Organization/sect called the ‘Nation of Islam’

1. I was doing research on Muhammed Ali, Malcolm X, etc. I came across an Organization/sect called the Nation of Islam, which is followed by these former athletes. I’d like to know whether it, (the NOI) is regarded as acceptable? Is it Jaa’iz

2. Also, is Sufism Sunni or Shia? 

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

1. The following are some core beliefs of the Nation of Islam as stated by Elijah Muhammad, one of the founders of NOI, in Message to the Black Man in America with our analysis in the light of the Qurān and Sunnah.

• The author of Islam is Allah (God)…The entire creation of Allah (God) is of peace, not including the devils who are not the creation of Allah (God) but a race created by an enemy (Yakub) of Allah. Yakub rebelled against Allah and the righteous people and was cast out of the homes of the righteous into the worst part of our planet to live their way of life until the fixed day of their doom.(Chapter 13 What is Islam?)

Analysis: Allāh Ta’ālā is the Creator of everything, including devils. The Qurān says, “Allāh is the Creator of everything.”(Al Zumar: 62, Al An’ām: 102, Al Furqān: 2) There is nothing in this world that is not created by Allāh. To believe anything is excluded from being the creation of Allāh suggests that Allāh is not in full control of this world. Also, Ya’qūb (Peace Be Upon Him) was a Prophet of Allāh, not His enemy. The Qurān says, “Say! (O Believers) We believe in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what has been revealed to Ibrāhīm, Ismā’īl, Ishāq, and Ya’qūb…” This verse clearly establishes the prophet hood of Ya’qūb a. The Prophets are innocent beings who do not sin against Allāh, let alone not being the enemies of Allāh.[1]      

• These enemies of Allah (God) are known at the present as the white race or European race, who are the sole people responsible for misleading nine-tenths of the total population of the black nation.(Ibid)

Analysis: Islam does not classify any one race as evil. The Qurān says, “And We have made you into various families and tribes so that you may recognize one another. Verily the most noble amongst you in the eyes of Allāh is the one with the most Taqwā.”(Al Hujurāt: 13) Rendering an entire race as evil is tantamount to looking down upon them. The Prophet a said, “It is sufficient an evil for a man to look down upon his Muslim brother.” (Al Sahīh li Muslim, Chapter on the Impermissibility of Oppressing a Muslim, Disgracing him, and Looking Down upon him and The Sanctity of a Muslim’s blood, honor, and wealth)

• The prophets of Islam include: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Job, David, Solomon, and Jonah. The people of Islam are the black people, and their numbers are made up of the brown, yellow and red people, called races… (Ibid)

Analysis: Islam does not give superiority to any one race. The Qurān says, “And We have made you into various families and tribes so that you may recognize one another. Verily the most noble amongst you in the eyes of Allāh is the one with the most Taqwā.”(Al Hujurāt: 13) The criterion of success in the court of Allāh is not race, color, or language. The Prophet a said, “Verily Allāh does not look at your faces (color/race) and wealth, rather he looks at your hearts (faith) and actions” (Al Sahīh li Muslim, Chapter on the Impermissibility of Oppressing a Muslim, Disgracing him, and Looking Down upon him and The Sanctity of a Muslim’s blood, honor, and wealth)

• Now it takes Allah (God) Himself to revive and restore our people back into their own. Though I am His Messenger, and Allah can use my life as He pleases for them, they are my people and many — while I am only one.(Ibid)

Analysis: Our beloved Nabī a is the last and final Messenger; no Messenger has/will come after him. The Qurān says, “Mohamed is not the father of any men among you, rather (he is) the Messenger of Allāh and the Seal of the Prophets.”(Al Ahzāb: 40)

• The white race is a race that was produced by using birth control law, says God to me.(Chapter 35 Birth Control Death Plan!)

Analysis: Allāh Ta’ālā does not speak to any layman. The Qurān says, “It is not possible for a man that Allah speaks to him except through Wahī or from behind a veil (not being seen) or by sending a messenger (angel)…” (Al Shūrā: 51) Also, the different colors and shades found amongst the creation of Allāh: humans, mountains, animals, etc. add to the beauty of this world. It is a great injustice to attribute this purposeful variation to the flimsy workings of humans, birth control. The Qurān says, “Do you not see that Allah sends down rain from the sky, and We produce thereby fruits of varying colors? And in the mountains are tracts, white and red of varying shades and [some] extremely black. And among people and moving creatures and grazing livestock are various colors similarly.” (Al Fātir: 27,28)  

• God is a man and we just cannot make Him other than man, lest we make him an inferior one; for man’s intelligence has no equal in other than man.(Chapter 3 Is God a Spirit or a Man?)

Analysis: Allāh Ta’ālā (“God”) is not like any of His creation, including man. The Qurān says, “Nothing is like Allah.” (Al Shūra: 11)  How can the Creator and creation be alike? The very revelation of Sūrah Al Ikhlās (Surah 112) was to refute the polluted beliefs the polytheists of Makkah held in regards to the being of Allāh. They likened Allāh to man asking for His lineage and components (What is Allāh made of?).[2] Al Imam Abū Hanīfah mentions in Al Fiqh Al Akbar, “He (Allāh) does not resemble anything of His creation, and nothing of His creation resembles Him.”       

• Allah came to us from the Holy City Mecca, Arabia, in 1930. He used the name Wallace D. Fard, often signing it W. D. Fard, in the third year (1933). He signed his name W. F. Muhammad which stands for Wallace Fard Muhammad. He came alone. He began teaching us the knowledge of ourselves, of God and the devil, of the measurement of the earth, of other planet, and of the civilization of some of the planets other than earth.(Chapter 8 The Coming of God and the Gathering Together of His People)
• I asked him, “Who are you, and what is your real name?” He said, “I am the one that the world has been expecting for the past 2000 years. I said to him again, “What is your name?” He said, “My name is Mahdi; I am God, I came to guide you into the right path that you may be successful and see the hereafter.(Ibid)

Analysis: The heresy of these statements is beyond doubt. Furthermore, Nabi a gave us descriptions of the Mahdī, none which match the description of Wallace D. Fard:

• The Mahdī will be from the family of the Prophet a, from the children of Fatimah g(Abū Dawood, The Book of Mahdī).
• He will fill the earth with justice (Abū Dawood, The Book of Mahdī).
• Wealth will be in heaps, a man will come to the Mahdī and say, “Give me, give me.” The Mahdī will fill give the man as much as he can carry (Musnad Al Imam Ahmad, Abu Sa’eed).

We can gather from the above that the NOI is in complete contrast to the pure and unadulterated beliefs of Islam; an adherent of the NOI is not a Muslim. Both Malcolm X and Muhammed Ali were former adherents of the NOI; they accepted Islam later in life (their autobiographies may be consulted for reference) seeing the truth of Islam. Malcolm X mentions in his biography that he was over taken by the unity and bond that he witnessed amongst the Muslims at the time of Hajj. The unity the NOI called for was one based on color, the very essence of which leads to segregation. Islam gives a fair chance to every race, nation, gender, social class, etc. to reach high ranks in the court of Allāh Ta’ālā. A person is judged by how well he observes the rights of Allāh, as well as the rights of His creation. Lacking in any one will be detrimental to one’s salvation.      

2. If Sufism refers to purifying ones inner-self, rectifying one’s beliefs, remoulding one’s character, gaining the love of Allah, obeying the commands of Allah, etc. then it is the very essence of Sunni teaching. Sufism is not (as understood and practiced by the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamā’ah) a foreign theory or understanding of Islam. Rather, those ‘Ulama and Awliyā Allah (pious individuals) who dedicated their efforts to rectify the inner self came to be known as the Sūfiyah. Al Imām Abū Hanīfah, the great Jurist, in defining Fiqh took Tasawwuf into consideration[3]. It is unfortunate that many Muslims have misunderstood Tasawwuf to mean certain innovated actions, singing, dancing, grave worshiping, etc. Many pseudo-Suffis have adulterated the true teachings of Islam and have rejected Shar’ī obligations under the pretext of Sufism, whereas true Sufism is strict adherence to the Qurān and Sunnah.     

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Hisham Dawood

Student ,Darul Iftaa
Chicago,U.S.A.

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.