The “I” — Big in English, and Little in the Qur’an

Posted on March 5, 2019 by Administrator

In the Spirit of the Gracious and Compassionate
Creator of the Heavens and the Earth

Lester A. Knibbs aka Doctor Hakeem

As I write this, we have a psychotic egotist in the White House, and I am in the midst of reading an article which, appropriately, lays responsibility for this situation on the profit-driven media empires which elevated him in the eyes of the public without highlighting his enormous and grotesque and dangerous flaws.

This led me to reflect on one of the over 800 spelling irregularities of the English language — specifically, that the one and only pronoun which is capitalized (and is required to be capitalized) is the first-person singular pronoun: “I”. Uncapitalized are “you”, “he”, “she”, “it”, “they”, and even “we”. Only “I” is capitalized.

In standard Arabic, the word for what we call “first-person singular” is “anaa” (with the accent on the first syllable). The persons are not numbered in Arabic grammar, but if they were, this would be the “third-person singular” — after “he” and “you”, in that order. So, even “looking out for number one” would not have the same meaning in Arabic. This is not arbitrary, as it apparently is in English. In Arabic, the root form of the verb is the “he” form. There is no infinitive. And, this root form of the verb is the foundation of the Arabic language. So, in standard Arabic, “anaa” is a couple of stages away from being important.

Moreover, in the Qur’an, this word is not pronounced with a long second syllable, but rather as “ana”. I have no idea why this is so. But, it does seem obvious that ego — as represented by the contrast in how we refer to our individual self — is greatly reduced in the Arabic Qur’an from what it is in English.

We have placed our society — and the world — at the mercy of a big and dangerous “I”.

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Not Our Savior

Posted on February 27, 2019 by Administrator

In the Spirit of the Gracious and Compassionate
Creator of the Heavens and the Earth

Lester A. Knibbs aka Doctor Hakeem

February 26 is said to be the birthday of Wallace Fard Muhammad, founder of the organization known as the “Nation of Islam” which was led for over 40 years by Elijah Muhammad. No one seems to be sure of who he was, when he was born (1877, perhaps), or where he came from. Under Elijah Muhammad’s leadership, and during the first two years of the leadership of his son, Warith Deen Mohammed, this day was celebrated as “Savior’s Day”. I think the followers of Louis Farrakhan still celebrate this day.

My belief about who he was is strange, but not nearly as strange as the original Nation of Islam (NOI) beliefs. I joined the NOI in 1974. We were told that “Master Fard” (as we called him) was born in Makkah (“Mecca”). I am too embarrassed to share more of this story here. Oddly enough, the FBI’s notions of who this mysterious stranger was — especially inasmuch as he disappeared without a trace in 1933 — were particularly bizarre. So, I won’t share those stupid notions here, either.

My belief is that the man known to us as Master Fard was a man whose parents were from that part of British India now known as Pakistan. One weird thing that the FBI and other sources have in common is, believe it or not, New Zealand. I think he was born in New Zealand. (It was, after all, a part of the British Empire, as was India.) Because of his appearance, he was able to travel in the United States as a white man. (Walter White, the first Executive Secretary of the NAACP, was able to do the same, in researching his book on lynching, “Rope and Faggot”.)

After establishing the Nation of Islam (in Detroit) and leaving it under the leadership of Elijah Muhammad, he got on a plane in Detroit and left. I have no idea where he went. (He probably had a British passport.) I think he was able to “disappear” because the FBI and others were looking for a white man. All he needed to do was let his beard grow and wear a turban. They couldn’t see him; he was one of “them” — not a white man.

I lived in Chicago from 1975 to 1978. There were old-timers there — “pioneers”, as we called them — who had actually heard Master Fard speak in person, decades earlier. We had what we called “the hook-up” — the audio or audio-visual transmission of a program from one location to various locations nation-wide. One Sunday afternoon, the regular meeting was being transmitted from Atlanta. On the program was our leader, W.D. Mohammed, and a man introduced as Muhammad Abdullah. As soon as this man began to speak, the pioneers in our Chicago audience got excited. “That’s him!” they said. “I would know that voice anywhere!”

We had been told by W.D. Mohammed that the man we knew as Master Fard — and were told that he was “Allah in person” (!!!!!!!) — was just an ordinary human being from Pakistan. He knew him personally and had traveled with him. This man named Muhammad Abdullah was introduced to us as the man who had, so many years ago, posed as Master Fard. (He had introduced himself as “Wallace Fard Muhammad”. I think it was Elijah Muhammad who had elevated him to “Master Fard”, Allah in Person, so that he, Elijah Muhammad, would be the “Messenger of Allah” who came in the person of Master Fard.)

A few weeks (or months) later, this man was introduced to us in Chicago. W.D. Mohammed introduced him and told us that he was the leader, the Imam, of a Muslim community in California, and that after having posed as Master Fard he had gone back to simply being a Muslim and leading a Muslim community. (Apparently, the man so eagerly sought by the FBI had been “hiding in plain sight” for many years.) In his talk, Muhammad Abdullah told an interesting story, which is relevant but too long to repeat here. Muhammad Abdullah — no longer Master Fard, “Allah in person” — was politely received.

After the program ended, I exited the building, and to my surprise, encountered Muhammad Abdullah standing all alone outside the door. There were, in my estimate, two or three thousand people in that audience. And yet, here was the man — formerly regarded as “Allah in person” — standing all alone. For African American Muslims, he had gone from being an idol to being nobody. (This is not about Muhammad Abdullah; this is about African American Muslims.)

 

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feast

Posted on February 24, 2019 by Administrator

In the Spirit of the Gracious and Compassionate
Creator of the Heavens and the Earth

Lester A. Knibbs aka Doctor Hakeem

transported worse
than cattle
then offloaded

force-marched
naked
through the hot humid Amazon
over the frigid Andes
to be worked to death
in the mines of Peru

or worked only
half-to-death
on the Southern plantations
(and sodomized
tongues and other
body-parts cut off
and babies unborn
cut out the wombs
et cetera et cetera et cetera)

producing
great wealth which enabled
great technological progress
and world domination
(which could not have been done
otherwise)

a veritable cannibal feast
in which we now
eagerly participate

eating the flesh
of our grandparents

4 Jumaadaa-al-Awwaal 1440
January 10, 2019

 

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Ramadan 1440 A.H. (May-June 2019)

Posted on February 13, 2019 by Administrator

In the Spirit of the Gracious and Compassionate
Creator of the Heavens and the Earth

Lester A. Knibbs aka Doctor Hakeem

Ramadan, the ninth month of the lunar calendar, is the month of daily fasting from dawn until sunset for Muslims. This year (2019), Ramadan  is expected to begin on Sunday, May 5, or Monday, May 6, at sundown — depending on whichever evening the new lunar crescent is first seen. The Muslim calendar consists of twelve lunar months, with no adjustment to accommodate the solar year. The year 1440 A.H. (“after Hijrah”) of the Muslim calendar runs from September 11, 2018, to August 30, 2019, of the Christian calendar.

The Muslim calendar begins the year of the Hijrah, the migration from Makkah (Mecca) to Madinah (Medina) of Prophet Muhammad and his followers; they were persecuted in Makkah for serving the Creator of the heavens and the earth (called “God” by English-speaking Christians, and called “Allah” by Muslims, Arabic-speaking Christians, and ancient Israelites) instead of serving idols. (The ancient Israelites did not call the Creator “Jehovah” or “Yahweh”; these words were invented by modern Christian and Jewish scholars, based on a fanciful interpretation of the Hebrew scriptures.)

Ramadan will last 29 or 30 days, depending on the visibility of the new lunar crescent at the end of the month. The first day of the next month, Shawwaal, is a day of observance called “Eid-ul-Fitr”. This day is expected to coincide with Tuesday, June 4, 2019. Muslims observe this occasion by gathering for a special congregational prayer in the early morning, and spending the rest of the day (and perhaps the next two days, as well) socializing and feasting.

The reason we fast during the month of Ramadan is because this is the month in which the revelation of the Qur’an to Prophet Muhammad began, 14 centuries ago. Prophet Muhammad is acknowledged — by Muslim and non-Muslim historians — as the most influential single human being in recorded history. (The influence of Jesus Christ is shared with St. Paul, who spread Christianity to more people and did much to establish Christian doctrines; there is no “St. Paul” of the Muslims.) The global influence of Prophet Muhammad is a result of the Qur’an.

Fourteen centuries ago, most human beings lived in ignorance and slavery. Sixty percent of the people in the Roman Empire were outright slaves, and religious freedom and human rights were unknown even for so-called “free” people. More Christians were persecuted and killed for their faith under the Christian leaders of the Roman Empire than under the previous pagan leaders. Under the Muslim leaders, who freed the countries of Africa and the Middle East from Roman domination, Christians were free to serve God according to their faith.

Because of the message of the Qur’an, we have a civilization today in which literacy is taken for granted (the first word of the revelation was the command, “Read!”), human rights and religious freedom are global concerns (“No compulsion in religion” says the Qur’an), a scholarly and scientific revolution has taken place, and slavery has been widely abolished (the Qur’an says, “Free the slave”). You might want to read The Influence of Islam on Medieval Europe, by W. Montgomery Watt (Edinburgh University Press). Muslims have been far from perfect, but the message and legacy of the Qur’an is, literally, a Godsend.

O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you, even as it was prescribed for those before you,  so that you may practice righteousness.

The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for mankind, and clear proofs of the guidance, and the criterion (of right and wrong).

Qur’an, 2nd soorah (Soorat-al-Baqarah) (The Heifer), aayaat 183 and 185

Posted in History, Identity, Notices, Ramadan, Reality | Leave a comment

the blind leading the blind leading the blind

Posted on February 7, 2019 by Administrator

In the Spirit of the Gracious and Compassionate
Creator of the Heavens and the Earth

Lester A. Knibbs aka Doctor Hakeem

the blind
leading the blind
leading the blind

dead contract
chosen people no more
promised land no more
cast out
for rejecting one prophet
too many

*****

five centuries
attempting to have life
in a dead contract

then
one last merciful chance
a prophet warning them

and the promised messiah

but yet still
proud and resentful
rejecting
this last merciful chance
the unchosen people
cast out once again
from
the unpromised land

*****

you are just people
like the rest of us

if not regarding you as
special chosen people
is hateful
what are we to you?

your contract died
twenty-five centuries ago

sad and true

welcome to humanity

and stop killing
the children of Abraham

the Master is patient
not stupid

*****

the blind
leading the blind
leading the blind

the precipice
awaits

on that day
the Master
will ask the Pit of Doom
if it is filled to the full
and the Pit of Doom
will ask for more

the precipice
awaits

the blind
leading the blind
leading the blind

the blind
leading the blind
leading the blind

a new covenant
a contract with
a new israel

led by a false prophet
who kicked the messiah
upstairs
to godhood

and led his followers
astray

he who led them astray
is a saint to them

causing
twenty centuries
of medieval confusion
and suffering

flesh as god
flesh as god
flesh as god

crazy math
war against reason
don’t question
images

images

images
as if the tireless creator of
the entire vastness of the cosmos
is a man of stinky flesh
and funk

funking an earthly maiden
(a betroth-ed earthly maiden)
to save the world

save the world from what?

do you even know
what you believe?

the one who led you astray
is a saint to you

even as
following him leads you into
a pit of confusion

crime top-to-bottom
criminal pulpits criminal boards-of-directors criminal
judges criminal prosecutors criminal cops criminal
congressmen criminal senators criminal president
criminal
penniless children

millions homeless millions addicted
your-money-or-your-life imitation healthcare criminal
corporations selling us criminal imitation food

in an imitation christian society

in an imitation christian society
that accepts no responsibility for the
mess
it creates

save the world from what?

the one who led you astray
is a saint to you

come off it

your world needs to be saved

from

him

the blind
leading the blind
leading the blind

the final prophet
dressed like any man
which he was
as he said
an ordinary man

allowing no deference
to himself
and took no offense
at being called
by his name

he delivered the message
he was chosen to deliver
and returned to his Maker

what went wrong?

twenty-nine years
after his passing
his mission was usurped
co-opted in a coup

leading millions who
barely knew the message
to believe that their mission
was to conquer the world

fourteen centuries later
desperate for salvation from
madness and confusion
i read the message
in its original language

the earth split open and
i was on one side of a
jagged crack in the ground
and all those holy and righteous
others
were on the other side

they claim to follow a message
they don’t even read

they follow blind leaders
following blind leaders
following blind leaders

fourteen centuries of
bearded be-robed men
in strange and fancy head-gear
some with kissy-kiss-me rings
be-titled and enthroned in
imitation pagan temples
like the imitation christian
imitation pagan temples

they are blind leaders
following blind leaders
following blind leaders

following the usurping
co-optating schemers
who took over the
mission of the messenger

instead of delivering the message
they tried to conquer the world

but the Master is not stupid

in His plan
the world conquered
them

now you upset

violent upset

come off it

open your eyes
and read the message
in its original language

the Master has
saved it for you

read it and share it
this world needs it

this world does not need you
to be a part of it

you do not need
to be part of this world

the ancient prophet led his people
out of pharaoh’s land
not into it

not physical location

mindset

where is your heart?

dead hearts
are the leading cause of
blindness

the blindness of
the blind following
the blind following
the blind

open your eyes
and read the message
the Master sent you

so that you can see
as the seers
joseph and moses and jonah
delivered entire nations
from the pit of confusion

be the seer
who gives sight to the blind

open your hearts to the message
in its original language
and your eyes will see

2 Jumaadaa-al-Aakhirah 1440
February 7, 2019

 

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T-Five 004

Posted on January 25, 2019 by Administrator

In the Spirit of the Gracious and Compassionate
Creator of the Heavens and the Earth

Lester A. Knibbs aka Doctor Hakeem

T-Five — Part Four

o little beam of light

you left your home
two million years ago

what took you so long?

oh man!

i was going as
fast as i could

*****

that little smudge of light
in the night sky
containing
half a trillion stars

so far far away
its light takes
two million years to get here

going
as fast as it can

19 Jumada-al-Awwal
January 25, 2019

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T-Five 003

Posted on January 25, 2019 by Administrator

In the Spirit of the Gracious and Compassionate
Creator of the Heavens and the Earth

Lester A. Knibbs aka Doctor Hakeem

T-Five — Part Three

a trillion
times a trillion
times a trillion
times a trillion
times a trillion

a trillion
multiplied by a trillion
five times

a trillion to the fifth power

(or was it a trillion and one?
a big red X
for the wrong answer
already confined and regimented
then shamed and humiliated
until you got right answers
promoted
from grade to grade
degree to degree
into the validated walls
of corporate/government/academic
life
still traumatized by the
lash
of big numbers)

(you cannot hear me
but i talk anyway)

*****

a trillion to the fifth power
T-Five
T-superscript-five
T5
is closer to
the dot
on which we live
than to infinity

the vast cosmos
is a dot
as the earth
is a dot
in the vast cosmos

all of physical reality
the vast cosmos
all of physical reality is dirt

earth

reflect on this

not that we are made
of star-stuff

reflect on this

the stars are made of dirt

earth

*****

heaven and earth
or
heavens and earth

is the sky
the sky where birds fly

or where the moon
winks at us monthly
from beyond the atmosphere

is the sky where
the planets play
musical chairs
with the stars

or where the stars are
so distant that
our earthly
family of planets
is visible only
as the dimly shining
dot
of a lonely star

19 Jumada-al-Awwal
January 25, 2019

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T-Five 002

Posted on January 25, 2019 by Administrator

In the Spirit of the Gracious and Compassionate
Creator of the Heavens and the Earth

Lester A. Knibbs aka Doctor Hakeem

T-Five — Part Two

two cats
released from the confines
of their small
apartment home

to frolic on the
grassy riverbank

one was in paradise
finding the world
so wide and free

the other was in hell
eyes wide in terror
unable to find a wall
to define its
comfortable home

19 Jumada-al-Awwal
January 25, 2019

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T-Five 001

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Administrator

In the Spirit of the Gracious and Compassionate
Creator of the Heavens and the Earth

Lester A. Knibbs aka Doctor Hakeem

T-Five — Part One

bigger

bigger

bigger

*****

imagine a dot
on a piece of paper

imagine a circle
three inches wide
around that dot

our earthly home
is a dot
in a vast galaxy
a trillion trillion trillion times
bigger

immersed in a cosmos
a trillion trillion times
bigger
than this galaxy

and getting bigger

bigger

bigger

18 Jumada-al-Awwal
January 24, 2019

 

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Imperial Triangle

Posted on January 17, 2019 by Administrator

In the Spirit of the Gracious and Compassionate
Creator of the Heavens and the Earth

Lester A. Knibbs aka Doctor Hakeem

Three Historical Events Mentioned in the Qur’an: Part One

Three Historical Events Mentioned in the Qur’an: Part Two

history of Iran; Cyrus (Kurush), in Bible, in Qur’an (Dhul-Qarnain?)

history of Rome

history of Abyssinia; Solomon, in Bible, in Qur’an, in history (?); queen of Sheba

life and mission of Muhammad

the Avars

what is prophecy? (naba’) — in Bible, in Qur’an, in the popular imagination

the war: Rome vs. Iran and Avars

Heraclius (bio)

Iranian ruler (title, name, bio)

ruler of Abyssinia; subordinates in southern Arabia

Dhoo Nuwas (bio); conversion to Judaism; slaughter of Christians

two men sent to arrest Muhammad

Screenplay

solving problem of not depicting Muhammad, without making him seem mysterious

including bio of Muhammad, without making it the focus

visuals: costumes, scenery, modes of warfare, …

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