Africa Speaks Reasoning Forum

A question which continues to bother me is how do Rasta and Islam co-exist. Muslims are a billion-strong force of believers, believing that Mohammed is the last prophet. InI believe that Haile Selassie is earth rightful ruler. Islam also is a powerful force in Africa. How do the two faiths relate and co-exist? I'd be grateful for any reasonings to shed light on this.

O'B

InI KNOW Haile Selassie is divine.

As far as HIM being EARTH "rightful ruler"... "No one is today so foolish as to believe that any one nation constitutes a perfect monolith of faith and ideology. Nor could anyone wish that there should be such utter vanity of thought and aspiration." [Haile Selassie I]

I would say Emperor Haile Selassie put an end to theocratic rule with the Ethiopian Constitution of 1931. So for InI to coexist with Islam.. all InI need is tolerance and iverstanding of self. One Perfect Love. If there is to ever be any peace on Earth, there must be religious harmony... not converting and indoctrination.

So there needs to be a iniversial gathering... global religion conference.



OnePerfectLove

^^^^^

I agree with the I, and I believe this can happen when we learn to appreciate each religion, not just tolerate it. Before I became a rasta, I was into Islam so I speak from personal experience when I say it is a good religion. The media has demonized Islam and make it to be something fanatical and violent, but the opposite is true. Islam means "submission to the will of god", so by this definition most rastafarians are "MUSLIMS" in a technical sense, because we submit to the will of god. These  are similarities that we should encourage and exploit to the fullest, Instead of focusing on minor insignicant differences, because in the  end we're all praying to the same ONE GOD. Muslims call him ALLAH, if you spoke arabic you'd probably call him allah to, The Semetic Jews(no such thing) calls him Jehovah, if you spoke hebrew you'd probably call him Jehovah too. The Buddhist call him Buddha, Rasta Man call him Jah, etc. etc. etc.

I think too much focus is on religion, when it should be on JAH, some people worship religion more than they worship JAH, They give all the glory to the pastor and the church, and between the choir meeting, prayer meeting, and all these other church events they lose focus of the real reason the church exist, which is to give praise to the most high, nothing more nothing less.

Please check my post on [link=http://www.africaspeaks.com/reasoning/index.php?topic=4004.0]Black Nationalism HERE![/link] It kinda deals with this issue.

I appreciate your responses brethren to the utmost. Its really calming nerves and shedding light. Its not a competition between Islam and Rasta - for those who see - even though through history until now Islam has been at war with Christians in Ethiopia and other regions. Mohammed is transmitted as a warrior-type and all we hear is Jihad, terrorism, and the fervor of Muslims, even the young today, who claim that if youre not a muslim youre going to hell. It sounds from these reasonings that a lot of whats communicated from the 'muslim world' is not the essence of Islam - surrendering to the will of God. It sounds like misinterpretation and teachings out of context. The message of the true nature of Islam is enlightening. I revel in the notion that Islam, like Rasta, is a One God Faith. One God, one people, one self. INI.

^^^
Yes, I. I do agree with the I, but you must understand where this attitude is coming from. If someone beat, torture, raped and held your love ones captive, in the name of Jesus, they can't expect you to deal with it in a rational and logical manner. If you don't know any better your first thought would be "Bun Jesus". Jihad is justified in the Koran but not against innocent people so the whole anti-christian thing i don't agree with, but if you understand the suffering of the muslims in the middle east you start to understand where the anti-america, anti-christian, anti-west sentiment comes from.

The bible done sey an eye for and eye, and a tooth for a tooth

Babylon no have enough eye nor teeth fi pay back with, yuzimi.



"

Promoting JIHAD against infidels is too broad and too dangerous. It promotes violence and war and war is not a path to peace - and world peace is the aim. As Ethiopia demonstrated in its last wars war is justified as self-defense. Non-violence is also an effective way to fight a war as well as the spiritual war fought by knowledge, the mind and music, among spiritual weapons.

Is the promotion of Jihad in the Koran just a major glitch in the Islamic faith - because it doesnt align with wisdom. War and peace dont co-exist.

very interesting points, I. And at the present time I honestly don't have a response thought out so i'll avoid a response to your last reply for now. But i want to clarify that my position on this is not to justify Jihad in no means because rasta promote life over death, but i just want you to see where the mentality is coming from. I'm not sure what country you live in, but in America so many people got the nerves to ask why?, Why are they so mad?

P.S. Force only respect force, you don't reason with unreasonable force. Let history teach us, every brother who ever tried to reason with this devil has perished or joined him.

will post again later with a better response

war can be necessary at times. but not until after all attempts at a peaceful resolution have been expended. victory without battle is always the greatest victory.

as far as reasoning with the devil ... to hold a view that to reason with the devil u'll either perish or join him, seems to me that u are giving the devil some sort of power over urself. why should i not be able to reason with the devil? is his intelect, logic and conviction so superior to mine that he'll "convert" me? and i "join him"?

with love, iverstanding [of self and "the devil"], tolerance, patience, and respect for others and thier views as ur foundation, u should be able to sit in any "boardroom" and discuss any issue that has the potential to bring about greater peace and inity on earth.

OnePerfectLove

I stand corrected! How can I argue with such wisdom coming from the I's.

BUT..............



That's not what I was saying. What i'm saying is that throughout history we witness the strongest and most influential black leaders, prophets, and public figures fight the good fight by word and word alone(Bob Marley: Prime example) and they've either end up in jail or kilt for excercising their god given right to speak the truth. These brethrens were trying to establish dialogue with a system that doesn't speak the language of love, peace and prosperity, only the language of hate, chaos and pure devilment. So how you reason with this man if this man response to words is bullets?

To tell you the truth brethrens, right now in America the economy is so messed up that in a few years the US Dollar is gonna collapse. America can be defeated simply by boycotting ALL big businesses and refusing to go to work for atleast 1 month, because black people in America are the #1 consumers and the city runs on their minimum wage labor. I want you to tell me honestly, if you decided to organize this boycott and it was successful in the sense that most if not all the "afro-americans" participated, what do you think would be the end result? What would happen to you?
I will reply later, about my last response

Please reply so we can continue this debate...............

But eventhough they ended up in jail, or were killed... would you honestly say their efforts were in vain? Much has been gained through the suffering of the outspoken and rebellious. This is the nature of things, and we won't change that by fighting violence with violence.

But what do white oppressors do? They unite... they meet in their expensive boardrooms, and they plan, collectively... "how will we save ourselves and f*** the rest of the world?" And the united whites... they don't all ahve the same ideologies, but they have recognized their common goals, and the benefits to be gained from unity. They look at the bigger picture. So for InI to make our situation better, all that is needed is inity... collective effort. Marcus Garvey showed us that.

Going to war costs. In war, it is good to know urself and the enemy, strengths and weaknesses, alliances, etc... and then compare. Now, you do a comparison of the white superpowers and the oppressed majorities, and see who is in a better position to engage in war. There is only 2 ways out of war... victory or surrender. To be victorious in war..one must be victorious and then battle... to battle and hope for victory... sure defeat.

I have nothing against a boycott... all is needed to manifest a boycott is inity :) I myself boycott big american companies everyday... I buy less jeans, and visit my tailor more often. I opt for home-made as opposed to mass-manufactured. The boycott has already started lion yute, u need to get on the ship.


WordSoundIsPower

lets not forget that, I.S.L.A.M    means in slavery legacy afrikans were murdered,the people that wrote the koran,the  B.I.B.L.E
the torah,are the same, keep in mind that the alomoravid invasion of the continent happened during 500 to 900 ad, i would strongly suggest for my brothers and sisters to get the dictionary of cults and religion because christianity and islam are the growing cults in the world right now, and most of its history and legacy,is tainted in blood,because it was drafted to deceive and con people,both arrived in the contiinent to rape,murder and rob peoplemof their lands,read the auto biography of momahamed, i also see that RASTAFARISM is based on judeo christisanity,thats another problem that have to be dealt with,
the original world is not jah,is ja ja funi ela! from the yoruba,when i was in toronto,i saw rastas,some rastas chasing white chicks,even those hardcore ratstas need to revise what they know,because sellassie,was half arab,he was half almoravid and we know when people have half krakkkozoid blood  what happens right!

So called African rebel - once again spreading Disturbing propaganda. I'll ask you then to use Bob Marley as an example of to explain to us what happens when a man has half 'krakkkazoid' blood.

And state your resources to back up what you claim about Tafari Makonnen's lineage.

O'B

True, war and peace cannot co-exist.

But you cannot know peace if you have never fought a war.

It is sad that the world cuts out Islam <and its followers> as war-prone. And it is true that there have been more (documented) jihads than crusades.
But the fact is, there have been crusades. More still, the bloodiest jihads were a response to this invasion. Like Ethiopia, they had to defend themselves.

The issue of Jihad should not whet appetites for discourse (though i admit it seduces the mind). We should remember that all religions, and doctrinated peoples have a knack of enforcing there beliefs on others.



HOw do they do it?
I speak as the African here.
We simply ignore religious differences.
Rasta is rasta, muslim is muslim.

And that's that.

 my brother, i have no need to lie. sellassie had arab bllod in him and he was half arab,ethiooians know that,have you,yourself carefully reaewarch into his lineage!? i know it is debatable issue isue among the rasta community,you see,i come and present the issue,we debate it,whether people like or or not,the truth is out there, i know  some brothers from the ANKHWEBURANB,that are rastas, you see,most information  about the continent was written by arabs and europeans,both were invaders of the continent, have you talkled to people,that lived there,during his regime,we were not there,to see what really happen during his regime,it is only hear and say,the best thing is to ask those that lives thres or lived there,about happened, and i have done that, not all ethiopians embrace sellassie,thatsa misconception,however, he was half arab and thatsa well known fact.

OK For arguments sake, lets say H.I.M. Selassie I was of arabic descent. Does it really matter? Have we the people of the "Afrikan Diaspora" lost a connection to reality? Because reality(atleast my reality) tells me that MOST, if not ALL Afrikans in the Diaspora, is a mixture of many different race, and ethnic groups, hence the word "CREOLE", creole in my "birth country" means they simply don't know exactly what you are but you identify yourself as black or of African descent.(I n I Iverstand that blackness is a state of consciousness found in most people of Afrikan descent)
I'm sure we all know the plight of our ancestors during the times of slavery, I'm sure we all know by now that the white man is the worst motha-f***a of all motha-f***az, And I am also positive that we know that the fact that Afrikans come in so many shades of black and brown is a direct result of miscegenation, mine AND your ancestors were raped and the resulting children often sold on the auction bloc, this is a known fact. The point i'm trying to make here is that, If the basis of a man's claim to his african heritage is based solely on whether or not this man is of a pure afrikan lineage then I regret to inform most afrikans in the diaspora that you are no longer considered Afrikan. Also many Afrikans at home also in places like Ethiopia, South Africa, Sudan, Egypt, Liberia, Irritrea, and many others.

I'm rambling on so i'll stop now, but I hope you understand where I'm coming from.