Ramadan Mubarak

To all of the Muslims who visit BlackElectorate.com we wish you a blessed Ramadan and hope and pray that this holy month will be one of increased understanding and spiritual and material growth for the world's 1, 250,000,000 Muslims. We especially hope that as Muslims feed on the wisdom and guidance contained in the Holy Qur'an (the divine revelation which Ramadan commemorates) that self-improvement, community development and conflict resolution take place in leaps and bounds.

If any book can transform humanity with a blink of an eye, it is the Holy Qur'an. Few realize the impact that the Holy Qur'an has had on the world, in every field of endeavor. The revelation of the Holy Qur'an to Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) transformed the Arabs from the bottom of the civilized world to a place of leadership in the world in less than 25 years. A community that was killing its female children and which was consumed with alcoholism was lifted to the highest heights of progress and invention in the fields of medicine, mathematics and science.

Tribal disputes were ended and a new community, relatively free of much of the classism and racism that plagued the rest of the world was born. As the Holy Qur'an spread across the world from Arabia, other nations were touched by the beauty and guidance of this book of scripture. Few realize - and not surprisingly as this fact is never taught in the American public school system - that along with the Kabala, it was the knowledge of the Holy Qur'an among the artistic community, in particular, that is at the root of the European Renaissance. Three fields that were revolutionized during this time period, by the revelation of the Qur'an, were astronomy, historiography and geography.

This phenomenon of the hidden influence of the Holy Qur'an is also seen in American politics where 32nd and 33rd degree masons - known as Moslem Shriners actually study Islam in secret.

The Shriners make up the wealthiest charity in America.

Many US presidents, including George Washington, were Shriners who study the Qur'an, in a unique way, for guidance and insight. Dale Carnegie of How To Win Friends and Influence People was also a noted Shriner.

The Shriners' network has been instrumental in the grooming, education and selection of world leaders in the cultural, political and economic spheres throughout the world. In the early 1930s, there were as many as 3 million Shriners, in America, who studied the Holy Qur'an in their gathering places and in their private homes.

For those who want more information regarding this fact please study the history of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. You may be very surprised at the wealth, political power and economic influence of this group and how they absolutely rely upon the Holy Qur'an to guide their activities. According to John Wark and Gary Mark of the Orlando Sentinel, some notable Shriners have been presidents Warren Harding, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Gerald Ford, and senators Henry "Scoop" Jackson and Hubert Humphrey. And former FBI head J. Edgar Hoover was also a Shriner.

As Islam spread among the Arabs 1,400 years ago, it spreads, even more quickly among Blacks in the Western Hemisphere - particularly in the United States. It was not Arab immigrants that most effectively popularized the Holy Qur'an in America but the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam. It is impossible to deny that Minister Louis Farrakhan, Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali did more to popularize the religion of Islam in North America than any other group.

All were taught by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

And a fascinating aspect of this work that a great many immigrant Muslims and non-Blacks contributed to, is that white slave masters absolutely prevented the spread of Islam among Black slaves. This makes the accomplishment of spreading Islam in North America even more impressive.

Just decades ago it was virtually impossible to buy a Holy Qur'an in a major bookstore in America. And major libraries that did carry the Qur'an kept it in their "rare reading" sections.

But today that has all changed as one can find various translations and commentaries of the Qur'an in any major bookseller.

And now Islam is spreading into Canada and Central and South America with enormous speed.

We encourage all of you, whether Muslim or not, to buy a copy of the Holy Qur'an and get familiar with its contents and historical impact.

And we hope that especially during this time period that the world community of Islam will turn inward and judge its own actions according to the standards contained in the holy book.

In light of the acrimony and bitterness in the Middle East, a renewed internal commitment to the principles of the Holy Qur'an can enable the Islamic community to resolve conflicts in that troubled region.

Once that activity of introspection - self-examination; self-analysis; and self-correction occurs there will be no need to unjustifiably blame America, England or Israel for the imperfections of the Islamic community or its slowed progress.

A renewed commitment to Allah (God), Islam, Muhammad and the proper understanding of the Holy Qur'an can help any true Believer to overcome any real or perceived barriers to progress.

It will be amazing and humbling to witness the power of a unified Islamic community of all colors over the next month and the eventual unification of the human family in years to come.

Now that is something worth fasting and praying for.

And it can begin today.

Ramadan Mubarak!

Cedric Muhammad

Tuesday, November 28, 2000

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