Moabites Day Celebrated by Moorish American Woman

Moabites Day was first celebrated on May 17th, 2007; it was a collaborated idea of the Sister Auxiliary of The Moorish Science Temple of American-1928; instigated by Imam Rasul Hasan Bey of Grand Temple #1, Indiana; he saw a great need to honor our own Moorish Queens through our own tradition giving birth to Moabitess Day. That we should be celebrating our own holidays according to our beliefs and way of life. As Moorish American Moslems we have a heightened respect and pride for our own culture and customs which places a foundation of our Moorish traditions to be passed down from one generation to the next. As it is written within our Circle 7 Holy Koran of the Moorish Science Temple of American; “Men comprehend the inner life by what they see and do. They come to Allah through ceremonies and forms.” It is through our ceremonies and forms that strengthen our outer display to be always attuned with the Divine.

Moabitess Day is the celebration of humanity; it is the celebration of all Sisters of all ages who have chosen to attach themselves to the organization which qualifies a person to be deemed and recognized as a Moorish American Moslem according to the dictates of our so beloved Prophet Drew Ali. Our Holy Koran Circle 7 gives a perfect example of the true essences of a Moabitess; Chapter XXI, Marriage Instructions of Man and Wife from the Noble Prophet.

“Give ear, fair daughter of love, to the instructions of prudence and let the precepts of truth sink deep in thy heart; so shall the charms of thy mind add luster to the elegance of thy form; and thy beauty, like the rose it resembleth, shall retain its sweetness when its bloom is withered.”

May was chosen because it is the time of fresh bloom; our Moabitess Queens are likened to beautiful flowers pulling towards the sun and spring forth in life during May. A perfect time of year when nature gives birth to beautiful blossoms and vegetation; however it is not to be confused with anything relating to celebrating of the spring equinox. The 17^th day was chosen representing we are ‘1’ with Allah and the ‘7’ is attributed to the seven degrees of womanhood.

Virtuousness
Modesty
Humility
Meekness
Kindness
Frugality
Faithfulness

Our day of celebrating our Sisters has been adopted by other Moorish Americans across the country with every year gaining greater acknowledgement. It is in the sharing and honoring our symbol of Humanity; the Moabitess Queens. Moabitess Day is a day to honor our Sisters, Mothers and Daughters the young and seasoned who chosen to live a life of faithfulness in Islam and to the one God whom we call Allah.

Mother’s Day Celebrated in America

According to the Journal of Southern History 68.4 (2002); “The modern American holiday of Mother’s Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, which now holds the International Mother’s Day Shrine.^[ Her campaign to make “Mother’s Day” a recognized holiday in the United States began in 1905, the year her beloved mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died. Anna’s mission was to honor her own mother by continuing work she started and to set aside a day to honor mothers, “the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world”. (Journal of Southern History 68.4 2002)

Mother’s Day is considered a modern celebration honoring one’s own mother, as well as motherhood in general, which can include maternal bonds, along with the overall influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the months of March or May. In America it is celebrated annually on May 10^th. It was first celebrated in March it complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Father’s Day and Siblings Day.

The celebration of Mother’s Day is said to have originated as a Greek cult to Cybele, the Roman festival of Hilaria, or the Christian Mothering Sunday celebration (originally a celebration of the mother church, not motherhood). Despite this, in some countries, Mother’s Day has become synonymous with these older traditions.

In closing, many Moorish Americans will tend to honor those who acknowledge and celebrate the American Mothers Day; as it is no compulsion for anyone to recognize and honor our Moorish Islamic customs and tradition. We honor anything that is reflective of Love, Truth, Peace, Freedom and Justice, even if it is under another banner; as truth is but one.

Reference

American Mothers Day.

Enstam, Elizabeth York. “The Dallas equal suffrage association, political style, and popular culture: grassroots strategies of the Woman Suffrage Movement, 1913–1919.” Journal of Southern History 68.4 (2002):817+. Student Resources in Context. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.