Islam and the Cultural Imperative by Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah (Part 2)

I recommend reading the full article, particularly if you're interested in the topic specifically or the growth of Islam in America in general.

Highlights (Part 2):

The story of the “sons of Arfida”—a familiar Arabian linguistic reference to Ethiopians—provides a telling illustration of the place of culture (here, of course, Black African culture) within the Prophetic dispensation. In celebration of an annual Islamic religious festival, a group of Black African converts began to beat leather drums and dance with spears in the Prophet’s mosque. ¢Umar ibn al-Kha~~¥b—one of the chief Companions—felt compelled to interfere and stop them, but the Prophet intervened on their behalf, directing ¢Umar to leave them alone and noting to him that they were “the sons of Arfida,” that is, not his people. The Prophet invited his wife ¢®’isha to watch the dance, took her into the crowd, and lifted her over his back, so that she could watch them clearly as she eagerly leaned forward, her cheek pressing against his. The Prophet made it a point to dispel the Ethiopians’ misgivings about ¢Umar’s intrusion and encouraged them to dance well and, in one account of this authentic story, reassured them to keep up their drumming and dancing, saying: “Play your games, sons of Arfida, so the Jews and Christians know there is latitude in our religion.”

When it was related to Amr ibn al-As -- Companion of the Prophet and victorious commander in the Byzantine wars—that the Prophet had prophesied that al-Ruum (specifically the Byzantines but understood, in this context, as a general reference to Europeans) would predominate at the end of time, ¢Amr responded to his informer:

“If, then, you have related this honestly, know that they have four excellent qualities. They are the most forbearing of people in times of discord. They are the quickest of people to recover from calamity. They are the most likely of people to renew an attack after retreat. And they are the best of people toward the poor, the orphan, and the weak.” ¢Amr then added: “And they have a fifth attribute which is both beautiful and excellent: They are the best of people in checking the oppression of kings.”

In Islamic jurisprudence, al-'urf [custom] and al-'ada [usage] connote those aspects of local culture which are generally recognized as good, beneficial, or merely harmless. In no school did respect for culture amount to blanket acceptance. Local culture had to be appraised in terms of the transcendent norms of Islamic law, which meant the rejection of abhorrent practices like the ancient Mediterranean custom of “honor killings”— now reasserting itself in the context of contemporary
cultural breakdown — or, at the other extreme, the sexual promiscuity prevalent in modern culture.

One of Islamic law’s five universal maxims declared: “Cultural usage shall have the weight of law.” To reject sound custom and usage was not only counterproductive, it brought excessive difficulty and unwarranted harm to people. Another well-known principle of Islamic jurisprudence emphasized this fact and advised: “Cultural usage is second nature,” by which it implied that it is as difficult for people to go against their established customs as it is for them to defy their instinctive natures.

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