Future of Nation of Islam

Interesting piece by Neil MacFarquhar in the NYTimes on the retirement of Louis Farrakhan and the future, if there is to be one, of the Nation of Islam.

The general thinking is that the group will have to move to Sunni Islamic orthodoxy.

Elijah Muhammad the founder of the Nation of Islam considered himself to be the Mahdi, the final prophet (sometimes it was claimed he was God incarnate) and that humans used to live on an alien planet where an evil scientist bred what was originally a good and pure black race into evil white people who enslaved the blacks, came on spaceships down to Earth. Those spaceships or others like them--not really sure--are going to play a role at the end of days when their laser beams or whatever will fry the evil doers. So, no exactly Islamic orthodoxy.

After the death of Muhammad, the assassination of Malcolm X (who was already pushing to a post Nation of Islam-black Islam) one of Elijah Muhammad's sons (and he had many by many different women) Warith Deen led a community to mainstream Sunni Islam, though still a Black American version of it. Farrakhan continued the Nation of Islam strain but has used the language of de-colonialization as a way to create unity between himself and Arab Muslim leaders.

In the process Farrakhan has not spoken up against the Arab Muslim led genocide against African Black Muslims in Sudan. As the article points out he blames all violence in Iraq on America saying the Sunni and Shia never fought one another prior to the Americans. Mr. F might read a history of 20th century Iraq, the 1920 Brigades, Saddam's policies against the Shia and Kurds, the uprisings during the First Gulf War.

It would be a good thing to see the Black American community move towards Sunni Islam, in my view. When Malcolm X went to the hajj in Mecca it changed his mind and heart--he saw brown, white, black, "yellow" (as they used to say in the 70s for Asians), all humbled and equal in simple white clothing before the one God of the Universes. Black American identity can and should be maintained but it could fit within the larger sphere of Islam.