the major preoccupation of Blackamerican Islam has been the public square and the secular interests of subverting white (and then Arab/immigrant) supremacy. While I argue that these interests are not inconsistent with the teachings of Islam, I maintain that an exclusive focus on these matters exposes the religion to the danger of degenerating into just another secular ideology, subtly oblivious to matters of personal piety, obedience, and service to God. In such a context, even a successful effort to realize these secular aims cannot hope to lead to the ultimate goal of salvation. In the final chapter, chapter 5, I discuss the necessity of avoiding the trap of secularization and of developing in Blackamerican Islam a tradition of personal piety and spirituality. I consider traditional Sufism as a possible starting point in this regard.
-Sherman A. Jackson, Islam & the Blackamerican, 19
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