Moorish masons pdf download

The third aspirant, Mealy-El, failed to make much headway in his challenge to unseat Kirkman-Bey. In the s and s, all Moorish groups felt compelled towards exegeti- cal revisionism owing to the rapidly changing domestic and international cli- mate.

The Moorish faith-system became easily impregnated with external ideologies and influences demonstrating its porous boundaries. Moorish-American theologians had to challenge the tired norms and cultural hangovers from the past.

All Moorish groups flirted with pro-Japanese revisionism, differing only in the degree and extent they acted on their beliefs. Ironically, within this Moorish-Japanese alliance Japan was repositioned above other Asiatics including Moors , relegating the latter to a subordinate position within the Asiatic hierarchical order of races Folsom-Bey Once confronted with FBI interrogations and a wave of arrests, almost instantaneously for survival, the movement made a sudden volte face mor- phing into a more conservative orientation of Moorish Science emphasising fealty to America.

Kirkman-Bey bowdlerised Japanese leanings, as the Moorish Voice now printed articles showing the compatibility of being a faithful Moorish-American while concurrently serving the United States armed forces. Reincarnationist Moors compromised with Selective Service officials.

In November , Eddie Stephens-Bey, a Reincarnationist Moor reported to Fort Dix, New Jersey military training camp brazenly refusing to wear a neck- tie, swap his fez for an army helmet, consume army chow, or trim his beard, earning him a two-week confinement Galveston Daily News Eventually, a middle ground was reached after Reincarnated Moorish leaders granted Private Bey dispensation to relax orthodox religious prohibitions concerning food and the fez; however, his beard was not to be shaved completely but sim- ply trimmed over lightly with clippers.

By , even the Reincarnated Moors Americanised their faith system when George Johnson Bey, dramatically trans- formed from a seditious anti-American propagandist into a patriotic collabo- rator by furnishing testimony in a federal district court clearly elucidating links between Ashima Takis, Japanese agent provocateurs, and leaders of other sedi- tious black movements who allied themselves with the Axis Powers to produce a revolution by By irrevocably distancing themselves from more seditious groups, the MSTA averted a similar fate.

In the short run, though shrewd Moorish re-orientation towards American fealty judiciously prevented a similar fate to other repressed, incarcerated religious groups, in the long run this conservative bent only served to discon- nect them from the pulse of black urban America which became increasingly livid with the racial hypocrisy of white America by the s. Officials inspected illegally printed materials from fissiparous rogue Moorish sects.

Nevertheless, its response was feeble, merely to read platitude Moorish regulations concern- ing fraud. Forward-thinking Sheiks from Cleveland, Ohio suggested plans for business expansionism but Chicago officials brusquely dismissed such plans. A heroic portrait of Kirkman-Bey was constructed in the Chicago Defender as a fear- less war veteran who saw action with the 92nd Division in France in World War I, where he was wounded by bomb fragments in a bloody Argonne forest battle.

For Reincarnated Moors, continuing their conservative stance was under- standable given the desperate need for stable leadership. As leadership in the Reincarnated community frequently changed hands in the s, they distanced themselves from the civil rights momentum that took shape in the mids. Moorish leadership was thrust into the hands of F. Nelson Bey, who persisted in alienating them from the civil rights movement, by instructing Moors to be more civic-minded through active participation in communal activities.

Still, the passivity lingered as he insisted no evangelising be done, while permit- ting members to leave the community. Blakeley-Bey, who succeeded F. In , upon witnessing the series of federal civil rights legislations success- fully passed, Blakely-Bey vacillated hesitantly towards civil rights. But this atti- tudinal shift was laboriously slow towards a phenomenon that was already on the wane. On the other hand, the authenticity of promised bi-racial membership was questionable, given this was only permissible nar- rowly within the confines of the Temple doors rather than through mass civil protests outside the Temple.

Reincarnated Moors from the s grew acutely aware of the distinct advantages of allying themselves to orthodox Islam given the religio-political significance of weaving themselves to the centre of traditional Islam.

Hence, Jeffries El organised a plethora of businesses and community programmes ranging from heading a government-aided housing construction, moving company and a management company Tomasson In September , constructive Moorish empowerment was demonstrated as Brooklyn Moors played peacemaker between Mayor Lindsay, besieged policemen and black rioters on the streets of Brownsville, Brooklyn.

MSTA leaders walked into the crowds, talking to angered residents, and cajoling them to discuss matters on MSTA premises with officials where they held a joint news conference with Congress of Racial Equality CORE demanding the end of police brutality. Rufus German Bey, — , another charismatic ronin Moorish leader, based himself in Baltimore, Maryland since During these crusading visits, German-Bey invited incarcerated African-Americans to Islamism over cake and pastries, initi- ated their proclamation of Moorish-American nationality and celebrated Moorish holidays.

In the post-war years, the MSTA was forced to reconfigure itself in complex, pretzel-like directions in response to civil rights and Black Power develop- ments. Faced with such strains, the MSTA underwent another metamorphosis in orientation. The roots of the Moorish legal anarchism traced back to the teachings of C. Moseley Bey, an independent, Cleveland-based Moorish renegade in the s and s whose followers evaded taxation based on the Moorish-Masonic text, The Clock of Destiny.

German Bey in Together with Clarence R. Rebuffed, they stirred local tax protests such that arrests of felonious Moors charged for filing tax-withholding statements and violation of property laws began surfacing in newspapers in Baltimore and Philadelphia in the late s and early s.

For German-Bey, dissociation from the Reincarnated Moors gave birth to a phase of Panglossian growth for most of the s, before strategic miscal- culations abraded initial optimism. To complicate matters further, the boundaries between past-criminality and present-disciplined Moorish lifestyle were amorphously fluidic such that the Moorish faith-system became criminalised.

Louis Sheik impris- oned for a decade long murderous criminal enterprise that handled cocaine traffic. In the s with the advent of the Internet, cyber Moorish Prophets brought such insidious doctrines to a much wider public audience. In particu- lar, Tej Tarik Bey, a Harlem-based Moor have extensively used the online pulpit of websites and YouTube sermons to propagate his Moorish sovereign doc- trines.

Though the media has caricaturised the MSTA as criminalised fanatics and membership diminishing, all is not lost. Abdat, F. Abu Shouk, A. Hunwick, and R. Ali, N. Moorish Guide. To Live Like a Moor traces the many shifts in Christian perceptions of Islam-associated ways of life which took place across the centuries between early Reconquista efforts of the eleventh century and the final expulsions of Spain's converted yet poorly assimilated Morisco population in the seventeenth.

In villages and towns across Spain and its former New World colonies, local performers stage mock battles between Spanish Christians and Moors or Aztecs that range from brief sword dances to massive street theatre lasting several days.

The festival tradition officially celebrates the triumph of Spanish Catholicism over its enemies, yet this does not explain its persistence for more than five hundred years nor its widespread diffusion. In this insightful book, Max Harris seeks to understand Mexicans' "puzzling and enduring passion" for festivals of moros y cristianos. He begins by tracing the performances' roots in medieval Spain and showing how they came to be superimposed on the mock battles that had been a part of pre-contact Aztec calendar rituals.

Then using James Scott's distinction between "public" and "hidden transcripts," he reveals how, in the hands of folk and indigenous performers, these spectacles of conquest became prophecies of the eventual reconquest of Mexico by the defeated Aztec peoples. Even today, as lively descriptions of current festivals make plain, they remain a remarkably sophisticated vehicle for the communal expression of dissent.

A magisterial, myth-dispelling history of Islamic Spain spanning the millennium between the founding of Islam in the seventh century and the final expulsion of Spain's Muslims in the seventeenth In Kingdoms of Faith, award-winning historian Brian A.

Catlos rewrites the history of Islamic Spain from the ground up, evoking the cultural splendor of al-Andalus, while offering an authoritative new interpretation of the forces that shaped it. Prior accounts have portrayed Islamic Spain as a paradise of enlightened tolerance or the site where civilizations clashed.

Catlos taps a wide array of primary sources to paint a more complex portrait, showing how Muslims, Christians, and Jews together built a sophisticated civilization that transformed the Western world, even as they waged relentless war against each other and their coreligionists. Religion was often the language of conflict, but seldom its cause -- a lesson we would do well to learn in our own time.

Skip to content. The Story of the Moors in Spain. A Concise History of the Moors in Spain. Moorish Spain. Author : Richard A. Moorish Spain Book Review:. History of the Moors of Spain. History of the Moors of Spain Book Review:.

Christians and Moors in Spain 2 Lutheran missionaries noted this in while, interestingly, reporting on the rise in the popularity of Islam among African Americans. The missionaries, however, did not explicate whether the Masons they were referring to were African-American, white, or all Masons in general.

Smith, eds. Sadiq, the U. Ahmadi missionary at the time, began his own Ahmadi periodical called the Moslem Sunrise. Apparently both were read in the U. Americans very rarely were noted in the early years of the Islamic Review. By the s, Freemasonry had existed in Muslim-majority lands for close to years. European Mason merchants, diplomats, and, later, colonizers were responsible for importing the Craft. This was followed, particularly in the Ottoman regions, by local Muslim Masonic brothers—in the tradition of many modern Freemasons throughout the world—reinterpreting the Masonic genealogical myths in ways that would affirm the importance of their own religion.

A variety of narratives were produced that placed Islam and Islamic figures at the heart of the tradition. First and foremost, while we have become aware of the existence of numerous Masonic lodges throughout Muslim-majority lands that had been established by the early s, no scholar, to my knowledge, has identified any Masonic lodge in Mecca.

Third, while historians have, for at least seventy-five years, been aware of Masonry in Khartoum, Sudan, 58 details of the Muslim- majority lodges there have yet to be examined by scholars. Nonetheless, I should point out that after examining numerous Masonic sources and the available secondary literature, I have not yet come across any mention of a figure by the name of Abdul Hamid Suleiman nor a Prince de Solomon If we 57However, we cannot rule out the possibility that one did exist there, particularly considering the fact that many Muslims—including, presumably, some Muslim Masons—traveled there for the annual hajj and, there, would have had ample opportunity to spread the Craft.

See F. In this article, it is reported that British Masonry first came to the Sudan in autumn with the founding of the Khartoum Lodge, No.

The leaders of this lodge, at least through , were all Englishmen. Two years prior to the founding of the Khartoum Lodge, a District Grand Lodge of Egypt and the Sudan was formed, but no lodges from the Sudan were part of it at the time.

Gould see previous note lists three lodges in Khartoum, including one with an Arabic name Mahfal el-Ittihad, No. There are, however, continued references to his activities among other Masons. In , a U. Freemasonry journal reported that a Mason residing in Kentucky had been first initiated into the fraternity while in northern Africa. See The American Tyler-Keystone 25 : Now residing at 7th Ave. Suleiman even went as far as publishing a letter from the Grand Lodge in England to prove that all Prince Hall masonry was illegitimate.

Suleiman appears to have disappeared from press reports between the autumns of and The article in which he discusses the Masonic court cases and the Grand Lodge letter is the first we hear of him after a few years, and, soon after, he is at odds with the law. In December, while still residing at 7th Ave. The picture of Suleiman in this article confirms he is the same man as the one who appeared in In any case, in , when Suleiman was residing at 7th Ave. The only other time we hear about a figure who was possibly Suleiman and possessed mystical powers, is in a story by Mother E.

Keller, a well-known African-American spiritual religion practitioner from the period. Keller, who led the St. James Temple of Christian Faith No. Prince de Solomon, and was also a title that the figure going by the name of Suleiman sometimes used.

Thornton, and in claimed to have members in New York and 15, nationally. After this appearance, we hear nothing more of Suleiman. Those who came were largely from the rural South, therefore New Jersey exposed them to many new experiences. For the first time they were living 78I have found no records for this group. The word Atma, however, was commonly referred to in Theosophy, which suggests that the group was shaped around Theosophy teachings. This was a Masonry-connected group established in the later s, and was notable for allowing in women.

While the group was popularly known as a Christian organization, I have found no other references to a Mecca Chapter. The combination of all these factors produced an incredible cultural and religious florescence. E The movement plans to move to the South to spread the teachings to more African Americans.

Beyond these facts, there are a few others that have not yet been mentioned. Greene, Leonard Harris, and Clement A. Union City, NJ: Wm. See Moorish Guide, September 14, to March 1, H In July , Suleiman was still residing at W.

Upon his emergence, Suleiman raised his hat to acknowledge the crowd—an act which elicited cheers. Amidst the exultation, two young women approached and kissed the purportedly seventy-seven-year-old man; then the crowd formed a procession leading Suleiman away. He was apparently far less important to the group than Suleiman, as indicated by the fact that unlike Suleiman, he was not bailed out of jail, despite being arrested at the same time. Suleiman plead not guilty, claiming that he had been in a meeting in another city until late on the night in question.

In October of that year, Suleiman was convicted. While we do not know the sentence he ended up receiving, it was reported that he was facing eighteen months in prison. Shriners to join his Islamic Masonry, we do not again hear about him promoting conversion to Islam. Here are some tentative conclusions we can draw: First, we might assume that his reference to the Canaanites was used in a way similar to that which Drew Ali used it; that is, in promoting a biblically-based unique genealogy for African- Americans.

The initiation ritual described in his court case stands out as particularly peculiar, and, if it is an accurate representation of what took place in the group, this seems to be a unique practice to Suleiman.

We also might point out that his message about Islam being 97 New Jersey v. Abdul Hamid Suleiman, A. The final feature to point out is the fact that in all of the evidence connected to the figure of Suleiman that has been presented here—including the de Solomon information— nowhere is the name Drew Ali, or even simply a Drew, found. This suggests that in the groups 99H. Mencken here does not mention Suleiman and suggests sending Turkish missionaries—not, notably, Arabian or East African ones, as might be expected if he was indeed familiar with Suleiman.

We can only speculate, then, as to his inspiration for the proposal, though the timing of it is certainly suggestive. In a widely-reprinted article in , Mencken explains that immediately after having made his proposal about Islam for African Americans, he was shown by many people why it was not a good idea, and so he retracted it.

See E. We shall now turn to the MST-connected evidence to explore that possibility. Jones inscribed in the bottom right-hand corner, and was likely taken in the same session as the other picture.

This may or may not be the same Wallace Fard who later according to Moorish legend convinced Elijah Muhammad to leave Moorish Science and to set up his own Nation of Islam.

Little is known about that man and the early years of his Newark mission. He was a Moroccan Chief who fought against the Spanish and French in ; and…a doctor Solomon Mohammed is its co-founder.

And also here he met others who would further his Islamic education although he had previously visited Egypt, and there he learned many things there in the East. I have not been able to identify either a Dr. Solomon Mohammed or Emir Krim El.

The former name, however, may have something to do with the Dr. Prince de Solomon mentioned above. When presenting these authorizations to New Jersey Governor, Woodrow Wilson, he was promised all the support he could muster in the United States. President Elect W.

The temple grew rapidly and was moved upstairs to the 2nd floor. The late J. Rogers did in fact show in several writings an interest in Islam, particularly in the figure of Bilal, an emancipated black slave who was one of the earliest Muslims and is traditionally recognized as being the first person to perform the Islamic call to prayer. Rogers, , The main character in that book, notably, is a Pullman porter named Dixon.

In Drew Ali and his followers went to Chicago. He was taught the Adepts of Egypt. I have the secret of destroying the germs of tuberculosis and cancer of the lungs in 10 to 30 days. Also have 18 years of Christ life that is silent to your Holy Bible for all those who desire to know more about Jesus the Christ.

First, and perhaps most important, the Drew here identifies himself as a Muslim. And finally, the card has a picture of a man who looks very much like the Drew Ali seen in several photographs. There are, however, a few features of this card that are not consistent with post Drew Ali.