dear david
i have not seen any groups that call themselves 'muslim', except for the
NOI, accept NOI as muslim for most of its history. this relates not only to
their distaste for its racist underpinnings, but much more. on a theological
level, they are considered out of the pale of islam for a variety of
reasons. elijah muhammad's son, warith deen muhammad, led the noi after his
father's death into becoming much closer to the mainstream of muslim
thought, and they are generally recognised as muslims (because they believe
in the quran as god's word, the last prophet, etcetera). farrakhan rebuilt
the noi a few years after that, having been unsatisfied with w.d.muhammad's
efforts for a number of reasons, and re-embraced the original racialistic
teachings.
having said that, more recently, farrakhan's committment to the peculiar
theology and practises of elijah muhammad have been called into question
over recent times. he keeps saying he wishes to come into 'orthodox islam'
and groups get very excited, but he then says something that smacks of NOI
and puts him out of the pale of islam again. we shall see...
hisham al- zoubeir
----- Original Message -----
From: "dvbarrett" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 2:04 PM
Subject: Re: Malcolm X and NOI
> I obviously sent my comment on Malcolm X, NOI and racism before seeing
> Elaine's far better argued post.
>
> But would those with a greater knowledge of Islam than I have accept that
> NOI is part of "real" Islam? Or does it bear the same sort of
relationship
> to the broader mainstream of Islam as, in sectarian terms, the Unification
> Church does to "standard" Christianity, or in racial (or racist) terms,
the
> Christianity Identity movement has to the broader mainstream of
> Christianity?
>
> David
>
>
> Elaine wrote:
>
> I knew that someone would say that quote from Malcolm X was racist -
someone
> always does. Lars has explained very well why it is not. Can I just fill
in
> a little of the relevant history.
> <snip>
>
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