Ques: What is the origin of The Shrine?

Al-Mudh-kheroon “The Shriners” has its roots in the original Syretic language. They had rigid training, discipline, and ritualistic initiations that made the worthy to become defenders. They were the Pure Sufi who dressed in black and red, because there were many great cities of trade to defend and protect, such as Baghdad in Iraq and Damascus in Syria. The Shrine then spread to underground groups to protect great men from those who wished to take their thrones..

The tribe in Syria that they initiated in the Shrine during Muhammad's time was called Ghassan. They migrated from Arabia under Bilaal, the Mu'azan of Ethiopia, who launched from Halab “Aleppo”, which means “milk” which is Syria where they claim his body is entombed. But in fact he and a band of men snuck out by night for fear of assassination, as all of the other brothers of the sacred order feared for their lives.

They crossed the burning sands on camel by night following that great star and on foot traveling westward to arrive in the city of Fez, for they were no longer allowed to visit the city of Becca/Mecca, which had fallen under Sunni rule by the first Sunni Khalifah Abu Bakr, who was not blood related and The Shriners where pursued even into Fez, where they dressed as Moroccans with the jalaba, the fez and the silham. They went into the desert outside of Fez amongst the tribesmen, the Moors, and even lived with and taught the Berbers, who spread the Shrine Brotherhood, then called Al Ikhwaani to (Algiers) Algeria, Tunis, Libya, and Egypt.

The Spread Of The Order

Bilaal Ibn Rabah (551-641 A.D.) began living amongst them, and many where initiated into the Mystic Shrine. They became known as the Idrisids in Morocco. It also spread from Syria to Istanbul in Turkey. The Ahli'l Bait originally moved up the Hejaz of Arabia, down into Nubia in the Sudan, amongst the Dongolaway, where blood relatives of Muhammad's surviving grandson, As Sayyid:L Al Hassan (625-669 A.D.), son of Ali and Fatima, lived.

The family settles in Sudan with other survivors of Muhammad's wives, a party of relatives and the members of Al Abbas' family. Thus, the descendants of Muhammad, Ali, and Fatima though Al Hassan (625-669 A.D.), became known as the Dongolaway tribe. The descendants of Al-Abaass (568-654 A.D.), son of Abdul Muttalib (497-578 A.D.), the grandfather of Muhammad, where rivals. These families, the Fatimites (Dongolaway, Mahadiyyah) and the Abbasides (Jaaliya, Khatmiyah) warred as they migrated to the Sudan.

There, they made their home until this present day, from which The Mahdi, As Sayyid: Muhammad Ahmad (1845-1885 A.D.) of the Sudan descended and the order spread even into Ethiopia to the Tribe of The Afar or Danakil; and all the way through Spain to France. All of these trade routes and cities had their clan of protectors who underwent a ballot, an induction and an initiation. This group began to spread across the world, with one worldwide leader call Al Mufti Al Azeem.

The believe in taking the law into their own hands, the unwritten and unspoken, not God's law of an “eye for an eye” and “a tooth for a tooth”. This is known because they tracked, captured, judged and executed, mostly by hanging or beheading, with no regard to the authorities, that refused to enforce the law.

As time passed, the Euro-Shriners gradually transformed into a pseudo-Christian sect after pressures in Christian countries that called them a Muslim cult, and they were banned from Arabia. We accept with open arms the title given in the Shrine: “The Order of The Unwritten Law.”

The corrupt system through wealth and bribes, were set up; but these laws did not protect the common people. Secrecy and private identity was of the utmost importance. Loyalty and trust as well, were the cornerstones of this sacred Society, so the inductees initially were all blood related. No outsiders were to be trusted. The first page from The Noble Koran, Chapter 30, originally chapter 41 called Yaa Sin, is called Qalbu'l Qur'aan “The heart of the Noble Koran”. “Muhammad” called it Yaa Sin two letters of the Arabic alphabet, “Oh Secret”. Need I say what that means to us Shriners? Yaa Sin also means “Oh Sayyid”. Again, need I give its importance? A wound was self-inflicted in the right hand and then the blood was allowed to drop on the first page of the Noble Koran, crumbled in the left hand and burnt with recitation of it. This seal was called the blood oath, and the person vowed his left to the order (old rituals not done today).

Europeans who learned Arabic who would travel to what is called the Middle East would see members of these secret societies as Sufi, chanting or dancing and even enacting skits of the past; and they sometimes overheard things only spoken in Arabic. Without fully understanding, they misinterpreted these things and wrote things down the best they could remember. These Europeans in turn, copies the idea from memory and made their own brotherhood of Anglo-Saxons who started out as the poor pilgrims, which later developed into the Knights of Templar, a branch of Freemasonry today. They vowed to protect the pilgrims who, like the Muslims, where trying to make pilgrimage to their Holy City of Becca (Bakka) as the Christian Pilgrims were making their way to their holy city of Jerusalem.

There is a point to be made here. In the Euro-Shriner handbook called “All Shriner Handbook” under the subtitle “Significance of the Fez”, they claim that the Crusaders interrupted the Muslims while on Hajj “pilgrimage” in the year 1096 A.D., while others say it occurred in the year 644 A.D. In the whole 1400 years of Islam, the Crusaders have never interrupted the Muslims rituals, nor have they ventured to Becca. This date and even is another one of the many innocent mistakes that are being corrected by this text.

The Knights of Templar were established in 1118 A.D. by Hugh De Paynes, Godfrey De. St. Aldemas and seven other men, whose traditional dress was black, who fought against the Muslims during the second crusade; but this was nowhere near Mecca in Arabia. The original Sacred Society of the Hashimites dressed in all black, which is where the Knights of Templar acquired it. The next step in advancement after the Knights of Templar is the Shrine, the Muhammadan creed. It was the Muslims who took them in when the King of France decided he wanted their wealth and condemned them all to die. Muslims took them into the Mosque and protected them, but first they had to be initiated into Al Islam. Just look at the Shi'ite countries today. They still wear the white dress, which was a symbol of death in ancient Egypt. This is where all of these secret societies came from, while the crusaders were known to wear a white tunic with a red cross. While in Jerusalem with the Muslims, some of the Knights of Templar were able to obtain information about the secret societies and used it to further develop doctrines of their order, which they spread throughout Europe.

By the time Freemasonry had made its way though Europe and across the waters to the shores of America, certain Euro-Freemasons because bored with the rituals of Freemasonry that they created and were looking for another fraternal brotherhood strictly for entertainment. These Freemasons were not concerned with the true purpose of what they had witnessed concerning the sacred rituals. They only took pieces that interested them and made up Euro-Shrinery as it is today.

The founders of the Euro-Shrinery were William J. Florence and Dr. Walter M. Flemings, With the help of Albert L. Lawson, Charles T. Mclenachan and William Sleigh Patterson, they established The Euro-Shrinery Order called The Order of the Mystic Shrine on June 16, 1871 A.D. The charter for the Mecca Temple was actually issued in 1872 A.D., which is also the date of their first session after which their Imperial Council was organized on June 6, 1876 A.D.

William J. Florence, the actor while on a tour to the Near East in 1870 A.D., met the sultan in Cairo, Egypt who was Ismail Bin Ibrahim Pasha, from 1798 A.D. Through 1805 A.D., Egypt had been under French and British Rule and during that time, these British and French set up masonic Lodges in Dario, Egypt. From 1805 A.D., the rivalry between the French and British ended up with the British winning and ruling from 1882 A.D. This was also called the Turco Egyptian Period, which were Turks who called themselves Egyptians. The ruler of Egypt was Turkish, not an original Egyptian.

The original Egyptians were Negroes called Nubians. The Shrines then were set up under Al Mufti: Mahu Bey, the governor of the Berber since 1882 A.D. He was of Kurdish origin. Al Mufti: Mahu Bey was under the Grand Shaykh named Abdu Al-Qadir Wad-Al-Zayn. The order moved into Sudan where they encountered the real Shrines called “The Khalwatiyya Order”, which was established in the 14th century and reactivated by Al Mahdi Muhammad Al Mahdi (1845-1885 A.D.) in the 18th century as Al Mukhlasiyna, Ansarullah or the “The Al Khalwatiyya Order of Sufi.” The Turkish initiates called it The Halvati Order, a mis-pronunciation of “Khalwatiyya”, and they added Bey to their names. It also spread to Algiers when missionaries were sent to propagate its teaches in Africa.

One of these, As-Sammani (1718-1775 A.D.) established a new sub-order, which was bought back to the Sudan about 1800 A.D. By a Sudanese Ahmad At-Tayyib Al-Bashir, who had been initiated in Media, Saudi Arabia in the Alee Temple. Another religious teacher whose followers were to have great influence in the Sudan was Ahmad Ibn Idris-Al Fasi, who originated from Fez, Morocco as the original Moors. They issued Charters to the European to enact the rites and ritual of the order, called The Ancient Arab Order of Noble of the Mystic Shrine. In short, they were called Shriners. They added to their name Bey and not El, for El was for pure Moors only. This is to imply that they belonged to the ancient order of Moors from Fez, Morocco. Their Degrees were given in Arabic only, but the Europeans Shriner could not translate them properly.

The sultan, who was head of a Society after which the Shrine was patterned, was intrigued by William J. Florence's wit and charm and had him inducted into the order. William J. Florence, upon his return to America, had the ritual translated into English, and with Dr. Walter Ml. Fleming, he because a co-founder of the Mystic Shrine. Member ship from its inception was confined to either Knights of Templar or Scottish Rite Freemasons, to insure a “select class of men to compose its membership.”