Nsala Malongo everyone,
I have been trying to get back into the swing of writing more informative literature on our website. I have been busy with a lot of ceremonial obligations. I will be checking in from time to time so that I can get out more educational information as our religion is getting a resurgence of people seeking answers. One of these nuances in Palo Mayombe now is the supposed Moor Sciences in Palo. For as many times that I will say it there is no such thing as moors who practice palo mayombe. First off the The Moorish Science Temple of America was incorporated under the Illinois Religious Corporation Act 805 ILCS 110. Timothy Drew, calling himself the Prophet Noble Drew Ali, founded the Moorish Science Temple in 1913 in New Jersey. That later became an offshoot of what was to become the Nation of Islam. None worked nkisi they may have studied about it in archeological books but known were priests no.
The true moors who were based in spain and north africa had a different story to tell (excerpt was borrowed from infoplease.com on moors All rights reserved to the website)
Moors
Moors, nomadic people of the northern shores of Africa, originally the inhabitants of Mauretania. They were chiefly of Berber and Arab stock. In the 8th cent. the Moors were converted to Islam and became fanatic Muslims. They spread SW into Africa (see Mauritania) and NW into Spain. Under Tarik ibn Ziyad they crossed to Gibraltar in 711 and easily overran the crumbling Visigothic kingdom of Roderick. They spread beyond the Pyrenees into France, where they were turned back at Tours by Charles Martel (732). In 756, Abd ar-Rahman I established the Umayyad dynasty at Córdoba. This emirate became under Abd ar-Rahman III the caliphate of Córdoba. The court there grew in wealth, splendor, and culture. The regent al-Mansur in the late 10th cent. waged bitter warfare with the Christians of N Spain, where, from the beginning, the Moorish conquest had met with its only opposition. The cities of the south, Toledo, Córdoba, and Seville, speedily became centers of the new culture and were famed for their universities and architectural treasures (see Moorish art and architecture). With the exception of brief periods, there was, however, no strong central government; the power was split up among dissenting local leaders and factions. The caliphate fell in 1031, and the Almoravids in 1086 took over Moorish Spain, which was throughout the whole period closely connected in rule with Morocco. Almoravid control slowly declined and by 1174 was supplanted by the Almohads. These successive waves of invasion had brought into Spain thousands of skilled Moorish artisans and industrious farmers who contributed largely to the intermittent prosperity of the country. They were killed or expelled in large numbers (to the great loss of Spain) in the Christian reconquest, which began with the recovery of Toledo (1085) by Alfonso VI, king of León and Castile. The great Christian victory (1212) of Navas de Tolosa prepared the way for the downfall of the Muslims. Córdoba fell to Ferdinand III of Castile in 1236. The wars went on, and one by one the Moorish strongholds fell, until only Granada remained in their hands. Málaga was taken (1487) after a long siege by the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella, and in 1492 Granada was recovered. Many of the Moors remained in Spain; those who remained faithful to Islam were called Mudejares, while those who accepted Christianity were called Moriscos. They were allowed to stay in Spain but were kept under close surveillance. They were persecuted by Philip II, revolted in 1568, and in the Inquisition were virtually exterminated. In 1609 the remaining Moriscos were expelled. Thus the glory of the Moorish civilization in Spain was gradually extinguished. Its contributions to Western Europe and especially to Spain were almost incalculable—in art and architecture, medicine and science, and learning (especially ancient Greek learning). Moors — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0833942.html#ixzz20122nbwP
With this being said from reliable sources Islam does not allow anyone of their followers to take on another faith. Self proclaimed moors worship Allah. Here is an excerpt on the purity of faith and it goes(borrowed from the website http://convertingtoislam.com All Rights Reserved)
Al-Ikhlas
Oneness of God (The Purity of Faith)
- Say: He is Allah, the One and Only.
- Allah, the Eternal, Absolute.
- He begets not, nor is He begotten.
- And there is none comparable
unto Him.
Malongo has its roots in alchemy but we were based and rooted in tradition and lore at least 1000 years before their was a mention of Jesus Christ in Christianity. 2000 years before the arabs came into existence and helped enslave the Bantu people with the help of the Portuguese and the Spanish. How would someone in this day and age even conceive the notion that Mayombe is rooted in such practices which included acts of barbarism and atrocities to the memory of those who were enslaved. It shows me the lack of disregard and education a lot of these psuedo archeologists who are coming around and trying to piece a puzzle that has no fitting parts. “Except for the plunder of natural resources to the land, contributing to the slaughter of millions lost at sea. Also a total act of erasing and brainwashing to assimilate them into a culture that never belonged to them and was not a part of their written and oral identity. ”
Mayombe has no connection to moor science, laws, doctrines or any other form of Palo Mayombe. When Christopher Columbus set on his voyage which many historians attest to his hebrew lettering in his journals, How convenient that the moors were being taken out of present day spain and went on his voyages to avoid persecution or jail but went on a rape and pillage spree in the Americas and the land which was founded by natives.
Excerpt from The Scourge of Muslim Slavery (All Rights Reserved http://truthandgrace.com)
The Muslim slave trade took place across the Sahara Desert, from the coast of the Red Sea, and from East Africa across the Indian Ocean. The Trans-sahara trade was conducted along six major slave routes. Just in the 19th Century, for which we have more accurate records, 1.2 million slaves were brought across the Sahara into the Middle East, 450,000 down the Red Sea and 442,000 from East African coastal ports. That is a total of 2 million black slaves – just in the 1800′s. At least 8 million more were calculated to have died before reaching the Muslim slave markets.
Islam’s Black Slaves records: “In the 1570′s, a Frenchman visiting Egypt found many thousands of blacks on sale in Cairo on market days. In 1665 Father Antonios Gonzalis, a Spanish/Belgian traveler, reported 800 – 1,000 slaves on sale in the Cairo market on a single day. In 1796, a British traveler reported a caravan of 5,000 slaves departing from Darfur. In 1838, it was estimated that 10,000 to 12,000 slaves were arriving in Cairo each year.” Just in the Arabic plantations off the East Coast of Africa, on the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, there were 769,000 black slaves.
“The death toll from 14 centuries of the Muslim slave trade in Africa is estimated at over 112 million.”
Next time you want to know about Palo Mayombe and Bantu teachings please do not sell into this fallacy that mayombe is part of a moor science. It is actually disrespectful to both cultures. Nsambia to all.
Tata Musitu