Political Islam, Black America, and Socialism: A Shared Framework

I spent most of my career as an intelligence analyst studying the Middle East, Islam, and jihadist ideology. One of the patterns I consistently observed was that groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, and ISIS all possessed a strong social justice message. Their appeal was not built on violence alone. It was also built on promises of justice, compassion, and economic reform.

These organizations often expanded their influence by providing charity in poor communities, offering social services, and condemning the corruption of existing governments. They presented themselves as champions of the oppressed, promising a more just society under Islamic rule. This strategy earned them legitimacy and support among populations that felt neglected by their leaders.

The Islamic State (ISIS), for example, promoted universal healthcare through the Islamic State Health Service, where patients were not billed for medical care. It also advocated for guaranteed employment and various forms of state welfare. 

None of this made ISIS compassionate. Their brutality was undeniable. Nevertheless, they believed they were constructing a just society according to the principles of the Quran.

The Quran contains numerous passages emphasizing charity and economic justice:

"Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but true righteousness is in one who believes in Allah, the Last Day...and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy..."

"And in their wealth there was a right for the one who asks and for the one who is deprived."

"Have you seen the one who denies the Recompense? For that is the one who drives away the orphan and does not encourage the feeding of the poor."

This concern for social justice also shaped modern political Islam. Sayyid Qutb, one of the most influential thinkers behind the Muslim Brotherhood, published Social Justice in Islam in 1953. In it, he argued for economic redistribution, condemned exploitation, and envisioned an Islamic society built upon social and economic equality.

Socialism and Black America

The language of social justice is not unique to Islam. It has also had significant influence within segments of the Black Church.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. openly described himself as a democratic socialist. Most Americans know him for leading the struggle against Jim Crow and securing equal civil rights. Fewer recognize that after the passage of the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, his attention increasingly shifted toward economic justice.

King launched the Poor People's Campaign and argued for what he called a "radical redistribution of economic and political power." He wrote:

"We have moved from the era of civil rights to the era of human rights... We must recognize that we can't solve our problem now until there is a radical redistribution of economic and political power."

He also wrote:

"The dispossessed of this nation, the poor, both white and Negro, live in a cruelly unjust society. They must organize a revolution against the injustice... If they can be helped to take action together, they will do so with a freedom and a power that will be a new and unsettling force in our complacent national life."

If you have followed American politics in recent years, this rhetoric may sound familiar. New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani also identifies as a democratic socialist and has explicitly appealed to Dr. King's economic vision to defend his own political philosophy.

Mamdani stated:

"When we talk about my politics, I call myself a democratic socialist in many ways inspired by the words of Dr. King from decades ago, who said, 'Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism. There has to be a better distribution of wealth for all of God's children in this country.'"

A 2019 Cato Institute poll found that 62 percent of Black Americans viewed socialism more favorably than capitalism.

This should not surprise anyone familiar with the history of Black intellectual thought. Influential figures such as W.E.B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, and Stokely Carmichael all expressed varying degrees of socialist or anti-capitalist thought. More recent writers and activists, including Kimberlé Crenshaw, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Ibram X. Kendi, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, likewise frame social problems primarily through systems of power, oppression, and structural inequality.

A Shared Framework

Whether it is Muslims like Sayyid Qutb or Zohran Mamdani, Christians like Martin Luther King Jr., or secular voices such as James Baldwin, we see a common framework emerge. Their theological beliefs differ dramatically. Their moral convictions often contradict one another. Yet they frequently arrive at similar political conclusions because they begin with a common understanding of justice.

That does not mean concern for the poor is unique to socialism or to social justice movements. Christianity has always commanded believers to care for the vulnerable. The early church transformed the Roman Empire through sacrificial love. Christians founded hospitals, orphanages, charities, and humanitarian missions long before the modern welfare state existed.

Scripture repeatedly commands God's people to pursue justice and show mercy:

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." (James 1:27)

The difference is not whether justice matters—it’s how justice is defined and how it is pursued.

Biblical justice begins with man's relationship to God. It emphasizes personal righteousness, individual responsibility, voluntary generosity, and the transformation of the human heart. Justice flows outward from redeemed people living faithfully before God.

In contrast, the modern social justice movement tends to define justice primarily in terms of power. Society is divided into oppressors and oppressed, and political action becomes the primary means of achieving justice. The focus shifts from personal virtue to structural transformation. Redistribution replaces charity. Revolution replaces repentance. Political power becomes the mechanism through which justice is achieved.

This framework can be found in democratic socialism, revolutionary Marxism, and various forms of political Islam. While these movements differ significantly in their ultimate goals and methods, they often share the assumption that society's greatest problem is unjust systems and that lasting justice requires those systems to be dismantled and replaced.

Whose Justice Will We Pursue?

Democratic socialism is growing in influence. Organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America have gained momentum, winning Democratic primaries and shaping the direction of the political left. Appeals to economic justice increasingly resonate with younger voters and with many within the black community.

One reason for this success is the enduring moral authority of Martin Luther King Jr. Invoking King's words immediately grants credibility because he is widely regarded as America's moral conscience. His legacy carries enormous weight among black Americans and among many white progressives who measure political virtue against the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement.

For Christians, there’s no question: We must care about justice.  The question is whose definition of justice we will embrace.

Biblical justice is rooted in God's character, not class conflict. It calls believers to love their neighbors, care for the poor, defend the vulnerable, and confront injustice without adopting ideological frameworks that redefine righteousness in terms of power and political revolution. Christians should be the first to pursue justice, but we must do so according to God's wisdom rather than the competing visions offered by political Islam, socialism, or secular activism.