Muslims From The United States

"So if you've had enough and are ready for your stand I'll be waiting with the stone that's in my hand."

"Gotta kill these pains Or blow out my brains To free me from these chains I'm trapped in this physical hell To walk again I just might sell my soul And I'm only twenty somethin' years old"

"It's almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that. After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it and it put the leader of that country [Hitler] in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted. The fact is that I'm not saying [Sept. 11] was a [U.S.] plan, or anything like that because, you know, that's how they put you in the nut-ball box - dismiss you."

"What role does faith play in my life and when do I talk about it? I talk about it when I'm asked about it. That's pretty much my rule. I don't - I believe that faith is important to Americans, but I also believe very firmly in that constitutional amendment which says Congress shall make no law establishing religion or abridging the free exercise thereof. So it's important in American life, I feel that it is absolutely inappropriate to impose my faith on anyone. But when people want to discuss matters of faith, I find myself willing to do that."

"Keith, a fellow outspoken progressive, had been a mentor to me in many ways."

"I believe a message of solidarity, and economic opportunity, and prosperity is going to win out, and that`s what the Democratic Party stands for, and that is where we`re going to have our focus."

"I respect a lot of players in this league. But to me basketball is just a little aspect of my life. I enjoy the game because it's fun. But it is a game."

"The people who run the show in the NBA don't know anything about Islam. I think that may also be why some people are against me personally--because I am a Muslim. It's the same way people can be against you because of the color of your skin. They don't look past these things. But it always depends on the individual."

"My life is very simple. I like simplicity and for my time to be my own, so that I have the freedom to devote the majority of it to Islam. That is the foundation from which I keep everything in perspective. I also want to let people know about Islam, how Islam can be a way of life. I want them to really understand its richness and its beauty and to see that Islam is for everybody. For me, this is the most important thing. From this, everything else falls into place."

"Being from Africa is the best thing that could have ever, ever happened to me. I cannot see it any other way. All of my fundamental principles that were instilled in me in my home, from my childhood, are still with me. And now, when I look at the system here and look at my position--not just as a basketball player, but when I look around me at the values of the people and the culture and compare them with the values of where I came from--I feel so blessed to be from Africa."

"While [European] national cultures were concocted to distinguish one economic unit of capital from another, civilizational thinking was invented to unify these cultures against their colonial consequences. Islamic, Indian, or African civilizations were invented contrapuntally by Orientalism…in order to match, balance and thus authenticate ‘Western Civilization’."

"Shi'ism is a religion of doing nothing. It can never succeed without doing nothing. When it succeeds, Shi'ism is still nothing. In the Islamic context at large, it partakes in the masculinism of its transcendental deity and in the Iranian context in particular it exacerbates itself by partaking in monarchical masculinity."

"Otherwise lacking internal support or external legitimacy, the US empire now banks on a pedigree of comprador intellectuals, homeless minds and guns for hire. All this to momentarily manufacture consent, to secure a selective memory, and to sustain a far more enduring collective amnesia that may perhaps serve immediate US imperial purposes well, but will ipso facto sustain its self-destructive force of building fictive sand castles near the factual waves of history. This empire will not last. No empire does. If empires lasted, the whole world would be speaking ancient Persian today. Native informers and the making of the American empire."

"The link between Betty Mahmoody’s “Not Without My Daughter” and Azar Nafisi’s [Reading Lolita in Tehran] is the link between two phases and modes of labor migration, the moral salvation that “the West” provides, and imperial hubris. What is paramount in all of these is the denigration of local cultures as the site of actual or potential resistance to imperial domination. There cannot be any politics of resistance, aesthetics of emancipation, or prose and poetry of agential autonomy in history for people around the world—nothing except a Starbucks Coffee version of the so-called “Western classics” to go and save them. Interview with Znet."

"'Islam and globanalisation', or giving European and American space to Muslim names to denounce their own Islamic phantasms, is a new phase in the social manufacturing of domination -- using nominal Muslims against Islamic abstractions. This -- pitting lapsed Muslims against Islamic sensibilities -- is ultimately an exercise in futility. The fate of the globe, Europe included, is written elsewhere, somewhere between the lines of massive labour migration, on one side, and the global reconfiguration of the capital that systematically seeks to abuse it, on the other. The culture war this has occasioned in the meantime is a murderous nightmare for many, a lucrative pastime for some, a headache for others, and yet at the end an entirely negligible footnote to history."

"The visual possibility of seeing the historical person (as opposed to the eternal Qur'anic man) on screen is arguably the single most important event allowing Iranians access to modernity."

"In Alan Moore’s brilliant graphic novel, Batman: The Killing Joke, the Joker justifies his psychopathic behavior by philosophizing that every human being is just "one bad day away" from rejecting the polite veneer of civilization's morality in the face of an indifferent universe. To him, we are all amoral sleeper agents awaiting the secret code word to awaken us to selfish violence. Yet, even if the universe is indifferent, most people are not."

"It was my first time away from home, my first experience in an all-black situation, and I found myself being punished for everything I'd ever been taught was right. I got all A's and was hated for it; I spoke correctly and was called a punk. I had to learn a new language simply to deal with the threats. I had good manners, and was a good little boy and paid for it with my hide."

"When Bruce closed the schools, he felt he was unburdening himself of having to prove through his students that his system had merit. He didn't want to get into that. He wanted them to evolve and teach, but It was not a thing where you have to teach what I taught. You have to teach what you learned and that's going to be more than what he taught, hopefully for those students that understood what he was doing."

"Though movies (Taxi Driver for John Hinckley Jr., would-be assassin of Ronald Reagan), books (The Catcher in the Rye for Mark David Chapman, John Lennon's murderer) and songs ("Helter Skelter" for Tate-LaBianca murders mastermind Charles Manson) may articulate specific criminals acts, they don’t inspire the person's desire for violence. Science has proven that in numerous studies. It's tempting to blame movies, video games and rap music because they often express humanity's worst impulses, but impulses are not actions for most of us. And for the mentally ill seeking violence, anything can set them off. Alek Minassian, the self-described incel (involuntary celibate) who deliberately drove his van into a crowd in Toronto in 2018, killing 10 people, said he was motivated by his resentment toward women for having sexually rejected him in favor of giving "their love and affection to obnoxious brutes." Should we then demand that studios producing romantic comedies and publishers of romance novels be shamed into contributing to anti-incel causes? The 2017 Las Vegas shooter killed 59 and injured 851 during a country music festival. Should country music bear some responsibility?"

"I'm not comfortable being preachy, but more people have to start spending as much time in the library as they do on the basketball court. If they took to the idea that they could escape poverty through education, I think it would make a more basic and long-lasting change in the way things happen. When we set up unrealistic goals and then don't achieve them, that's another example of internalized defeat. What we need are positive, realistic ideas and the willingness to work. Hard work and practical goals."

"Farrakhan is one person, one black person. Why is it that no black person seems to be rabid about Meir Kahane? Farrakhan is rejected by a lot of black people who wouldn't go near that man. It's not an equal standard-one black person is all black people."

"That last question is especially difficult: a political figure has the power to substantively and positively effect broad change for the public good – even as they wreak havoc in their personal lives. As a result, punishing an erring political figure can feel like punishing the community they represent; like sacrificing the needs of the many for the good of the few. To some black Americans, Farrakhan’s contributions to the struggle for black self-determination matter more than his anti-Semitism."

"Farrakhan, after all, does not preach anti-Semitism in a vacuum, but as part of a narrative intended to name the cause of black oppression. Unlike other forms of ethnic prejudice, Farrakhan’s rhetoric is rooted less in a belief in Jewish inferiority, but in a conviction that they are responsible for black suffering – a conviction that is systemically false, but which is informed by a complicated history in which the two communities, forced into close proximity by anti-Jewish and anti-black prejudice, at times found themselves in cycles of exploitation and resentment. This is how Farrakhan could claim: “I have never hated Jews. I am critical of aspects of Jewish behavior in relationship to black people,” while also characterizing them as “devils.” Thus, Farrakhan’s anti-Semitism, while inexcusable, can be seen by some as merely a supplement to the project of black liberation – a project which many blacks understandably prioritize."

"While the double standard is galling, there is no ethical defense of Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic remarks. Mallory’s refusal to specifically disclaim Farrakhan’s anti-Semitism is a stain on her work and advocacy. But the argument that Mallory’s interest in Farrakhan is not rooted in anti-Semitism – that she could support Farrakhan’s advocacy for black equality despite his bigoted blind spots – is a more plausible and, frankly, common posture than most of the media is willing to recognize."

"It’s typical that even in defending himself against claims of anti-Semitism, Louis Farrakhan has once again invoked more anti-Jewish hatred. His remarks last night were vintage Farrakhan: A litany of tropes about how "Satanic Jews" are corrupting society with immoral acts and that Jewish writings, "promote pedophilia.""

"These four onstage -- Farrakhan, Sharpton, Jackson and Clinton -- have earned a nice living promoting the bogus anti-black-white-racism-remains-a-serious-problem narrative."

"I am not up on what Minister Farrakhan has said in the last year or two, but I don't think that anything he's said in the last year or two can undo, you know, a near generation of unconscionable rhetoric. I don't think, you know, short of some major, you know, public apology and sort of ritual communistic-type, you know, self-criticism, I don't know what he could do to undo what he has done with the political stances as leader of the Nation of Islam."

"Well, I think this has everything to do with Minister Farrakhan trying to rehabilitate himself and trying to regain - trying to gain some sort of mainstream legitimacy. If he really was on Barack Obama's side, he wouldn't say anything about him. So I think that's the first thing you have to look at. I think that's about Minister Farrakhan, you know, as his days start to dwindle down. He's had some health issues. You know, he's apologized about Malcolm X. I think this is primarily about that. And I think there's a sort of recklessness there."

"I know there was a relationship 30 years earlier between Louis Farrakhan and Aretha Franklin. I don’t know if that relationship continued, or whether the family invited him, but I think any president should have said, "No. If you want me on the stage, you can't have a bigot like Farrakhan sitting next to me.""

"̇̇̇̇̇̇̇̇There can be no question about how abhorrent it is for these Democrats to be connected to Louis Farrakhan. In this case, for meeting with, and embracing, Louis Farrakhan, nothing short of resignation is acceptable from these seven Democrats."

"I have met – I live in Newark so we have famous Mosque 25, we have Nation of Islam there. As mayor I met with lots of folks talking to him. I have heard Minister Farrakhan’s speeches for a lot of my life, so I don’t feel like I need to do that, but I’m not one of these people that says I wouldn’t sit down with anybody to hear what they have to say. But, I live in a neighborhood where I’m getting guys on the streets offering and selling his works. I am very familiar with Minister Louis Farrakhan and his beliefs and his values."

"Mrs. Clinton might have become president had the photo come out a decade earlier. It isn’t clear from the photo to what degree Mr. Obama was associated with Mr. Farrakhan. But the Congressional Black Caucus’s association is scandalous. Its members have met with Mr. Farrakhan on at least one other occasion."

"He is dangerous. Allow me to restate that. I think when he considers more the possibility of being a great leader, he will know that his charisma and personality and energy can encourage love and unity, rather than hate and division. He will see that black Americans have been here since the year 1619, and this is as much our country as anyone else's, save the Native Americans. We will all live together or not at all."

"Farrakhan: Is the Federal Reserve owned by the government? Audience: No. Farrakhan: Who owns the Federal Reserve? Audience: Jews. Farrakhan: The same year they set up the IRS, they set up the FBI. And the same year they set up the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith... It could be a coincidence... [I want] to see black intellectuals free... I want to see them not controlled by members of the Jewish community."

"The FBI has been the worst enemy of Black advancement. “Can you prove that, Farrakhan?” Yes. See, the Jews have control over those agencies of government. This enemy: he is so angry with Farrakhan, that now if you like me you have to either hide it (or lie about it), especially if you want advancement in the White man’s world."

"We thought the Million Man March was great, and it was, but when those sisters rose up all over the world (on the day after the inauguration of President Trump), that sent a message to every government on this Earth: Women have not been treated right in any government on this Earth. That man, President Donald J. Trump, made women angry. Imagine all the groping that he (has done). We’ve got a lot of gropers. And when our beautiful Black sisters go to work downtown, sometimes they will not come home and tell you what they are up against; you (men) may be home in the bed when you should have been working—she’s out there working! And the enemy feels when he’s got a woman, I don’t care whether she’s White or Brown or Black, he feels, "If I am the boss, I have the right to abuse you." And if you (women) don’t submit to that, you’ve just lost your job. We, as men, are not protectors of our women. And for that we will have to answer to God."

"I would say to the president: Mr. Trump, you’re trying to arm teachers. Teachers are not trained to use guns. You send the children to school to be taught. But when you have a racist mind you’re talking about the inner cities. You can’t come in the Black community, as a teacher, and not expect something from your Black students; so maybe you’d like to have a gun in a Black classroom so you could shoot down a Black boy or girl who is challenging you. Whether you like it or not, there is some knowledge coming to Black children that will make them challenge a teacher that is talking crap in the name of "education.""

"America is in deep trouble today. The Nation of Islam can help you. Those poor young children down in Parkland, Florida, at Stoneman Douglas High School: Seventeen precious lives lost. And the sheriff’s deputy, with his gun, he’s standing on the outside; he’s supposed to run to where the shots are being fired! We don’t know how many lives he could have saved, but a punk with a gun. Guns don’t make a man. A gun is an extension of your manhood—if you are a man. But if you’re a punk with a gun, and you’re looking for somebody to be afraid because you’ve got a gun, and that person is not afraid? The punk will wonder, “Oh hell, what did I run into here?”"

"I, like my teacher, looked beyond our faults and saw our needs. I never try to judge you (as crazy as you are), because I love you. I just can’t help myself! I was born to love you. My teacher (told me), like his Teacher told him: “Take plenty. Take plenty.” I have taken plenty and I don’t complain."

"I don’t care what they put on me. The government is my enemy; the powerful Jews are my enemy; scared-to-death Negroes are my enemy; and weak Muslims and hypocrites are my enemy! But here I stand, unfazed by a government that wants my life! I told President Trump what he was planning. He tweets about everybody else—he doesn’t tweet back at me."

"If I did not love God with all my heart, my soul, my strength, I could not have withstood what you put on me. If I did not love God and The Mission of the resurrection of Black people in America and all over the world, White people would have destroyed me a long, long, long time ago—But Here I Stand! With His power, He raised me. I am not a Negro! I am not a colored boy! I am a young God, growing up in The Classroom of God! My brother Malcolm stayed in The Class for 12 years and shook the world. My brother Muhammad Ali stayed in The Class for about 10 years and shook the world. It’s real easy to follow a man in the cool of the evening, but how many can follow him in the heat of the day?"

"I have been in front of you for a lifetime. I have been in front of you for the last 40 years in the absence of my teacher. If you really want to know how good a student is, just leave the classroom: Children don’t mind monitors; they say, “That’s the teacher’s pet.” He left me with you."

"There is nothing that I have done, nothing that I have been blessed to say—all the wonderful things that I have been guided to do up to this very moment came from the mind of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. He told me that he wanted my mind. He wanted me to line my mind up with his mind so that it would be one mind. I did not know how that could be accomplished. One day I was talking with my friend and confidant, Brother Jabril Muhammad, and I told him what The Messenger had said, and I said, “Gee, how … do I get his mind?” He said, “Oh, brother, that’s easy!” He said, “He has to bring you in the same path that God brought him, and you will walk right up into his mind.” To my Christian family, the scripture teaches, “Let this mind be in you the same that was in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5) Here, God is offering to the people of His choice the greatest gift of all, because their suffering, under served, has made them heirs to the greatest gift of all, The Mind of God Himself through Jesus."

"They say if you want to hide something from a Black man, put it in a book. And if you want to hide the Birth of a Saviour for the Black man, hide Him in the ghetto."

"Mr. Trump, no wonder the general is a little kind of “p.o.’d” at you; because these same Black men whose mother you referred to in such a negative way for producing giants in the world of sport and play, you’re going to be calling on them to fight the war that you’re building up to now."

"Mr. Trump has changed the narrative. Black people don’t hate the flag, as such; they don’t hate America as such, but they just wanted to draw attention to what we are suffering under the flag. And the police that shot us down, they have a flag somewhere on their uniform. When we go to court, the flag is there—and we can’t get justice. My son’s father-in-law fought in World War II, and he saw his buddies shot down, blown to pieces, on Normandy Beach. So every time he sees the flag, he stands, puts his hand over his heart; not so much for the flag, but for the noble men and women who have died for that flag. But Mr. Trump: When did your father get here from Germany? And you so-called “patriots,” see, when you all came here from Europe, you had a country to come home to. The Statue of Liberty welcomed you: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” It never was a golden door for us. The first man to die in the Revolutionary War that gave America a nation was a Black man. Black folk died in the War of 1812; Black folk died in the Civil War on both sides, North and South. Black brothers have died in World War I, World War II, Korean Conflict, Vietnam, and the army is full of them now."

"Now, (as we have seen during football games): Is that flag horizontal? That’s disrespect of the American flag. And when my brother takes a knee, and his brothers join him, the president of the United States calls us “sons of bitches.” Now, when I was young, say something about mom: those are fighting words, brother. And to add insult to injury, the National Football League, and the Department of Defense have been paid millions of dollars to display the flag in that way, and play the national anthem. It leads to people joining the armed forces. It doesn’t have anything to do with “patriotism,” they get millions of dollars from the Department of Defense for displaying the flag in a disrespectful manner. It’s about money. It’s about recruiting. It’s about using the patriotic zeal of the people."

"Now, I’m asking you to reason with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad; I want us to look at what Elijah Muhammad put on the back page of our newspaper, The Final Call. He introduced The Muslim Program during a lecture delivered in July 1962 at the Arie Crown Theater in the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois; then in the next year it was on the back page of the Muhammad Speaks newspaper. And from that day to this, we have kept his Program before the world (“What The Muslims Want” and “What The Muslims Believe”)."

"We had an infinity of time: The Honorable Elijah Muhammad says that God taught him over 78 trillion years of time on our planet—not his (the White Man.) Our planet, in Our universe—we are the makers of all that you see of creation. And when a son would be born to end the rule of the enemy of God, his (the enemy’s) job would have been made complete. Now, you can be angry with White people if you want to, and you could curse them out and say ugly things, because they have done ugly things. But wait a minute: They couldn’t have done any of this if Allah (God) didn’t permit it. He (the White Man) justifies his existence as a “devil” by being himself."