Black Muslim Vs Muslim

I very recently discussed the topic of Black Muslims and Muslim Blacks with some Christian brothers. They wanted to know if the Nation of Islam was the same as regular Muslims. When I told them that Black Muslims (as members of NOI call themselves) are not Muslims, they were thoroughly confused.  This article is designed to remove that confusion from the minds of those who sincerely want to know the difference between Black Muslims (NOI) and Muslims.

1.       The Nation of Islam (Black Muslims) is purely a racially-biased, American organization, created in America about 1934 by Elijah Muhammad (originally named Elijah Poole of Detroit, Michigan).

2.       His “… mission was to restore and to resurrect His lost and found people, who were identified as the original members of the Tribe of Shabazz from the Lost Nation of Asia. [The lost people of the original nation of African descent…]”. (1)

3.       Black Muslims believe that “The Honorable Elijah Muhammad identified the Master as being the answer to the one that the world had been expecting for the past 2,000 years under the names Messiah, the second coming of Jesus, the Christ, Jehovah, God, and the Son of Man. When the Honorable Elijah Muhammad asked Him to identify Himself He replied that He was the Mahdi. He signed His name in 1933 as Master Wallace Fard Muhammad [emphasis mine] to express the meaning of One Who had come in the Early Morning Dawn of the New Millennium to lay the base for a New World Order of Peace and Righteousness on the foundation of Truth and Justice; to put down tyrants and to change the world into a Heaven on Earth.” (1)

4.       Their core belief “12. 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.” (2)

Islam, to the contrary, is the name of the universal lifestyle practiced by billions of people worldwide for more than 1500 years. It was propagated and established by Prophet Muhammad Mustafa (peace be upon him) of Arabia, who brought the Quran to humanity. Practitioners of Islam are called “Muslims”, not “Islamists” as is the current American coinage. To be accepted as a Muslim, there are several core principles that one must understand and uphold.

1.       You must truly believe that there is no other God (Creator, being worthy of worship) than Allah and Muhammad Mustafa is His final prophet and messenger.

2.       You must not worship other beings or associate any other "gods" with Him (especially impersonations of Allah).

3.       You must accept the Quran’s instructions as the Laws of Allah and the Hadith (teachings of the prophet) as the indisputable explanations thereof. These two sources are the foundation of the Islamic life; anything else is a corruption.

4.       You must practice the obligatory duties as ordered by Quran and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

5.       You must accept Islam without reservation and discard conflicting pre-Islamic beliefs and practices.

The Nation of Islam, as an organization, has done a lot of uplifting work in the Black communities of America. That, however, does not make them Muslims in the true sense of the term.  In the light of Islam, they are comparable to every other socially responsible organization in the nation which is striving to clean up communities and help people. Their call, as they define it, is not to Islam. They neither preach Islam nor practice it; therefore, they cannot truthfully call themselves “Muslim”, nor can they truthfully call their lifestyle “Islam”. Using the term “Allah” does not change their philosophy because their definition of it is totally contrary to the Quran’s.  This is a commonly-used Arabic term familiar to both Arab Muslims and Christians and does not legitimize the philosophy of the Nation of Islam. It can, however, confuse people who are unwilling to enquire about Islam outside of racial boundaries and prejudices.

America today, as every Western society, has a visible population of Muslim Black people. Because of its ingrained racism and “Christian” prejudices, American society has chosen to dismiss Muslim Blacks as being affiliated with the Black Muslim organization (NOI).  However, this misinformation can be easily cleared up by those of us seeking correct knowledge about the lifestyle of Islam. A simple library or internet search should point you in the right direction. Or better yet, visit a Muslim mosque (not a NOI facility) and ask for some information.

Refs: (1) excerpted from NOI website, "History of NOI";

           (2) excerpted from NOI website, "What The Muslims Believe"