Earl Abdulmalik Mohammed Speaks

QUESTION: It is well known that the covering of the head is a practice observed by many religious communities. Muslim women, in particular, are known to cover their hair with what is commonly called 'hijaab' or 'khimaar' and is seen principally as a measure to maintain and protect women's modesty. Certain head coverings worn by Muslim males are readily identifiable; kufis, fezzes, and turbans. Some are merely termed 'prayer caps.' Can you shed light on the significance and importance covering the head is for Muslims? 

IMAM EARL ABDULMALIK MOHAMMED: This is a very important question for us to ponder as a Muslim community in America. Just by observation, not any special insights, we can see that all communities of Muslims have pondered this question. If they had not thought deeply about it there would not be the variety of head coverings that we observe in the many groups of Muslims all over the world and in America. There is a uniformity and there is also a diversity in the many expressions of headwear for Muslims.

The uniformity is in the obedience to Allah. The diversity is in the emphasis and public commitment within that obedience. The uniformity is moral obligation. The diversity is intelligent choice. The uniformity is nature. The diversity is intellect. As all others who have al-Islam as their religion, we have been taught to think on these matters with great care. We should be thoughtful and regardful. This is what Islam wants for us. In other words, our understanding of this matter should also reflect the uniformity and the diversity, the obedience and intelligent choice, the nature and intellect.

What is placed on the head is an important matter for any intelligent People. Modesty, as you have pointed out, is a central consideration for Muslims. Modesty is an expression of intelligence. It is an expression of values. For Muslims, it is also an expression of Faith. This is what is highest in our priorities as Muslims -guarding our devotion of Faith, and our acts of Faith. And our G'd, our Lord, wants for us to appreciate that our Faith is an intelligent faith -a faith appealing to our intelligence in a more substantial way than just shallow sentiments. Not that the sentimental nature should not be respected. Just that it should be respected intelligently.

Islamic teaching is that our devotions respect our natural, human intelligence. Allah wants that this be displayed before all of the communities of humans -that the Muslims place Faith above all else and it is a faith that satisfies our intelligence, or our common-senses, and guides our sentimtents. This is the message that Islamic society is sending to the world populations. Important and careful attention is given to what we place on our heads. Our head is very precious. It is not just a matter of 'stylishness' or fads -even what is 'politically' correct. This is a serious discussion. I am not treating this as an insignificant matter. It would be a shame for us to not recognize that the diversity in what Muslim societies choose to place on their heads was not the result of deep thought and serious considerations.

So, then what are the important criteria? We do not value political stability over Faith. We do not value economic progress over Faith. We do not value a military might over Faith. We do not value even our sacred cultural interests over our Faith. We do not favor national pride over the requirements and disciplines of Faith. All of these and more have been on the minds of those who came to conclusions about what Islam requires of us and how we express that. This is a leadership concern. And so what is in the heads of leadership is reflected in what is on the heads of leaders.

Our Faith must be Truth in this expression. Islam is Truth in worship and the habits and dictates of worship. It is built upon pillars of universal logic. Faith cannot be falsehood or mistakes or errors. If there are errors, then this is not truth Faith. Some of us place error and falsehood on our heads and come before the People with that error. An African-American Muslim wearing the Pakistani 'Jinnah' cap is error, unless he has thought about Mohammed Ali Jinnah and is expressing that he is accepting what the 'founder' of Pakistan was saying by wearing that head covering. But most of them do not know that the cap they have on their head is from the political movement of Mohammed Ali Jinnah to establish a Muslim land separate from India.

So, I cannot "shed light" on this question, as you have asked me. I can only point to the Guidance. And Allah says that "He guides by His Light whom He wills." I am pointing to where the Light shines that Guides us. For a conscientious Muslim it will be found that it is a statement of ignorance, a statement of stupidity, to say that "I possess knowledge, or we have knowledge." I am speaking of the religious leadership now. I am an Imam in the following of the Imam of all correctly-guided Imams -Muhammed the Prophet. Muhammed the Prophet is the Imam of the Imams. I am an Imam in the following of an enlightened one, the Imam of al-Islam, W. Deen Mohammed. So, what I am placing on my head must follow in the intelligent values demonstrated by this understanding in leadership.

If I am putting on my head a representation of Islamic life that I have not thought about or do not understand or do not respect, then I am an ignorant person in religion. I am not living as an intelligent person in religion. And this is not what Islam advocates. This principle applies to men and women with the same emphasis on intelligence, sincerity, and clarity. The 'hijab' and the 'khimaar' that you have mentioned represent intelligent disciplines. These are categories of knowledge and refer to how to treat and respect that knowledge. They are preserved in the habits and choices of the female urge in society. Hijab is to use knowledge as a shield, and khimaar is to use knowledge as a filter. The female urge means that they both function as a womb of influence from which leadership that values mother-wit teaching is born, nurtured, and developed leading to the development of whole societies. 

What we place on the head is a statement of our leadership, and what we want preserved in that leadership. The Qur'an says that the head and body coverings or garments are to "guard..." Guard what? To guard that which a People hold to be their most important values. And who is to promote your most important values? Your leadership promotes it and guards it. This is why Imam W. Deen Mohammed suggested to certain ones that there would be no leader. Oh, and they are so proud to repeat what he told them. He knew they would be. He gave that suggestion to the peacocks among us.

They still do not realize that he was marking them with a big, red 'X', for all to see. He was marking them that we should NEVER accept that type as leader over us. He NEVER said anything close to that to the People. In fact he said repeatedly, year after year, to be prepared to support the next leader. He only privately suggested to certain ones something other than this, knowing that they would carry that message into public view. It is because what they had in their heads and on their heads was not anything to be valued. He knew that the next leader would have the knowledge to read his wise message, because he taught the next leader. He knew in time that the People would see it, too.  

When the People see me in the public for the first time as leader, they will see on my head that which displays and respects our true Islamic faith and community values. It will not be an imitation of what other groups have. Not that what they have is incorrect. It is correct for them as Peoples in Islam, but may not be correct for us. I belong to a special tradition of leadership. The Honorable Elijah Mohammed had something very special on his head and in his head. Imam W. Deen Mohammed had something very special on his head and in his head. Leaders who value their People display on their heads what is intended to be a public statement of their leadership commitments, and the special way their People as a People interpret their Islamic identity.

The head covering Prophet Muhammed wore, the prayers and the peace be on him, he referred to as 'amaamah.' He didn't wear the 'kifeyyah' that many of the Arabs wear today. What is 'amaamah? It is a reference to respecting the needs of the common people, and it is a reference to that which is universal in application. This is what the Prophet valued and what he wanted valued for the leaders in Islam. The Muslim leader, if he is following Prophet Muhammed's leadership as he should, should not be emphasizing his cultural identity above his human identity. However, his cultural identity and what he values because of Islam should be seen clearly. This teaching of Faith elevates the worth of the natural human being to a universal status. It cancels the notion that the beauty of human worth is the exclusive property of any one group. It is those universal principles which serve the establishment of all peoples. 

The Qur'an says "They ask you about the mountains..." Peoples have carved heads out of rock and made statues to honor their heroes. Some have even carved the mountain and placed their head in the mountain. And Allah says that the mountain will be made a level stretch. The head in the mountain must serve the common life in the valley. The head will not survive in a mountain form. The head remains established only if it serves the wholesome, common life. Our late leaders had this understanding and they wanted it to be inherited by those that understood what it meant for the establishment of our People. Anyone who studies them will see it very clearly.  

I know I probably came at this question in a way that you and others didn't expect. Understanding the value of what our religion places in focus for us as we have been taught in our Tradition, and my thoughtful commitment to it, is what distinguishes me from others. You will find that I do not think like resident Imam So and So, or Shaykh So and So. It is because they were not my teachers. And so my head covering will follow in our Tradition, and this will be a reflection of what leadership is for us as long as I am alive, as Allah wills. My head covering will look different from Imam So and So and Shaykh So and So. That means that some may be exposed for what they have on their heads (and in their heads) that explains the confusion they are under.