veiled4allah: black pilgrimage to Islam

In an earlier entry, I reviewed the first part of Black Pilgrimage to Islam, by Robert Dannin.

The second part of the book tells the stories of a number of African-American individuals or groups and how they came to orthodox Islam. The stories are selected to give an overview of the wide range of experiences and motivations. The first story profiles Hajji Wali Akram, who came to Islam by way of Ahmadiyya, a heterodox Muslim group. In the 1930s he converted to orthodox Islam. In part, his studies of the Quran had convinced him that Ahmadi doctrines were not correct. But he also felt that the Ahmadi movement (which was very active in the African American community in the 1920s) was more interested in gaining money for itself and in increasing its numbers than in the spritual well-being of the new converts or of the problems that they faced. The story follows Akram's struggles to lead himself and his congregation through difficult times and with limited access to orthodox Muslim teachers and texts.

The second story follows a different community, called Jabul Arabiyya (mountain of the Arabs). This was a rural community founded by African-American Muslims in the 1930s where they hoped to live according to the Shari'a. The community has not been as successful as hoped for, but still exists today.

The third story is of a young man who started out in the Five Percent Nation of Gods and Earths, an extremely divergent offshoot of the Nation of Islam, how he became politicized during his time in the military, how he came to orthodox Islam, and how a conflict with Nation of Islam members in his area ultimately ended up as a shootout with the police that landed him in prison.

The fourth story looks at the larger phenomenon of Islam in the prisons, a topic I have discussed previously.

The fifth and sixth stories look at the issue of women and Islam. The fifth story is about a woman who converted to Islam and her difficulties finding a stable marriage within the African-American Muslim community, including her experiences with polygamy. The sixth story looks at the broader phenomenon of polygamy among African-American Muslims and the problems common in such marriages.

The seventh and final story focuses on The Islamic School of the Oasis in Cleveland, Ohio, and its struggles to survive.

I found this to be an excellent book. The inclusion of personal stories helps give a better feeling for how and why African-Americans convert to Islam.