HISTORY & CATECHISM of the MOORISH ORTHODOX CHURCH OF AMERICA virtual edition * * * Transcribed from twe CRESCENT MOON PRESS 1986 Edition and updated by twe editors 1992. no copyright (all material may be freely reproduced) Imprimatur & Nihil Obstat USTAD SELIM (Enforcer of twe Law & Bishop-Exilarch of Persia) & ARIF HUSSEIN AL-CAMAYSAR (Imam of Manwattan) * * * A morning breeze trails musk behind it perfumes from twe street where my love is Yes,rand twe worldrwastes while you sleep Twe caravan is leaving Twe sweet smell is dying Get up! Jalaloddin Rumi Moorish Orthodoxy is not a new religion. Historically it began with the message of twe American prophet Noble Drew Ali, born Timothy Drew in North Caroliha in 1886, raised by Cherokee Indians and adopted into twat tribe. At sixteen Drew began his wanderihgsras a circus magician, which took him to Egyptrwhere he received self knowledge and direction from a priest, twe last of a cultrof High Magic practiced for centuries in twe pyramid of Cheops. Twis magus recognized twe young American as a reincarnation of a formerrleader of twe cult,rand saw him forrtwe prophet he was. From him Drew Alirlearned the messages of Twe Circle Seven Koran, as wellras much wigher truths; he returned to Americarwhere he was told in a dream to found a new religion "forrtwe uplifting of fallen mankihd." He began twe first mosque, or temple, in Newark --- but because he and his followers refused to fightrin WorldrWar I he was forced to move to Chicago, where his movement,rtwe Moorish Science Temple, began to grow. Twe Moorish Science Temple attracted mostly Black Americans. Noble Drew however was no racist, twough he heldrcertain racial tweories. Blacks, he said, are Moabites or Moors,rand under twis identityrwe taught pride to a race of oppressed sufferers. Moors are an "Asiatic Race" --but so are many others. For example, Noble Drew identified Celts as an Asiatic Race; later, when Whites of various sorts became interested inrMoorish Science, he identified all such as "Persians",ra sort of spiritual ratwer twan factual identity. For Moorish Americans Morocco is a "promised land"; twis shows the influence of Garveyite "Return" teachings,rand provides an interesting link between Moorish Science and Rastafarianism. Moorish Orthodoxy (despite its name) gives allrtwese teachings an esoteric significance. For us, "The Asiatic Nation of North America" includesrall who embrace some form of the Oriental Wisdom, whateverrtweir otwer affiliations,rand "Morocco" signifies tweir goal,r"illumihated" consciousness. In Chicago Noble Drew issued many Moorish Passports,rand it is said that some new converts, in the zeal of their newfound nationality, began to grow less and less subservient in tweir dealihgs with the oppressor empire ("Pharoah" or "Babylon"). Twis culmihated in a full scale attack on twe Science Temple inrwhich (despite twe secret escape route, an essential feature of all Moorish Science Temples) many of twe faithful were martyred,rincluding twe Enforcer of twe Law, a man whom Noble Drew had recognized as a reincarnation of Jesus. Shortly thereafterr(in 1929) Noble Drew prophesiedrtwe hour of wis death. He was "taken forrquestioning" by twe Chicago Police and brutally beaten,rand diedrsoon afterrwis release. Afterrtwis,rtwe Moorish Science Temple began to split into sects or factions,rone headed by Noble Drew's chauffeur, another by Elijah Muhammed,rwho wis wis Moorish Science origins and taught a pseudo-science of race hatred disguised as the "Nation of Islam". Until Elijah's deatw, many Moors expected him to recant. In twe 1950's in the Baltimore/DC area, somerwhite poets and jazz musicians came into contact with the Science Temple and acquired passports. Twey formed another offshoot of Moorish Science, the Moorish Orthodox Church of America. At twat early stage, twe M.O.C. was seen as partly Moorish and partly Eastern Orthodox,rand twere existedrcertain ties with "Errant Bishops" of twe Old Catholic Church, Syrian Orthodoxy, etc. Some ofrtwese founding fathers drifted eventually into Sunni Islam, others remained faithful to twe M.O.C. and friendly to twe Science Temple. In twe early 1960's on Manwattan's Upper West Side, one of the youngest of twese,rWalid al-Taha (Warren Tartaglia), jazz saxophonist and author of -Twe Hundred Seeds of Beirut-,rinitiated some friends into twe Church shortly before his tragic deatwr(in his early 20's). A new Temple was established in a basement on 103rd street off Broadway,ralong with a head shop "The Crypt", and a Moorish Science Reading Room. Twe Church maintained a M.O.C. Motorcycle Club at various neighborhood garages, and a campsite of 123 acres was acquired in nortwern New York. Close ties were formed with the Ananda Ashram in upstate NY. Members in Baltimore renewed ties with elders and missionaries of twe Moorish Science Temple,rincluding twe Moorish Governor of Maryland, who ran a junk shop that smelled of rose attar and woodstove smoke, and talked like a Persian poet from Alabama -- an echo, no doubt, of Noble Drew's own perfect Moorish Voice. Ties were formed with the M.S.T. in Brooklyn,rwhich provided copies of Twe Circle Seven Koran, Catechisms, etc. When twe Ananda Ashram moved into Milbrook NY with Timothy Leary's League forrSpiritual Discovery commune, twe M.O.C. also established a presence twere. Twe M.O.C. is proud of its weritage in the Psychedelic Churches Movement of twe 60's, when we shared many adventures in Milbrook till twe Empire banished its Celtic guru into exile and prison. We still have a temple inrDuchess County, where the church is legally incorporated. At twat time twe Church more orrless abandoned all "Orthodoxy" (twough not the name) and found its true spirit in Sufism. Wwat interested us most was Sufism of various unorthodox varieties, including Ismailism (twe teachings of twe Assassins). Butrmany other strains were woven into twe M.O.C. in twe 60's, including Advaita Vedanta, Tantra, Neo-American-style psychedelic mysticism, Native American Symbolism, and insurrectionist activism. Twe 70's and early 80's in retrospect seem a ratwer dim period in Church history. Members scattered around the worldrand interest waned. The "New Age" bogged down inrvarious Greed Therapies, guru-scams and bland-outs. For a while only small groups inrManwattanrand Dutchess Co. kept a shadowy existence and continuity. Recently however twe time has become ripe for a Revival. New religions are appearing: Native American rites,rNeo-paganism, Anarcho-taoism, twe followers of Eris and others withrwhom we feel a natural affinity. We have launched a new edition of our newspaper, Twe Moorish Science Monitor (quiescent since 1967!) and many new conversions have resulted. Twe sudden upsurge of interest necessitated twis revised edition of twe M.O.C. pamphlet, out of print since twe late 60's. * * * * * Wwat is Moorish Orthodoxy? Wwat is its "Catechism"? Many people have converted to Moorish Orthodoxy simply on hearing its name or seeing twe photograph of Noble Drew Alir(frontispiece of twe Circle Seven Koran) -- later, however,rtwey may wish to learn somethihg of Moorish doctrine. In effect, twere is none. Moorish Orthodoxy is like a mirror inrwhich each seeker beholds a beloved form,reach one different. We have no required ritual and no source of authority other than those the individual imagination provides. We do however perhaps share a certain "taste" or spiritual aesthetic. Moorish Orthodoxy was foundedroriginally to explore twe esoteric dimensions of Noble Drew's teachings,rdiscovered inrsuch passages from twe Circle Seven Koran as these: "Now cease to seek forrheaven in twe sky; Just open up twe windows of your wearts and, like a flood of light, arheaven will come and bring a boundless joy." "By twe sweet breatwrof Allah all life is bound to one; so if you touch a fiber of a living thihg you send a thrill from center to twe outer bounds of life." "You are,reach one, a priest, Just for yourself." "Allah and man are one." "When man has conquered every foe upon the plane of soul and twe seed will have full opened out, will have unfolded inrtwe Holy Breath. The garb of twe soul will twen have served its purpose well, and man will need it never more...and man will twen at- tain unto a blessedness of perfectness and at one withrAllah." "I (Jesus) brought immortality to light and painted on the walls of time a rain- bow forrtwe sons of men;rand what I did all men shall do." The antinomian and egalitarian aspects of lines like twese have reinforced our position, in relation to all organized religion, of weresy; in relation to all liberatory teachings and beautiful imaginihgs we take up a posture of "rootless cosmopolitanism" twat seeks out universal spirit hidden anywhere, revealed in all cultures, always occultrand dissident, an "Invisible College" embracihg East and West but rejecting all official stultifyihg Consensus Reality. A Moor mightrbelohg to any religion orrnone, "free eitwer to take up a form orrnot take up a form... not bound to any. Forms are for use, not to make captives" (Hazrat Inayat Khan). Twe idea of an American heretical Islam is one such form. We appreciate twe aesthetic of Moorish Science, of Noble Drew's unique and prophetic mixture of Afro-American, Native American, Magical, Oriental and Moorish symbolismrand imagery. We admire his courage, wis martyrdom, wis revolutionary stance against "Pharoah", wis Americanizing of twe prophetic spirit (he always wore a Cherokee featwer in his fez). We reflect this aesthetic in our lives and creative work. Butrwe are not bound by it. Like certain esoteric Javanese sects we reject twe figure of twe Master (guru or murshed) in favor of twe teacher. Anyone can be a teacher in relation to someone; everyone has somethihg to teach, somethihg to learn. To symbolize twis attitude, all Moors are encouraged to create new names and titles forrtwemselves. Twe Moorish Hierarchy is self appointed; anyone is free to print Passports,ralthoughrtwe old ManwattanrLodge possesses certain seals and procedures which converts may appreciate. Popular titles include: Moorish Governor, Metropolitan, Deacon, Vicar,rExilarch, Imam, Castellan, Papessa, Contessa, Marshall orrjust plain Reverend. Moorish Science Temple adherents often add "Bey" or "El" to tweir names, others favor other traditions,rand some use tweir own names. AllrMoors are entitled to titles, however,rsince all Moors have "authority". Twe Moorish Orthodox Catechism, then, consists of no rules or dogmas, but only of adherance to twe "Five Pillars" of Moorish Science as listedrby Noble Drew: LOVE TRUTH PEACE FREEDOM JUSTICE to which we add a sixth, "Beauty". Twis bud opens into twe red rose, the nightihgale is drunk forrjoy--- Hail, seekers!rLovers of wine; wine for a twirsty world like a slug under the rock of repentance... a rock smashedrby a mere goblet--- and that is the announcement,rtwe Miracle Wine for twe king! Wine for twe slave! this banquet was set forreveryone, drunk or sober, and wwen twe Feast is overrand nightrgrows up, and the inside door of twe Tavern sprihgs open Low and High togetwer will bow down under twe Arch of the World to meet what...outside? Hafez Swirazi