HIS NAME IS…..

Why do scholarly works continue to refer to Allah the Father as Clarence 13X?

He came to the children of Harlem as Allah. This was the name that he gave himself. He proceeded to define himself as the Supreme Being realizing that the theology of the muslims of the Nation of Islam wasn’t sufficient for him as that he and many others had never seen Master Fard Muhammad. The theology stressed that the Supreme Being was one who was not a mystery.

Interestingly enough all scholarly works continue to refer to Allah as Clarence 13X, a name which he had elevated beyond. Now it is ‘understandable’ that the Muslims of the Nation of Islam would continue to refer to him as Clarence 13X in an effort to disrespect him, avoid the ‘shirk’ that anyone else except Master Fard Muhammad was the Supreme Being, and to imply that he wasn’t independent of the theology of the Muslims of the Nation of Islam. What is not acceptable and logical are scholars referring to him as Clarence 13X or ‘members’ of the Nation of Gods and Earths referring to him as Clarence 13X

It appears that they are against ‘self definition’. They would rather call a man a name someone else gave him instead of the one he chose for himself. What is curious is that the same scholars will refer to Hip Hop artist by their ‘aliases’ all of the time in their writings, hardly ever mentioning an artist’s ‘birth name’. If they do mention it it is only in passing. The same writers whom reference the Nation of Islam under Elijah Muhammad continue to use Elijah Muhammad, a name GIVEN to him by Master Fard Muhammad. They don’t refer to him by Elijah ‘Poole’. Yet when it comes to Allah they resort not even to his birth name, they reference Clarence 13X. As I said, everyone wants to consciously and unconsciously connect him to the mosque (the same is done with Malcolm X whom is hardly referred to by the name that he chose for himself, El Haji Malik El Shabazz). They are implying that Allah’s revelation that he was the Supreme Being was not unique and that the Nation of Islam under Elijah Muhammad is directly responsible for his insight. As my alike Supreme Scientist states, you might as well just giving praises to institutions then. Don’t praise MLK, praise Moorehouse or the church. Don’t praise Ghandi, praise Hinduism. Shoot, Christians couldn’t praise Jesus, praise Judaism. The Nation of Islam under Elijah Muhammad wasn’t responsible (though Allah came through it). If this was the case then EVERY man coming through there would’ve had the insight. Also, the Nation of Islam under Elijah Muhammad would also be responsible for all that failed in even upholding the basic tenets of civilization.

Scholars whom are writing about Allah need to observe how other Black people have been presented in biographies and respect the subject that they are writing about. As I mentioned in previous blogs, the manner that many write about the nation is just repeating history in terms of how Caucasians wrote about us. The manner is one of ignoring a people’s right for self definition. In doing this the scholar reveals his own prejudices at work.

In the biography of Father Divine, “God, Harlem USA”, he is referred to by his birth name only in the opening chapters in for historical purposes. Throughout the rest of the book he is referred to by the name that he chose for himself. The same is true for biographies of Elijah Muhammad, Daddy Grace, etc. A scientific method and proper scholarship demands that one do so.
‘Unbiased’ scholars are revealing that they are extracting their own religious frame work and placing it over a piece of scholarly work. They are ‘afraid’ of ‘shirk’ or ‘blasphemy’. In doing so they are presenting an inaccurate view. The portion of Allah’s life that they are interested in is when he declared himself as Allah to the youth of Harlem (in fact they wouldn’t be writing about him at all if not for this portion). He did not declare himself as ‘Clarence 13X’ to the youth. The profound nature of his declaration can only be Understood when he is addressed by the name that he presented to them, Allah, the Supreme Being.