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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Native American ways and Islam? |
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| rachel |
| 06/21/02 at 18:44:05 |
| Hello everyone!! :) Okay, take a deep breath, because I have long winded questions..... Here it goes.... I am Native American: enrolled into the Oklahoma Seminole Nation, also blood lines to the Choctaw & Creek Nations of Oklahoma. Well, to let everyone know, I am Roman Catholic, but I have been SERIOUSLY thinking of converting to Islam. I have been studying the Quran with some Muslims here in my college town, and it seems as though the more I learn of Islam the more I feel that it is the right direction. I have been taking baby steps as far as changing my ways, and attitudes. I have also started going to the Mosque with fellow women, who make me feel at home...okay, on to the problem. Being Native means having a strong cultural tie to your tribe and your people. I adamently respect my tribal customs, and I am extrodinarly proud to be Native. There are certain aspects that we do, that go against the teachings of Islam. For example: as a woman I have long hair. To us hair is a sign of our heritage, and who we are. So to cover that, would be in a way hiding my heritage and who I am (is this making any sense?). Another example: i attend powwows (Native gatherings where we dance, sing, and just hangout with my people), but many aspects of our powwows also go against Islam. There are some tribal rituals, which I can't mention here, because it is for tribal members only. Once again, many of the tribal practices go against Islam.... As you can see the ways of my people come into conflict with the teachings of a religion that I am falling in love with! I want to put my whole heart into Islam, but at the same time I do not want to turn my heart on my culture and my people. I have spoken with my family, and they think that if I become a Muslim, that I will throw away who I am. Native( Oklahoma Seminole). This is really hard for me, and since there are no Native American Muslims, I feel as though I am doing this by myself. I hope this is making sense to people... I have been trying to find Native American Muslims, but I have a better chance at finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow :D . So I have put posts on many Muslim websites, and they have directed me to this particular website...so if you know of ANY ANY ANY ANY Native American Muslims, PLEASE give them my email address: beadedthong@collegeclub.com (sorry but that is my only email). Thank you for taking half of your life to read this and respond God Bless!!, Rachel |
| Re: Native American ways and Islam? |
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| nouha |
| 06/21/02 at 19:04:25 |
| [slm] i just replied back your post in the bebzi stand so u can check it out then lol :) wasalam nouha:) |
| Re: Native American ways and Islam? |
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| Aurora |
| 07/09/02 at 13:44:09 |
| Rachel - I do hope you're still visiting the board:) After reading your post this morning, I went and did some digging. You see, there was this monthly magazine published out of Ontario called 'The Message', and I remembered that they had published an issue that focused primarily on this matter, it was the july 1996 issue entitled, 'Red Roots of Islam In America'. I'd really like to pass it on to you if you're interested, here's an excerpt from the editorial: [i]" On the Good Red Path The United States is a country of immigrants. Carrying an American passport today does not preclude the fact that the overwhelming majority of the populace of this country trace their ancestry to some identifiable land mass in Europe, Asia, Africa or the Americas. Such is not the case with those commonly referred to as Indians or Native Americans. Anthropological and archaeological records attest to the fact that Native Americans may have begun their sojourn in the Western hemisphere as early as 10 000 years ago. Who are these people who have greeted every wave of travelers and immigrants who have stumbled across these shores? The commonly accepted premise about the historical passage of Native Americans into the Western hemisphere is that these first settlers crossed the Bering Strait, adjacent to today's Alaska and eventually migrated to the most southern climes in this part of the world. Along the way, they evolved distinct nations, characterized for their high degree of spirituality and reverence for the physical manifestations of creation. The annals of Eurocentric history are replete with episodes of the violent and tumultuous relationship between Anglos and "the noble savage." When used as a primary source of information about Native Americans, Eurocentric histories convey the mistaken message that Columbus discovered Indians in a state of pagan, primitive savagery. Yet, even Columbus's own diaries record his observations that the Carib Indians of the Islands upon which he "discovered" dressed and performed similar acts of worship as he had seen among the African Muslim Moors. He goes further to describe a ship sailing away from the West Indian islands that he thought to contain Indians, whose passengers wore the bright-colored turbans of the Moors (Muslims) and women adorned themselves with face veils. Columbus and his cohorts eventually exterminated all Carib Indians from the face of the earth. Unraveling the truth about the pre-Columbus, European contact era is anything but simplistic, but nevertheless gratifying. Perhaps the most historically documented relationship between Native Americans and any other peoples is not with Europeans but rather with African people. Documented through artifacts and evidences of cross cultural fertilization found throughout the Americas and West Africa, the relationship between Red and Black peoples predates by many centuries the stormy social intercourse of Native Americans with Europeans. African Muslim travelers and explorers were foremost among the visitors to the home of Native Americans. Many of these Muslim travelers settled among the Native peoples, intermarried and never returned to Africa. The resulting joining of cultures and religious traditions facilitated the spread of Islam among Native American people. The social interaction between African Muslims and Native Americans continued throughout the centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave trade as escaped slaves typically found refuge with Indian tribes. While the history of escaped African slaves joining the ranks of the Seminoles of Florida is no historical secret, the existence and influence of African Muslim slaves among other eastern and southwestern tribes such as the Cherokees and Choctaws is, until relatively recently, a misplaced page of Americana. This history helps to shatter the myth of Indian traditional paganism as the "foreign" African Muslims seem to have found little resistance to their practice and propagation of the way of life of Islam from their host Native Americans. Native American Muslim researchers and activists such as Sr. Maria Abdin, Imam Benjamin Perez Mahomat and Br. Mahir Abdur Razzaq help us to reclaim the glorious history of Islam among Native Americans as a vital part of Muslim history. We will find that the Good Red Path was and is the siratul mustaqin for many of our Native American brothers and sisters. Yes, there are Red Roots of Islam in America. We pray that something in this issue will enlighten you about this reality, Allah willing. Enjoy! "[/I] Ermm..thats the whole editorial - I started out typing just a small excerpt but then couldn't stop typing ;) There's a lot of great articles that *I know* will help out with the questions you have. I'll find some way to get them to you, check your email and we'll figure something out :) |
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