Source: RNS
WASHINGTON (RNS) Long before the grand opening neared for the Smithsonian’s new museum devoted to African-American history, Amirah Muhammad had a difficult decision to make.
Should she donate the platinum and diamond necklace that Elijah Muhammad, her grandfather and onetime leader of the Nation of Islam, gave to her grandmother after designing it with the word “Allah” above their family name?Museum curators hoped she would contribute an artifact related to the black nationalist movement that had grown to some 500,000 members when her grandfather died in 1975.
“It was for the greater good,” she said of her reluctant donation, which came after “much prayer and thought.”
“I actually felt my grandmother, kind of her spirit, say, ‘It’s OK, tell our story.’”
The National Museum of African American History and Culture, set to open Sept. 24, tells many stories of African-Americans of diverse faiths who have shaped U.S. history. Close to 10 percent of the 2,586 artifacts in its inaugural exhibitions are related to faith and religious history.
Categories: America, Culture, The Muslim Times, USA