Jazakallahu khairan for the much needed introspection. There is so much wrong with the very basics of our Islam and Iman that we really don’t have much of a reason to complain. We’re too focused on group glory and yet forget to save our own souls and uphold Allah’s commands.

All of our problems our nothing compared to the true and time tested solutions that the Messenger of Allah brought as a mercy. Unfortunately, we think too highly of ourselves and stray confused and dumbfounded. May Allah give us the tawfiq to uphold his commandments and strengthen kinship ties.

as-salaamu ‘alaikum Margari Aziza Hill. You wrote,

“I have had Africans (living in America) yell at me saying I had no right to call myself African American.”

Does this experience supersede reason? Imam al-Haddad suggests,

“Admirable it is for man to join kinship if they don’t bond with him, to be courteous towards them if they are rude with him. The Messenger of Allah Almighty said: “The one who joins kinship bonds is not the one who merely reciprocates, nay, the one who joins is he who keeps kinship ties when he is cut off (from them).“

But are you suggesting not to value and identify the kinship with African-American’s ethnic origins, to be indifferent to ethnic origins or something else entirely? Perhaps, you are saying to celebrate Black American Culture? I am, however, not suggesting to discount Black American Culture, in fact I think what is considered “Black American Culture” would be more richly enhanced with a legitimate knowledge and connection to an individual’s ethnic history. Despite what some observers have suggested, though complicated, it’s not an impossible mash-up, for lack of a better phrase.

As for the experiences of others which you have given an account of saying,

“They mentioned that is because Black Americans expect for there to be a cultural connection, they hope to be embraced as brethren by their West African counterparts.”

Again, what is the alternative? It is my prayer that one of the points that you found “interesting” was the suggestion to develop,

“a kinship of religious character with the ‘Ahl Sunnat wal Jama’ah, as well as the knowledge of blood ties and familial identity with the nations from which African Americans are originating.”

Perhaps the intention to please Allah ta ‘ala, rather than satisfy a need for social acceptance, will send different results to us. I remember the first time I sat with Shaykh Abdul Kerim, we were having a private talk… our first real private talk. And I was complaining about a shaykh that I was following when I was in my teens (about 15 years ago). To make a long story short I inadvertently called the shaykh a “fake-shaykh” expecting Shaykh Abdul Kerim to share my sentiments. But instead, he looked at me sternly and said,

“How do you know he is a fake-shaykh, do you have a tester?”

I paused. He finished,

“Maybe you were a fake-murid?”

I was stunned. He then asked,

“Be honest with yourself. Did you receive more good from him than bad or more bad than good?”

And the honest answer was that I received so much more good than bad, in fact the more I’ve looked at it since that day, I realize that I was creating the trouble that I had been complaining about… that is… if I’m really going to be honest and sincere with myself. Thank you for your thoughts.

-Saifuddin

I wonder have you been to West Africa? I guess when we are encouraging people to make kinship ties and identify with the people who reside in the lands of our distant origins, we should try it out ourselves and see how that goes.

Just a thought….

wa ‘alaikum as-salaam. Alhamdulillah! Dawud Walid it is a shame, but something I feel can be handled by the Grace of Allah ta ‘ala. What I am looking to impress upon the minds of myself, Muslims and specifically African Americans is the commandment to value blood ties, without exceeding the limits of course. I think that African Americans have somehow come to the conclusion that they are an entirely different entity than the ancestry left behind on the Western Coast of the African continent. This is a big fitnah. And something that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s) would not have accepted.

Our Grand Shaykh, Sultan AwliyaAllah Maulana Shaykh Nazim gave a sohbet, a talk, at Masjid al-Aqsa in Harlem August of 2000 saying to a room of nearly 3000 Africans (From Senegal, Guinea, Nigeria, Mali, Somalia and others) that they are,

“the flag-carriers of Islam to this nation, particularly to the African-Americans, and that the zakat for their money is 2.5% of their wealth, but the zakat on their faith is to bring one person to Islam.”

There is a Divine Secret in this sohbet. Indeed, I believe it is essential for the success of African American Muslims to develop a kinship of religious character with the ‘Ahl Sunnat wal Jama’ah, as well as the knowledge of blood ties and familial identity with the nations from which African Americans are originating. This is because a person’s skin color is not an acceptable marker of identity according to Islamic tradition and reason. And I will be frank here, this position confuses most Muslims on the outside looking in, that is to say a reference to a “African-American Identity” which completely excludes an individual’s ethnic origins, tribal identities and associated blood ties.

-Saifuddin

Good post, as usual.

It is a shame that this topic even needs discussion among Blackamerican Muslims.

The Salafi da’wah truly exasperated the sentiment among us that our non-Muslim family members aren’t “our people.” Never mind that the Qur’an says that Nabi Salih (AS) said to Thamud, “Oh my people!” or that the Qur’an says, “And to Thamud we sent their BROTHER Salih.”

BarakALLAHU feek.

Wassalaam.