The African Origin of Islam: An Open Letter to the Africa-Centered Community

“since the Afro-centrists have fought so long to protect the African contribution to the civilization of Egypt…why not protect the total cultural contribution that Africa has made to Arabia?”

Dr. Khalid Abdullah Tariq al-Mansour

“Africans were involved in Islam’s creation…But, the Moslem Arabs…have been for some time recently teaching a sort of religious history in which the indigenous Africans find themselves omitted from the historical role they played in Islam’s origins. They are also excluded from the highest posts of the administration of Islam in Mecca, which they had traditionally held from the beginning of Islam with the Prophet Mohamet, and Hadzart Bila Ibn Rahab…Islam was no better than Judaism and Christianity, as its modern administrators attempted to eliminate its indigenous African founders from the eyes of the faithful, and the world in general. But history, written history, once more acted in her own way, and mannerism, as it clamoured, once again, for Islam’s indigenous African originators.” Dr.  Yosef Ben-Jochannan.

"the student's obligation was to build upon the previous generation's work, to find what is missing, omitted (intentionally or not), neglected, and flat-out incorrect, so we can make the necessary changes for the following generation.." 

 John Henrick Clarke.

It has been two years now since I launched a campaign to academically demonstrate the African origins of the religio-cultural tradition called Islam. This campaign began with a debate invitation to Bro Walter Williams, author of the book, The Historical Origins of Islam. After accepting the invitation, and then backing out of the debate, I went to Trenton, New Jersey in March 2009 and delivered my first lecture on the subject entitled, “The Origin of Islam and End of Ghetto Scholarship.” Since that day, I have given several public lectures on the subject; I have engaged in three live debates on the subject – with Doctors, Babas, and Captains; I have done blogtalk debates disguised as interviews; I have written two books and numerous articles on the subject.  And the bottom line is this: I and others have demonstrated beyond all shadow of reasonable doubt that Islam IS an African religion: it was created by Africoid peoples in Arabia and spread to the corners of the earth by them. This Islam of Prophet Muhammad and the early Ummah – who were Black Arabs or African-Arabians – was the genetic descendent of the religious tradition of ancient Black Arabia (Kushite Arabia). I have demonstrated that this indigenous ‘African Islam’ was eventually usurped by white converts and made – like everything else – a tool of White Supremacy.  It has been demonstrated that Islam is Africa’s ‘Other Stolen Legacy’. Not a single person has been able to impeach the evidence that has been presented and none have been able to disprove the basic point.  It is time to declare an end to all hostilities. There are no more debates to be had, except with those who have a vested interest in preserving the White Supremacy that has been enthroned within Islam.  

It is in my opinion a very sad state of affairs that the most ferocious opposition to the revelation of these facts have come not from those vested in the maintenance of Islamic White Supremacy, but from members of the Africa-centered/Afrocentrist community, the very community which one would have expected to be the first and most eager receivers of this information. After all, it was the great Cheikh Anta Diop and Dr. Yosef Ben Jochannan who laid the base for this demonstration. My book, Black Arabia and the African Origin of Islam, simply puts flesh on a skeletal narrative that began with Diop’s, The Cultural Unity of Black Africa and Dr. Ben’s The African Origin of the Major ‘Western’ Religions. This effort to reclaim Arabia and Islam from the prison of White Supremacy is akin to the earlier efforts that resulted in the reclamation of Kemet and Ma’at from that same prison. We in the Africa-centered community enthusiastically received the works of Prof George G.M. James and Prof Martin Bernal who advocated and established the African origin of Greek Philosophy. In as much as we can embrace the fact that Kemet and so-called ‘Greek’ Philosophy are among our ‘stolen legacies’ whose reclamation we celebrate, the fierce resistance to the reclamation of Arabia and its contributions – pre-Aryanized Islam included – as another stolen legacy is somewhat bewildering. It can only be explained as an ideological reaction on the part of those who, for one reason or another, feel they must reject the documented African origins of Islam despite the evidence.

The sometimes ferocious resistance from members of the Africa-centered community – of which I too am a proud member – is truly overkill. It has gotten at times so nigga-ish and clownish that it is embarrassing. Personal assaults and disrespect more often than not are a characteristic feature of this resistance. Admittedly, it is the more youthful and less scholarly ones of the community that exhibit this behavior and give Africa-centered intellectuality a bad look. But unfortunately, the reception by the more established figures of this community has been lukewarm: while some have shown public appreciation of my work; many more have privately done so, while being publically quite as the debate rages on. That is certainly their prerogative and this is only an observation, not a criticism. But the overall resistance to this fact of the African origins of Islam exposes much of the current Africa-centered community as a community that, despite its scholarly pedigree, can fall victim to religious and ideological dogmatism.  The reasons given for the rejection of my thesis are most often so flimsy and contorted that they prove the ideological nature of this rejection. My work on Black Arabia and the African origins of Islam seems to be exorcizing the dogmatic demons that lurked deep in the Africa-centered communal consciousness.  My prayer is that we as an intellectual community can grow from this by looking in the mirror and freeing ourselves from these dogmatic demons that we too often have passed off as ‘revolutionary intellectualism.’

Because the reaction to my work on the African Origin of Islam is so ideological now, I have discontinued engaging the resistance from the Africa-centered community. I will continue to teach and publish on the subject; I will debate with those from the Muslim world who (consciously or subconsciously) have a vested interest in preserving the hegemony of White Supremacy in Islam which I am trying to help dismantle. But I will no longer debate so-called Afrocentrists on this issue. There is something very disturbing about the very idea of two alleged Afrocentrists or Africa-centered Black intellectuals debating whether Islam was originated by Blacks or Whites. That discussion is better had with a Black and a White intellectual. So I will no longer entertain in any way the so-called challenges or debate invitations from ideological Afrocentrists on this subject. All are free to write scholarly critiques of my work, and those critiques that are credible and done with integrity will be addressed in one of my many forthcoming publications on the subject. But I will simply ignore everything and everyone else.  If you come to my Facebook page hoping for an impromptu debate, you will be ignored. If you persist, you will be deleted. And be clear: my past and future decision to ignore you and my refusal to engage you – whoever you may be or have been – is not because I fear you. It is frankly because I do not respect you; not as an intellectual with any integrity.

So I believe that the discussions that have taken place up to this point have their value and have served their purpose. It is now time to move on though. It is at least time for me to move on.

Scholarship means nothing to me. Scholarship with integrity means everything. SMH at those who know not the difference.

Peace to all the Africa-centered scholars with integrity: you are the true intellectual warriors. I pray that one day I can be found worthy to join your ranks.

Wesley Muhammad, PhD.

        

 1/09/12