Blck Fact #172 The legacy of African Muslims in America, a deep and rich history, has been left unmentioned in the history books and forgotten by historians. For 400 years, Muslims from Senegal, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Mali among other nations were taken from their homelands and brought to the United States, the Caribbean and South America as slaves. These slaves, however, were not ordinary; they were scholars, warriors, princes and teachers. They were distinguished by their literacy, education, manners and dignity. Umar radi Allahu `anhu (may Allah be pleased with him) said after the Muslims conquered Jerusalem, “we are a people who Allah has honored with Islam.” These Muslims carried with them the honor of Islam, and they continued to practice their religion as not only racial but religious minorities. It is reported that 30% of slaves may have been Muslim. They were those slaves who organized and participated in the only successful slave rebellion. They were those slaves who wrote out the whole Qur’an, wrote their own biographies and who had biographies written about them. These were our Muslim brothers and sisters, whose status was raised because they carried with them the character of a true believer.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 03:02:28 +0000