Black P. Stones - Islamic Identification

Islamic Identification

The Black Pyramid Stone Nation now has a strong Islamic character, which can be attributed to the Moorish Science Temple of America. BPS first started to embrace Islam in the late 1970s when Jeff Fort was released from prison and changed his name. He also renamed the Black Pyramid Stones as El Rukn. El Rukn adopted their Islamic principles from the Moorish Science Temple - also the forerunner of black Muslim groups such as the Nation of Islam and the Five Percenters. They take inspiration from the historic African Moors who came from north and west Africa and conquered Iberia in the Middle Ages, and who were Muslims.

Even though Abdullah-Malik created an Islamic identity for BPS, nowadays that ideological underpinning is not solid. Although a significant number of Stones are Muslims, Islam now has little to do with the organization's day-to-day operations. The vast spreading of chapters throughout the United States has served to dilute any Islamic identity. Many Chicago based and influenced BPS in the Midwest, East Coast, and in the South embrace Islam, but just as many do not (especially BPS Bloods/Black Stone West). BPS Bloods/Black Stone West does not embrace Islam as it emerged in 1969, before Fort overhauled the mainstream BPS organization.

The Fort-Hairston schism left a significant number of groups adhering to Hairston's principles, and thus have no religious character. Belief in Islam is in many cases a prerogative of individual members. Most 'Stone' in the South don't personally acknowledge Islam, but many on the East Coast do, and in Chicago more than a quarter of BPS is Muslim. Islam has also brought negative attention from federal law enforcement because of BPS's ties to domestic and international Islamic terrorism. They were declared a threat to homeland security after the September 11 attacks. El Rukn has virtually no street presence any longer, with the religious/political body of the BPSN now existing as the Masjid Al Kabah under Abdullah-Malik and his Islamic clergy.