moorish thought
January 8, 2012
To All True and Faithful Moors
Moorish Science Temple of America
Moorish Kingdom, USA
MAY WE ALL RISE TO GIVE PRAISES TO ALLAH, THE ONE AND ONLY GOD OF THE UNIVERSE AND FATHER OF EVERYTHING THAT WAS, IS AND EVERMORE TO BE; AND HONORS TO HIS HOLY AND DIVINE PROPHET NOBLE DREW ALI.
SUBJECT: A Thought in Regards to Study and Prayer.
Islam,
Prophet Noble Drew Ali said: “I prefer Moors.” In the Holy Koran of Mecca, Chapter 5—verses 46-48, and also Chapter 16—verse 36, ALLAH explains the order of His revelations and He explains specifically that every nation has its own specific religious creed and that every nation is sent a Prophet. In The Holy Koran of the Moorish Science Temple of America, chapter 38, verse 6, Prophet Noble Drew Ali demonstrates to us an example of the fact that each nation thinks a different way. Each nation is going to be tried and judged according to the creed given to it by ALLAH. We Moors here in the Americas were forced into slavery and we were stripped of our Nationality and our Divine Creed. ALLAH has returned to us our Nationality and our Divine Creed and we are being judged accordingly. Prophet Noble Drew Ali demonstrates in his instructions that ALLAH’S judgment is now on. Chapter 16--verse 84 of the Holy Koran of Mecca demonstrates that ALLAH promises to raise a Prophet from every nation and then there will be no excuses accepted from unbelievers nor will they receive any favors. This corresponds with one of the sayings of the old Moors who said: "The Prophet took away all excuses." Please know that we are being judged; individually, and as a nation because ALLAH has sent us a Prophet. When the judgment is announced it will be better to be on the receiving end of ALLAH’S Mercy and Grace than on the receiving end of ALLAH’S Wrath. We should rather be in tune with ALLAH and the Prophet that He sent us than to be, as a nation or individually, fuel for the fire.
We Moors have a lot of material to study, materials that are conducive to our upliftment. We have materials that are specific to Moorish Science which all Moorish Americans are encouraged to become adept in whether they hold the title Sheik or not. These include The Holy Koran of The Moorish Science Temple of America; The Holy Koran of Mecca; The Moorish Questionnaire; Laws, Rules and Regulations of Prophet Noble Drew Ali, etc. We should study the life and teachings of Marcus Garvey to develop an Afro-centric as opposed to a Euro-centric state of mind. Many Moorish Americans still suffer from mental slavery; Prophet Noble Drew Ali came to release us from this. Studying Marcus Garvey will unleash the spirit of the necessity for us tuning into our own African culture and state of mind as opposed to continuing to look to the European culture and state of mind for guidance. These are the ideals that got us put into slavery in the first place. Prophet Noble Drew Ali in his Divine Instructions to us said that we as a clean and pure nation, descendants of the inhabitants of Africa do not desire to amalgamate or marry into the families of the pale skin nations of Europe, neither serve the gods of their religion, therefore we are returning the Church and Christianity back to the European nations as it was founded by their forefathers for their earthly salvation; while we the Moorish Americans are returning to Islam which was founded by our forefathers for our earthly and divine salvation. Prophet Noble Drew Ali established Subordinate Temples across the United States in order that the world may know and hear the truth that among the descendants of Africa there is still much wisdom to be learned for the redemption and salvation of mankind on earth under the Principles of Love, Truth, Peace, Freedom and Justice.
We should return hatred, slander, lewdness, murders, theft and everything that harms back to the people who represent the lower self and we ourselves should return to the Mother of the virtues and the harmonies of life that breeds justice, mercy, love and right. We must protect our ancient creed by being the message that we bring and stop being blinded by the illusions of this worlds life. ALLAH provides for us all, therefore we do not have to continue to abandon our principles and sell our souls for material possessions. We should not let other nations ability to travel to and fro the earth discourage us from focusing on what makes us who we are. Remember, they are going to and fro the earth seeking whom they may devour. Their devouring consists of the above mentioned hatred, slander, lewdness, murders, theft and everything that harms. We cannot accept their teaching unless we would like to represent the lower self also.
We should focus on praising ALLAH, ascribing no sons, no daughters, no partners nor rivals to Him; there is none comparable or equal to Him. We should concentrate on redeeming ourselves and all African peoples from the ideals of the European nations and let them have their way and we have our way. Most of Mankind do not believe in ALLAH without ascribing sons, rivals or partners to Him, or saying that He has been manifested in flesh and is one of his Prophets. "This is not our way." ALLAH does not share His dominion with anyone and there is no heir to the Throne. We do not ascribe to Greco-Roman philosophy. ALLAH does not have the need nor desire to procreate. This is an attribute of the earthly forms and is beneath the Majesty of ALLAH. There is none who sits on His Throne with Him. There is none that comes to ALLAH except as a slave. This is our ancient forefathers' divine creed; and without a true concept of this we cannot be ourselves. Our salvation depends on us knowing ourselves and ALLAH. Therefore we cannot ascribe human attributes to ALLAH as other nations do. There are no gods and goddesses; there is only the one Indivisible Creator of the universe ALLAH. Exalted is He above all that any ascribe unto Him.
Moorish Americans are encouraged to develop good study habits and to widen their scope in regards to materials studied. There is a Prophet who said "Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave." Another said "Of all thy getting get an understanding." In the Holy Koran of the M.S.T.A. Jesus said "What I've done all men shall do." He read many sacred texts. He read the Jewish Psalms and Prophets, the Vedas, the Avesta, the Wisdom of Guatama, etc. We Moors should have copies of all of these in our personal libraries. Moors are encouraged to study the life of Prophet Mohammed. This way one would better understand the structure of the Holy Koran of Mecca and not be hoodwinked by Arab interpretations. The Holy Koran of Mecca is quite clear for those whom ALLAH allows to understand it. Moors should visit libraries and bookstores, etc. Moors, as individuals are by no means limited to studying the materials issued to us by Prophet Noble Drew Ali. To place that type of limit on members would be unjust and counterproductive. In our meetings Sheiks only teach what was handed to us by Prophet Noble Drew Ali; this way we know our own structure and how to be true Moors. However, the wise man cultivates his mind with knowledge. The Holy Koran of Mecca teaches us that if the oceans were ink and the trees were pens with seven oceans added, all of these would be dried up and used up before the words of ALLAH would be exhausted. Therefore there is always something to learn.
Praise be to ALLAH. All Moorish American Moslems should know that Praising ALLAH is everything. Our sole purpose and our soul’s purpose for living is to Praise ALLAH. Praising ALLAH, seeking the Pleasure of ALLAH should encompass our every action, because this is the ultimate triumph. As Moorish Americans, we strive to demonstrate this Divine Law. Every nation is sent a Prophet and given their own religious ceremonies; ceremonies through which they recognize ALLAH. Rituals through which they worship ALLAH; thank Him for His blessings, seek His forgiveness, seek of His bounties, etc. ALLAH instructs us in the Holy Koran of Mecca that we are to follow the instruction that we receive from His Prophet and on Judgment Day He will inform us of the things in which we differ. We are Moslems; meaning we submit our wills to the Will of ALLAH. ALLAH has imposed upon us order, degrees and rank. As Moorish Americans we should bring our wills in tune with Deific Will.
Islam is practiced by at least one third of the world’s population. Each nation has its own “flavor” of Islam. Not all Moslems are members of the Arab states. Not all Moslems practice “Arab culture.” We, the Moorish Americans, have been sent a Prophet in these days, who was divinely prepared by ALLAH, who brought us the True and Divine Creed of Islam along with our own “Islamic flavor.” He brought us back our own Divine Creed and Principles; the Principles of Love, Truth, Peace, Freedom and Justice, the highest principles known to man. He made sure that we understood that we are under the Divine Laws of the Holy Koran of Mecca, the Final Revelation. The very first item that we receive as Moorish Americans confirms this fact. The Holy Koran of Mecca demonstrates to us that every nation is given its own religious rituals. We are a nation, therefore we have our own rites. The Prophet said: “I brought you everything it takes to save a nation, now take it and save yourselves.” If we practice Arab customs and culture or focus on issues outside of those brought by Prophet Noble Drew Ali and Marcus Garvey, then we would be in violation of the Divine Laws of the Holy Koran of Mecca because it instructs us to follow the instructions given to us by the Prophet that ALLAH sent to us whose name is Noble Drew Ali.
It should be noted that we are Moslems, not Masons. Prophet Noble Drew Ali never took us through the degrees of Masonry. He brought us the True and Divine Creed of Islam. We do not move in the same science as some secret order of individuals who go to Church on Sundays and on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and/or Saturdays demonstrate certain oaths of deception and secrecy, put on a fez and pretend to be Moslems. We are Moslems; we are a Nation, a Divine Order of Islam whose members praise ALLAH openly and humbly. Our meetings are open to the public on Fridays and on Sundays. Our Adept Meetings are open only to those who possess a nationality card and who hold the title Sheik whose dues and assessments are paid if they are working or in a position to work. These are administrative and spiritual meetings where ones learn how to run a Temple and how to correctly teach the way that Prophet Noble Drew Ali taught. This is not an option or left up to debate because Prophet Noble Drew Ali ordered us to imitate him in speech and teaching when addressing a group of Moors, any group of Moors. We are a nation who practice the religion of our ancient forefathers which takes us back over ten thousand years. We embrace Islam and demonstrate our daily rituals in which we pray, give charity and meditate on ALLAH'S inimitable perfections. We do not condemn the Masonic Order, neither do we imitate them.
Any Moorish American leader who takes his or her members through the degrees of Masonry is in blatant violation of and in contradiction to Prophet Noble Drew Ali's laws and teachings. We are Moslems under the Divine Laws of the Holy Koran of Mecca wherein we are instructed in chapter 58, verses 14-19 the error and consequences of such affiliations. Again, we as clean and pure nation do not desire to amalgamate into the families of the pale skin nations of Europe, neither serve the gods of their religion. Masonry is a fraternal order associated with the families of the pale skin nations of Europe. We follow our ancient forefathers' ancient divine and national creed which existed thousands of years before the Masonic order and its degrees were even thought of. [NOTE: (Prince Hall and John Belmont were a couple of brothers who desired to fight in the American revolution, but in order to be a soldier in the American revolution one had to be a Mason. Since the brothers were so gung ho and insistent, they were given an old charter that had actually been stricken and was actually not valid in order that they could seemingly satisfy the conditions and be soldiers and fight as members of the revolutionary army. Just as when our people were stripped of their nationality and divine creed they were labeled negro, black and colored in 1779, this later seemingly satisfied the conditions of the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1787. Though in 1779 these marks were officially put on the books, it was known that we were Moors and we were still at times referred to as "Blackamoors." If our people were referred to as themselves, as Moors, then the Europeans here in America would have been in clear violation of the Treaty. They actually were in violation of the Treaty, but they made it seem like they weren't. This action is what we sometimes refer to as the "double-cross.")]
We do not do what they do. We do not eat pork or drink alcohol because ALLAH forbids it. ALLAH also forbids fornication, adultery and homosexuality. These thoughts and actions are not our way and are unacceptable. We must submit ourselves to Divine Law. Many Moorish Americans are ignorant to our Divine Laws because they refuse to read their Holy Koran of Mecca. Not studying the Holy Koran of Mecca promotes ignorance and improper thoughts and actions. Prophet Noble Drew Ali said "If I can get you to thinking, you will save yourselves." Each Moorish American must save himself/herself. The Holy Koran of the Moorish Science Temple of America helps us to build our Moorish Character and The Holy Koran of Mecca helps us to think like true Moslems and true Moors. Prophet Noble Drew Ali said that "All true Moors must obey the laws laid down to them by their Prophet. Those who disobey Prophet Noble Drew Ali do not understand what it means to be a true Moor. Our character should be built upon the rock of understanding. ALLAH will release us from mental slavery and guide us to righteous thinking and living if we follow His instructions. When we are released from mental slavery we will then be able to embrace the truth and live productive lives unamalgamated and uninfluenced by other cultures, including the Arabian culture.
Their way is not our way either. We actually like our women; we respect them; they are not second class citizens. There are no restrictions placed upon them simply because they are female. They are equal and can rise to any position as high as any man. We have Sheiks and Sheikesses. How can we be greater than that which we come through. There is only one way for man to be produced, though there are a thousand by which he may be destroyed. We only have one wife. Prophet Noble Drew Ali did not have two wives at the same time. The Holy Koran of the Moorish Science Temple of America instructs us: "Take unto thyself a wife." Multiple wives is Arabian culture not ours. ALLAH had mercy on them by allowing them to have four wives. Before the Final Revelation they had as many wives as they desired and treated them any kind of way; they also killed their daughters which was called infanticide. As a mercy ALLAH reduced the number and told them that they had to treat them all the same, and He also informed them that it was impossible for them to treat them all the same which is a testimony of how truly Merciful ALLAH really is. Infanticide, however, is not accepted by ALLAH under any circumstances. I mention this only to demonstrate that we all have different cultures and ways of thinking and that we as Moorish Americans need to know how we are supposed to think.
All over the world the things that connect all Moslems are that we believe in The One and Only God, the Creator of everything that was, is, and evermore to be and that we live a life of Morality. Our lifestyles revolve around prayer and charity. We should pray at least five times daily: Before the rising of the sun; before noon; after noon; before the sun sets; and late evening. We should ask ALLAH to forgive us for our sins and never intentionally commit the same sin twice. Prayer is the remembrance of ALLAH. As Moslems we understand that the reason we are here is to Praise ALLAH in Thought, Word and Deed. Each of these aspect of Praising Him is Sacred within itself; each is a Prayer itself; and when they are consciously combined praising ALLAH they represent creation and the resurrection is a fact. Each represents an aspect of life; and as they are connected, each represents a comprehension of the Oneness of the Triune God ALLAH. ALLAH is One, yet He is more than One, all things are One. Though ALLAH HIMSELF is incomprehensible, we can comprehend his Oneness. Wisdom, Will and Love being manifested through the actions, or rather, expressions of one life and/or one nation (thought, word and deed); IN THE IMAGE AND AFTER THE LIKENESS OF GOD ALLAH. Expressed through the ceremonies which were handed down to us from ALLAH, by HIS Prophet. Obedience to Prophet Noble Drew Ali is what defines us as Moorish Americans, not only by name but by life expression. Our Thoughts manifest our Words, and our Thoughts manifests our Deeds—let thy Spirit, O Man, actuate and direct thy flesh, so let it repress its wilderness. Spirit/Soul/Physical Form--all of these together represent or present manifested life; the life of an individual, the life of a nation; different aspects all coming from the same source, ALLAH. Manifested Life is one giant prayer which is broken down into intervals called time; the exercising, the practicing, the engaging in the Praises of THE ONE AND ONLY GOD, ALLAH. Our Divine Laws found in the Holy Koran of Mecca explain to us the purpose for prayer. Chapter 29:45 reads “Recite that which has been revealed to you of the Book and keep up prayer; surely prayer keeps away from indecency and evil, and certainly the remembrance of ALLAH is the greatest, and ALLAH knows what you do.” The remembrance of ALLAH and righteous living is salvation.
Salvation is a ladder reaching from the heart of men to the Heart of ALLAH. It has three steps: Belief is first, and this is what man thinks, perhaps, is truth. Faith is next, and this is what man knows is truth. Fruition is the last, and this is man himself, the truth. Belief is lost in faith, and in fruition faith is lost; and man is saved when he has reached deific life; when he and ALLAH are One. Prayer begins with Thought; the Science of exercising belief, faith and fruition. Belief is what one thinks perhaps is truth. The object here is thinking. That is the beginning process--thought. Thought is the cause of it all. This is the beginning of putting our souls into action. It is the beginning of Creation; the beginning of consciously Praising ALLAH; the beginning of prayer itself. All things bow down to ALLAH either willingly or unwillingly. We, as Moors, are called upon to bow down willingly, and this is our process.
Thinking, understanding, reasoning and willing are one. They are all thoughts, phases of thinking and the manifesting of thoughts. These are not necessarily functioning attributes of the soul; these attributes are actually how the soul functions. Thinking, understanding, reasoning and willing; this is the process through which our souls manifests things and it is also the formula for our prayers. Thinking is the beginning process of putting our souls into action praising ALLAH. Prophet Noble Drew Ali came to teach us how to once again use our souls and how to go back to our ancient forefathers’ divine creed and principles in which we constantly praise ALLAH. Thinking or belief in ALLAH is the beginning of the soul’s journey to praising ALLAH. Again, the Prophet said “If I can get you to thinking, you will save yourselves.” Thinking is the ethereal recognition of the object or encounter, etc., in this case ALLAH.
The focus is on the realization of the One God ALLAH. Realizing His existence, we believe in everything that He has blessed us with. We believe in ALLAH, and we believe in HIS crew, HIS crew meaning those armed with the spirit of His praises and praise Him totally: We believe in His Angels, His Scriptures and His Prophets. This is how ALLAH protects, guides and saves us. We believe in the Day of Judgment. All of these beliefs take place in the mind. This is thinking.
The gifts of the understanding are the treasures of ALLAH, and He hath appointed to everyone his portion, in what measure seemeth good unto Himself. Understanding is the rock on which man builds himself. Man builds himself upon the treasures of ALLAH. Any time man gets an understanding of any Divine Truth he is at that time on the cusp of being in tune with ALLAH'S Will and is in position to lay another brick on the foundation of his existence. This understanding of the existence of self and Creator is the gnosis of the aught and the naught, of falsehood and of truth; the true spiritual knowledge of the Reality and Realities of life. The truth is that ALLAH is above His creation. Far exalted is He above any thought that we can attribute to Him. This is why we say He is the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful. ALLAH is the Greatest, and even Greater than that. Understanding is the realization that all worship belongs to ALLAH. Understanding is the realization that everything belongs to ALLAH, and that ALLAH is guiding everything. ALLAH is the Reality and the Realities of life; for ALLAH is One, yet He is more than One; all things are One. ALLAH guides whom He wills and He leaves to stray whom He wills. Understanding this we, in our prayers, ask for ALLAH’S mercy and His grace and that He guides us and keeps us on the straight path. We pray for understanding and for an understanding heart which will cause us to think properly, to speak properly and to treat others properly. We pray for acceptance of our prayers.
As Moslems we desire a usage by ALLAH. We seek the pleasure of ALLAH. We live life not just to indulge in the physical aspects of life but to understand its meaning and to seek the acceptance of its Creator into His mercy; to be willingly used by Him to carry out His Will. We as humans have free will, and Moslems use this free will to seek the pleasure of ALLAH; to bring our will in tune with His Deific Will. Moslems should understand that most activities in this world are a pastime, a sport and play; the thing that is not a sport and play is our religion, we should take praising ALLAH very serious. For ALLAH, however, it is no sport and play; He created this world for a particular time and reason known only to Himself. We realize that the Grace of ALLAH is upon us; especially if we understand and carry out the instructions found within His Revelations. The life of this world is a probationary period for us and we pray to ALLAH with hope that He will guide us and that He places us amongst the ranks of His honored slaves, the righteous ones. This is the great achievement. Therefore we pray for patience and endurance. We pray for forgiveness for our shortcomings and for our faults and for forgiveness of our sins. We pray for guidance; this is understanding.
Nothing can be just which proceedeth not from reason. Thinking and understanding are combined and processed into reasoning. We examine or reflect on issues at hand and connect the relevance and the relationship to our present situation with a focus on our faculties and abilities. We purify our hearts and minds with love because only the pure in heart can recognize the King. So if our hearts are not pure then we will not recognize ALLAH (The King of men) when He reveals Himself (guides us) through His scriptures, His prophets or from behind the veils of our dreams, etc; we will not be able to reason things out.
Without pure hearts our reasoning is off, and if our reasoning is off then our justice is off, and if our justice is off then we are in violation of our divine principles even in our prayers. With pure hearts we understand and implement reason in our lives; we can see reason for this, reason for that; we also understand that we may not know ALLAH’S reason, but our faith in Him and in His guidance is the reason for our faith in and total commitment to His plan.
Let us say that justice is the result of life and reason is the life itself. Reason and justice are as cause and effect. No soul receives anything except for what it has put out; justice is the effect and reason is the cause. ALLAH is the All Knowing, the All Wise. It makes no sense to try to undermine His authority. It is only reasonable, or conducive to life, to desire that which ALLAH desires for us. Thus the reasoning for our prayers and in our prayers is to purify our hearts to allow them to be in tune with the Will of ALLAH.
When will of man and Will of ALLAH are one, the resurrection is a fact. That resurrection is the soul’s application of its faculties, Praising ALLAH. To ALLAH belongs all things and from ALLAH comes all things. In our prayers we ask for guidance from ALLAH that our thoughts, words and deeds are pleasing in His Sight, bringing our wills in tune with Deific Will. We ask that the use of our thoughts, words and deeds be according to His Will, calling ones to the worship of ALLAH and showing them the way by example through lifestyle and state of being. Using our wills to put our souls into action, thinking according to our divine creed, drawing off of the ethers, computing the realities, showing patience, then acting as our souls dictate having faith in ALLAH. We are manifesting our prayers by exercising our desire to do good and seeking out the occasions thereof. Thus we are demonstrating wisdom and receiving salvation from ALLAH being the message that we bring. May we all live a life of prayer and act upon our prayers praising ALLAH at all times.
ALLAH has shown us mercy by sending us a Prophet to reveal to us the truth about ourselves. He sent to us a Prophet to return to us our Nationality and our Divine Creed. The Holy Koran of Mecca was returned to us. The Holy Koran of the Moorish Science Temple of America was prepared for us. Knowledge of self and of our forefathers was returned to us via the Moorish Questionnaire, the Divine Constitution and By Laws, etc. We are encouraged to embrace our lessons; to study them; to study ourselves; to tune into our own genetic code and to tune into the Will of our Creator. We have returned to Islam which was founded by our forefathers for our earthly and divine salvation. We must study the materials that were handed down to us by our Prophet. We must apply the lessons to ourselves and embrace the spirit of our forefathers. We must show by example that we are Moorish American Moslems. We must live the life and let the world know that there is still much wisdom to be learned from the descendants of Africa here in this portion of Amexem called America. We are to seek the kingdom of Heaven and all of its righteousness. Heaven is a state of mind and the Kingdom of Heaven is a way of thinking that is righteous in its essence and which manifests justice, mercy, love and right after the likeness of ALLAH.
Praise ALLAH, and Honor to His Prophet, Noble Drew Ali. We give Honors to all true and faithful Moors.
Peace,
Bro. Moreland El, Sheik, D.M.
