Moorish Orthodox Church of America
Encyclopedia
The Moorish Orthodox Church of America is a syncretic
religious body espousing an ostensibly Eastern Christian
liturgical and devotional tradition laid over a theology consisting of teachings gleaned from Ismaili
Islam
, Sufism
(particularly from the Chishti, Bektashi
and Oveyssi traditions), Tantra
(of both the Buddhist and Hindu
variations) and Vedanta
teachings. An outgrowth of the Moorish Science Temple of America
, an African American body of heretical Muslims founded in the early 20th century by Timothy Drew (the Prophet Noble Drew Ali), the Moorish Orthodox Church was founded in 1964 by Beatnik
s and members of the Noble Order of Moorish Sufis (a group that grew out of Temple #13 in Baltimore on July 7, 1957). The MOC published a journal entitled the Moorish Science Monitor from 1965-1967. After a long period of quiescence the Church experienced a renaissance in the mid-'80s owing to the involvement of former members of the beat
/beatnik
movement, the countercultural hippie
community and the gay liberation
movement.
(lineage of authenticity) of the Moorish Orthodox Church in America can be traced through Rofelt Pasha, John G. Jones, Marcus Garvey
, Noble Drew Ali, Brother Prophet John Givens El, Timothy Dingle El, Sultan Rafi Sharif Bey
Shah, Rachel Yaqoubi El, Walid al-Taha (aka Warren Tartaglia
), Hakim Bey, and Sotemohk A. Beeyayelel. Rofelt Pasha is the reputed founder of the Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AEAONMS), an African-American version of the Shriners
that grew out of Prince Hall Freemasonry
.
The Moorish Orthodox Church and the Noble Order of Moorish Sufis also trace their linage to the Chishti Order
. All the Sufi paths purportedly trace back to Muhammad
through Ali
, his nephew and son-in-law, as the Gate to the City of Knowledge. The American and European tracings are Masonic and from traditional Islam spread covertly throughout the United States through slavery and migration during and after slavery; an outstanding example of evidence of the former is set out in the Bilali Document
. In the places that this is mentioned it can be read as Drew Ali being the Son of Allah, Drew being a Messenger of Allah, or with a bit of a stretch, as spreading the message of Alī. The Shriners and the Knights Templar
supposedly trace their linage to the Bektashi
. By default, the Moors would also if part of their spiritual path came from the Shriners.
numbering among them the gay activist Archbishop of San Francisco, Metropolitan-Archbishop Mikhail Itkin (today canonized a saint of Moorish Orthodoxy with the appellation Saint Mikhail of California).
In the late 1990s, the Moorish Orthodox Church's Diocese of New Jersey, under the leadership of Bishop Sotemohk A. Beeyayelel, established its primatial see in the abandoned southern village of Ong's Hat, New Jersey
(today known as Pemberton, New Jersey
; its administration is centered in Montclair, New Jersey
) and returned to at least a veneer of conventional Orthodox Christianity, though retaining its distinctive liturgical and devotional life and maintaining a special mission of outreach to the marginalized, particularly the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered communities. Bishop Sotemohk has been particularly receptive to the influences of the Bektashi and Oveyssi sufi orders as well as the Queer Spirit and Radical Faerie movements and has sought to promote the church's activity in the areas of educational and social reform.
In August 2010, the Moorish Orthodox Diocese of New Jersey became the primatial see of the Church in North and South America and transferred its chancery to Berea, Kentucky, thereafter to be known Moorish Orthodox Jurisdiction of North and South America and Bishop Sotemohk was invested as Primate under the name Mar Sotemohk Lingamananda I. The functions of the denomination's educational facilities, Alamut College and its graduate school (the Hakim Bey Theological College) are planned to be transferred to Church facilities in Kentucky and Florida.
Recently, the Church has become active in domestic and foreign missionary pursuits, and has established missions in Elmwood, MA; Wilmore, KY; Sebago Lake, ME; Asbury Park, NJ; and Sioux Falls, SD (USA), Kokstad, South Africa; Bata, Equatorial Guinea; Malabo, Equatorial Guinea; Occusi-Ambeno, East Timor; Prague, Czech Republic and Nieuw Nickerie and Benzdorp, Surinam.
Syncretism
Syncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...
religious body espousing an ostensibly Eastern Christian
Eastern Christianity
Eastern Christianity comprises the Christian traditions and churches that developed in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Northeastern Africa, India and parts of the Far East over several centuries of religious antiquity. The term is generally used in Western Christianity to...
liturgical and devotional tradition laid over a theology consisting of teachings gleaned from Ismaili
Ismaili
' is a branch of Shia Islam. It is the second largest branch of Shia Islam, after the Twelvers...
Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, Sufism
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
(particularly from the Chishti, Bektashi
Bektashi
Bektashi Order or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi order founded in the 13th century by the Persian saint Haji Bektash Veli. In addition to the spiritual teachings of Haji Bektash Veli the order was significantly influenced during its formative period by both the Hurufis as well as the...
and Oveyssi traditions), Tantra
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
(of both the Buddhist and Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
variations) and Vedanta
Vedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
teachings. An outgrowth of the Moorish Science Temple of America
Moorish Science Temple of America
The Moorish Science Temple of America is an American organization founded in the early 20th century by Timothy Drew. He claimed it was a sect of Islam but he also drew inspiration from Buddhism, Christianity, Freemasonry, Gnosticism and Taoism....
, an African American body of heretical Muslims founded in the early 20th century by Timothy Drew (the Prophet Noble Drew Ali), the Moorish Orthodox Church was founded in 1964 by Beatnik
Beatnik
Beatnik was a media stereotype of the 1950s and early 1960s that displayed the more superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s and violent film images, along with a cartoonish depiction of the real-life people and the spiritual quest in Jack Kerouac's autobiographical...
s and members of the Noble Order of Moorish Sufis (a group that grew out of Temple #13 in Baltimore on July 7, 1957). The MOC published a journal entitled the Moorish Science Monitor from 1965-1967. After a long period of quiescence the Church experienced a renaissance in the mid-'80s owing to the involvement of former members of the beat
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
/beatnik
Beatnik
Beatnik was a media stereotype of the 1950s and early 1960s that displayed the more superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s and violent film images, along with a cartoonish depiction of the real-life people and the spiritual quest in Jack Kerouac's autobiographical...
movement, the countercultural hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
community and the gay liberation
Gay Liberation
Gay liberation is the name used to describe the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement of the late 1960s and early to mid 1970s in North America, Western Europe, and Australia and New Zealand...
movement.
Lineage of authenticity
The silsilahSilsilah
Silsila is an Arabic word meaning chain, often used in various senses of lineage. In particular, it may be translated as " order" or "genealogy". It is derived from the notion of apostolic succession.- Historical importance :...
(lineage of authenticity) of the Moorish Orthodox Church in America can be traced through Rofelt Pasha, John G. Jones, Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH was a Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League...
, Noble Drew Ali, Brother Prophet John Givens El, Timothy Dingle El, Sultan Rafi Sharif Bey
Sultan Rafi Sharif Bey
Rafi Yahya Abdullah Sharif-Bey was a pioneer in the development of Islamic culture in the United States. He was a co-founder of the Sufi group The Noble Order of Moorish Sufis, the head Mufti of Moorish Science Temple #13 in Baltimore, and involved in the Ahmadiyyah movement.-Biography:Born Yale...
Shah, Rachel Yaqoubi El, Walid al-Taha (aka Warren Tartaglia
Warren Tartaglia (Walid al-Taha)
Warren Tartaglia was a Jazz musician, poet and one of the six founders of the Moorish Orthodox Church of America....
), Hakim Bey, and Sotemohk A. Beeyayelel. Rofelt Pasha is the reputed founder of the Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AEAONMS), an African-American version of the Shriners
Shriners
The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, also commonly known as Shriners and abbreviated A.A.O.N.M.S., established in 1870, is an appendant body to Freemasonry, based in the United States...
that grew out of Prince Hall Freemasonry
Prince Hall Freemasonry
Prince Hall Freemasonry derives from historical events which led to a tradition of separate predominantly African-American Freemasonry in North America...
.
The Moorish Orthodox Church and the Noble Order of Moorish Sufis also trace their linage to the Chishti Order
Chishti Order
The Chishtī Order is a Sufi order within the mystic branches of Islam which was founded in Chisht, a small town near Herat, Afghanistan about 930 CE. The Chishti Order is known for its emphasis on love, tolerance, and openness. The doctrine of the Chishti Order is based on walāya, which is a...
. All the Sufi paths purportedly trace back to Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
through Ali
Ali
' |Ramaḍān]], 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661).His father's name was Abu Talib. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam...
, his nephew and son-in-law, as the Gate to the City of Knowledge. The American and European tracings are Masonic and from traditional Islam spread covertly throughout the United States through slavery and migration during and after slavery; an outstanding example of evidence of the former is set out in the Bilali Document
Bilali Document
The Bilali Muhammad Document is a handwritten, Arabic manuscript on West African Islamic law. It was written by Bilali Mohammet in the nineteenth century. The document is currently housed in the library at the University of Georgia.-History:...
. In the places that this is mentioned it can be read as Drew Ali being the Son of Allah, Drew being a Messenger of Allah, or with a bit of a stretch, as spreading the message of Alī. The Shriners and the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
supposedly trace their linage to the Bektashi
Bektashi
Bektashi Order or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi order founded in the 13th century by the Persian saint Haji Bektash Veli. In addition to the spiritual teachings of Haji Bektash Veli the order was significantly influenced during its formative period by both the Hurufis as well as the...
. By default, the Moors would also if part of their spiritual path came from the Shriners.
Influences
Moorish Orthodoxy in its present incarnation was influenced in a Christian direction by a number of episcopi vagantesEpiscopi vagantes
Episcopi vagantes are persons who have been consecrated as Christian bishops outside the structures and canon law of the established churches, and who are not in communion with any generally recognized diocese...
numbering among them the gay activist Archbishop of San Francisco, Metropolitan-Archbishop Mikhail Itkin (today canonized a saint of Moorish Orthodoxy with the appellation Saint Mikhail of California).
In the late 1990s, the Moorish Orthodox Church's Diocese of New Jersey, under the leadership of Bishop Sotemohk A. Beeyayelel, established its primatial see in the abandoned southern village of Ong's Hat, New Jersey
Ong's Hat, New Jersey
Ong's Hat, New Jersey, is a location of what has been called a ghost town in Southampton Township, Burlington County, New Jersey. It is located on New Jersey Route 72 west of its intersection with New Jersey Route 70....
(today known as Pemberton, New Jersey
Pemberton, New Jersey
Pemberton, formerly New Mills, is a Borough in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 1,210....
; its administration is centered in Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 38,977 people, 15,020 households, and 9,687 families residing in the township. The population density was 6,183.6 people per square mile . There were 15,531 housing units at an average density of 2,464.0 per square mile...
) and returned to at least a veneer of conventional Orthodox Christianity, though retaining its distinctive liturgical and devotional life and maintaining a special mission of outreach to the marginalized, particularly the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered communities. Bishop Sotemohk has been particularly receptive to the influences of the Bektashi and Oveyssi sufi orders as well as the Queer Spirit and Radical Faerie movements and has sought to promote the church's activity in the areas of educational and social reform.
In August 2010, the Moorish Orthodox Diocese of New Jersey became the primatial see of the Church in North and South America and transferred its chancery to Berea, Kentucky, thereafter to be known Moorish Orthodox Jurisdiction of North and South America and Bishop Sotemohk was invested as Primate under the name Mar Sotemohk Lingamananda I. The functions of the denomination's educational facilities, Alamut College and its graduate school (the Hakim Bey Theological College) are planned to be transferred to Church facilities in Kentucky and Florida.
Recently, the Church has become active in domestic and foreign missionary pursuits, and has established missions in Elmwood, MA; Wilmore, KY; Sebago Lake, ME; Asbury Park, NJ; and Sioux Falls, SD (USA), Kokstad, South Africa; Bata, Equatorial Guinea; Malabo, Equatorial Guinea; Occusi-Ambeno, East Timor; Prague, Czech Republic and Nieuw Nickerie and Benzdorp, Surinam.