Enslaved Africans’ Connection to Islam

Muslim African Americans of North Carolina can connect to an earlier fellow Muslim, Omar Ibn Said.

Half length formal portrait of “Uncle Moreau,” Omar Ibn Said. Courtesy of the Randolph Linsly Simpson African-American collection

Omar Ibn Said was born in a place called Futa Toro “between the two rivers” referring to the Senegal and the Gambia rivers that separate those two countries. In 1807, Omar Ibn Said was captured and transported to Charleston, South Carolina. He escaped and fled his cruel master and was recaptured and jailed in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He wrote Arabic lettering on the walls of the jail that got the attention of General James (Jim) Owen, who purchased Said. In 1831, while still enslaved, Omar wrote his autobiography in Arabic—that document is an important contribution to the history of Muslims in the United States.

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Images of other notable Muslims from early history, from left to right. Portrait of Yarrow Mamout (Muhammad Yaro), 1819 by Charles Willson Peale. Abdul Rahman by H. Inman, engraved by T. Illman, is a portrait of a West African prince known as Ibrahima, Prince of Slaves or Abdu-l-Rahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori. Far right, portrait of Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, called Job ben Solomon (1701-1773) in African dress, with the Qu’ran around his neck by William Hoare of Bath. Courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

STOP 46: Omar Ibn Said CA. 1770-1863. Historical Marker. Courtesy of the Town of Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Image of Masjid Omar Ibn Said. Courtesy of Naomi Shakir Feaste.

Genetic Memory and the African Americans’ Historical Ties to Islam

Cover of the seminal book, The Black Muslims in America by Dr. C. Eric Lincoln.

Author photo of Dr. C. Eric Lincoln. Courtesy of Goodreads.

From 1976 to 1993, Dr. C. Eric Lincoln was a professor of religion and culture at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He authored more than 20 books. His book The Black Muslims in America, is considered a seminal text. Over the years, he developed personal relationships with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, and Imam W.D. Muhammed. Dr. Lincoln believed that many African Americans were drawn to Islam because of genetic memory. It is estimated that between10-30% of enslaved Africans brought to the United States were Muslims. Dr. Lincoln believed that many “converts” to Islam were simply returning to the religion of their ancestors. Additionally, the convergence of enslavement, white supremacy and Jim Crow awakened a genetic memory in those enslaved.

“I believe [Dr. Lincoln] meant a protoplasm Islam, the beginning of a Muslim man…we were given just protoplasm…germs that would eventually become men, a Muslim man, a Muslim mind etc…,” (p. 98).

From Reading is Fundamental: A Compilation of Book Reviews by Imam W. Deen Mohammad, Edited by Ronald B. Shaheed

This video exemplifies Dr. Lincoln’s belief in “genetic memory.” According to the National Museum of African American History & Culture, “The Islam brought to America by enslaved Africans did not survive long, but it left traces that are still visible today. The practice of ring shout, a form of religious dance in which men and women rotate counterclockwise while singing, clapping their hands and shuffling their feet, was directly inherited from enslaved Muslims such as Bilali Mohammed and Salih Bilali in the Georgia Sea Islands. It originally mimicked the ritual circling (or shaw’t) of the Kaaba in Mecca by Muslim pilgrims.” Notice how the dancers point their index fingers, this signifies the Oneness of Allah. To see an example of the ring shout from Georgia, begin the video at 42:50. McIntosh County Shouters: Gullah-Geechee Ring Shout from Georgia, Dec. 2, 2010. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Other historical records point us to influences that Islam had on enslaved Africans’ experiences in music. For example, scholars such as musicologists/historians Alex Lomax, and Gerhard Kubik, as well as trumpeter Barry Danielian, who is Muslim, have discussed the relationship between the blues and Islamic traditions.

Does Islamic traditions have an influence on American Blues?

Many blues singers use melisma, which was a style of singing found in West Africa, particularly among Muslims. It blends many notes into one syllable and has a wavy intonation. Scholar Sylviane Diouf and historian/storyteller Cornelia Walker Bailey also connect Islamic influences to African American music.