, August 20, 2005; Page A17 14 Ibid 15 Newton, Michael. Holy Homicide: An Encyclopedia of Those Who Go With Their God…And Kill! Loompanics Unlimited, Port Townsend, Washington, 1998, p. 187 16 Evanzz, Karl. The Messenger: The Rise and Fall of Elijah Muhammad, Pantheon Books, New York, 1999, preface p. XI. 17 DeCaro, Louis A. Jr. Malcolm and the Cross: The Nation of Islam, Malcolm X, and Christianity, New York University Press, New York and London, 1998, p. 62. 18 Ibid, p. 105 19 Ibid, p. 110 20 Ibid, p. 112 21 A transcript of Muhammad’s speech and remarks by Malcolm X from the 1957 “Saviour’s Day” convention are found, respectively, in “Islam: The Remedy for the So-Called Negroes’ Ills,” and “Moslem Convention-1957,” Moslem World & the U.S.A., March-April 1957, 19-22, 14-15 22 “Allah’s pulpit thumper,” Salon News, February 28, 2000. 23 Pipes, Daniel. Militant Islam Reaches America, W.W. Norton & Company, New York London, 2002, p. 219 24 Pipes, p. 219-20 25 Ibid, p. 230 26 Essien-Udom, E.U. Black Nationalism: A Search for an Identity in America, 1962, p. 182 27 Plushnick-Masti, Ramit. “Cities see rise of black Muslims in wake of 9-11: Religious leaders report growth in major American Cities,” Associated Press, March 22, 2007 28 Bigg, Matthew. “Post 9-11, Islam flourishes among blacks.” February 25, 2007, http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2121536220070226, retrieved 10-10-07 29 Tu, Janet I. “I am both Muslim and Christian,” The Seattle Times, June 17, 2007 30 DeCaro, p. 4 31 Ibid, p. 5 32 Hogan/Albach Susan. “Louis Farrakhan claims he is both a Muslim and a Christian,” Chicago Tribune, May 26, 2007 33 Ibid, p. 3 34 Trebay, Guy. “The Sins of Omission,” Village Voice, October 22, 1996, p. 18