Not Going to the Nation of Islam

This morning, I had planned on going to Mosque Maryam, the national headquarters for the Nation of Islam. Deep in Chicago’s South Side, the mosque is named after the mother of Jesus and is an incredibly impressive building in the Greek Orthodox style (it was originally a church).

The Nation of Islam, a uniquely American form of Islam, is going through an interesting transition. The Nation was founded in 1930 by Wallace Fard Muhammad, who believers view as an incarnation of Allah. An African-American-centric faith, it has very distinctive interpretations of humanity and the world we live in.

For instance, the Nation teaches that around 85 percent of the world’s people of all races and faiths are the deaf, dumb and blind masses of the people who are easily led in the wrong direction and hard to lead in the right direction. They are manipulated by 10 percent of the people, the rich slave-makers of the masses of the people. That leaves only five percent, the poor righteous teachers of the people of the world who know the truth of the manipulation.

They believe that black people, by fulfilling a biblical prophecy of slavery, are these five percent, the descendants of Abraham and God’s chosen people. But, in a way, they also leave much of Christianity and the Bible behind, as they see it as part of the system of deception, instead choosing Islam, which they see as a truer, more inclusive path. Nevertheless, many mainstream Muslims do not consider the Nation of Islam to be a true Islamic path.

But I did not go. I attempted to go a year ago, and was turned away. The Nation of Islam is in a state of flux as Louis Farrakhan, the Nation’s supreme minister, is aging and has been in and out of ill health for years. An outspoken advocate, Farrkhan has brought the Nation into the national spotlight over a number of years, often in controversy. It is uncertain what will happen to the faith when he is gone.

Last year, he was speaking at Mosque Maryam in an event that was attended by thousands and billed to be open to the public. I went with two friends, another white man and an Indian woman. We waited in an extremely long line that stretched almost around the block, and we were one of very few people who were not African American.

At the door, we separated, as men and women enter through different doors and worship in separate areas, as is common in many mosques. When my male friend and I were going through security, however, the security guards made us stand and wait for almost 15 minutes while they went to talk to their superiors. When they came back, they told us that the Nation’s website had been incorrect in stating that it was open to the public, as were the e-mails that the Nation had been sending out on listservs.

Of course, they did not tell the Indian woman that, and she was allowed in. I can only assume that it is because we were white, as the Nation is famous for referring to whites as “blue-eyes devils.”

I, of course, was not in the mood to travel an hour and a half to the South Side, only to be turned away again, especially since the Nation has not responded to my attempts to contact it. I don’t need to waste my time trying to learn about faiths that won’t even let me in the door.