Asalaamu alaikum
Alhamdulillah and here is an interesting
historical piece.
Savannah Morning News :
African Muslims in
the antebellum South
Author tells of the spiritual struggles of Muslim
slaves.
By Audrey D. McCombs
Savannah Morning News
Job Ben Solomon Jallo was kidnapped from his home in Africa and
ended up in America in 1730. He was sold into slavery and became
increasingly
angry with such a station in life.
For instance, in a biography
written about him, Job said his
unhappiness led to much praying, and
that once, when he prostrated himself in prayer in public, as was his religious
custom, a white boy threw mud in his face.
Not only was he unhappy
with his treatment, he was also dismayed that he had no place to pray five
times a day, as was also the custom of his Muslim faith that he brought with him
from Africa. So, he ran away from Maryland to Pennsylvania.
There,
he was imprisoned for lack of documents showing he was either free or indentured
and was eventually returned to his master.
Upon his return, his
master was told that Job Ben Solomon wanted to be
treated better
and wanted a place to pray. He got both.
But he was not
content to remain a slave. He wrote his father in Africa a letter in
Arabic asking for help. James Edward Oglethorpe, founder of Georgia,
became aware of the letter and helped secure a bond for Job's release from his
master.
Job was later sent to England (the Royal African Co. his
new owners), and was introduced to a number of wealthy Englishmen who
eventually paid for him and set him free. These same friends paid for his
return to Gambia.
Job Ben Solomon's story and dozens
of others like his are told in "African Muslims in Antebellum America:
Transatlantic Stories and Spiritual Struggles," by Springfield College
(Springfield, Mass.) professor Allan D. Austin.
It's a
condensation and updating of his "African Muslims in Antebellum
America: A Sourcebook," and unfolds the lives of more than 80
African Muslims who were slaves in America between 1730 and 1860.
They came from Nigeria, Gambia, Benin, Togo, Sierra Leone,
Senegal, Mali and other surrounding countries, where many of them had been
political, religious, commercial or military leaders.
They
were valuable as slaves because of their intelligence and skills.
Some were able to return to Africa, while others, like Bilali
Mohammed on Sapelo Island, became leaders on plantations.
Austin,
a noted scholar of antebellum black writing and history, visited Savannah
recently and gave a lecture on his book at the Beach Institute.
As
a professor of Afro-American Studies, Austin said he knew there were
a number of slaves who were Muslims because of his research of the
antebellum writings of blacks. So, he planned an essay on the subject.
But
his essay grew into a 700-plus page book as he discovered much more
information about slaves who were Muslim.
Wealth of information
The data Austin gathered provides a realistic portrayal of
Africans, contrary to the portrayal they were given by white writers of the day.
It is not yet possible to tell how many Muslims were taken out of
Africa during the era of international slave trade, Austin contends. But
by looking at available records, he estimates that between 5 and 10
percent of all slaves taken from Senegal and the Bight of Benin were Muslims.
Half of all Africans sent to North America came from this region, Austin
said.
"If the total number of arrivals were 11 million, as
scholars have concluded, then there may have been about 40,000 African Muslims
in he
colonial and pre-Civil War territory making up the United
States before 1860," he wrote.
Job Ben Solomon was typical
of the Muslims who found themselves in the
South. Their
spirituality, manners, sense of dignity and intelligence impressed slave owners
and others. Some erroneously thought these slaves had received these gifts
from their masters. Not so, Austin said.
A memoir of Job Ben
Solomon's life was later published in 1734 by lawyer Thomas
Bluett.
Allahumma salli wasallim alaa Nabiyyina
Muhammad. Wasalaam.
Modou Mbye