Oral History Interview: Imam Furqan

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The first artifact I chose was an oral history interview of Imam Furqan talking about the early African-American muslim community in Atlanta. In this interview, Imam Furqan discussed about how he converted from Christianity to Islam. He started off saying that by the age of fifteen, he started to have doubts and uncertainty about his religion. One day at the YMCA, he met a group of Muslims and started to observe them. He asked them what their beliefs were and what type of religion they had. He had an inspiring conversation with them and acknowledged their firm beliefs. After that, he went to a Muslim meeting and it really grasped his attention. He found out that Muslims were very nice and intelligent people unlike the rumors he had heard about them being violent. When he went home that night, he reexamined his beliefs and realized his current beliefs were wrong. He then decided to be neutral and claimed no religion. Then one day, he went back to the Muslims and decided to become a Muslim himself. …show more content…

Imam Furqan’s interview informed me of the history of the Nation of Islam. Imam Furqan was attracted to the Nation of Islam because of the concepts of unity, morals, and discipline. Also, the Nation was very organized and neat. The Nation gave each individual African-American a sense of identity and strength for his or herself. It told them that they could things totally independent of white people. In addition, he also stated that the Nation had no tolerance for laziness and ignorance. As a result the Nation taught them to work and become

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