Making the Prophetic Biography Relevant to Black America!

“It is the prophetic destiny [of Muslim African Americans] to call all of humanity back from the seeds of destruction to the straight path of the true worship of G-d”  — Imam Warith Deen Muhammad

“I’ve come back from Mecca with the determination to turn our community into the finest Islamic community in the entire world. We are not going to be Muslims in name but we are going to be practitioners of the faith in every aspect of it” – Louis Farrakhan

   Making the Prophetic Biography Relevant to Black America! 

In previous articles, I have expressed the urgent need to produce and create Islamic content aimed towards oppressed black communities. Why the need to produce Islamic content for the black community? In the last interview of his life, Malcolm X stated that he wishes. “The Muslim world would realize that the most fertile area for Islam in the West is the Black American.“ Unfortunately, there is a lack of Islamic content that addresses the needs and oppression of black communities.

We need to do a dawah or fishing(as it is called in black Muslim vernacular) articulating  why the life of Prophet Muhammad(Peace Be Upon him) is absolutely vital to study if we are to effectively combat the oppressive social conditions to which black people are enduring.  

In the historic interview between Imam Warith Deen Muhammad and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, both men emphasize the importance of studying the life of Prophet Muhammad(Peace Be Upon Him), as the way forward for our communities.  The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan raises the question,”Whose history should we become most proficient in if we are going to be successful in transforming our lives and the lives of our people? It must be the life of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.”

Through studying the Prophetic biography and extracting the social justice principle found within the prophetic biography, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan states,”we would go all over the world in order to free every human being that is oppressed.”  Thus,  based upon this paradigm our study of the seera is  to understand the social justice principles found in the prophetic biography and to implement such principles in our own lives. 

The Prophetic Biography Impact on Black Liberation.

    Why is the Prophetic biography relevant to guiding the struggle of Black people in America?  During the period of Jahaliya or Pre-Islamic Arabia, a socioeconomic arrangement existed in which the poor and oppressed would pay elites in order to worship various idol deities. Other oppressive practices included usury that resulted in widespread economic disparities.

 In the black community, we can find parallels between the profitability of idolatry, socio-economic inequities and the prosperity doctrine taught within black Christian churches to keep them subjugated and oppressed.  In addition to that, payday loan services based upon interest banking are widespread in the black community.  As we combat these social ills in our communities, we need to thoroughly study, articulate, and develop a pragmatic plan of action to combat these social ills in our community.

Moreover, in studying how Prophet Muhammad(Peace be Upon Him)  dealt with figures such as Abu Jahl, we can find guidance on how to deal with adversaries and opponents to our progress and advancement.  We can learn how to rely upon Allah(SWT)  when being oppressed by worldly forces and how faith can be utilized to help us against politicians and other temporal leaders who use their temporal power to oppress and tyrannize the masses. We need to examine the seera for guidelines 

As black people, our forefathers came to the Americas in slave ships and they were subjected to immense unbearable tyrannical conditions. Our people resisted.  Prior to launching what has been designed by historians as the most successful urban slave rebellion, the enslaved Africans passed a document which reads,”“Peace and blessings of Allah be upon our master the Prophet.” Why in the midst of a slave rebellion, would enslaved Africans take the time to send peace upon this man? Just who  was he and why is he so important? The masses of Black America who as a result of slavery were separated from their original religion deserve to know. Let’s get to work talking to our people about the seera. Let’s examine the principles found within his life and put them into practice.