The Berkeley Institute for Islamic Studies

[Qa'im]

16 hours ago, Eddie Mecca said:

@Qa'im, A few questions:  1.) In your opinion, is there any possibility (regardless of how remote) that Master Fard Muhammad was Al Qāʾim Āl Muḥammad (peace be upon him)? 2.) Are there any indications that W. D. Fard came from an Ismāʿīli background (considering the emphasis the N.O.I. places on allegory, numerology, idea of cyclical time etc.) 3.) In your opinion, did W. D. Fard proclaim himself to be God Almighty? 4.) In your opinion, did Elijah either unintentionally or intentionally misconstrue the teachings of W. D. Fard (especially regarding Fard being an incarnation of the Divine)? 

NOTE: regarding question number one, consider the following: 1.) Mysterious Middle Easterner arrives to the U.S. from Mecca 2.) Said person has 58 aliases 3.) it's hotly contested who he is and what his mission is 4.) Said person is mistaken to be God (like the extremists and exaggerators did to some of the Imams) 5.) Said person seeks out the oppressed and the downtrodden in foreign land and helps them rise up (something Al Qāʾim will do during the End Times) 6.) Said oppressed community is marvelously or miraculously transformed by the power of the message conveyed by the Mystery Man 7.) Mystery Man places special importance on science and reasoning and mathematics (Al Qāʾim will bring technology and place an emphasis on learning and science when he arises during the End Times) 8.) The family of Muhammad (peace be upon them) were well-known for their positive outlook on Africa (especially N. Africa and N.E. Africa) and their sympathy toward the plight of black people and their relentless stance against malicious / unjust treatment toward the oppressed in general

(1) I do not believe that Master Fard Muhammad was the Twelfth Imam. There are indeed some similarities, but Fard was arrested many times and imprisoned as well, while I don't believe that the 12th Imam can be held in an American prison. Secondly, while the Farrakhan and Warith Deen communities have both tried to make bridges between NOI doctrine and traditional Islam, I believe Fard's teachings in their purest and earliest form were undoubtedly heterodox, and some can be falsified. There was no Yakub that grafted white people on Patmos island. There was no Tribe of Shabazz. The sun was not the first creation. The moon was not blown off the Earth with TNT. No intelligent beings live on Mars. A Mother Plane was not built in Imperial Japan. Life after physical death is real. God does not have a colour; God does not have a beginning; the "creator god" did not die. Some of these teachings are undoubtedly traceable to Fard and not just Elijah. Fard never prayed. Fard may have been diabetic. Fard had sex with a married woman (Laura Swanson). Fard was arrested for selling drugs. Fard shows strong influences from the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Freemasons, and the Moorish Science Temple. Some of the above points are not bulletproof, but altogether, the inference is that he is not our Mahdi. My current theory is that he was a saboteur of some sort, either working independently or for a government, and that he was trying to create a wedge between white and black. There is a book coming out in May by Michael Muhammad Knight that suggests that Fard may have been involved in the Ghadar Movement on the West coast before 1930. The Ghadar movement was an Indian-American anti-British organization. Fard was also a friend of the Japanese and the FBI took this very seriously.

(2) John Andrew Morrow's book "Finding W.D. Fard" suggests strong Alawite/Alevi/AhlulHaq/Ismaili influences in his teachings. It is certainly possible, and the current consensus is that Fard came from a part of the world where these groups existed. That said, we aren't sure of his origins. I've critiqued Morrow by saying ( a ) Fard uses many influences from many religions, so we can't determine that one of those religious groups is his definite origin. There were for example Alawites in Detroit, and he could have gotten material from them in the same way that he got material from Ahmadis. Fard was a white to whites, a Jew to Jews, a black to blacks, and sometimes other things, etc. ( b ) some of the NOI overlaps with Alawite/Alevi/AhlulHaq/Ismaili or even Buddhist theology might be a coincidence, because religions sometimes have similar ideas and address similar issues. For example, while "24 scientists" may sound like "12 imams and 12 mahdis", it also sounds like the 24 elders of Revelation 4:4, which is the more likely origin of the idea. ( c ) Some aspects of Shiism are completely missing in Fard's theology. He never talks about Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn (عليه السلام) in any direct way, nor al-Kafi, Nahj al-Balagha, Sahifa Sajjadiyya, the Aga Khans, the Fatimids, etc.

(3) I address this under "On W.D. Fard being God" in my article here. In short, it is complicated, but I do not believe he ever referred to himself as "Allah in Person": https://bliis.org/research/the-teachings-of-supreme-minister-john-muhammad/

(4) Elijah Muhammad believed in Fard very intensely. He was mostly accurate in his representation of Fard's teachings, from what we can gather from the available sources. Elijah Muhammad's family was definitely at the top echelons of the NOI by 1934 while Fard was still semi-active. There is evidence that Elijah's theology evolved over time. First he thought Fard was a prophet, then Allah's son, then Allah in Person. Elijah first considered himself to be a prophet, and would say that Muhammad (s) was just an "enthusiast." There were others like Kallat Muhammad and Osman Sharrieff that had disagreements with Elijah on theology. As Morrow said to me once, Elijah Muhammad was mostly accurate in his representation of W.D. Fard, but he emphasized ideas, de-emphasized ideas, extrapolated and expanded on Fard's ideas, etc. It is possible, based on the FBI file, that Fard told Elijah in 1934 to teach the people that Fard was God, and then at the end of Elijah's life, Elijah wanted Warith Deen to teach that Elijah was God and that Warith was his Messenger. However, since J. Edgar Hoover's FBI is the only source on that, I don't know how seriously it should be taken.

[Qa'im]

Ibn Jurayj was an early Meccan jurist of Byzantine origins who narrated thousands of reports in the Islamic ḥadīth corpus. His reports are commonly found in the two Ṣaḥīḥs and the Muṣannaf literature. According to al-Dhahabī, Ibn Jurayj was the leading shaykh in Mecca. Perhaps the most eccentric feature of this school was its outspoken support for the validity of temporary marriage (mutʿa).

Despite Ibn Jurayj’s apparent piety and trustworthiness, a defect in some of his reports is that he does not always name his sources. Peculiarly, he frequently narrates directly from an anonymous person that he trusted (literally “man uṣaddiq”, someone I trust). If Ammaar Muslim’s postulation is correct, then Ibn Jurayj was censoring the name of Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (d. 765 AD), the famous Medinan jurist from the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet.

https://bliis.org/research/ibn-jurayj-jaʿfar-al-ṣadiq-and-meccan-fiqh/

[Qa'im]

The modern Western narrative would have us believe that freedom of thought and expression are ideals that are the envy of those living under authoritarian rule. While these ideals are indeed taken seriously in many spheres of life, the West has a nasty track record of curtailing the very products that it has claimed to promote since the Enlightenment project began. The Enlightenment was supposed to elevate reason above superstition and free minds from the clutches of dogmatism.

By the 20th century, however, thinkers, like those of the Frankfurt School , had pointed out that the Enlightenment was a failure, and that humanity has yet to escape its intellectual prisons. At the same time, we witnessed the rise of the experts , who couched their propositions in academic jargon, and separated themselves from the masses, routinely silencing them with their credentials. The critical spirit was once again betrayed when millions came under the spell of ruthless dictators, who led their followers to commit unspeakable crimes against humanity. The bleakest years of the last century are a stark reminder that the critical spirit of humankind is ever under attack.

 

An essay by George Stroubakis: https://bliis.org/essay/not-so-independent-it-takes-a-village-to-produce-knowledge/

[khadumvaliasr]

On 4/11/2024 at 6:08 PM, Qa'im said:

Elijah Muhammad believed in Fard very intensely. He was mostly accurate in his representation of Fard's teachings, from what we can gather from the available sources. Elijah Muhammad's family was definitely at the top echelons of the NOI by 1934 while Fard was still semi-active. There is evidence that Elijah's theology evolved over time. First he thought Fard was a prophet, then Allah's son, then Allah in Person. Elijah first considered himself to be a prophet, and would say that Muhammad (s) was just an "enthusiast." There were others like Kallat Muhammad and Osman Sharrieff that had disagreements with Elijah on theology. As Morrow said to me once, Elijah Muhammad was mostly accurate in his representation of W.D. Fard, but he emphasized ideas, de-emphasized ideas, extrapolated and expanded on Fard's ideas, etc. It is possible, based on the FBI file, that Fard told Elijah in 1934 to teach the people that Fard was God, and then at the end of Elijah's life, Elijah wanted Warith Deen to teach that Elijah was God and that Warith was his Messenger. However, since J. Edgar Hoover's FBI is the only source on that, I don't know how seriously it should be taken.

Nonetheless Fard Muhammad,  his background,  his ethnicity, his influence on the Black Muslim movement is really puzzling and yet incredible.

[Qa'im]

The similarities between the Nation of Islam and the Young Turks are more than superficial. Both movements emphasized nationalism, reform, and independence. Both movements modernized their Islam while maintaining its identity and heritage. Both movements opposed European imperialism.

By Bilal Muhammad: https://bliis.org/research/the-noi-flag-is-based-on-the-young-turks-flag/

 

Fard Has Escaped History: A Review Of Michael Muhammad Knight’s The Supreme Wisdom Lessons: A Scripture Of American Islam
 

By Dr. John Andrew Morrow:

https://bliis.org/essay/fard-has-escaped-history-a-review-of-michael-muhammad-knights-the-supreme-wisdom-lessons-a-scripture-of-american-islam/

[Qa'im]

Akhi, you should read Tolkien’s Silmarillion

"The Muslim community in the West loves the Lord of the Rings movies. It does not conflict with the values of Islam on a basic level. It is more chaste than what popular fantasy fiction would become. It is a battle of good and evil. The Lord of the Rings’ reception in the Muslim community can be seen in the r/Izlam subreddit where it is often referenced.

The Silmarillion is a collection of texts meant to tell the history of the first to third ages of Middle-earth. For reference, Lord of the Rings is the closing of the third age. Yes, Tolkien intends for Lord of the Rings and other stories in his legendarium to tell the story of Britain’s pre-history the way Joseph Smith claimed the Book of Mormon tells about the Pre-history of America. In this regard, the Lord of the Rings is presented as a lost manuscript from the third age that Tolkien edited and translated rather than wrote. While Tolkien never intended to base a religion around The Silmarillion, he was up to forging an ancient pre-history. As a philologist and linguist, he knew enough ancient myths and languages to believably accomplish this task as fiction."

https://bliis.org/essay/akhi-you-should-read-tolkiens-silmarillion/

[Qa'im]

The Isrā’īlīyāt Problem

Isrā’īlīyāt (literally “things attributed to Israelites”) refers to a subgenre of Islamic sources that have a Jewish or Christian origin. After Islam swept the Near East in the seventh century, Muslims inherited a milieu rich with literature and lore. This tradition found its way into core Islamic texts, especially ḥadīth and tafsīr works. In some popular cases, Isrā’īlīyāt provides context to prophetic stories. Skeptics rejected these exegetical sources due to their dubious, pre-Islamic provenance. However, as we shall see, there is considerable evidence that the Isrā’īlīyāt had a subtler influence that has been difficult to detect until modern times. Since most Islamicists do not specialize in Jewish or Christian literature, it takes some interdisciplinary reading to detect this influence.

https://bliis.org/research/the-israiliyat-problem/

[Guest Shia]

3 hours ago, Qa'im said:

The Isrā’īlīyāt Problem

Isrā’īlīyāt (literally “things attributed to Israelites”) refers to a subgenre of Islamic sources that have a Jewish or Christian origin. After Islam swept the Near East in the seventh century, Muslims inherited a milieu rich with literature and lore. This tradition found its way into core Islamic texts, especially ḥadīth and tafsīr works. In some popular cases, Isrā’īlīyāt provides context to prophetic stories. Skeptics rejected these exegetical sources due to their dubious, pre-Islamic provenance. However, as we shall see, there is considerable evidence that the Isrā’īlīyāt had a subtler influence that has been difficult to detect until modern times. Since most Islamicists do not specialize in Jewish or Christian literature, it takes some interdisciplinary reading to detect this influence.

https://bliis.org/research/the-israiliyat-problem/

Salam,

Wow that is a very interesting read, thank you for sharing! Each day I seem to learn something new about my religion