Funny thing happened at work the other day...

DanyalSAC

Junior Member
Asalaamu alaikum...

So the other day I was sitting in the break room here at work and a coworker was trying to get the coffee maker to work. I mentioned to him that I wasn’t drinking coffee due to it being Ramadan and caffeine makes one tinkle. He said that he couldn’t fast because he was on an antibiotic for his tooth. I asked him if he were Muslim and when he said yes I got excited and gave him the Salaam… which he returned graciously. I told him I prayed my salaat here at work and if he would like I would be honored if he would pray with me (the other brother here won’t). He said he would; I told him what time Zuhr was, and that I would come get him for wudu before prayer time.

Well, we did make wudu and then went into the prayer room here in our building. I asked him if he wanted to lead the prayer or if I should. “Oh you go ahead” he said. “Ok,” I said, “go ahead and do the adhan”. “Oh you do that too” he said (first red flag). Um.. ok so yeah I did the adhan and also I lead the prayer. When I started the prayer, he crossed his arms over his chest – left arm on top of the right with both hands on his shoulders (second red flag). At the end of the salaat and it was time for the asalaamu alaikum over the shoulders he didn’t do it (third red flag).

When we got back to our work area he came to my desk to chat for a moment and I decided to ask him about his Islam and where he learned to pray that way. He started to hedge and said that he embraced Islam while in prison, and that he learned most of it in Oakland (for those of you who aren’t familiar with this area, Oakland is heavily African American and very Nation of Islam, so much so that unfortunately many Black folks in that city get mislead into NOI when they seek Al Islam).

Finally he asked me, “Have you heard of the Prophet Elijah Mohammed?” Ok that set off not just red flags but all sorts of danger alarms. I explained to him that there were and will be no Prophets after Mohammed, peace be upon him; he got fairly incensed saying “Oh yes even the Qur’an predicted Elijah’s coming!” He went on to insist that Islam in the US would not exist without Elijah, Fard Mohammad, and Farrakhan. I tried to explain to him that those three have nothing to do with Islam other than the name.

It turned into a very polite argument from there, with neither side conceding his point. I was a bit surprised; the Nation of Islam (to which he obviously belonged) do not wudu, do not fast on Ramadan, and do not pray salaat. I could only hope that he’s in the transition to Al Islam and that someday he will recognize our Prophet peace be upon him as the Seal.

Later I told a brother at the masjid about this experience and he told me to re-do my salaat until I explained to him that I had lead. Afterwards, when I was at the masjid with my brothers, I reiterated the story and said “After I found out he was NOI I felt like I really had to…had to…” and left it there. The brother helped me out by saying “Ghusl?”
Needless to say I’ve not invited this individual to pray with me again, nor has he had the nerve to ask…
 

Summer03

3doTs2sQuares
Waoh subhanallah that is kind
of a scary encounter.... This just shows we, the normal practicing Muslims, have a greater reponsibility To not only go to call people to Islam but to also fix the Muslims first! Seek those who might be doing something wrong in the religion and show them the right way.

Thank u for this story and inshallah I ask Him to help u to find a
way to help out this brother inshallah

Salam
 

daud

goodly tree
i think you did the best thing.
i did some research about nation of islam (NOI). i never know that they had the nerve to say the quran pridicted the comming of bla bla bla. ask him the ayah or what quran he follows next time u see him, or someone like him. here in UK theres non NOI.
 

Peace2u

Turn To Islam
i think you did the best thing.
i did some research about nation of islam (NOI). i never know that they had the nerve to say the quran pridicted the comming of bla bla bla. ask him the ayah or what quran he follows next time u see him, or someone like him. here in UK theres non NOI.

Wrong brother, there are some NOI here in the UK as I have encountered some in West London. May Allah guide them to the straight path.
 

Bluegazer

Junior Member
Assalamu Alaikum [Peace be unto you],


Thank you, brother Danyal, for sharing this encounter with us.

The first time I was told about the beliefs of Elijah Muhammad and this Nation of 'Islam' (NOI), I actually didn't believe what I heard. After some reserach, what I heard was sadly true.

By claiming that a man who lived and died in the last one hundred years [i.e., after the death of Prophet Muhammad -peace be upon him-] was a Prophet, this group is not Muslim at all.

There are some NOI members who did go on to discover the true Islam and then embraced it. The most famous one being Malcolm X [may Allah have mercy on him].

Elijah Muhammad's son, Warithudeen Muhammad, renounced his father's beliefs and led many of the NOI followers to true Islam. However, there's this point that Dr. Bilal Philips mentioned about Warithudeen, that needs to be stressed:

Q. What is your opinion regarding the so-called Imam Warithudeen Muhammad, who is a leader of Muslims in America and is said to be an upholder of the Quran and Sunnah?
Category: Tawheed
Source: lecture
Ref:Q#229

A. All of Warithudeen Muhammad's statements to date have been praising his father (Elijah Muhammad, who claimed that Allah was a man and that he was the last messenger of Allah). Warithudeen has changed most of the practices that were practiced during his father's time, but he still insists on praising his father and referring to him as the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, "However honors a mubtadir (an innovator: one who brings something new into the religion) has helped to destroy Islam." Elijah Muhammad is the worst of mankind and he is cursed by Allah. Allah has said in the Quran, "Who is worse than the one who claims to receive revelation, has received nothing." [Soorah Al-'Anaam (Chapter 6), Verse 93], those are the worst of mankind. So to honor such a person is a major deviation.

This sums up the level of his Islam and that is how we as Muslims, should judge people. If you praise one who is cursed by Allah, then you are displeasing Allah. Part of our faith is to love those who Allah loves and hate those who Allah hates. All those who seek to praise enemies of Allah, put themselves in the category of being enemies of Allah. So, for example, an individual like Farrakhan, though he maybe a very effective and eloquent spokesman and uses the name of Islam, he is a reviver of the original teachings of Elijah Muhammad. So to even speak of him in an honorable fashion or to praise him, is a major mistake on the part of Muslims. He is a blatant enemy of Islam.

Source: http://www.bilalphilips.com/QA/content_display.php?c=330&p=


And as part of his book The Ansar Cult in America, Dr. Bilal Philips' website contains the following description:

The Most prominent of these pseudo-Islamic groups was “The Lost Found Nation of Islam” which became known in the new media as the “Black Muslims”. This group's beginnings are somewhat shrouded in mystery. A foreigner, by the name of Wallace Fard Muhammad, of uncertain origin, taught what he termed Islam among Blacks in Detroit from 1929 to 1931. Following his disappearance in 1931, the most prominent of his students, Eligah Poole (1897-1975) secured leadership of the group and claimed that Fard was actually God in person and that he Elijah, was the messenger of God sent to Black Americans. Elijah taught that Black people were gods, and White people where devils created by a Black scientist. Heaven and Hell, according to his teachings, are on earth in this life and there is no resurrection for the physically dead. Although Elijah claimed that the Quran was the book of Muslims, he mostly reffered to the Bible in his teachings. Acutally, the main text of the cult was a book composed of some of his speeches and newspaper articles which he called Message to the Black Man in America.

Source: http://www.bilalphilips.com/content_display.php?c=399


The leader of the faction that stayed true to Elijah Muhammad's teachings is Louis Farrakhaan. I ask Allah to guide him and all his followers to Islam. Aameen.


Best regards,

Bluegazer
 

Rashadi

Junior Member
Asalaamu alaikum...

So the other day I was sitting in the break room here at work and a coworker was trying to get the coffee maker to work. I mentioned to him that I wasn’t drinking coffee due to it being Ramadan and caffeine makes one tinkle. He said that he couldn’t fast because he was on an antibiotic for his tooth. I asked him if he were Muslim and when he said yes I got excited and gave him the Salaam… which he returned graciously. I told him I prayed my salaat here at work and if he would like I would be honored if he would pray with me (the other brother here won’t). He said he would; I told him what time Zuhr was, and that I would come get him for wudu before prayer time.

Well, we did make wudu and then went into the prayer room here in our building. I asked him if he wanted to lead the prayer or if I should. “Oh you go ahead” he said. “Ok,” I said, “go ahead and do the adhan”. “Oh you do that too” he said (first red flag). Um.. ok so yeah I did the adhan and also I lead the prayer. When I started the prayer, he crossed his arms over his chest – left arm on top of the right with both hands on his shoulders (second red flag). At the end of the salaat and it was time for the asalaamu alaikum over the shoulders he didn’t do it (third red flag).

When we got back to our work area he came to my desk to chat for a moment and I decided to ask him about his Islam and where he learned to pray that way. He started to hedge and said that he embraced Islam while in prison, and that he learned most of it in Oakland (for those of you who aren’t familiar with this area, Oakland is heavily African American and very Nation of Islam, so much so that unfortunately many Black folks in that city get mislead into NOI when they seek Al Islam).

Finally he asked me, “Have you heard of the Prophet Elijah Mohammed?” Ok that set off not just red flags but all sorts of danger alarms. I explained to him that there were and will be no Prophets after Mohammed, peace be upon him; he got fairly incensed saying “Oh yes even the Qur’an predicted Elijah’s coming!” He went on to insist that Islam in the US would not exist without Elijah, Fard Mohammad, and Farrakhan. I tried to explain to him that those three have nothing to do with Islam other than the name.

It turned into a very polite argument from there, with neither side conceding his point. I was a bit surprised; the Nation of Islam (to which he obviously belonged) do not wudu, do not fast on Ramadan, and do not pray salaat. I could only hope that he’s in the transition to Al Islam and that someday he will recognize our Prophet peace be upon him as the Seal.

Later I told a brother at the masjid about this experience and he told me to re-do my salaat until I explained to him that I had lead. Afterwards, when I was at the masjid with my brothers, I reiterated the story and said “After I found out he was NOI I felt like I really had to…had to…” and left it there. The brother helped me out by saying “Ghusl?”
Needless to say I’ve not invited this individual to pray with me again, nor has he had the nerve to ask…

The NOI is actually small and they have come a long way because they used to be worse. They actually pray now and have Jummah, they also fast in Ramadan and have been criticized for becoming more Islamic. May Allah wa Ta'ala guide them.
 

Rashadi

Junior Member
Assalamu Alaikum [Peace be unto you],


Thank you, brother Danyal, for sharing this encounter with us.

The first time I was told about the beliefs of Elijah Muhammad and this Nation of 'Islam' (NOI), I actually didn't believe what I heard. After some reserach, what I heard was sadly true.

By claiming that a man who lived and died in the last one hundred years [i.e., after the death of Prophet Muhammad -peace be upon him-] was a Prophet, this group is not Muslim at all.

There are some NOI members who did go on to discover the true Islam and then embraced it. The most famous one being Malcolm X [may Allah have mercy on him].

Elijah Muhammad's son, Warithudeen Muhammad, renounced his father's beliefs and led many of the NOI followers to true Islam. However, there's this point that Dr. Bilal Philips mentioned about Warithudeen, that needs to be stressed:



Source: http://www.bilalphilips.com/QA/content_display.php?c=330&p=


And as part of his book The Ansar Cult in America, Dr. Bilal Philips' website contains the following description:



Source: http://www.bilalphilips.com/content_display.php?c=399


The leader of the faction that stayed true to Elijah Muhammad's teachings is Louis Farrakhaan. I ask Allah to guide him and all his followers to Islam. Aameen.


Best regards,

Bluegazer

With all due respect, but Biblal Philipps finds anything to throw ppl out of Islam. Warrith Deen was a Muslim who led millions into Islam. He rejects his fathers teachings and was nearly killed for it but it was also his father who encouraged him to take the nation and lead them to the right place. Elijah Muhammad also made tawaba toward the end and what stopped him all those years was that he was under pressure by the FBI. Him respecting his fathger does not throw him out of Islam and it is Allah who will judge him anyways and for all we know maybe Allah accepted IElijah's repentance. One has to understand the time period in which these ppl emerged and who they were influenced by. Black ppl in America have come a long way and in my opinion they are some of the best and most sincere Muslims I have seen.

May allah guide the rest of the NOI as well, AMEEN.
 

ShyHijabi

Junior Member
With all due respect, but Biblal Philipps finds anything to throw ppl out of Islam. Warrith Deen was a Muslim who led millions into Islam. He rejects his fathers teachings and was nearly killed for it but it was also his father who encouraged him to take the nation and lead them to the right place. Elijah Muhammad also made tawaba toward the end and what stopped him all those years was that he was under pressure by the FBI. Him respecting his fathger does not throw him out of Islam and it is Allah who will judge him anyways and for all we know maybe Allah accepted IElijah's repentance. One has to understand the time period in which these ppl emerged and who they were influenced by. Black ppl in America have come a long way and in my opinion they are some of the best and most sincere Muslims I have seen.

May allah guide the rest of the NOI as well, AMEEN.


Salaam,

I accidentally went to a "mosque" that follow this particular man. They are very nice and polite but frankly not Muslim. They still teach that Elijah Mohammed was a reincarnated version of the Prophet :astag: and that the founder of NOI (Fard)was Allah in the flesh. :astag: This is not Muslim but the very antithesis of the beliefs of Islam. I was given a pamphlet before leaving explaining they actually believe these very lies, I couldn't get out of that building fast enough. Anyone who uses the term "honorable" to describe such a disgusting man as Elijah Mohammed is not someone I want to associate with.

They committed (and continue to commit)the foulest level of shirk in order to push their agenda forward and used the plight of the black man in America to do this horrific act. If there are any doubts to the words I am saying simply visit their website via Google and see for yourself. Followers of NOI and it's splinter groups are not Muslim, no one who worships a human can be.
 

Bluegazer

Junior Member
Assalamu Alaikum [Peace be unto you] brother Rashadi,


I thank you for taking an interest in what I posted, and for posting a reply [post #9]. I hope that we can discuss this in a civil manner.


You wrote:

Warrith Deen was a Muslim who led millions into Islam. He rejects his fathers teachings and was nearly killed for it but it was also his father who encouraged him to take the nation and lead them to the right place.


As for the role of Warithudeen in correcting the beliefs of many NOI followers, I admitted that myself in my above post. I wrote:

Elijah Muhammad's son, Warithudeen Muhammad, renounced his father's beliefs and led many of the NOI followers to true Islam.


Having said that, it does not give him the right to call his father with the title "Honourable". There's nothing honourable about lying and claiming to be a Prophet of Allah. And that's besides all the other blasphemies his father preached.

As to whether Elijah Muhammad repented, that is known to very few people and of course known to Allah. But even if he did repent, that does not excuse Warithudeen in using this title. Let me explain.

Firstly, the "Honourable Elijah Muhammad" phrase was used by NOI members. By still using that same exact phrase when referring to his father, it creates an impression that what his father did was a minor mistake, instead of an all out blasphemy against Islam (which was what truly happened).

Secondly, Warithudeen should make it absolutely clear that he calls his father "honourable" only because he repented and became a true Muslim (if that's what really happened). If he doesn't make this point absolutely clear, then I can see no excuse whatsoever for calling a man who claimed Prophecy and uttered blasphemies "honourable", even if he was his father.


There is one point I do agree with you (to a certain degree). Bilal Philips' reply to the question he was asked did not contain an explicit statement that said that "Warithudeen is not Muslim". However, the sentence I set in bold type (like so) may give this impression:

This sums up the level of his Islam and that is how we as Muslims, should judge people. If you praise one who is cursed by Allah, then you are displeasing Allah. Part of our faith is to love those who Allah loves and hate those who Allah hates. All those who seek to praise enemies of Allah, put themselves in the category of being enemies of Allah.


While the action of praising an enemy of Islam (as Elijah Muhammad was, if we suppose he did not repent before he died) is an action that constitutes disbelief in Islam, it's only one of the conditions necessary for a particular person (such as Warithudeen) to be declared a non Muslim. There are other conditions that must apply.

For example, a learned scholar must sit with Warithudeen and explain to him that praising his father in such a manner contradicts Islam because of such and such. He should quote the relevant texts of the Qur'an and the sayings of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) that prove this. Only then, after insisting on the title "honourable" to his father after all such evidence, can a learned scholar go on to declare such a statement.

Was this what happened to Warithudeen? We don't know. And because of that, I can't say or believe that Warithudeen is not Muslim.

And Bilal Philips did not say so either. He just quoted a general statement that "All those who seek to praise enemies of Allah, put themselves in the category of being enemies of Allah." That does not mean that he is specifically saying that Warithudeen is not Muslim. If you're going to say that Bilal Philips should have made this point clear, then I agree with you.

When one reads the books of many scholars of Islam, you'll notice phrases like "Whoever says such a thing or does such a thing becomes a Kaafir (non believer)." These same scholars also stress that this is a general statement, not meant to automatically apply to every Muslim who said such a thing or did such a thing (except in very few cases which are so clear, such as putting a Qur'an on the ground and trampling it with your feet intentionally, I seek refuge with Allah from such an action). There's a difference between what is called Takfeer Al-Mutlaaq (Generally saying that an action leads to disbelief) and Takfeer Al-Mu'ayyan (applying this to a certain person and saying the he or she became a disbeliever).


I hope there are no ill feelings between us, brother Rashadi. And if these feelings still persist (Allah forbid), then please remember that you said the following about the NOI ( I set some parts in bold type, like so):

The NOI is actually small and they have come a long way because they used to be worse.


And when were they "worse"? Wasn't it when Elijah Muhammad was still in charge? Therefore, how can even his son call such a person "honourable"?


Best regards,

Bluegazer
 

Bluegazer

Junior Member
The really sad part in all this "Nation of Islam' (NOI) phenomenon is how fast it spread.

I understand that major injustices were inflicted on African Americans (especially in the recent past) and that the NOI brought some discipline and effective responses against these injustices. But to take parts of Islam, twist and change the essence of the Islamic creed and the peddle it to African Americans (and the rest of Americans) as 'Islam' is inexusable.

And one of the major reasons this NOI phenomenon has spread so quickly and became accepted as 'true Islam' is the large scale ignorance (among Americans) of the most basic facts about Islam. These facts are that Muslims worship Allah (who is certainly not a man) and believe that His last Messenger was Muhammad son of Abdullah [peace be upon him], who lived and died in Arabia around 1400 years ago. If the general American public only knew this basic information at that stage, then Elijah Muhammad's movement would have stalled from the beginning.

May Allah reward Warithudeen for being the reason (after Allah's grace and guidance) that the majority of the NOI followers came back to Islam.

Aameen.
 

DanyalSAC

Junior Member
This is the first time I"m hearing about NOI. Strange.

And therein lies one large problem. So many people outside of the US have never heard of them that when they hear of rappers like Snoop Dogg or Ice Cube being "Muslim" they say "Allahu Akbar!" not realizing that they're NOT MUSLIM but NOI. We have people like Louis Farrakhan who dupe the Saudi government several times into letting him do Umrah... this man with the title "Reverend" and his wife with the title "Mother" are ALLOWED TO DO UMRAH!!! The Saudis think they are the cream of the American Muslim crop, shower them with richest, and then seem to not notice when Farrakhan renounces his shahada and uses his wealth for himself. And he's done it again and again. Its only because there are so many "Muslim" sects out there that they can't keep track of them all and if you say you're Muslim, you're let into Mecca.

Its been a thorn in my side since I reverted.
 

palestine

Servant of Allah
Malcolm X was a member of the Nation of Islam, until he went to hajj and found the actual Islam that taugh to love each other no matter what the color of your skin. you all should really watch the movie about Malcolm X, there's lots to learn from it and of the nation of islam( i can't believe they named themselves this - they are deceiving the world. ugh!)
wasalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu.
 
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