Interesting, but needs to be seen in perspective

Submitted by Malcolm (Israel), Jan 1, 2014 at 11:43

Any such rumors about Gillespie and Parker were just - rumors. The Wikipedia article on Parker says "Parker's widow criticized Parker's family for giving him a Christian funeral even though they knew he was a confirmed atheist." Gillespie was a Bahai. During one of his visits to Israel, where the Bahai shrines are located, I remember hearing him enthusiastically describing his Bahai faith in a radio interview.

The Ahmadiyya, as others have noted, are severely persecuted as "heretics" in Pakistan and are regarded as such by the major streams in Islam. For one thing, they long ago officially rejected jihad warfare. Their syncretism resembles that of the Bahai and goes along with a tolerant attitude to other monotheistic religions. So there was a movement toward Islam among a minority of bebop musicians, but toward a variety of Islam that nobody need be alarmed by.

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