Is THEM Guilty of Shirk? - Dr. Wesley Muhammad

14.] Dr Wesley Muhammad Response
As-salaam Alaikum Family.
Thank you Bro Kyle for your thoughtful comments. I share your sentiment that the process of dialogue is
more valuable than any prospective outcome, except that outcome is increased mutual respect and
positive steps toward a unified community. This is the goal. For the record, I did not invest the time in this
wonderful exchange hoping to "convert" anyone. I respect Bro Imam Salim's right to, as his dear mother
admonished, hold on to that which he has in his brilliant head. If this dialogue changed not a single
person's theology but helps to generate a new-found mutual respect among we followers of the Imam and
followers of the Minister, then the time and effort was more than worth it. The Imam did a great service
to Islam in America in general (as everyone in this group already knows), but he also did a great service to
the reconstituted NOI (as I heard the Minister himself say). He forced us to reckon with the Qur'an and
Sunna in a way and to such a degree that, without his work, I do not think we would have felt compelled
to do. This has generated in those of us who have submitted to this compulsion, if you will, a love and
appreciation for the Holy Prophet that was generally absent in the past. Allow me to offer a personal
testimony. It was the way the Imam and his followers clung to the Qur‘an, the Prophet and his Sunna –
and the way some of them frequently bludgeoned us in the NOI with these sources - that inspired my
immersion into the study of these sources. And it was this immersion that has engendered in me a sincere
and profound love for the Qur‘an, the Prophet and his Sunna. Having discovered through this study the
harmony of the Supreme Wisdom with the Qur‘an and Sunna was/is a tremendous blessing from Allah
Ta‘ala; I sincerely believe that it has forever freed us sons and daughters of the Honorable Elijah
Muhammad from the anguish of having to ―choose‖ the one or the other. I deeply love the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad and the Supreme Wisdom, and I deeply love the Holy Prophet Muhammad and the
Qur‘an and Sunna. I am delighted today to know that I can legitimately – not schizophrenically – include
myself in both the NOI and the Ahl al-Sunna! I claim the latter as passionately as I claim the former. I
believe that this is a basis upon which the followers of the Imam and the followers of the Minister can
grow in mutual respect and, ultimately, mutual love, for we both love the Honorable Elijah Muhammad
and we both acknowledge the Qur‘an as the criterion of truth and the Prophet Muhammad as the Seal of
the Prophets; we can both acknowledge the beauty of his character and of his Sunna. It should matter
little that we interpret these great sources differently. It seems to me that our mutual acknowledgment of
and love for these sources is the adequate basis upon which to build unity and brotherhood/sisterhood.
Am I overly optimistic? Dear Brother Nazim Abdul-Latif, I regret that you feel that accepting my ―logic‖
will set this community back 35 years. My ―logic‖ is that we no longer have to choose EITHER the
Honorable Elijah Muhammad OR the Holy Prophet Muhammad. My ―logic‖ is that we no longer have
to choose EITHER the Supreme Wisdom that had the unparalleled impact on the lives of Black people in
America, literally resurrecting us psychologically, intellectually, socially, economically and, yes, spiritually,
OR the Qur‘an and Sunna that had the unparalleled impact on the lives of Black people in Arabia
(Arabs), literally resurrecting them psychologically, intellectually, socially, economically and, yes,
spiritually. My ―logic‖ is that we can actually cling to both WITHOUT being social schizophreniacs. This
is a logic that will set the community back 35 years? I certainly hope not. Bro Muhammad Abdur-
Rahman, I love you too in the path of Allah! I promise you, I am playing no word-games Beloved. I
sincerely seek and appreciate honest, non-dogmatic investigation and discussion about OUR religion,
Islam, and OUR book of guidance, the Qur‘an. I would never waste mine or the people‘s time with any
intellectual games. I believe Islam is THE healing for our desperately sick people. Every minute I spend in
this work is inspired by this conviction. You and I simply have different understandings of the muhkamat
and the mutashabihat in the Qur‘an. But that‘s ok. Does this have to prevent our embracing each other as
Brothers in the Faith? I hope not Beloved.
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