Communities of the Qur'an

Dialogue, Debate and Diversity in the 21st Century

Emran Iqbal El-Badawi, Paula Sanders, Emran El-Badawi, Paula Sanders

• Publisher: Oneworld Academic
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781786073938
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Islamic Theology

What is the nature of the Qur'an? It might seem a straightforward question, but there is no consensus among modern communities of the Qur'an, both Muslim and non-Muslim, about the answer. And why should there be?On numerous occasions throughout history, believers from different schools and denominations, and at different times and places, have agreed to disagree. The Qur'anic interpreters, jurists and theologians of medieval Baghdad, Cairo and Cordoba coexisted peacefully in spite of their diverging beliefs. Seeking to revive this 'ethics of disagreement' of Classical Islam, this volume explores the different relationships societies around the world have with the Qur'an and how our understanding of the text can be shaped by studying the interpretations of others. From LGBT groups to urban African American communities, this book aims to represent the true diversity of communities of the Qur'an in the twenty-first century, and the dialogue and debate that can flow among them.

Part I

Communities of Culture and Experience

Chapter 1

African-American Communities of the Qur’an

Aminah Beverly Al-Deen, DePaul University

African-American communities of the Qur’an are one of the newer communities to have embraced its worldview, with reservations forged out of religious coercion, distrust and victimization. While some of these communities have been researched for scholarly and popular writing, it has always been as if they are bereft of the one thing that binds individual members through at least five generations – the Qur’an. These communities have been regarded as marginal to the ‘real’ Islam that immigrants brought to the United States and that exists in many cultural forms in the world. While it is true that immigrant individuals and their cultural interpretations of Islam have made significant contributions to African-American Islamic understandings, these communities have made the Qur’an their own, just as have other historical communities.

The pivotal stories invoked by almost all communities begin with the Prophet of Islam’s persecution in Mecca, estrangement from family, and later move to Yathrib. In many accounts of the history of the Arabian peninsula, Islam is established by a very small group of individuals who trust that the messages that Muhammad ibn Abdullah receives are true because of his trustworthiness. In the religiously plural town of Mecca, there was knowledge of those who worshiped one God, such as Jews and Monophysite Christians. These communities were considered minorities, and the Arabs considered that the God worshiped by them belonged to them. This is interpreted as a story of moving to escape persecution, as well as a story about how Muslims leaving families to pursue Islam is justifiable, if necessary. African-American Muslims feel justified in their choice of Islam from among many other possible choices.

The story goes that the Prophet Muhammad was invited to come and bring order to a contentious society in Yathrib, quelling the conflict. In return he was given the office of leadership over the society as a trust to his honesty, fairness, and in recognition of his prophecy. Simultaneously, Muslims in Mecca needed to emigrate from the oppression of the Meccans. They were willing to leave, and also forced to leave family and property behind to commit themselves to Allah’s message.

What is important in practical terms here is that the Prophet of Islam had to leave his family and much of his tribe as a result of their refusal to embrace Islam. Transitioning to Islam is more often than not a disengagement from family and friends. That the Prophet put Allah before family, friends, and all that was familiar, suffered persecution along with followers, and then lived in a contentious plural society, very much mimicked life for African Americans in the United States.

This short chapter does not intend to cover the full depth or breadth of uses of the Qur’an within African-American Muslim communities. Rather, it selects popular approaches to the Qur’an that many imams use in Jum’ah (Friday prayer) or other congregational settings, along with examples from life. Uses of the Qur’an have changed over the more than one-hundred-year history of African Americans within Islam. This time period saw the rise, shift and transition of Islamically affiliated communities. There is also a need to address Qur’anic literacies related to English translations and reading the text in Arabic. Imams, as leaders in the community, are central figures in the transitions, history and literacies of the text. This chapter provides some examples of how the text is read and used as guidance. Lastly, the shahada (testimony of faith) has a role beyond its initial role in the transition to the Islamic faith.

Historical shifts and transitions

Before 1950 there were two Qur’ans available in English in the United States – that of Edward Lane and that of Maulana Muhammad Ali. African-American communities had access to only the Ali translation.¹ The name of the translator or commentator meant little to this audience, and the history of the Ahmadiyya movement and its place within Indian Islam were also not that significant.² The Ahmadiyya movement in Islam had not yet been banned. The fact that there was an English translation at all was what mattered, and this translation gave its new African-American audience access to an otherwise unapproachable, but important, scripture.

The translation by the Ahmadi community, along with its commentary, served as guidance to the reading of the text. This introduction to the Qur’an gave teachers and readers a superficial though thorough mastery of its history, organization and major themes. Though what lay behind much of Ahmadi commentary highlighted their thoughts on reformation of Islamic thought in India, African-American Muslims still had to reinterpret the commentary according to their own circumstances.

Many of the people who transitioned to Islam before 1950 (and even after) came from either intensely black Christian communities or were estranged from religion altogether. Few had the luxury of formal study of religion in academic settings, as the educational opportunities for black people were limited. Multiple black denominations of Christianity shaped their lives. They embraced literal interpretations of the Bible, more austere traditions such as Catholicism, and almost every variant in between, just as in other religious communities. In communities, the reasons for transition are typically pragmatic: people need a faith to feel comfortable in, or they feel a sense of belonging to the faith of ancestors, or they just need a faith which is not a bystander to the ‘real’ Christianity which was white altogether, and had a white god.

What did the Qur’an offer? It offered a non-derogatory place for black people, a place in the world, and a clean upright existence through continual reformation of the self. The Ahmadi commentary stressed faith in the uprightness of all the prophets (e.g. Q 6:83–6). This offered those transitioning to Islam an explanation of the familiarity and non-exclusivity of Islam regarding prophecy. Additionally, the scripture taught that women were the spiritual equals of men and had property rights, along with a heightened status (e.g. Q 4:1, 32). This realization came about in Jim Crow America, a nation where black women were raped and considered property, rather than citizens with rights.³

Members of various Islam-related groups – Ahmadi, Moorish Science Temple, Nation of Islam and Sunni – felt spiritually uplifted through the Qur’anic mandates against drinking, consumption of pork products, gambling, sex outside marriage, cleanliness, respect for parents, recognition of the faith of others, and a connection to others in the world. Prayer, three to five times daily, punctuated the lifestyles of all, as did zakat, fasting during Ramadan (and for the Nation of Islam, fasting during the month of December) and the hope of a journey to Mecca. Some changed names, while others added a Muslim name to reflect a new sense of community and belonging.⁴ Study of the Qur’an was paramount, with some memorizing portions in English and Arabic for prayers and meditation. Arabic language study was engaged with enthusiasm, with Arab tutors for classes, especially within the Nation of Islam.

Arabic language and Qur’anic studies also brought changes to home decor. Pictures of family members were put in albums or placed in parts of the home were believers did not pray. Instead, walls were adorned with Arabic calligraphy or pictures of the Kaaba. Racks or designated areas for shoes to be placed became commonplace as Muslims in the African-American community stopped the practice of wearing shoes in the home, and many people kept house shoes or socks near discarded shoes.

Muslims in the African-American community continued, when they could, to be present for major family events such as births, family reunions and funerals. In some families, the clean living of Muslim members was seen as saving them from a ‘life in the streets.’ In other families, Islam was seen as an affront to Christianity, and thus an abomination which had to be inveighed against.

For the new African-American Muslim communities, other Muslims gradually transformed into the new family and community. To put this differently, these new Muslims began to prefer Muslim over non-Muslim friends and acquaintances, with the exception of the nuclear family. New Muslim acquaintances reinforced the new way of life. These communities interacted with and often internally debated literacy and class differences, and sometimes even Islamic understanding. Soon, individual perceptions and stark differences emerged among African-American Muslim communities, many of which continue until today. Nevertheless, today members of the Moorish Science Temple attend events of the Nation of Islam and Sunni communities, and vice versa. Members of these different communities can also be in a single family, either by marriage or by blood.

The presence of Muslim communities was noted by observers of black life in the novels of black writers and in newspapers. African and Arabic names began to surface, as did Muslim greetings and dress. The larger communities adapted to the fact that the majority of those who claimed Islam and their children did not eat pork, females did not wear revealing clothing, nor were they to be verbally harassed.

Musicians including Yusuf Lateef, Ahmad Jamal, John Coltrane and McCoy ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Note on Transliteration
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part I - Communities of Culture and Experience
• Chapter 1 - African-American Communities of the Qur’an
• Chapter 2 - Nizari Ismaili Engagements with the Qur’an
• Chapter 3 - The Reception of the Qur’an in Popular Sufism in Indonesia
• Part II - Between Gender and Community
• Chapter 4 - Musawah
• Chapter 5 - The Reception of the Qur’an in the LGBTQ Muslim Community
• Part III - The Silent, Speaking and Living Word
• Chapter 6 - The Speaking Qur’an and the Praise of the Imam
• Chapter 7 - The Qur’an and the Baha’i Faith
• Part IV - Communities of Text and Tradition
• Chapter 8 - How the Qur’an Shapes the Sunni Community
• Chapter 9 - The Qur’an and the Ahmadiyya Community
• Chapter 10 - Why the Qur’anists are the Solution
• Afterword
• Imprint Page