A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE NATION OF ISLAM AND ISLAM Dwi Hesti Yuliani-Sato A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS May 2007 Committee: Dr. Lillian Ashcraft-Eason, Advisor Dr. Awad Ibrahim ©2007 Dwi Hesti Yuliani-Sato All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Dr. Lillian Ashcraft-Eason, Advisor This study compares the Nation of Islam with the religion of Islam to understand the extent of its religious kinship to Islam. As with other religions, there are various understandings of Islam and no single agreement on what constitutes being a Muslim. With regard to that matter, the Nation of Islam’s (NOI) teachings and beliefs are regarded as unconventional if viewed from the conventions of Islam. Being unconventional in terms of doctrines and having a focus on racial struggle rather than on religious nurturing position the Nation of Islam more as a social movement than as a religious organization. Further, this raises a question, to some parties, of whether the NOI’s members are Muslims in the sense of mainstream Islam’s standard. It is the issue of conventional versus unconventional that is at the core of this study. The methodologies used are observation, interview, and literary research. Prior to writing the thesis, research on the Nation of Islam in Toledo was conducted. The researcher observed the Nation of Islam in Toledo and Savannah, Georgia, and interviewed some people from the Nation of Islam in Toledo and Detroit as well as a historian of religion from Bowling Green State University. The research questions are around the teachings and beliefs of the Nation of Islam in the past and today, the development of the Nation of Islam, and how its members see themselves and their organization both in relation to race relations in the United States and to Islam as a religion of Muslims worldwide. The result of the research indicates that the Nation of Islam has gradually taught the teachings of Islam as embraced by the Muslim world while continuing to hold to the iv teachings of Elijah Muhammad in contradiction with the accepted conventions of Islam. It is hoped that the research will have important implications for the American public’s view of the Nation of Islam and of Islam, to the Nation of Islam itself, and to other Muslims who do not belong to it in their understanding of each other’s differences and of the factors that lead to them. There are two implications. The first implication is to correct American people's perception of the Nation of Islam as a racist and anti-white organization (if it has changed). The second implication is to create mutual understanding and brotherhood among the Nation of Islam and other Muslims in the United States and other countries so that they can cooperate in positive activities that may help clear Islam’s image as a religion which loves peace and never suggests hatred, racialism, or even terrorism often pointed out to Islam. Hence, this thesis is aimed at the understanding of the Nation of Islam as what leads to its radical views that are often considered by the American mainstream as provoking racism and separatism. America has made the Nation of Islam as it has been. This thesis is also aimed at the mutual and dual process of learning and understanding for both the Nation of Islam and the so-called “orthodox” Muslims. The unique circumstances of the African American diaspora work as the background of the NOI’s ideology that sets it apart from the rest of the Muslim world. It must be understood that Islam as a universal religion for all people never suggests hatred (even less terrorism) and superiority of a people (race) over the other(s). At the same time, however, it is necessary to understand the Nation of Islam’s insistence on black power, pride, and self-reliance when the American system is not in favor of many poor blacks whose voices are unheard. v FRONTISPIECE “We should realize that the first identity is not an African or a European or a Saudi. The first identity is a human being. As long as we build our differences, our diversities (pardon me) upon the foundation that God gives us, the human foundation, we’re in a good shape. And we should just make all the progress we can, separately and all together” (Warith D. Mohammed, as told to This Far By Faith , producer Valerie Lison, 2003). vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to thank Allah SWT for the life, guidance, and blessings He gives. I am very grateful to my thesis advisor, Dr. Lillian Ashcraft-Eason, who has been with me from the first day of my research on the Nation of Islam until I finally completed the writing of this thesis. Without her guidance, recommendations, and personal contacts, it would have been impossible for me to conduct oral interviews with members of the Nation of Islam; conferences with her about the arrangement and interpretation of my data were invaluable, giving me confidence as I proceeded to write this Master’s thesis based on both literary and oral research. When I was just in the second semester in American Culture Studies (ACS) at Bowling Green State University (BGSU), my first year in the U.S., Dr. Ashcraft-Eason was the most supportive professor who made time for me whenever I needed her help, and she (and her late husband, Dr. Djisovi Eason who also taught at BGSU) took me to the Nation of Islam in Savannah during Spring Break 2005. Thank you very much for your support and encouragement, Dr. Ashcraft-Eason. Next, I would like to thank my second committee member, Dr. Awad Ibrahim, for his willingness to help and guide me in the process of writing and finishing this Master’s thesis. Dr. Donald McQuarie, my graduate advisor in ACS, is to be especially thanked for his sincerity and patience in assisting me through the bureaucratic process of graduate study in the United States and in helping me review my thesis prior to its submission. In addition I would like to thank Gloria Pizana, secretary of the department, whom I often ask for help with school-related administration. I am also very grateful to the Fulbright Program (IIE)—as well as AMINEF Indonesia—for without its financial support, I would not have been able to pursue my study. There are people that I thank for sharing their vii insights and knowledge of the Nation of Islam, including Dr. Devissi Muhammad (University of Detroit Mercy), Dr. Djisovi Eason, and Vincent Muhammad (Assistant Minister of the NOI’s Muhammad Mosque in Toledo). Also, I would like to thank Polly O’Rourke, Shannon Bischoff, and Yosuke Sato from Linguistics Department, Ph.D. Program, at the University of Arizona for helping me edit my thesis. To my family, you have my eternal appreciation for your ever-lasting support, encouragement and love and for your trust. Thank you, Ibuk (mother), for always supporting me in pursuing my dream and for letting me do what I want to do. Thank you, Bapak (father) and Mbak Yuli (sister), for always being next to my mother in supporting and trusting me, and thank you, Mbai (late grandmother), whose love always reminds me of loving all human beings despite religious and cultural differences and to never forget God because of Whom I exist. Thanks to my husband, Yosuke Sato, for never being tired of encouraging me when I felt like giving up, for always being with me when I am sad, and for helping me go through all difficulties and troubles in my life and study. Your love is my strength. And finally I would like to thank my best friend Esti, who despite being a thousand miles away—separated by oceans—has always been willing to help me, responding to my calls at anytime, hoping for nothing in return. You teach me what true and sincere friendship is. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCING THE NATION OF ISLAM................................................ 7 Background to the Study............................................................................................ 7 A Recent Case of Study of the Nation of Islam in Toledo ........................................ 9 Introduction.................................................................................................... 9 Methodology.................................................................................................. 11 Discussion...................................................................................................... 12 The Nation of Islam as an Alternative for Christianity and the Question of White Jesus............................................................................................. 27 Religious Identity versus Social Movement .............................................................. 28 Separatist Ideology..................................................................................................... 33 The Foundation of the Nation of Islam...................................................................... 35 The Teachings of the Nation of Islam........................................................................ 36 Black Theology, Black Power, and the Concept of God in the Nation of Islam....... 38 The Nation of Islam as a Millenarian Movement ...................................................... 41 The Fruit of Islam (FOI) ............................................................................................ 43 The Nation of Islam and a Black Nationalist and a Social