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A Black Imam Breaks Ground in
Mecca—Two years ago, Sheik Adil
Kalbani dreamed that he had become an imam at
the
Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city.
Waking up,
he dismissed the dream as a temptation to
vanity. Although he is known for his fine voice,
Sheik Adil is black, and the son of a poor
immigrant from the Persian Gulf. Leading prayers
at the Grand Mosque is an extraordinary honor,
usually reserved for pure-blooded Arabs from the
Saudi heartland.
So he was
taken aback when the phone rang last September
and a voice told him that
King Abdullah had chosen him as the first
black man to
lead prayers in Mecca. Days later Sheik
Adil’s unmistakably African features and his
deep baritone voice, echoing musically through
the Grand Mosque, were broadcast by satellite TV
to hundreds of millions of Muslims around the
world.
NYTimes |
Salaam—
Thank you for pointing
me to the article. This move by the Saudis is part of an
overall strategy to reclaim their leadership of the Umma—Islamic
Community. Recent timidity by the regime had put into
question what role they will play in the future, For years,
they went unchallenged relying of there historical role as
the guardians of the Kabbah to cover their indiscretions.
Now they face an aggressive Shia threat in the form of Iran
and Iraq. Will they be able to hold on to the leadership of
nearly a million Sunnis is the questions.
As you know there has
been a general decline in the appeal of Christianity in the
West. I am sure you have seen the latest cover of
Newsweek. You should pick up a copy. The greatest threat
to Christianity is not Islam but the secular ideas of the
West. Informed Muslims have said this for decades and now
their predictions of a secular West are coming true. Islamic
scholars have said that their best chance to influence the
United States policy may lie in Islam as an emerging force
among African American males. They see hundreds of thousands
of African American men as the next Obama—especially after
this phrase of Islamic extremism begins to wane.
Christianity in the
eyes of these scholars has been the arena of Black women and
white male preachers (conservatives) and drew its strength
from their economic status. Islam with its emphasis on
learning can easily counter this effect if it can retool
Black men—get them out of the gangster mode. This they
acknowledge may take several decades. But inroads are being
made. Knowledge that a Black man can reach the highest
positions in the United States and within the Umma can only
bolster the view that success can be found beyond the street
corner.
In any case, Islam by
all estimates is poised to be the first world religion to
have 2 billion members. It will be the largest religion in
the world within a century. And just the shear number of
Muslims in the world will be enough to change the political
landscape. The next phase of Islamic development will come
from a struggle to solve the question of modernity which
includes solving the woman question. But younger generations
of Muslims will be brought up under a system of
horizontal—not vertical power.
Surprisingly,
horizontal power is precisely how the Prophet (PBUH) wanted
Islam to develop. So, in a sense, modernity will be a kind
of return to the true fundamentals of the Faith.
Again, I thank you for
pointing me to the article. I also thank you for posting
White Dog so quickly.—Amin Sharif
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JazzTimes in B'more Town
By Amin Sharif
Salaam—
just back from the E.R.
at Good Samaritan. I’ve been watching CNN in the E. R. all
day. Folks are pissed off about AIG. I knew Obama should
have let those fuckers fail. I spoke with a young black guy
in the waiting room while I was reading the latest issue of
JazzTimes. We got into the Beyonce/Etta James thing.
I had to school him on Etta James. Let him know that
Beyonce did not have the chops or the experience to sing
like Etta. I told him that real fans of classic
African-American music had to stop that kind of shit before
it got started. Otherwise, they might have my favorite
rapper-Coolio
play
Sam Cooke or
Otis Redding in a film. Anyway, the whole Capitol Record
thing will probably be a flop—just like the Biggie film.
What a shame. Such
films could really present/be a window into the genius of
rap/hiphop culture and talent. Personally, I like Beyonce,
Jill Scott, etc.—the new brand of singers/actresses. I
find them more interesting than the men.
Beyonce is talented but she doesn't seem to able to
focus that talent into something timeless and classical. I
often point out to young folk how
Aretha Franklin and
Sarah Vaughan did it. Franklin was a soul singer
who producers attempted to turn into a jazz singer.
Sarah was a jazz singer who everyone wanted to sing pop.
Each artist found their voice in a genre that suited her
best.
Franklin became a great soul singer—maybe the greatest
of all times. Sarah became one of the five greatest singers
of jazz—depending on taste. My fear is that the kind of risk
taking and exploration that expands and validates talent
will not be part of the experience of the new generation.
There are just too many handlers out there who want to turn
these female talents into vanilla ice cream.
Anyway to get back to
the conversation I had with this young man in the E. R. He
pointed out how beautifully
Beyonce sang the National Anthem down on the mall. I
told him I would have liked to hear
Will I AM sing it. I also asked him had he ever heard
Marvin Gaye sing the
National Anthem back in the day. He said he was not
aware that Marvin Gaye ever recorded it. I responded that
Marvin's version was filled with tears rung from a thousand
broken promises—that it came up from the cotton fields of
Mississippi and the rhythm of brothers and sister walking
the streets of Harlem and Detroit.
Beyonce's National
Anthem was predicated on the "possible" fulfillment of those
broken promises. By making this distinction, I was able to
get him to see that what Beyonce accomplished and what
Marvin accomplished were very different things.
Beyonce held up a candle of hope at the dawn of a new
day.
Marvin held up a candle at darkest midnight. The
conversation turned to other things. But the young
man thanked me for the rap and the knowledge before he got
released.
I love talking to young
black men, Rahim. He did more for my mental and physical
health than all the IV's that they put in me today. The work
continues. peace.
(Read also
Etta
James: The Caged Bird Sings)
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Marvin Gaye and The Star Spangled Banner
By Mtume ya Salaam,
Breath
of Life Music
Commentary
Live Performance at the NBA
All-Star Game (1983)
video of the performance
Marvin Gaye - American National Anthem - 1979
Marvin Gaye sings the National Anthem at
Oakland Raiders
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