As part of its two-day “Islam in America” symposium, the religion department hosted a leader in the African-American Islamic community, Imam [an Islamic spiritual leader] Warith Deen Mohammed. While the symposium was considered a success, Mohammed made some controversial comments about the Catholic Pope.
     The comments in question were in response to a question referring to a letter addressed to Pope Benedict by a coalition of Muslim leaders encouraging interfaith dialogue between Catholics and Muslims. The letter cited the numerous similarities between the two faiths. Mohammed      said the Pope was already very familiar with the Islamic community, and talking to him is a “waste of time.”
Thomas Simpson, Assistant Professor of Religion, said that Mohammed’s remarks should not be interpreted as offensive. He feels “what’s clear is that Imam Mohammed is not a bigot.” According to Simpson, the comments were made because the Mohammed “is elderly and hard of hearing, and it is clear he did not hear the full question.”
     The event publications refer to Mohammed as “arguably the most influential figure in the history of Islam in the United States.” Born Wallace D. Muhammad, he changed his name as part of a campaign to return to more traditional Sunni Islam. His father, Elijah Muhammad, was his predecessor as leader of the Nation of Islam, an Islamic organization closely tied with the Black Nationalist movement of the Civil Rights era.
     Mohammed separated from the Nation of Islam—and consequently his father. He had an understanding with the founder of the NOI, W.D. Fard Muhammad. Fard was not only the founder of the NOI but a mentor to his father. Others believed Fard to be God in the flesh, something Fard never directly claimed. Mohammed was excommunicated until the death of the famous Malcolm X, a friend and fellow member of the Nation of Islam. At this time, Muhammad’s father insisted his son admit his wrong in order to be accepted back into the NOI. In front of a congregation, Mohammed avoided admitting wrong, and instead said, “No one is to challenge the honorable Elijah Muhammad.”
     After his father’s death, Mohammed became the leader of the NOI, and passed numerous reforms to integrate it with traditional Sunni Islam and welcome white people—previously branded as evil.
     Chair of the Religion department Dan Schowalter, believed the Imam’s comments in the A.F. Siebert Chapel last Tuesday referred to the futility of converting the Pope, something the Prophet Muhammad never attempted.
     Mohammed followed up his comments by pointing out that the Pope has made his decision regarding interfaith dialogues, and said, “I wouldn’t waste [the Pope’s] time or mine.” Simpson said this referred to Pope Benedict’s “lack of interest” in interfaith dialogue when compared to his predecessor, Pope John Paul II.
     Mohammed did, however, close by paraphrasing a passage of the Qur`an in which the Prophet Muhammad viewed Paradise. In Paradise, the Prophet saw not only Muslims that followed himself, but Jews that followed Moses and Christians that followed Jesus.
     Today, Mohammed leads The Mosque Cares, a Muslim community “which proclaims in word and deed the universal message of Al-Islam that there is but One God and one human family…We will cultivate the patterned growth of human excellence and good character through building valuable relationships with all God conscious people.”