Is THEM Guilty of Shirk? - Dr. Wesley Muhammad

understanding Islam because the Prophet pointed it out." He quotes the following hadith as
support for this view:
"Zayd b. Aslam related that the Prophet (s) saw a vision and told his companions about it. He
said: "I saw a group of black sheep and a group of white sheep then mixed with them [until the
white sheep became so numerous that the black sheep could no longer be seen in the herd of
sheep.] I interpreted it to mean that [the black sheep are the Arabs. They will accept Islam and
become many. As for the white sheep, they are the non-Arabs (i.e. Persians, Turks, Byzantines,
ect.)] They will enter Islam and then share with you your wealth and your genealogy [and
become so numerous that the Arabs will not be noticed amongst them.]" The Companions
became surprised by what he (s) said. Then one said, "The non-Arab Persians will enter our
land, O' Messenger of Allah?!" The Prophet (s) then said, "Yes. By He Who Has my soul in His
Hand, if the religion was hanging on the distant star, men from the non-Arab Persians would
reach it and the luckiest of them would be the people of Faris."
Dr. Wesley continues:
"I have demonstrated that these 'Black sheep' who are the original recipients of the message of
Islam are the Black Arabs and they and their Islam are best represented by Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
I further demonstrated that the White sheep and their re-interpretation of Islam are best
represented by the Persian Hujjat al-Islam al-Ghazzali." (Response to Mubaashir Part 1)
BLACK SHEEP/WHITE SHEEP HADITH
Upon reading this hadith, I see no reason to interpret the black/white reference as a racial reference, nor
does it hint that this influx of non-Arabs to Al-Islam would crowd out "true" Islam or the "true" concept of
Allah held by the Arabs. To me, according to this report, Prophet Muhammad simply uses the
black/white sheep reference as a metaphor for a time when non-Arabs of other ethnicities will enter Islam
in crowds and outnumber the Arabs. This is not a bad thing, this is a good thing. Sura 110 tells us that
when we see the people coming to the Deen in crowds glorify and celebrate the praises of our Rabb. The
hadith says that they will "accept Islam and become many."
If we accept this hadith, it indicates that Prophet Muhammad envisioned many people from all over the
world becoming Muslims, but it doesn't prove Dr. Wesley's contention that the prophet predicted a white
takeover and corruption of Al-Islam.
I think it also lends support to the notion that prophet Muhammad spoke in metaphors to better
communicate to the unlearned Arabs who were fresh out of Jahiliyyah. Surely, Arabia was an agrarian
society and the prophet himself was a sheep herder. All of the people he was speaking to would be familiar
with the fact that there are more white sheep than black sheep. They would readily understand how a
small number of black sheep would be hidden in the midst of a multitude of white sheep. In addition to
the black sheep metaphor, the prophet concludes this hadith with another metaphor when he says,
"By He Who Has my soul in His Hand, if the religion was hanging on the distant star, men from the non-
Arab Persians would reach it (meaning reach that distant star)."
When considering Dr. Wesley's reading of this hadith compared to the possible alternative reading I have
just provided, I am not convinced that the prophet was alluding to a racial problem or a corruption
problem from the anticipated influx of the multitudes of different people to our religion.
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