Asalaamu alaikum -
I didn't want to hijack someone else's thread. But I really need to vent on something that is making me very reluctant to be part of this Ummah in America:
Well since Islam is very heavily represented as a People of Color Only religion, I doubt you would understand, unless you were Caucasian living in the US.
I am a white American who has been given no voice in Islam. Everlast - also a rapper (but white) converted to Islam in 1996 but you never hear of him. He never gets interviewed on the Deen Show. Yusuf Islam, aka Cat Stevens is interviewed left and right...but he's British.
Every fictional TV show that has a Muslim in it the role is played by a Black actor (check out NCIS: Los Angeles - LL Cool J is the Muslim, not the white Chris O'donnell). The Warith Deen/NoI version of Islam is so prevalent here in the US that that is all that so many Americans see. And in my humble opinion, ANY version of Islam that caters ONLY to one racial demographic is, to me, a deviant akeeda. (Sidebar here: the wife of a good friend of mine, both of whom are African American Muslims, posted on her Facebook "Just because I'm Black American doesn't mean I'm going to practice a watered down version of Islam")
Who is it that I'm suppose to look up to? Hamza Yusuf? Everyone dislikes him because he's a Sufi and promotes the worship of Mohammad s.a.w. Yusuf Estes? He's not even a shaykh, he says things that are wrong - and even I personally tried to correct him and he verbally attacked me for doing so. Jamal Zarabozo? I personally know this shaykh very well as he's a member of my community and I've gotten spiritual guidance from him several times, yet there are "warnings" about him all over the internet.
Loon took shahadah and he was plastered all over the internet. Even on this very site, TTI, there were more than a dozen threads dedicated to him. Less than a year later he's giving lectures on YouTube. Congratulations, but he's not a shaykh.
Freeway was also plastered all over the 'net, even though he clearly stated he wasn't interested in quitting rapping (at that time) and was using the money he got from his trade to go to Hajj ... and he RAPPED about it in same songs that talk about shooting people.
Now Mike Tyson. He was convicted of molesting another boy when he was 16. He was convicted of beating his wife. He bit off half of Evander Holyfield's ear in a widely televised fight. Now he's being made a hero because he's doing what millions do every year: doing Umrah. Literally every Islamic website I've been to since the beginning of July had that as the headline.
Siraj Wahhaj, the head of MANA - the Muslim Alliance of North America (check out their webstite http://www.mana-net.org/ - not a single white face among the Muslim "representation" on the top of the page) yet he continuously gives khutbah to the Nation of Islam. One member of MANA has gone public to say "Half of the Muslims in the US are immigrants, the other half are African American", totally ignoring Hispanic and Caucasian (and any other hyphenated-American) Muslims.
Shaykh Abdulbary Yahya, a Vietnamese born American who I had the privilege of studying under in his Shepherd's Path class, says "Look at the state of the Ummah, someone like me who should be giving karate lessons, is teaching you about Islam" (about the stereotype of American Islam, link).
Most of the Caucasian & Mexican/Hispanic reverts that I know personally (and I know of many, our shaykh speaks fluent Spanish) eventually stop coming to the masjid because we're looked at with suspicion and with no small level of contempt. African brothers born outside of the US are cordial, loving, and friendly. The majority of the snubbing I get is from the American born Black brothers, most of whom won't even look me in the eye when I offer them the salaam (they will take my hand but not offer a reply), or from the Pakistanis who won't let their feet or shoulders touch mine in salaat because they think I'm FBI.
One Caucasian brother who no longer attends the masjid other than for Jummuah asked Sh. Jamal Zarabozo what advice he could give a White convert and the shakyh said only one word: "Patience".
When I took Shahadah I had a Myspace page. A friend posted a comment for all to see saying "How can you be Muslim? You're not Black!" And that, my brothers and sisters in Islam, is a common sentiment felt and exhibited in America.
I know that if I were any other demographic than Caucasian American I would have many people telling me "Oh I totally understand how you feel". But as a white American I'm not allowed to have feelings. I'm not allowed to feel alone or separated. I'm not allowed to feel frustration. So instead I know I'm going to get flamed for this post.
But by Allah, I came to Islam for Allah subhanAllah wa ta'ala, and for our Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salaam. Not for the Ummah. One good friend of mine, a brother in Islam who is also African American, told me a quote from someone who's name escapes me now: he said something along the lines of "Many people convert to Islam, in spite of the Muslims".
I do not mean to hurt anyone's feelings here. I am only crying out because I now do most of my salaat at home in my room because I'm about as alone there as I am in my masjid.
May Allah forgive me if I've said anything wrong, and may my brothers and sisters hear my feelings and not be offended by my words.
ma salaama
Daniel
I didn't want to hijack someone else's thread. But I really need to vent on something that is making me very reluctant to be part of this Ummah in America:
Assalam'alaykum
I have real trouble understanding where you're coming from ..I think I recall you making similar comments prior to now.
Im not judging you ..I just don't get it.
Well since Islam is very heavily represented as a People of Color Only religion, I doubt you would understand, unless you were Caucasian living in the US.
I am a white American who has been given no voice in Islam. Everlast - also a rapper (but white) converted to Islam in 1996 but you never hear of him. He never gets interviewed on the Deen Show. Yusuf Islam, aka Cat Stevens is interviewed left and right...but he's British.
Every fictional TV show that has a Muslim in it the role is played by a Black actor (check out NCIS: Los Angeles - LL Cool J is the Muslim, not the white Chris O'donnell). The Warith Deen/NoI version of Islam is so prevalent here in the US that that is all that so many Americans see. And in my humble opinion, ANY version of Islam that caters ONLY to one racial demographic is, to me, a deviant akeeda. (Sidebar here: the wife of a good friend of mine, both of whom are African American Muslims, posted on her Facebook "Just because I'm Black American doesn't mean I'm going to practice a watered down version of Islam")
Who is it that I'm suppose to look up to? Hamza Yusuf? Everyone dislikes him because he's a Sufi and promotes the worship of Mohammad s.a.w. Yusuf Estes? He's not even a shaykh, he says things that are wrong - and even I personally tried to correct him and he verbally attacked me for doing so. Jamal Zarabozo? I personally know this shaykh very well as he's a member of my community and I've gotten spiritual guidance from him several times, yet there are "warnings" about him all over the internet.
Loon took shahadah and he was plastered all over the internet. Even on this very site, TTI, there were more than a dozen threads dedicated to him. Less than a year later he's giving lectures on YouTube. Congratulations, but he's not a shaykh.
Freeway was also plastered all over the 'net, even though he clearly stated he wasn't interested in quitting rapping (at that time) and was using the money he got from his trade to go to Hajj ... and he RAPPED about it in same songs that talk about shooting people.
Now Mike Tyson. He was convicted of molesting another boy when he was 16. He was convicted of beating his wife. He bit off half of Evander Holyfield's ear in a widely televised fight. Now he's being made a hero because he's doing what millions do every year: doing Umrah. Literally every Islamic website I've been to since the beginning of July had that as the headline.
Siraj Wahhaj, the head of MANA - the Muslim Alliance of North America (check out their webstite http://www.mana-net.org/ - not a single white face among the Muslim "representation" on the top of the page) yet he continuously gives khutbah to the Nation of Islam. One member of MANA has gone public to say "Half of the Muslims in the US are immigrants, the other half are African American", totally ignoring Hispanic and Caucasian (and any other hyphenated-American) Muslims.
Shaykh Abdulbary Yahya, a Vietnamese born American who I had the privilege of studying under in his Shepherd's Path class, says "Look at the state of the Ummah, someone like me who should be giving karate lessons, is teaching you about Islam" (about the stereotype of American Islam, link).
Most of the Caucasian & Mexican/Hispanic reverts that I know personally (and I know of many, our shaykh speaks fluent Spanish) eventually stop coming to the masjid because we're looked at with suspicion and with no small level of contempt. African brothers born outside of the US are cordial, loving, and friendly. The majority of the snubbing I get is from the American born Black brothers, most of whom won't even look me in the eye when I offer them the salaam (they will take my hand but not offer a reply), or from the Pakistanis who won't let their feet or shoulders touch mine in salaat because they think I'm FBI.
One Caucasian brother who no longer attends the masjid other than for Jummuah asked Sh. Jamal Zarabozo what advice he could give a White convert and the shakyh said only one word: "Patience".
When I took Shahadah I had a Myspace page. A friend posted a comment for all to see saying "How can you be Muslim? You're not Black!" And that, my brothers and sisters in Islam, is a common sentiment felt and exhibited in America.
I know that if I were any other demographic than Caucasian American I would have many people telling me "Oh I totally understand how you feel". But as a white American I'm not allowed to have feelings. I'm not allowed to feel alone or separated. I'm not allowed to feel frustration. So instead I know I'm going to get flamed for this post.
But by Allah, I came to Islam for Allah subhanAllah wa ta'ala, and for our Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salaam. Not for the Ummah. One good friend of mine, a brother in Islam who is also African American, told me a quote from someone who's name escapes me now: he said something along the lines of "Many people convert to Islam, in spite of the Muslims".
I do not mean to hurt anyone's feelings here. I am only crying out because I now do most of my salaat at home in my room because I'm about as alone there as I am in my masjid.
May Allah forgive me if I've said anything wrong, and may my brothers and sisters hear my feelings and not be offended by my words.
ma salaama
Daniel