Food and Fellowship explores Islamic history

 In honor of Black History Month, the Black Student Union (BSU) and the Hopkins Muslim Association (JHUMA) collaborated to host a dinner on Sunday, Feb. 19, and talk about Islamic history in Baltimore. Entitled Food and Fellowship, the program featured Diwan Al-Amin, a professor of Islamic studies at the Community College of Baltimore County, as the keynote speaker.

"The goal of the event was to educate the audience about the prevalence of Islam in Black culture," sophomore Keryce Henry, Events Chair of the Black Student Union, wrote in an e-mail to The News-Letter.

Al-Amin aimed to clarify a misunderstood history of Islam in Baltimore. He began his presentation by addressing the misinformed perception that Islam surfaced in America in the latter half of the twentieth century.

"There is a misconception that black Muslims first started out in America in the 1950s, 1960's, or even the 1930's … but 30 percent of the slaves who were brought [to America through the slave trade] were Muslims," Al-Amin said.

Al-Amin therein drew a parallel between the African-American experience and Islamic experience that exemplified the coherency of his presentation within the context of Black History month. The connection of the two histories trended throughout his presentation.

Al-Amin continued his presentation by explaining one of the central misconceptions about Islam: the disparity between the religion of Islam and the social movement, called Nation of Islam.

"Most people when they think of African American Islam. . .people think of the Nation of Islam. . .but some of the things that Elijah Muhammad believed in went directly against the religion of Islam," Al-Amin said.

The Nation of Islam is a black supremacist religious movement founded in the Michigan in the 1930s. Prominent members included Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X.

According to Al-Amin, the Nation of Islam is not representative of the values of the religion or the texts of Islam.

"For example, in his book Messages to the Blackman in America, [Elijah Muhammad] said that ‘God is a man, and he cannot be anything but a man.'. . .which is directly against what the Qur'an says," Al-Amin said.

Al-Amin explained that the Nation of Islam was a social movement contained in America and a small sect of the Carribean Islands, whereas the religion of Islam is prevalent throughout the world. In fact, as Teno Boone, President of the Black Student Union, stated in his introduction to the event, one in four people in the world is Muslim.

Nonetheless, Al-Amin presented many achievements of the Nation of Islam. It operated an international fish business with Morocco and Peru, to which Baltimore was essential of the fish the harbor supplied, and established schools for people of their faith and for people not of their faith. According to Al-Amin, around 1975, the religion of Islam in Baltimore disconnected from the ideology of the Nation of Islam. He chronicled this portion of the history of Islam in Baltimore by presenting the work of individual Muslims.

"In Baltimore, one person who was there during that transition, who was the imam, a person who is leading prayer or. . . someone who has religious knowledge. . . was Ronald Shakir," Al-Amin said.

Al-Amin also highlighted the current experience of Muslims in Baltimore, emphasizing how there are only small sections of religious education in Baltimore.

"I think that Islam as a religion in Baltimore is regarded with respect. . . One thing that I would like to see more personally is more religious-based classes, teaching with a chain of narration, for people not Muslim," Al-Amin said.

The BSU and the JHUMA reflected Al-Amin's desire for more education about Islam through that which the event offered as well as through the theme of Black History Month, which is Blacks in Diaspora: Revelation and Celebration. The theme aims to educate people about the diaspora, the dissemination of the African race to other continents.

"A big part of the diaspora is actually Muslim, so we wanted to educate people on that, as well as expand our reach and invite people who normally don't come. .  .The most important message is just a better understanding of Islam, and it's impact in Baltimore City and the African American community, that I think people neglect," Boone said.

The Black History Month co-chairs, seniors Kelli Jordan and Lacroyah Walker, conceived of the unconventional theme in order to separate from the extremely significant, though trite, focuses of Black History Month.

"Every February we as Americans focus on the same topics and issues, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, the Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks, etc., and we forget that African-Americans are not the only people within the Black Diaspora that have been impacted by slavery and discrimination," Jordan wrote in an e-mail to The News-Letter.

The BSU adopted a global perspective on the struggle for liberty and egalitarianism.

"There was slavery in Africa and South America, and the people from these areas as well as the Caribbean Islands populate the United States and, therefore, we thought their history should be included in our educational presentations and discussions. . . Blacks share a similar struggle with Muslims and Latinos, and we certainly wanted to highlight that and showcase their importance to the Civil Rights Movement and struggle for freedom and equality," Jordan wrote in an e-mail to The News-Letter.

The integration of alternative experiences allowed the BSU to collaborate with other student groups, sucha as JHUMA, and expand their typical focus and group of people who attend the events.

"I think [the event] was really successful. It had a great focus on Baltimore city. . .we want to get a lot of people out; different types of folks so that everyone can enjoy the things that we do," Boone said.

The JHUMA, though not in the vein of supporting Black History Month, also believed that this event bolstered their initiative of Islamic awareness.

"[We] see how being African American affected being a Muslim in Baltimore. While we do have a really multicultural group, we don't have that many American Muslims, in the sense that they're African American. . .I think it's always good to learn a different group's transition into Islam," junior Qais Feroz, Treasurer of JHUMA, said.

Although the presentation was extremely well-received, especially due to the food that the event featured, which Darker than Blue Café catered, Jordan expressed that she wishes there was more of a dominant message to connect the disjointed individual stories that Al-Amin provided.

"I do wish that he would have spoken more about how Muslims have commonalities with Blacks and how Muslims were important to the Civil Rights Movement, focusing on Malcolm X maybe. His presentation was more of a history and timeline highlighting a few prominent individuals, and I was looking more for a underlying message or lesson. However, I do appreciate what he had to offer, and I'm glad he was able to come out and extend his knowledge to us," said Jordan.

This event was the third in the BSU's Food and Fellowship series. Al-Amin, a professor a the Community College of Baltimore City, wrote his master's thesis at Morgan University on Islam in Baltimore from 1957 to 2001. Born and raised in Baltimore to Muslim parents, he offers a perspective rooted in personal experience and observation, supported by his extensive study.

Black History Month has included an array of events, totaling 18, which range from the Opening Ceremony, at which Cedric Jennings was the keynote speaker, to the Love Jones: Spoken Word Night, which featured jazz and poetry, to the Diaspora in Film Series, which addressed different issues among black cultures. One of the upcoming events is the BSU Formal on Mar. 2, which has the theme: "Embrace the Black in you."