Islam in the Foundations of America

Privilege affects how and whose history is told. As a result of this, many have not heard the stories of Islamic people being a part of the American history at its roots. Either the people who were/are Muslim are not mentioned to identify with the religion or they are left out of history books altogether.

These are a few examples of the Islamic faith tradition being present in America earlier than most realize.

  • Estevancio the Moor

 

In 1528, Estevancio the Moor, a slave to a Spaniard, aided in the exploration of what is now Florida. To put it into perspective, the Pilgrims are said to have landed in America in 1620.

  • By the 1700s, there are historical records showing Muslims as being residents of South Carolina. Many of these people were forced to evacuate their country by the Spanish Crown.

 

  • The largest influx of people who were Muslims into America was through slave trade. Historians say that, out of the ten million Africans brought to America by force the percentage of those who identified as Muslim ranged from about 10-50%.

 

  • Ayuba Suleiman Diallo

Ayuba Suleiman Diallo lived from 1701-1773. He was known as Job ben                      Solomon and was brought to Annapolis in 1730 as a slave.

-Amir Hussain in Muslims in the Making of America reminds us that this was just prior George Washington’s birth!

 

  • Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori

Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori was a man captured to be a slave in 1787, and              remained one in Mississipi until 1828

  • George Washington was recorded as owning Muslim slaves. This would make Muslims responsible in part for the building of Mount Vernon

 

  • Thomas Jefferson owned a copy of the Qur’an and taught himself Arabic. This is significant because it bolsters the argument for Islam being a crucial part of America’s history.

 

 

 

 

Hussain, Amir. Muslims and the Making of America. Baylor University Press, 2017.

https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481306232/muslims-and-the-making-of-america/

https://wisconsinmuslimjournal.org/muslim-slaves-in-america-estevanico-stephen-the-moor/

https://pluralism.org/the-first-american-muslims

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