Monday, October 24, 2005

Nation of Islam Beliefs vs. Mainstream Islam

By Lisa Haddock
NJ Faith Forum Editor

The Nation of Islam beliefs are significantly different from those held by mainstream Muslims. Here is a brief overview.

Nation of Islam

“We believe that Allah (God) appeared in the Person of Master W. Fard Muhammad, July, 1930; the long-awaited 'Messiah' of the Christians and the "Mahdi" of the Muslims (NOI Web site).”

Mainstream Islam

God has never taken human form.

Nation of Islam

“The Master was preaching this Great Truth of salvation when He met a man named Elijah Poole in Detroit, Michigan. He chose him to be His Divine Representative in continuing this most difficult task of bringing truth and light to His lost and found people. For 3 1/2 years He taught and trained the Honorable Elijah Muhammad night and day into the profound Secret Wisdom of the Reality of God, which included the hidden knowledge of the original people who were the first founders of civilization of our Planet and who had a full knowledge of the Universal Order of Things from the beginning of the Divine Creation (NOI Web site).”

Mainstream Islam

Muhammad was the last prophet of God. “God's final message to man, a reconfirmation of the eternal message and a summing-up of all that has gone before was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through Gabriel,” states Islamicity.com.

Nation of Islam

Originally, all people were black and followed Islam. The center of their world was Mecca. Dr. Yacub, a troublemaker exiled from Mecca, created white people. Whites were destined to persecute blacks until the appearance of Master W.F. Muhammad. Through his messenger Elijah Muhammad, God would provide knowledge to free blacks from their oppression. (The National Review)

White people are a race of devils. “Is it wrong to attribute a predisposition to wheat before it comes up out of the ground? Wheat's characteristics and nature make it wheat. It differs from barley because of its nature. Wheat perpetuates its own characteristics just as the white race does. White people are born devils by nature. They don't become so by deeds. If you never put popcorn in a skillet, it would still be popcorn. Put the heat to it, it will pop. (Malcolm X, Playboy interview, May 1963, pre-conversion to mainstream Islam)”

Mainstream Islam

God created man from a single man and woman. Quran, Yusuf Ali translation, Chapter 4:1: ‘ O mankind! reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, His mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;- reverence Allah, through whom ye demand your mutual (rights), and (reverence) the wombs (That bore you): for Allah ever watches over you.”

Nation of Islam

“We believe in the resurrection of the dead--not in physical resurrection--but in mental resurrection. We believe that the so-called Negroes are most in need of mental resurrection; therefore they will be resurrected first. (NOI Web site)”

Mainstream Islam

“I do call to witness the Resurrection Day. (Quran 71:1)”

“Has not He, (the same), the power to give life to the dead? (Quran 71:40)”

“If any do deeds of righteousness--be they male or female--and have faith, they will enter Heaven, and not the least injustice will be done to them. Quran 4:124)”

Islamicity.com, "What Do Muslims Believe?"
Nation of Islam, The Muslim Program
Nation of Islam, history
Beliefnet, Nation of Islam beliefs
Findarticles.com, National Review story, 1994
Malcolm-X.org, Playboy interview

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

How come african americans are unaware that slavery was common in Islam?
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_and_slavery
* http://www.answering-islam.org/Silas/slavery.htm
* http://www.brandeis.edu/projects/fse/Pages/islamandslavery.html

Shazreh Khan said...

Answering Z,Plz, Muslims practiced slavery a while back, but slavery has been a large part of America's history and even l8er african-americans were treated cruelly and sometimes still are.Slavery was never a part of life to the degree it was in the U.S. How come we don't get angry at ourselves once in a while? Y don't we look at ourselves first b4 judging other people?

Anonymous said...

Z, I think what you meant to say was how come SOME African Americans don't know....I'm sure a lot know all to well about slavery.

Anonymous said...

Slavery spoken of as well as governed in the bible. Yes others including Arabs and other blacks owned or sold slaves.The point is that no people in the annals of history have been subjected to this vicious kind of slavery for such a protracted period of 400 years. A kind of slavery that changed the language, culture, religion,....basically severed Black people from their evolutionary path or historical root.
I would simply ask how do YOU quantify over 150 million lives thrown overboard in the transatlantic slave trade over the course of 300+ years. Practically all European nations waxed rich off the sales of black men, women, and children. In terms of scale and size and impact nothing compares. Yet we must overcome it. How do YOU weigh out and scale the complete effect and damages done and what it takes to repair it. How deep does the damage go? The mind? The spirit? the very psyche of a people? What criteria and measuring tools do you use?