Thursday, October 20, 2005

white muslims and moorish science

Laury Slivers, who wrote the piece Nourished by the Waters of Indigenous Islam also has another blog entry entitled Which Shade of White? about her experiences as a white Muslim.

In this latter piece she alludes back to the Moorish Orthodox Church of America which isprobably among the more ecclectic and unique movements in American religious history. They seem to have been the Sufi-tinged white hippie fellow travelers of the Moorish Science Temple.

If you want to learn more about the "Moorish" movement which formed around Noble Drew Ali, or want to delve more deeply into the "margins" of Islam, then one name you should definitely get to know is Hakim Bey (also known as Peter Lamborn Wilson). He has published books on Islamic heresies and mystical poetry. But he also has a HUGE amount of material (articles, interviews, a manifesto or two) available on the internet. I blogged about him in an earlier entry called hakim bey, ontological anarchy and cultural expression

5 comments:

DA said...

I really like soem of Hakim Bey's writings, especially on revolutionary Islam and Shiism, but the guy himself can be pretty off-putting. He defends NAMBLA, of all people, and urges idol-worship.

Cool blog though, I'll definately be checking by.

Abdul-Halim V. said...

Yes, I pretty much have the same take on him. Interesting, but not someone I would emulate.

Leila M. said...

interestingggggggggggg...

Anonymous said...

Peace Abdul-Halim,

Thanks for the plug!

On PLW/HB

I am a particular fan of TAZ, Pirate Utopias, and Sacred Drift. I would really like to write about what I am thinking of as "racial heterodoxy" inspired by how Moorish Orthodoxy transforms Noble Drew Ali's take on race, nationality, and ethnicty.

You know, I think it only costs 50 dollars to become a member of the Moorish Orthodox Church. You get to pick a title like "Exilarch" or "Pope" or something fun like that. I believe they may still send you a certificate of authority or something. Good clean rebel fun for all! (^:

Awesome blog you've got here. The links are rich, too.

Laury

Anonymous said...

Check out the collected work of Warren Tartaglia at http://www.lulu.com/content/248741.
He ws a founder of the Moorish Othodox Church.
Muhammed Ahari El
MoorishAm@aol.com