Sadaqah, Saraka and Sapelo as posted on Sapelo Square

As salamu alaikum wa rahmatulahi wa barakatu,
  InshAllah this finds you well and the best of health and iman on these last blessed days of the Holy Month of Ramadhan.  I have recently began co-editing the history section and contributing to the African American Muslim blog Sapelo Square.  I just posted an article about sadaqah (charity) and how it and zakat (another type of charity) were practiced by early African American Muslims in the 1800s.

They are always looking for contributions to the site so check on the About US page to email the site editor.

Ramadhan Kareem (Blessed Ramadhan) to you and your families!

Maryam's story of converting to Islam - Ahlulbayt TV

As salamu alaikum (Peace be upon you)
My intention is not to post every convert story I find that showcases the variety of non-immigrant Muslims in America, but this particular convert story struck a chord with me because Maryam Blackeagle is a Native American who went from Christianity to Islam.  InshAllah this inspires you as it has inspired me.

Guests of Paradise 63

I decided to post this because this young brother and his sister, after him, are talking about their experience visiting Imam Husayn (a.s.) in Karbala.  I don't remember encountering any North American "African Americans" when I made ziyarah in 2009, but alhumdulilah Imam Hussein3 TV is showcasing the fact that our Imams (a.s.) invite us all regardless of our skin color and ethnicity to visit them with humble hearts. InshAllah may all the mumineen be able to visit.   May Allah bless all our young Shia who are striving in our shadows.  Alhumdulilah!
Their mother Bilgis Wadoodi is featured in Episode 62 which I also recommend.

Engagement...

Bismilahir Rahmanir Rahim,

As salamu alaikum (peace be upon you all),

Today I want to address the recent message spread via Ulema (religious leaders) about sharing what we know about Islam with other people.  Several incidents recently have inspired me to address the importance of this act and address the reality of implementing this practice.  I started this blog with this purpose in mind and I am trying to be ever mindful about what our Imams have taught about speaking only when beneficial.  
First and foremost, I am an educator so I rarely shy away from addressing the need of someone to have his or her questions answered if the answers are in regard to issues that I am in fact knowledgeable.  Every time that I have stood before a classroom or church or some other speaking event I have prayed to Allah (swt) for protection from speaking incorrectly or in some fashion that could misled.  There is a very concise dua for teachers on duas.org that I carry with me in sincere hopes that the words from my mouth are sincere and correct.

I begin in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family. O Allah, I take refuge with You from misleading or getting misled, making mistakes or being made to make mistakes, doing wrong or being made to act wrongly, and (from) acting ignorantly or being made to act with ignorance. [O Allah] Mighty is Your protection, Holy are Your names, Sublime are Your praises, and there is no god besides You. In the name of Allah, sufficient for me is Allah. I rely O Allah, and there is no power and strength except with Allah. O Allah, strengthen my heart and let truth appear on my tongue. O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family.

Now back to the aforementioned “incidents”.  I have actually found that the toughest audiences for sharing knowledge with are actually those who call themselves Muslims or espouse some knowledge of Islam.  In my last post I shared a photo of what is most likely a more racially accurate depiction of the 12 Imams and now the Shia Muslim women’s group which I shared said photo and my support of its accuracy and talking about race-based understanding of our Imams that same week with has not invited me back (coincidence?).  My parent’s who seem to derive their only trusted knowledge of Islam from the mainstream media have become more hostile to my way of life to the point of making rude comments about hijab or halal eating in front of my children and yet here I am still advocating that we all seek and share accurate knowledge about Islam.  The man who accosted me on my way into the grocery store with my kids about shariah law and hijab is less painful to deal with, but in my opinion no less or more important than the two aforementioned groups.  In 6 minutes and 20 seconds, Sheikh Usama AbdulGhani breaks down what our role of individual Muslims is to imparting what valid knowledge of Islam we have with others and encouraging others to seek knowledge from original and valid sources.  (My concern here is the ever-growing population of intellectually challenged and selectively illiterate humans that I find myself surrounded by).

I recommend watching this video and the rest of the series on Islamic Pulse which can be found here (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiKWYEgofx7rXpxv_SgFTOQ).  During this month of Ramadhan, which starts next week inshAllah, I am going to try and actively engage with my neighbors in hopes of doing my part in preparing for my Imam (ajf) and encouraging my children, through my actions, to be confident, respectful, Muslim ambassadors in the communities in which we live. 

Questions to ponder:

• Is your community, if you are lucky to have one, a community open to engagement between Muslims and the greater non-Muslim community? 
• What is the best way for kids to engage the anti-Islamic or lacking true knowledge of Islam, world?
• How can minority voices best be heard?

Knowing who are Imams Really ARE?

Bismilahir Rahmanir Rahim

As salamu alaikum.

On the anniversary of the beginning of the Prophetic mission I found myself asking a lot of questions. Beyond the traditional self-reflection that I have been reminded about again and again from our beloved Imams (a.s.) that accountability is the marker of a true Shia I am wondering about how much like Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) I am as a striving Shia.  Muhammad and His God Before the Revelation describes, “the relationship of Muhammad with his Lord before Islam was in essence Islam (submission). Allah (SWT) loves it, so He (SWT) chose Muhammad (SWT) to spread this Message and make it a path and religion for all of mankind. Allah (SWT) designated Muhammad as the messenger and prophet of Islam; Muhammad would invite the people to it because he already practiced it, mastered it, and was sincere in it.”

How can I invite people to Islam (da’wah)? By submitting to Allah (swt), practicing Islam, mastering Islam and being sincere in living in Islamic way of living.

How can I best submit to Allah (swt)? By learning what Allah (swt) asks of me in the Holy Qur’an and following the perfect models of Ahlul Bayt (a.s.).  I would be remiss not to mention at this juncture that one can not know and love the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) and their teachings and simultaneously diminish their history and elevate a limited understanding of Imam Husayn in lieu of a more comprehensive and scholarly-based understanding of the full imamate.

Part of the difficulty in achieving this goal is the fact that Shia sources are difficult to access in English and many other languages for that matter.  This of course is a sad irony in that our beloved Imam Ali al-Ridha has said, “May God have mercy on him who revives our cause … [by] learning from our teachings and teaching them to others, for if people only knew the beauty of our words, they would undoubtedly follow us.” [i]

Its also a sad reality that even when people wish to study directly from the sources in Howza it is extremely difficulty, especially for converts to attain visas and maneuver through the discrimination and suspicion that comes with the logistics of Howza studies in Qom or Najaf.

I recently came across a chart that depicts the lineage of the Ithna Asheri Imamate and I would like to share it here as it was published in an academic publication that does not offer free public access.

Before I post the image below I do want to place some context that inspired me to discuss this issue further. Years ago I stumbled across a post on Shiachat.com in which persons were literally verbally assaulting one another for either embracing the possibility of African imams or adamantly rejecting the idea and 2 weeks ago I was at a gathering of Shia women were some of these ideas about ethnic superiority were being repeated.  So once again I reiterate how can I or anyone know their imams if they are perpetuating false descriptions of them and denying their ethnicity; which I can not fathom a reason aside from racism or in its Islamic understanding, asabiyyah. 

Without further ado here is the chart…

Now as I tell my students, "Imagine your imams (a.s.) as you always have and get a strong mental picture."

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Now imagine that they were BLACK....

All I am advocating for is searching out the truth and truly getting to know our imams (a.s.) so that we can say that we love and respect them. How can I prepare for my Imam (ajf) if I don't know where he was from or what he will do or if I harbor some concept of racial superiority that the Imam either lives up to or "fails" to live up to.

Images used above are curtesy of the author of the text in which they were originally printed. The full article can be found here: Inloes, Amina. "Racial othering in Shii Sacred History: Jawn Ibn Huwayy the african Slave, and the Ethnicities of the Twelve Imams." Journal of Shi'a Islamic Studies. 7.4 (2014): 411-439.

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[i] Ma'ani Al-Akhbar

Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Ilaihi Rajioon Malcolm Shabazz

Bismilahir Rahmanir Rahim
As salamu alaikum wa rahmatulahi wa barakatu,

These days full of chaos and oppression make it easy to forgot the world beyond our home and our families. I just want to take a moment to stop and remember the short and tragic life of Malcolm Latif Shabazz, grandson of prolific and powerful indigenous Muslim, El Hajj Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm X).  Malcolm, like his grandfather was murdered/martyred on May 9, 2013, just ten days shy of his grandfather's birth anniversary.

Malcom Latif Shabazz (inset Malcolm X)

For this young Shia brother I want to give him the respect that his life and death deserve and I  will not rush to speak about a man that I only knew through mutual acquaintances.  I will post again to talk about some of the wonderful efforts that he was making to live up to his grandfather's legacy.

So, condolences to the family of this brother. If you don't take the time to research this brother on your own please take the time to recite Surah al-Fatiha for him and pray for his family that is still living including his two children who are orphans.

Here is a video from Muslim Congress 2011 in which he talks about his grandfather's legacy: