Musa, A very interesting piece. This sounds like some revisionist trying to portray Arab slave traders in good light simply because they brought Islam along while shopping for slaves. Highlighting the economic differences between the slave economy of 18th-19th century America and the Middle East does not change the fact Islam never launched a campaign to eradicate the practice (please educate me if it did). A slave in Buckingham Palace and a slave in Mauritania are both equally slaves. The lasting psychological impact of the institution of slavery (that goes through generations) cannot be ignored by just concentrating on the physical treatments of slaves. Trying to do so is disengenous at best. Unless my Islamic studies class at Nusrat High School was a total fabrication, the same people who brought Islam south of the Sahara were not exactly unconnected with the Trans-Saharan slave trade. Ousman _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~