Works of Abul Baraa Muhamad Amreeki

By Abul Baraa Muhammad Amreeki .

Introduction: Framing the Question

What is America’s direction, especially as it relates to the aftermath of elections in the United States? Despite who wins or what the official results are, my conversation is directed toward a single concern: **What are Black Americans’ goals and plans?** For a while, I have wanted to speak about American politics—about the Democratic Party and the Republican Party—and how both sides support white supremacy and are anti-Black. One side is aggressive (the Republicans), and the other side is passive (the Democrats). If you disagree, remember that the person who authorized spying on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was John F. Kennedy, a liberal.

Two Parties, One System

When we look at white supremacy and the different ways it operates—its different approaches to attacking Black people—we see distinct schools of thought within American politics and government. I want to discuss what happens **after** an election—not the horse race or the winner—but **what is next for Black people in America**, particularly for the African-American Muslim community. Many of us, by choice, stay out of political matters. Likewise, many of us are not doing anything in our communities to address social problems in the U.S.

Regarding white supremacy and its plans for Black people, both Democrats and Republicans are the same. One group is more aggressive, and the other is more passive. Republicans are aggressive and anti-Black; they support the KKK, or they are the KKK and white supremacists. Democrats are not much different. The Republicans say, “We stab you in front of you—we are clearly the open enemy.” The Democratic Party smiles in your face and then stabs you in the back.

Some who follow politics might say, “Republicans are for morals. They are against abortion. Democrats are liberals, for abortion, and they get the Black vote because they’re in Black communities.” The reality, however, is that **both sides** are against Black people. I will give a simple example of how both parties support white supremacy.

Roe v. Wade as an Example of White Supremacy

Consider Roe v. Wade as an entry point into how white supremacy works from both the Republican and Democratic sides. Remember: Republicans and Democrats in government are overwhelmingly white. Roe v. Wade was overturned by Republicans while liberals—the far left—were in the administration. Republicans pushed to end abortion. Although my discussion is not primarily about abortion, this was a sign: white people are not reproducing, and that affects both white Republicans and white Democrats because it affects the overall white population.

The Republicans’ overturning of Roe v. Wade is a point of survival. That is why the Democratic Party **allowed** it to happen under their administration. President Biden is a Democrat and a liberal; it happened on his watch. Publicly, they say, “We’re for abortion rights and women’s rights,” but in reality, they understand that if white people keep aborting their children, white people will lose numbers and power in the United States. So Republicans and Democrats are **no different** when it comes to the survival of the white race within the U.S. There is no difference.

Black people need to develop a plan to be **free from both parties**. Nowhere in their plans is the survival of Black people. Republicans are not for reparations, not for a Black agenda, and not for making any legal or tangible changes for us. Democrats are the same, except they have more tokenism: they will place Black politicians around them. Yet none of these Black politicians are delivering tangible social change in Black communities. Democrats hold the presidency, but they have not made legal changes concerning police and police brutality. In fact, before he left office, Obama issued an order that gave police more power, and during his presidency, we witnessed police killing Black people. That is the Democratic Party.

How the Two Parties Advance the Same Agenda

To summarize, think of a board game—chess or checkers. In this particular board game of white supremacy, Republicans **push the agenda forward** with aggressive tactics. Democrats, with their passive style—like wolves in sheep’s clothing among minorities and Black people—**spread the agenda**. They set traps for Black people to either support it or become victims of it, while making Black people believe it is somehow good for them.

So, Republicans move white supremacy forward when they gain power. Democrats spread it out by appealing to the masses of Black voters with tokenism and policies that do not benefit Black people but strengthen white supremacy. For example, in New York, the governor campaigned on stopping legally permitted concealed weapons in a time when violence in Black neighborhoods is often carried out with **illegal** guns. Law-abiding Black citizens are not committing those crimes. That policy does not benefit Black folks; it leaves victims defenseless while pretending to address crime. This is how Democrats spread the white supremacy agenda passively.

No matter who you vote for, whether Democrat or Republican, the **main objective** for both is to keep white people in power, maintaining laws and policies that benefit whites. That is why Democrats allowed Roe v. Wade to be overturned: because, ultimately, it benefits white survival.

Focus of Today’s Discussion: African-American Muslims

Today’s discussion is about Black Americans—Muslims in particular. Most of my audience is Muslim, alhamdulillah. Over the years, I changed my social media platform because I noticed that wherever I went to preach Islam, Black communities—African-American communities—had the **worst conditions**. When I go to Arab communities to give da‘wah, they already have their finances organized and understand ethno-aggregation. South Asian communities also understand ethno-aggregation and how to work collectively as Muslims. They don’t need me; African-American imams and du‘āt are not needed there because those communities already have imams, scholars, and teachers. They are building and expanding because they come from extended communities, have finances, have people to back them up, have academics, have resources—and, most importantly, **have community support**. Their people understand group work.

When I look at Afro-American or Black American communities, we are **dysfunctional** and cannot get it together.

A Triggering Example and the Central Question

I made this video because I saw a brother on Facebook who gives da‘wah. He delivered the khuṭbah down South (I hope he sees this). He mentioned a sheriff who was elected or re-elected—a racist. I want to discuss what African-American Muslims need to focus on, because we are not focusing on empowering the Black community or on using Islam to empower the Black community—except in one or two small communities.

In the Afro-American Sunni Muslim community, with very few exceptions, we are **not** using Islam to empower our people—financially or morally. Some of us are similar to Jews in the U.S., except Jews know how to work together as Jews while keeping their religion mostly to themselves. Some African-American Muslims, by contrast, are **hiding** in the masjid. We have little effect on what is happening outside because we are not participating in politics, we do not know how to practice group economics, we sometimes cannot even maintain our own masājid, and sometimes we don’t even have masājid—only corner-store “communities.”

We are in densely Black areas but are not affecting politics or culture. We have no connection to the people in our neighborhoods, Muslim or non-Muslim—except for a few Black-conscious communities. Many Black Muslim communities have no relationship with the surrounding people and show little concern, even though the Muslims in their neighborhoods—Black like them—are overwhelmed by the social problems happening around them. Crime happens right next to our masājid.

Consider George Floyd’s death. On my Facebook page and my website (blackamericanmuslims.com), I show how he was killed by police with a masjid sign—“Islam”—right there. Or consider Far Rockaway, New York: a Black African taxi driver dropped off some young Black kids in the projects; they beat him when he chased them for the fare. He fell, hit his head, and died—**right across the street** from a masjid where I used to be an imam. The people who run that masjid care nothing about Black people. They own bodegas and corner stores in the area but give nothing back to the Black community financially and do not promote Islam to the people there.

Consequences of Inaction

African-American Muslims must **step up**. If we don’t, circumstances will take us out. The plans of Republicans and Democrats—white supremacy—aim to destroy you. The white supremacist destroys you openly; you can see his tactics. The Democratic Party will kill you silently: quietly making you broke, destroying you, encouraging abortion among you, using the LGBTQTI agenda as population control, and leaving you dysfunctional.

Many African-American Muslims have no voice in their communities and do not know what to do. Unfortunately, many still do not understand Islam. We wear the garments, the kufis, adopt Arabic names, and read the Qur’an—or claim to—but we lack **fiqh** and understanding. We have the **outward** appearance of Islam because as Black people, stripped of identity by slavery, Islam gives us an identity. But **internally**, we have little Islamic knowledge. We do not know how to use the religion to empower ourselves.

A common cultural practice is to learn to **recite** the Qur’an—pronouncing letters and words—without understanding their meaning. For example, what does the word *tilka* mean? Many do not know that it means “that” (feminine). We recite but do not comprehend. So we cannot use the dīn to empower and change our conditions.

Knowledge as a Weapon

If you do not understand the religion, you cannot use it to make change. For many, the Qur’an is a book with beautiful letters but no internalized meaning. Without internal knowledge, the outward appearance means little. In this society, we will become victims, just like the rest of Black America under white supremacy. We will face the same problems and will not be prepared with our weapon. **The Muslim’s weapon is knowledge**—‘ilm. If you cannot take knowledge from the Book beyond recitation, you have no weapon. You do not know how to use the dīn to empower your people. That is the difference between many Muslims in America and Muslims in Muslim countries (Arab and non-Arab): overseas, they at least understand how to use religion to empower themselves and their people.

In America, whether Republicans or Democrats are in power, the politics is against us. Democrats may appear to be for Black people, but in practice they pursue population and mind control. Why do they allow large numbers of undocumented South Americans to enter? Because that is America’s new workforce. Republicans pretend to oppose it, but before the recession and before Obama, undocumented immigrants worked in Republican states for white employers—doing jobs whites did not want, for less money, and in organized fashion. South Americans are organized and know how to work as a group. They have been colonized by Europeans, carry European last names, and speak European languages; they have been whitewashed and, in many cases, are submissive to white supremacy and anti-Black. Democrats want them because they fit into the white supremacy program and reinforce it. Their plan already includes **removing Black folks** from central economic roles.

Nostalgia vs. Planning

So what are African-American Muslims going to do? It can no longer be the YouTube nostalgia I see in our spaces. On social media, African-American Muslims are caught up in the nostalgia of Islam in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, and in Afro-American culture—celebrating famous imams from “back in the day” or Malcolm X (whom I love and whose ideas shape my platform). We are stuck in nostalgia **instead of planning for the future**.

We lack the necessary information and do not take it seriously. As in broader Black communities—where academics are not prioritized and athletes and rappers are treated as leaders—we mirror the same mindset. On Facebook, many African-American Muslims post endlessly about Kyrie Irving and the Hebrew/Jewish issue. Negro, you are **Muslim**. Why focus on being a Yahūdī? Why is Kyrie—who is Muslim—focused on the Yahūd? Why are **we** focused on this and on pseudoscience?

This is what African-American Muslims are posting right now. People debate why Kyrie is punished and not Amazon for hosting content. I understand the point—but we are **Muslim**. If we push an ignorant, confused Muslim athlete or entertainer as our reference point, what are we really pushing? Islam is the religion of Allāh and the Qur’an. In reality, many groups in Africa who identified as Hebrews **converted to Islam** when Islam came; they are not on social media claiming to be the “real Israelites.” Only ignorant American Negroes who love pseudo-religion, pseudo-scholars, and pseudo-history promote this nonsense. Why? Because we are not interested in the **internal** knowledge—only the **cosmetics**.

Cosmetic Islam vs. Internalized Islam

We love the cosmetics: the décor of Arabic books behind us in videos, the image of learning—without the internal information that makes you who you are, inside and out. We are confused, which is why we cannot use the religion to empower our people. Inwardly, we are empty. When politics in America targets Black people, we become victims as well. We do not see it coming, and we are not ready to make moves that the religion commands—**to come together**.

“All hold fast to the rope of Allah and be not divided.” I will repeat this verse because it seems African-American Muslims do not understand it. *Jamī‘an* means **all of us together**—mutually holding on to the rope. When will this be in here—**in our hearts and minds**—not just recited without understanding? Our framework and solutions should be built on this, but we do not know it. Instead, we have dysfunction. That is why we do not have another Malcolm X in Black America and why we cling to past leaders—especially Malcolm—because no one is doing the work now, and **definitely** not in the Muslim community.

We do not respect people from our own ranks who have knowledge. Being dysfunctional includes having dysfunctional financial practices: we cannot do ethno-aggregation or group community economics. We cannot afford to support our own scholars and do not even see it as important—too busy chasing Kyrie Irving and Ye (Kanye West). This is a severe issue, and we do not understand the **dangerous consequences**.

The Cost of Neglecting Knowledge and Community

We do not learn history; we avoid it. When an entire community is distracted—not learning or building—there are consequences. People get taken out. Some think LGBTQTI issues are trivial; they are not. Best believe there are African-American Muslims promoting that liberal garbage—homosexuality—especially for children. When you drop your guard and lack your weapon (Islamic knowledge), you become a victim. You are like a person with a sword who does not know how to use it, facing someone who does. You will be killed because you cannot wield your weapon.

Likewise, African-American Muslims in this white supremacist system will be taken out. Some of your children will be gay; there will be homosexuality in the Muslim community, drug abuse, dysfunctional homes, broken families, welfare dependence, and no economics. These are consequences of neglecting religious knowledge and failing to work together. Meanwhile, we treat celebrities like Kyrie as leaders while he complies with his “slave master”—apologizing—because he is on the plantation of entertainment. Is this our leader? I am not saying the punishment was right, but as a Muslim he is confused—pushing “Black Hebrew” narratives. Where is the love for Islam and Allāh? This is the reality of entertainers.

When Muslims adopt this mindset, there are consequences. If you do right, you get good results. If you shirk your responsibilities as a Muslim, there will be major consequences. Do you not read in the Qur’an what happened to those who disobeyed Allāh? Consider Banī Isrā’īl. There are consequences, and the problem with this thinking is that it reproduces itself in the next generation—sometimes even worse. Children learn from parents and peers, especially in adolescence. If we model ignorance, we reproduce it. We end up taking rappers and athletes as educators.

White America has a plan for Black folks that is in play every day. White people do not want to become a minority—that is why Republicans overturned Roe v. Wade, and Democrats allowed it under their administration: to maintain white numbers and power. Meanwhile, Black folks are confused—and some African-American Muslims even more so.

What We Must Do

What should African-American Muslims do? **First and foremost, understand the dīn properly**, not merely by reading books. We have no real African-American Muslim institutions teaching proper Islamic knowledge alongside other sciences. What is our future? If you say, “We don’t have the numbers or finances,” then ask **why** we lack finances and why our people are not doing this. What is preventing us? Often it is a lack of knowledge, understanding, and the disease of individualism. I have many videos on my channel about misappropriate behaviors in the Black community—go look at that playlist.

Even if you feel upright and do not fall into these categories, who says your children will not? I know many decent people with solid foundations whose children are corrupted—not by the parents but by **society**, where ignorance and dysfunction are the norm. You are not promised righteous children just because you think you put them in the right environment. Wait until they hit adulthood.

Some say, “I’m different. I’m special.” This is common in African-American communities and African-American Muslim communities. “I’m outside this equation.” Negro, you are not special. You are living in the community where dysfunction is the **norm**. “I’m holier than everyone else; this cannot happen to me.” That is individualism talking. Allāh says to be **together**, not individually—*jamī‘an*, **all together**. The Messenger of Allāh said the one who leaves the flock is devoured by the wolf. Many flee the flock and are devoured, thinking they are exceptions. You may see yourself as especially pious, but that may not be reality.

I have seen many religious parents whose kids live another life in secret. Parents say, “My kid is good,” but the children are in another world. This happens to your children and the next generation. I saw an Afghan immigrant family—parents righteous—where a teenage son asked why gay kids always approached him. I told him, “Because you dress like them,” including tying up his hair like women do. When your kids step out, it is another situation—especially in public schools.

We also lack proper parenting skills. Some think being pious and telling kids “do this or that” will teach them the religion. That is not education. There are different parenting styles; many adopt a dogmatic style. Then, as soon as the kids become adults living on their own, they do not practice. Your piety does not guarantee theirs. The system is designed to take you out morally **and** financially.

Riba and “When in Rome”

Ribā (usury) is another topic entirely. I see many who call themselves religious living off ribā, feeding ribā to their families. “Every man does what he thinks is best for his family” has replaced “every man does what is best for his family from Kitāb and Sunnah.” Some think like Romans: “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” This is **not** an Islamic concept. “Don’t kiss and tell,” and similar ideas—this is how some approach the religion. That is why we do not have strong communities, especially in the Black African-American Muslim context.

Collective Response vs. Individualism

These are my fuller thoughts for today—especially after seeing the brother’s video about local racist politics. It hurts me that Muslims have to deal with this, and it hurts more that we do not know how to deal with it **collectively**. Individualism—part of American culture—is destroying Black folks. In practice, it creates consumers who are **histrionic**: self-centered, always wanting to be the center. This self-centeredness is why many relationships and marriages fail in Black communities. People overuse the word “narcissistic” (a feminist-psychology buzzword blaming men), when the deeper issue is **histrionic individualism**—self-centeredness.

Meanwhile, white America pushes individualism **for Black people**, but white folks do not practice individualism when it comes to making money. Corporations are not based on individualism. Look at the corporations that cut ties with Kanye West; Adidas isn’t owned by one person. White society pushes individualism on Black people but practices **organization, corporation, and ethno-aggregation** for themselves. Black Americans, by contrast, push “me, me, me”—individualism. That undermines us.

Islam, however, promotes **working together** in everything: ṣalāh in jamā‘ah, Jumu‘ah prayer, ḥajj, unified prayer times and qiblah, family life, collective child-rearing, and even battle. People love to talk about jihād—was it one person fighting alone, or an organized unit with one leader and one goal? Everywhere in Islam you see **togetherness**.

Closing and Mission

I will stop here, in shā’ Allāh. I have been offline for a while due to schoolwork and reflection, and my thinking and work are where they need to be.

I am the founder of **Black American Muslim Opinions**. We are just getting started. Our mission is to openly discuss and examine social issues faced by Black Americans in their communities and to formulate solutions that can be implemented from an Islamic perspective. We need your support to keep the organization going. Your donations will help us do the work necessary to help Black people overcome social and economic challenges. Visit our website and learn more about what we do.