I've have been a member of the Moorish Science Temple of America since bith, January 2, 1979 and a follower of the Prophet Noble Drew Ali, founder and Prophet Noble Drew Ali Reincarnated. My question is, is the Moorish Orthodox followers of the Prophet? If so, were do you hold your meetings? Who is the teacher or Grand Shiek?

-- Lamaas Elisha Bey (bey001@harpo.tnstate.edu), January 28, 1999

Answers

Love, Truth, Peace, Freedom, Justice. Beauty.

My fellow Asiatic,

As-Salaam Aliekum.

In answer to your query, there is no set Moorish "orthodoxy" per se. In the HMOCA I have found a bewildering variety of esotericists. For instance there exists various chivalric orders with the Church that are geared towards the more mystical aspects of the "Big Three" Monotheistic Faiths: The Fatimid Order for Islam, the Order of Jerusalem for Judaism, and the Order of the Paraclete for Chrisitians. There is even hinted that a Taoist study cell exists. who knows for sure? Every Brother or Sister has there own path and must follow it regardless of where it may lead. To answer your question more pointedly within the feeble framework of what I know: Does the MOC follow the Prophet? The answer would have to be: Some do. Some follow the song of the Hidden Imam enthroned atop Mt. Qaf in the alam-imithal. Some follow Noble Drew Ali proper. Some follow the Wu-Wei path of Lao-Tzu and al-Khezr (as-Salaam Aliekum). Those of us who are in it for the long haul are rewarded in their istikhara. Those who are here for a party are rewarded as well.

As far as Teachers go. who "isn't" a pamong, teacher, Figment of one's emancipation? It was Noble Drew Ali (alaa-dhriki salaam) who said: "You are, each one, a priest, just for yourself." Application of ta'wil on that hadith alone provides much of the MOC Baraka!

And as far as meetings go ... there is no place in all of the worlds we do not meet.

As-Aliekum Salaam

-- Mustafa al-Laylah Bey, Revesian Exilarch (mustafa_laylah@hotmail.com), February 01, 1999.

i must concurr with the brother mustafa. moorish orthodoxy is a living, wandering, tendrilis faith. as for the study or following of the Noble Prophet, such was not, it seems, generally practiced in the MOCA for some time. but i feel that there are a growing number of people, both within and without of the church, who are again studying and following the teachings and the examples of the Noble Prophet. the Holy Koran of the Moorish Science Temple is coming back into a more general circulation again and there are many people and groups that are working to further disseminate the scriptures. after somewhat of a quiescent period, the Moorish world-- overall, not just MST or MOCA, but other groups, too-- is reviving and is beginning to remember itself. as for MOCA, the history and catechism is (pretty widely) available, one site being http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/5705/circle7-moca-cat.html

and there are a hundred others around, due to its rumored author. this describes, to some extent, beliefs of some moorish orthodoxists. but we are a wild and varied bunch. meetings take place here and there from time to time, some places more than others. the seattle temple has been regularly, if not hyper-frequently, active. baltimore and chicago are also active areas, to some extent. as is new york (city and state). in the past few months, temples have been founded in the southwest, in both tucson and albuquerque. so the community is considerably spread out, but growing. (and enjoying it.) real teachers can be hard to come by, but each person finds his or her own, eh? some rely exclusively on remnants of teachers as found in writings, some have living, accessable masters. as an autocephalic church, "hierarchy" is more a matter of organization than authority. one member of my temple takes as his spiritual master his 3 year old son-- the Hand of Allah is mysterious.

Ma Assalaama, Lamaas Elisha Bey.

Khan

-- osman malik khan (khagan1164@hotmail.com), February 01, 1999.

ISLAM! Yes, reincarnation is something that happens to all of us. We are sparks of energy which cannot be created or destroyed and we emanate from a large ball of energy and we are born and die over and over again. I know this because I can remember bits and pieces of my past lives. I experienced death at age three and revived 20 minutes afterward and I remember everything clearly, just as I can remember the day of this last birth (20 October 1942). My mother, her mother, and I also could see into the future as well as the past. I believe that Prophet Noble Drew Ali was reincarnated. I have written my thesis titled: "Prophet Noble Drew Ali and the Moorish Science Temple of America" (1997 - California State University, Northridge) (Published as Herbert H. Booker 2nd), and I do mention reincarnation. Dr. James Holloway (Ph.D) and I made a handout that is available from the CSUN Bookstore. I've donated all of my copies of both books as I did not need them after writing them. But, I firmly believe we are reincarnated and Prophet Noble Drew Ali was definately reincarnated! PEACE! Raqib Booker-Bey

-- Raqib Booker-Bey (hhbooker2@yahoo.com), January 29, 2003.