From http://www.islamreview.com/articles/neitherblacknorafrican.shtml
Neither BLACK nor AFRICAN
By Abdullah Al Araby
Jump to: Africa was not the Cradle of Islam Mohammed was not a Black Man Mohammed Owned Black Slaves What was Mohammed's Position on Freeing the Slaves?Islam Looked Down on Blacks Islam is not the Haven of Freedom and Equality
The color of one's skin has suddenly become relevant to religion. Muslim activists have been trying to convince African American citizens that Islam is the religion of the Black man, that Islam is African and that Mohammed was Black. Needless to say, Muslims only make these claims to Blacks; among Whites they take a different approach!
Knowing that these are well thought-out falsifications, intended only to draw Blacks towards Islam, I felt compelled to set the facts straight. Nothing in this article is meant to lend approval to this racial approach. If we are to accept or reject Islam, it should be based on Islam's own merits, rather than color or origin.
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Africa was not the Cradle of Islam
Islam was born in the 7th century, in the Arabian Peninsula, which is part of the continent of Asia. Yellow Asia and Black Africa are separated by the Red Sea. Here, we are talking about two different continents and two different peoples.
Islam went to Africa relatively recently, and is not the predominant religion there. African Americans were most likely either Christians or Animists at the time they were brought to America.
Christianity has been present in Africa since the first half of the first century. St. Mark, the writer of the Gospel of Mark was a North African Jew who preached the Gospel to Egypt. From there, Christianity spread all over North Africa, and to the south of Egypt's borders. The Eastern church raised to the level of sainthood many Africans, St. Moses the Black from Egypt and St. Tekla Himanote the Ethiopian and others.
One of the teachers and prophets in the early church, Simeon, was an African from Niger in west Africa (Acts 13:1)
Eastern Africa was converted to Christianity through the ministry of a cabinet member of Queen Candace of Ethiopia who was baptized by St. Philip, one of the seven deacons in the early church (Acts 8:26 - 40).
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Mohammed was not a Black Man
Mohammed was an Asian-Arab. You can't confuse an Asian-Arab with a Black- African. There are numerous evidences that Mohammed was actually white. The space limitation will allow us to mention only a few:
In Sahih Al Bukhary vol. 1 no. 63, we read "while we were sitting with the Prophet, a man came and said, "who amongst you is Mohammed?" We replied, "this white man reclining on his arm..."
In volume 2 Hadith no. 122 refers to Mohammed as a "white person" and in vol. 2 Hadith no. 141 we are told that when Mohammed raised his arms, "the whiteness of his armpits became visible."
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Mohammed Owned Black Slaves
Mohammed owned several black slaves. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya relies heavily on the prophet's biographies written by great ancient scholars. Therefore, he is regarded by Muslims as an authority, a primary source and a leader among the students of Islamic religion. This scholar tells us in his book, "Zad al-Ma'ad" (part 1, pp. 114-116), the following:
"These are the names of Muhammad's male slaves: Yakan Abu Sharh, Aflah, 'Ubayd, Dhakwan, Tahman, Mirwan, Hunayn, Sanad, Fadala Yamamin, Anjasha al-Hadi, Mad'am, Karkara, Abu Rafi', Thawban, Ab Kabsha, Salih, Rabah, Yara Nubyan, Fadila, Waqid, Mabur, Abu Waqid, Kasam, Abu' Ayb, Abu Muwayhiba, Zayd Ibn Haritha, and also a black slave called Mahran."
Even in modern times, in Saudi Arabia the homeland of Islam, the common word for "Black" is "Abd" meaning slave.
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What was Mohammed's position on freeing the slaves?
In one instance , a man freed a slave that he kept as a sexual partner. When Mohammed heard what happened, he auctioned the boy and sold him for 800 derhams to Na-eem Ebn Abdullah Al- Nahham. (Sahih Moslem vol. 7, page 83)
According to Mohammed, the punishment for committing adultery is different between a free man, a free woman and a slave-woman. The man is to be flogged one-hundred stripes and be exiled for one year. The free woman must be stoned to death. But the slave-woman (since she has a monetary value) will not be exiled or killed, she is to be flogged one-hundred stripes. If the violation is repeated, the slave-woman is to be sold.(Sahih Al Bukhary vol. 8:821 & 822)
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Islam Looked Down on Blacks
Islam is a religion, whose sacred Scriptures contain explicit denigrating remarks about Black people.
Mohammed referred to Blacks as "raisin heads". (Sahih Al Bukhary vol. 1, no. 662 and vol. 9, no. 256).
In another Hadith, Mohammed is quoted as saying that Blacks are, "pug-nosed slaves". (Sahih Moslem vol. 9 pages 46 and 47).
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Islam is not the Haven of Freedom and Equality
Even if we wrongly assume that Islam started in Africa and that its Prophet was a black man, this still wouldn't in itself be a good reason for Blacks to adopt Islam. Nor would it be a good reason for Whites to adopt Islam just because Mohammed was white. We have to look at Islam itself.
I wouldn't want to be a Muslim because Islam is anti freedom, which is one issue so close to the hearts and minds of African Americans, considering the inequities they have suffered in their past.
One thing Islam does not believe in is freedom of religion. If Islam takes over America there wouldn't be a choice of religion. The Quran states: "If anyone desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him; and in the hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost".(Surah 3:85)
Many of the teachings of Islam are incompatible with progress. Neither are they compatible with human rights, civil rights or constitutional rights.
Here are a few examples of the teachings of Islam:
Men are superior to women. (Surah 2:228)Women have half the rights of men: In court witness. (Surah 2:282)In inheritance. (Surah 4:11) A man may beat his wife. (Surah 4:34)A man may marry up to four wives at the same time (Surah 4:3)Muslims must fight until their opponents submit to Islam. (Surah 9:29)A Muslim must not take a Jew or a Christian for a friend.(Surah 5:51)A Muslim apostate must be killed.(Surah 9:12)Stealing is punished by the amputation of the hands. (Surah 5:38)Adultery is punished by public flogging. (Surah 24:2)No separation between Church and State. (Surah 2:193)No opposition party allowed. (Surah 4:59)
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My fellow African-American:
Muslims don't care for your skin color, they are only using that to gain control over you. For if Muslims really care for Africans, why are African Muslims kidnapping their African Christian brothers these days in Sudan, butchering the weak and selling the healthy as slaves? (see State Dept. report: News Network International; May 26,1993)
Consider, on the other hand, that Jesus Christ came to give us eternal life, where everybody stands equal in the sight of God. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus". Galatians 3:28
The difference between Islam and the teachings of Jesus Christ is great. The choice is clear, the choice is yours.
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