What is true African Identity?
Dr. Ali Muhammad argues that Islam is African identity
1. He conflates African Identity with Islam
2. Arabic being from Geéz
3. The Islamic calendar
To begin with, I must say I respect Dr.Ali Muhammad's scholarship. He refers to the Islamic word Tawhid as having its origin in Ethiopic language called Ge'ez. The word 'Tewahedo' which means ´united´. What Dr. Ali Muhammad should understand is that Ethiopia is the cradle of civilization. He makes many claims about East Africa, I would ask, how he can truly substantiate his claims without become learned in Ethiopian Languages and culture, I have studied Geéz, I speak some Amharic, I have read documents which have yet to be translated into English, there are many words, practices, etc. which Islam took from Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Christianity, we don´t eat pork, we fast, we observe the law, we don´t use the Gregorian calendar, our worship ancient etc. The words sim-name, laylit-night and many more were copied.
In Ethiopia, the concept of Tewahedo predates Islam. we are monotheistic, we always have been, this destroys his argumentation in which he uses Tewahedo as an evidence for the Islamic concept of oneness, because it finds its application in an earlier religion and context. In fact the Islamic concept of ´Tawhid´ or their construed understanding of Tewahedo can only have been taken from Ethiopia, I agree with his claims that Islam may have begun as a political system, with religious overtones, under Abdel Malik who was later referred to as Muhammad. I agree this is indicated by the fact that Jewish and Christians in Jerusalem did not refer to their early colonizers as muslims. As well as the fact that there was no religious dimension to the occupation of Jerusalem until later. But he should consider that the religious overtones originated in Ethiopia, first as ´Hige Libona´ or Law of the heart, then Judaism, then Ethiopia Orthodox Tewahedo Christianity. This means that after the arabs distorted the original islam to their liking, if this is the case then it stands that he should return to the concept from where they took the concept from in the first place, which he will find uncorrupted, Ethiopia was never colonized. Dr. Ali Muhammad also says that there was a conflict in which the original Tewahedo believers destroyed the Kaba, does he not know that it was Ethiopians who destroyed the Kaba. Does he not know that Ethiopia, has always followed Tewahedo, the monotheistic faith, which originated with the first men and was passed down to the world. it has never left Ethiopia.
Uncorrupted african identity does not exist in Islam as Dr,Ali muhammad claims whether or not it originates from Africa, at most king Abdel malik was from Egypt as he claims, but should I remind him that Ethiopians were at the heart of that civilization, there were very few distinctions which could be made, the Nile valley was ruled by Ethiopians, those Ethiopians who abandoned the commandments of the heart which we call ´´hig libona´meaning law of the heart which God revealed to mankind before the time of Moses who came with a written law. Father Enoch had written using this ancient Ethiopian script Geéz all the secrets of the stars dr. Ali muhammad claims originated in the quran. This is clearly where Abdel Malik took his information from. The only reason Dr.Ali Muhammad conflates Islam with African identity is because he has a predispostion towards Islam as his favoured system for some reason, but if he were being consistent he would follow the original concepts to their conclusion.
The conclusion that Ethiopia is the pure source of African identity, and in Ethiopia all the foundations for his arguments are to be found although in Ethiopia they find the origin in Judeo Christian expression. The fact that Africans left Africa and spread around the world resulted in the main of the conciousness being upon other peoples such as the Israelites for a time, but now the story has returned full circle in Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Christianity.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. One God Amen.
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