Moorish Science Temple of America

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The participants in the Moorish Science Temple Congress in Chicago in 1928. Noble Drew Ali in the front center, dressed in white.

Moorish Science Temple of America (" Moorish Science Temple of America ") is a political and religious organization in the United States , founded in 1913 by Noble Drew Ali . It is a syncretic religion geared towards African Americans and incorporates elements from Islam , Christianity , Buddhism , Gnosticism, and Freemasonry . Essential beliefs of the Moorish Science Temple were carried over into the Nation of Islam founded in 1930 by Wallace Fard Muhammad .

history

Noble Drew Ali reported in his notes that he had met a high priest of Egyptian magic on his travels . He saw him as the reincarnation of Jesus , Buddha , Mohammed and other religious leaders, introduced him to mystical secrets and handed him a "lost part" of the Koran . This text became known as the Holy Koran of the Moorish Science Temple of America and is also called the Circle Seven Koran because of the blue one on its cover Circle circled seven can be seen. The first 19 chapters come from the "Aquarian Gospel" published in 1908 by Levi H. Dowling . Chapters 20 to 45 are taken from a guide to the way of life of the Rosicrucians , with slight changes in style and choice of words.

The last four chapters of the book are written by Drew Ali himself. In it he writes:

“The fallen sons and daughters of the Asian nation of North America must learn to love rather than hate, and must recognize their higher selves and lower selves. This is the unifying power of the Holy Koran from Mecca, for teaching and teaching all Moorish Americans, etc. The key to civilization was and is in the hands of Asian nations. The Moors, who were the ancient Moabites, and the founders of the Holy City of Mecca. "

Drew Ali was well received by the thousands of black Americans who moved from the southern states to the big cities of the north in the wake of the Great Migration . There was overlap with Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association he founded . After Ali's death in 1929, disputes over his successor broke out. Both Edward Mealy El (1870-1935), Ali's driver John Givens El and Wallace Fard Muhammad laid claim to direct the organization. Wallace Fard resigned from the Moorish Science Temple and moved to Detroit , where he founded the Nation of Islam in 1930 . The Moorish Science Temple of America has never been recognized as Islamic by Orthodox Islam .

Towards the end of the 20th century, the number of members of the organization declined; there are said to be around 800 members nationwide. Today the representatives of the Washitaw Nation see themselves as descendants of the Moorish Science Temple.

Practices and Beliefs

Drew Ali considered all African Americans to be Moors and believed that they were descendants of the ancient Moabites . He held Islam and its teachings as beneficial for the earthly redemption of black Americans - their "true nature" had been withheld from them. The members of the organization added Bey or El to their family names to emphasize their Middle Eastern origins and to demand a new identity after their slave owners had given them European names and thus robbed them of their original identity. The temple staff wore black fez , and Drew Ali decorated his fez with a feather as a Cherokee headdress. Community leaders were called sheiks , grand sheiks, or governors. Drew Ali urged his audience to reject derogatory terms such as “black”, “colored” or “negro”. Chicago , where Drew Ali lived most of his life, was to become a second Mecca .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Levi H. Dowling: The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ
  2. ↑ Kambiz GhaneaBassiri: A History of Islam in America: From the New World to the New World Order . Cambridge University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-521-61487-0 . Online partial view

literature