Black From Islam: African American Muslim Defectors

I read about a new documentary, by a young, talented writer, artist and filmmaker named Layla Merritt, on Atlas Shrugs. The trailer below features Jalila, an attorney and dancer, who grew up in the militant community, the Nation of Islam, and is intriguing to say the least. Layla has already received interest from a premier distributor of education films in ethnic studies. Sadly she has also received threats, even though her film is not an attack on Islam, but  an examination of the beginnings of Islam in the African American community, from a female perspective.

Although there is great interest in this groundbreaking film, funding is still needed. To learn more about the subjects and participants in the project and what is required to bring it to completion, follow THIS LINK. You can also help Layla by clicking the Donate Button at the bottom of the article on Atlas Shrugs.

Two of Layla's interview subjects grew up in the secretive Islamic group Jamaat al-Fuqra (in American cities). It is said that the group, whose origins are in Pakistan, has a network of forty-five (or more) paramilitary training camps in the US and Canada. Jamaat al-Fuqra is suspected of complicity in the barbaric beheading of Daniel Pearl, a young reporter for the Wall Street Journal, on 01 February 2001.

Do go to Atlas Shrugs and read the entire article~and be sure watch for the release of this film. * The description is excerpted from Atlas Shrugs:

Black From Islam, a film by Layla Merritt, is a one-hour, educational documentary. It features interviews with three ex-Muslim women, two experts, and an informational reference. During the heat of Black Nationalism in the 1970's, African Americans converted in droves to Islam. Black From Islam identifies the historical routes African Americans have taken to Islam in America, rejecting the slavery-linked dogma of Christianity. It closely examines the cultural differences of how Americans live as Muslims in America, through the experiences of three American women. Communities such as the Muslims Of the Americas (MOA) are highly reclusive. They live as large families on private compounds or buildings. They practice polygamy and home-school their children; they arrange their daughters marriages. This way of life, virtually foreign to most American teens, is a reality for some American girls who grow up Muslim. Black From Islam takes an intimate look at non-secular, Muslim-American communities through the triumphs and tragedies of the women who left them.