Is it cultural appropriation?
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Are the "Islamic" borrowings of movements like Moorish Science and the Nation of Islam a form of "cultural appropriation"?
I think that it can be seen as cultural appropriation because those 2 groups, the Nation of Islam (NOI) and the Moorish Science Temple (MST) are really far from the teaching of Islam and as Edward Curtis said in the introduction of the chapter ‘’ Though Drew incorporated Islamic symbols into this original tradition, his use of them apparently owed very little to the Islamic traditions of the Old World.’’(45) Also Drew Ali pretended that he was a prophet. This claim is considered blasphemous for Muslims because it’s part of the creed of all Muslims whether they identify as Sunni or Shi’i that Prophet Muhammad pbuh was the last prophet that God sent to mankind.
Another thing that I was shocked to read is that Drew Ali pretended that he wrote a Qur’an. Calling the book he wrote the ‘’ Holy Koran’’ and considering that it was revealed to him from God is another blasphemous thing (Britannica). I think that one of the reasons that might have influenced Drew Ali and even the NOI to choose to take a few aspects of the Islamic creed to build their sect and their beliefs is that the message of Islam speaks against racism in a way that Christianism might not. Also, I think that in America whiteness was associated with Christianity so choosing to identify with Islam is another way to create this separation between White and Black people, and clearly those black nationalist groups wanted to create a franc separation from white people.
Furthermore, the message of Islam is not a message of hate and viewing white people (as a group) as devils it’s also not an idea that comes from Islam. In Malcolm X’s autobiography, there is an extensive description of the NOI’s explanation about different races and the ‘’origin’’ of racism according to that group. That description sounded like science fiction to me, and I think we can see that this narrative was created to enforce the idea that white people are the devil and that separatism is important. Towards the end of the extract, in the chapter named ‘’Saved'’ we see that Malcolm is gaining enough knowledge to distance himself from the hatred and false narrative about race relationship and the creation of humanity and he kind of builds a more ‘’rational’’ way of condemning the atrocities people of color have been through (and are still going trough).
In my opinion, when we look deeper into the message and the beliefs of those groups, it becomes obvious that it's not just cultural appropriation, but rather it’s something completely separate and distinct from Islam.
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I completely agree with you. The NOI and the MST were extremely far from the teachings of Islam, all while falsely claiming some sort of religious, racial, and moral superiority. On top of their racist and separatist views, their teachings were blasphemous and went against the fundamental beliefs of Islam. Not only did certain men claim to be prophets of Islam, and messengers of God, but they were also worshipped by the members of their organizations. For example, many people began worshipping Elijah Muhammad, and adoring him. This is clearly Shirk, which is the most serious sin one can commit in Islam. As you justly say in your concluding paragraph, these movements can be seen as completely separate from Islam. I am glad that people such as Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali left these organizations, and actually started practicing Islam.