Is THEM Guilty of Shirk? - Dr. Wesley Muhammad
Is THEM Guilty of Shirk? - Dr. Wesley Muhammad
Is THEM Guilty of Shirk? - Dr. Wesley Muhammad
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which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His<br />
apostles. Say not "trinity": desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one Allah. Glory be to<br />
Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on<br />
earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer <strong>of</strong> affairs." (Qur'an 4:171 Yusuf Ali translation)<br />
So, in my opinion, there is room to differ and engage each other about our differences, yet the good<br />
people amongst us can find common ground to do good deeds.<br />
THE BLACK SHEEP AND THE WHITE SHEEP<br />
<strong>Dr</strong>. <strong>Wesley</strong> makes two major points in his opening comments. The first is that the debate is not about the<br />
meaning <strong>of</strong> shirk, but about the nature <strong>of</strong> Allah. <strong>Is</strong> He a man or not? This point has been the subject <strong>of</strong><br />
most <strong>of</strong> the discussion and will be commented upon later in my reply to <strong>Dr</strong>. <strong>Wesley</strong>'s evidence on this<br />
topic. It is his second point that I would like to address first, which is how most <strong>of</strong> the Muslim world came<br />
to believe in a G-d that we cannot see with our physical eyes rather than as a man, albeit super or divine<br />
man who is different from a regular, mortal man.<br />
My reading <strong>of</strong> <strong>Dr</strong>. <strong>Wesley</strong>'s words is that Prophet <strong>Muhammad</strong> and the other original black Arabs<br />
conceptualized Allah in one way (the way <strong>of</strong> what he refers to as the Semitic tradition) and then<br />
afterwards the non-blacks, non-Arabs became Muslim and brought their non-Semitic conceptualization <strong>of</strong><br />
Allah into the <strong>Is</strong>lamic religion, which drowned out by their sheer numbers the black Semitic way <strong>of</strong><br />
looking at Allah. Eventually, the white way <strong>of</strong> seeing (understanding) Allah became the dominant concept<br />
and the black way was pushed into the background and obscured.<br />
<strong>Dr</strong>. <strong>Wesley</strong> says:<br />
"Bro Mubaashir begins his review by echoing the sentiment <strong>of</strong> Bro Imam Salim Mu'min that<br />
"the only way <strong>Dr</strong>. <strong>Wesley</strong>'s case proves that the followers <strong>of</strong> the Honorable Elijah <strong>Muhammad</strong><br />
are not guilty <strong>of</strong> shirk is if he changes the definition <strong>of</strong> the word shirk to something other than<br />
what it means." This, Beloveds, is deflection. The problem is not at all our respective<br />
understandings <strong>of</strong> shirk: we three all agree that a mushrik is one who associates partners with<br />
Allah. The problem is our respective understandings <strong>of</strong> "Allah" to whom no partners may be<br />
legitimately associated. We who adhere to the <strong>Is</strong>lam taught to us by the Honorable Elijah<br />
<strong>Muhammad</strong> understand that Allah is a man - a divine man rather than a mortal man, but a<br />
man nonetheless. In my most recent book, "Take Another Look: The Qur'an, the Sunna, and<br />
the <strong>Is</strong>lam <strong>of</strong> the Honorable Elijah <strong>Muhammad</strong>," I demonstrate that this understanding <strong>of</strong> Allah<br />
is absolutely consistent with the Qur'an and Sunna when these are no longer read through the<br />
lens <strong>of</strong> al-Ghazzali and other non-Arab converts to <strong>Is</strong>lam who rejected the Black Arabs to whom<br />
the message first came and their understanding <strong>of</strong> the religion. These non-Arab converts -<br />
particularly the Persians and Byzantines - introduced a new understanding <strong>of</strong> God and a<br />
peculiar way <strong>of</strong> reading the Qur'an so as to locate this new God therein. I introduced this<br />
history in Philly and identified there the great Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855) as the<br />
champion <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Is</strong>lam <strong>of</strong> the original Black Arabs against those who tried to de-Arabize the<br />
religion by (among other things) replacing the Semitic God <strong>of</strong> the Qur'an with the Greek God <strong>of</strong><br />
Hellenism." (Response to Mubaashir Part 1)<br />
<strong>Dr</strong>. <strong>Wesley</strong> goes on to say:<br />
"In my lecture (and book) I emphasized this Black Arab/White convert dichotomy in<br />
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