Introduction
Bilal ibn Rabah has been revered over the centuries as the face of non-Arab Islam and has remained an inspiration to African muslims during times of great transgression. Today, pseudo-Islamic cults are using the story of Bilal ibn Rabah, the African Diaspora, and pseudo history as recruitment tools to gain followers from the Native American community. Their propaganda has included statements that the Native Americans are descendants of West Africans. This recruitment has been successful in that Native American leaders have invited pseudo-Islamic cult leaders on to their reservations in a spirit of bridging the gap between the two supposedly connected cultures. But is there any reason to be concerned about reservations being influenced by radical Islam? 1
In 2012, there were over 2.5 million Native Americans with about 1 million living on reservations.2 With so many Native Americans living a somewhat isolated existence and not having access to the internet this has created an environment ripe for manipulation and mind-control. We will examine the dangers this poses to America as a whole as often these pseudo-Islamic cults are very anti-Semitic and can inspire people to embrace the ideology of al-Qaida and ISIS.
Who was Bilal ibn Rabah
Bilal ibn Rabah is one of the most illustrious names in the Islamic history. A Negro slave originally from Ethiopia, Bilal is supposedly an evident story of Islam’s respect for human equality, anti-racism and social equity. Born in 580 CE in Mecca, to his slave parents — Rabah and Hamamah — Bilal too served as slave to a lady close to Umayyah ibn Khalaf, an archenemy of Islam. When Umayyah heard about Bilal converting to Islam, he tortured him and tried to force him to relinquish his new faith. But filled with love of Prophet Muhammad, Bilal remained steadfast in his faith despite extreme torture. 3
When the Holy Prophet learned about Bilal’s tribulation, he sent Abu Bakr, who bought him from the oppressor and freed him. Bilal subsequently became one of the most trusted and loyal companions of Prophet Muhammad. He was among the first few to embrace Islam. Bilal migrated with the Prophet to Medina and participated in major battles including those of Badar, Ohud, Khandaq and others. In the battle of Badr, he killed the staunch enemy of Islam — and his own former tyrant master — Umayyah. 4
In the Muslim view, the Prophet Muhammad was the first to declare equality among human beings in the annals of world history. “Indeed, there is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab or of a non-Arab over an Arab; or of a white over a black; nor a black over a white, except by taqwa (righteousness).” 5 The Prophet selected Bilal to be one of his distinguished companions. Bilal’s rise to a position of prominence in Islam is evidence of the importance of pluralism and racial equality in Islam. 6
The African Diaspora and the Current Dawah
According to Wikipedia, “The African diaspora refers to the communities throughout the world that have resulted by descent from the movement in historic times of peoples from Africa, predominantly to the Americas and among other areas around the globe. The term has been historically applied in particular to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were enslaved and shipped to the Americas in the Atlantic slave trade between the 16th and 19th centuries.” 7
Edgarly and Ellis argue that “In the ante-bellum South where slavery was king, the theological paradigm was ‘Exodus’. The slaves identified with the children of Israel in Egyptian bondage and saw the hand of God at work in terms of their hope in deliverance from slavery. This theology addressed the issues of survival, refuge and resistance to oppression.” 8
Many dawah (the proselytizing of Islam) efforts in Europe and America today are run by Salafists, who like Bilal, adopt isolationist and monastic lifestyles. This appeals to many people of African descent who still resonate with the ‘Exodus’ paradigm. However, this often turns into a situation where the imam can gain control over his subjects and turn them into extremists.
In the case of Europe, France and Belgium are overrun by Algerian Islamists who came over to escape the Algerian Civil War in the 1990s. This was a result of instability created in the country by French colonialism and the Algerian War with the French in the 1950s and 60s. France’s current open door policy along with its dark colonial history created a perfect storm for jihad.
African-American men view Christianity only as the White man’s religion and associate conversion to Islam with power and affirmation of being part of something bigger than themselves. America is on the same track as France if we don’t do something now.
Although Muslims only make up about 2% of the population in the United States, the majority of conversions to this growing religion are occurring within the African- American community (a little over 12% of America’s population). 9,10 Many of these conversions include conversions to the cult of the Nation of Islam.
African American men are also drawn to Islam because of the emphasis placed on male leadership. African-American churches tend to be dominated by women, with one central male figure, the pastor in the pulpit. Unlike the typical Christian church, the Muslim temples attract many more men than women, and men assume the full management of temple affairs. Women are honored and they perform important functions within a defined role. 11
Islamist dawah efforts are now expanding beyond African Americans to other cultures that may be a part of the African Diaspora. These cultures, in the minds of some anthropologists and Muslims, include the Native Americans.
An Example of What Muslims Teach About Native American History
The following section does not attempt to debunk these theories, but serves only to make the reader aware of what Muslims are teaching and how this can influence Native Americans. I don’t pretend to be an anthropologist so I will leave any counter arguments up to the experts. However, I may try to address and summarize the anthropological research in a later paper.
CHEROKEE TRIBE
Mahir Abdal-Razzaaq El, a Cherokee Blackfoot American Indian and convert to Islam, wrote a short article on Native American Muslims. Within this paper he claimed to be a Pipe Carrier Warrior for the Northeastern Band of Cherokee Indians in New York City. 12 However, according to AAANativeArts.com, who sell authentic replicas of Native American artifacts, the Cherokee don’t have pipe carriers or pipe holders as do the Lakota or other Plains Indians. The Cherokee use ceremonial pipes only for recreational and ceremonial use.
Abdal-Razzaaq El claims there are other Muslims in the Northeastern Band of Cherokee Indians in New York City, but offered no further details. Below are the specifics of his claims. 14
There are many documents, treaties, legislation and resolutions that were passed between 1600s and 1800s that show that Muslims were in fact, here and were very active in the communities in which they lived. 15
Treaties such as Peace and Friendship that was signed on the Delaware River in the year 1787 bear the signatures of Abdel-Khak and Muhammad Ibn Abdullah. Abdal- Razzaaq El argues that this treaty details the Muslim community’s continued right to exist in the areas of commerce and maritime shipping, and that the form of government at that time was in accordance with Islam. According to a federal court case from the Continental Congress, Muslims helped put the breath of life in to the newly framed constitution. All of the documents are presently in the National Archives as well as the Library of Congress. 16 If you have access to records in the state of South Carolina, Abdal-Razzaaq El recommends also reading the Moors Sundry Act of 1790. 17
Abdal-Razzaaq El goes on to say that some native languages are influenced by Arabic, Persian and Hebrew words. Almost all of the tribes have a vocabulary that includes the word Allah. If you were to look at any of the old books on Cherokee clothing up until the time of 1832, you will see the men wearing turbans and the women wearing long head coverings. The last Cherokee chief who had a Muslim name was Ramadhan Ibn Wati of the Cherokees in 1866. 18
To learn more about Muslim counterarguments against Abdal-Razzaaq El’s theories, I recommend you visit NewAgeFraud.org.
The Moorish Science Temple and the Nation of Islam: The Biggest Proponent of Pseudo History
El is commonly used by those influenced by the teachings of the pseudo-Islamic cult – the Moorish Science Temple (MST), as a last name, El meaning “God”. It is likely that Abdal-Razzaaq El is a member of this cult. In fact, Noble Drew Ali (b.1886 d. 1929), the founder of the MST movement, was the son of two former slaves and was adopted by a tribe of Cherokee. 19
This pseudo history being preached to the Native Americans is most likely a recruitment effort by pseudo-Islamic cults like the MST. The information provided above is just two small examples of what is being taught. To learn more about everything the MST believes in regards to the Native Americans I recommend you visit http://moorishamericannationalrepublic.com .
After Noble Drew Ali’s death, the MST began to split into sects or factions, one headed by Elijah Muhammed, who abandoned his Moorish Science origins and taught a pseudo-science of race hatred disguised as the “Nation of Islam” (NOI). 20 The greatest and most open display of recruitment of Native Americans by the NOI has been at the Gathering of Nations event in Albuquerque, NM.
The founder of the Gathering of Nations event, Derek Matthews, is from Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, which is also the hometown of former President Barack Obama. 21 The south side of Chicago is where the Moorish Science Temple and the Nation of Islam grew to power and continues to have a great influence on the local population. It is unclear at this time whether Matthews himself is a member of either group, but it is clear that he at least supports the organization.
Hundreds of tribes and thousands of families make up the nearly 100,000 people in attendance during the 3-day event each year, which, since its inception in 1983, has grown to become what is considered the largest celebration of Indigenous culture in the world, drawing a wide spectrum of tribes from North and South America, and is the largest single gathering of Native Americans in North America.22
According to a May 2007 edition of The Last Call, the NOI’s newspaper, as a result of her work on behalf of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan to bridge the gap between the Black and the Red, Gathering of Nations organizers invited Yo’Nas Da LoneWolf McCall-Muhammad, National Director of the Indigenous Nations Alliance of the Millions More Movement and the Nation of Islam to take part in the momentous occasion. In addition, Farrakhan sent a three-person delegation in fulfillment of the prophetic teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad to establish a united bond of cooperation between the Black and the Red.23
The Nation of Islam’s Courting of the Navajo Nation
Farrakhan has also personally met with members of the Navajo Nation. In a July 2006 meeting with the Navajo Nation Council in Window Rock, Arizona, Farrakhan promised foreign investment in building the infrastructure of a new, productive, united native American nation within the U.S. Farrakhan went on to say “American should be ashamed after taking the land from the indigenous people, that they would allow the indigenous people to have oil on this land, gas coming through it, electricity flowing over it and indigenous people on the land living in darkness without heat or without water,”24
Lise Balk King, a native life blogger and graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, notes that “the meeting presents an interesting tack in the Navajo Nation course, considering the fact that many leaders in the United States and abroad have refused to meet with Louis Farrakhan, citing his divisive politics. Probably his most infamous quote, which led to his censoring by the United States Senate was the statement, ‘Hitler was a very great man.’”25
“We do not recognize any division between the Sioux, Navajo, Hopi, Cree, Chickapee, Iroquois or Seminole,” Farrakhan added. “You are really one nation. But as long as you see yourself as only a small part of that nation, you become a minority. When you are a minority, you begin to think like a minority. But if you understand that, as people of color, we outnumber others 11 to 1 on our planet, then you are an international people who must not think simply in terms of yourself and other Native Americans.”26
As is the case with many cult leaders, Farrakhan appealed only to the emotions of his subjects and provided no direct solutions for the Navajo Nations’ economic and social ills. Yet, his rhetoric of encouragement was met with a standing ovation. He said that “At one time, before the foreigner arrived with more powerful weapons, the Navajo people were known as fierce, strong and independent.”27
Why is this Important? Hate Groups Inspire Terrorism.
In September 2015, Farrakhan blamed the United States for ISIS and al Qaeda at the end of his address at the Hilton in Rosemont, IL. Farrakhan said “Some of you are afraid of the Sharia. And the enemy is looking for a moderate Muslim…No. You either are a Muslim or you’re not. There is no such thing as a moderate Muslim.”28
He continued, “ISIS and al Qaeda are the illegitimate children of U.S. foreign policy. Osama bin Laden is a good man. When Russia moved into Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden and the mujaheddin went to fight to get the invader out of Afghanistan. America liked that, ‘my enemy, you fighting my enemy you my friend.’ But I’ll put friend in quotes because America is a friend to nobody.” 29
Conclusion
In his 2015 article in the Christian Examiner regarding Farrakhan’s address in Rosemont, Tomlin reminds us that “mainstream Muslims generally reject Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam for its allegiance to Elijah Muhammad, regarded by the group as a great teacher and a type of messiah, respectively.”30 But the group also teaches that blacks, and therefore Native Americans, are the original creation of Allah and the heirs of the promises God made to Abraham in the Book of Genesis.31 The Muslim Brotherhood has been very successful at inspiring radical Islamists while claiming to be a peaceful organization looking to work within the bounds of government. The Nation of Islam may not have the international appeal that the Muslim Brotherhood does, but it is on par with its level of hate speech and anti-Semitism. The “Call of Bilal” may be evidence of the importance of pluralism and racial equality in Islam, but only if those different races belong to Dar al-Islam (The House of Islam). To extremist organizations, like the Nation of Islam, any race that does not belong is looked at as a threat and labeled Dar al–Harb (House of War).
APPENDIX 1
Further Sources of Islamic Pseudo History
- Fell, Barry, Saga America, 1980
- Spellberg, Denise, Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an: Islam and the Founders, 2014
- Mails, Thomas E., The Cherokee People: The Story of the Cherokees from the Earliest Origins to Contemporary Times, 1996
- The Connection Between Islam And Native Americans, MST, 2013. http://moorishamericannationalrepublic.com/news/the-connection-between- islam-and-native-americans/
APPENDIX 2
How Other Muslim Leaders are Using Islamic Pseudo History to Recruit Native
Americans for Islam
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
“Contacts between Latin America and Islam date back to the 12th century. Muslims discovered America in 1178, not Christopher Columbus….Columbus mentioned the existence of a mosque on a hill on the Cuban coast.” November 2014 https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/history/events/muslims-and-christians-fight-over-which-was-discovered-first/
Notes
- Bilal ibn Rabah, Wikipedia, 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilal_ibn_Rabah
- Indian reservation, Wikipedia, 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reservation
- Ibid. Bilal ibn Rabah, Wikipedia, 2017
- Ibid. Bilal ibn Rabah, Wikipedia, 2017
- Elias, Abu Amina 2011; Farewell Sermon: Your Lord is one and your father Adam is one. Hadith Musnad Aḥmad 22978. http://dailyhadith.abuaminaelias.com/2011/12/30/farewell-sermon-your- lord-is-one-your-father-is-one-your-lives-are-sacred/
- Ibid. Bilal ibn Rabah, Wikipedia, 2017
- African diaspora, Wikipedia, 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_diaspora
- Edgerly, Adam and Ellis, Carl; Emergence of Islam in the African-American Community, http://www.answering-islam.org/ReachOut/emergence.html
- America Muslim Population, 2016, http://www.muslimpopulation.com/America/
- United States – ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2009. Factfinder.census.gov. https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk
- Ibid, Edgerly, Adam and Ellis, Carl
- El, Mahir Abdal-Razzaaq, 1996; Digging for the Red Roots, http://www.islam101.com/history/cherokee.htm
- Cherokee (Tsalagi or Aniyunwiya) Ceremonies and Ceremonial Objects: Cherokee Pipes, http://www.aaanativearts.com/cherokee/cherokee-ceremonies.htm
- Ibid, El, Mahir Abdal-Razzaaq
- Ibid, El, Mahir Abdal-Razzaaq
- Ibid, El, Mahir Abdal-Razzaaq
- Ibid, El, Mahir Abdal-Razzaaq
- Ibid, El, Mahir Abdal-Razzaaq
19. Turtle Island Muslims: Burying ‘Digging for the Red Roots’ , http://turtleisland.muslims.tripod.com/burryingtheredroots.htm
20. Imprimatur et. al., History and Catechism of the Moorish Orthodox Church of America. https://hermetic.com/moorish/catechism
21. Dyer, Jessica, 2014, Albuquerque Journal, One-on-one with Derek Mathews, https://www.abqjournal.com/386957/one-on-one-with-derek-mathews.html
22. Muhammed, Ashahed, 2007; The Final Call, The Union of the Black and the Red, http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/The_union_of_the_Black_and _the_Red_3498.shtml
23. Ibid, Muhammed, Ashahed
24. Worldnet News Daily, Farrakhan Courts Navajo Nation, 2006, http://www.wnd.com/2006/08/37303
25. King, Lise, 2006, Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan Visits Navajo Nation, Purpose of Visit Said to be “Diplomatic”, https://liseking.wordpress.com/2006/08/02/nation-of-islam- leader-louis-farrakhan-visits-navajo-nation/
26. Ibid, Worldnet News Daily
27. Ibid, King, Lise
28. Minister Farrakhan – Rosemont, IL. Address, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqN8hnPw1pI
29. Ibid., Minister Farrakhan – Rosemont, IL. Address,
30. Tomlin, Gregory, 2015; The Christian Examiner, Farrakhan: Bin Laden was a ‘good man,’ al Qaeda and ISIS are American creations, http://www.christianexaminer.com/article/farrakhan.bin.laden.was.a.good.man.al.qaeda.a nd.isis.are.american.creations/49480.htm
31. Ibid., Tomlin, Gregory
rainbowapologetics.com 