By Nvasekie N. Konneh
In this article, we take a look at the history of Islam in America and its unique contribution to the black liberation struggle. Islam is said to be the fastest growing religion in the world. It is the third largest religion in the United States of America after Christianity and Judaism. According to a study conducted in 2017, there are 3 to 7 million Muslims in America. 25% of those are converts. According to Pew Research Center, the Muslim community is 65% Sunni, 11% Shia, 24% non-denominational, 25% African Americans, 24% white, 18% Asian, 18% Arab, 7% mixed race, and 5% Hispanic. Studies also indicate that 50% of Muslims are native born while the other 50 percent are foreign born. Overall, 86 percent of Muslims in America are citizens through birth or naturalization. Many of the native-born American Muslims are African Americans. Many of these African Americans have been converting or reverting to Islam in the last seventy years, mostly in large cities. Though a minority of the overall African American population, African American Muslims have had huge influence on black culture in sports, entertainment, particularly hip hop. There are many sports figures and hip-hop artists who are either Muslims or identify with Islam. African American Muslims are either Orthodox, members of the Nation of Islam or the 5% Nation of Islam.
To understand the history of Islam in America, one must go back to the days before Christopher Columbus "discovered America." Studies have shown that some West African Muslims came to the American continent way before Christopher Columbus set sail to "discover the new world." . According to Prof. Ivan Van Sertima, there was a West African King by the name of Mansa Abubakari Keita II who out of curiosity wanted to know what lied behind the Atlantic Ocean. As such, he sent ship loads of people who got lost on the sea and did not return. He sent the second group of ships on the same mission. On the third attempts he decided to follow up himself and when he left he did not come back to his homeland in Africa. Reports also indicate that 25% of slaves from West Africa were Muslims. Some of the famous Muslim slaves were Yarrow Mamout, Omar Ibn Said, and Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori who is a subject of a PBS documentary, Prince Among the Slaves.
During the course of slavery, these Muslims lost their religion and followed the dominant religion of their slave masters which was Christianity. Islam was suppressed on the plantations throughout the US. Before the late 19th century, most Muslims of non-slavery background were merchants, travelers, and sailors from the Middle East and Asia. With much of the history of Islam in America lost or suppressed, Islam came to prominence in the US through organizations such as the Moorish Science Temples of Islam in America and Nation of Islam. These two organizations and their offshoots played very critical roles in what is known of Islam in the Americas today.
Of the two, Moorish Science Temple of Islam was founded by Timothy Drew in 1913. Timothy Drew later on became known as Noble Drew Ali among his followers. The teaching of the Moorish Science Temple of Islam was "based on Islamic and Gnostic teachings." Noble Drew Ali taught that black people were of Moorish origin and their Muslim identity was destroyed through many years of slavery and racial segregation. As such, he advocated for the return of black people to their "original religion of Islam." While Noble Drew Ali and the Moorish Science Temple was the first known "Islamic organization” among Black people in America, it is the Nation of Islam, founded in 1931, which would gain more prominence and traction within the black community. The founder was Wallace Fard Muhammad. He was a door-to-door salesman. When he mysteriously disappeared, Elijah Muhammad assumed the leadership of the Nation. Before then he was known as Elijah Pool. His followers called him Hon Elijah Muhammad. Reports also indicate that Elijah Muhammad was affiliated with both the Moorish Science Temple of Islam and the Marcus Garvey Movement of the 1920s. He is said to have praised Marcus Garvey as the forerunner who laid the foundation for the Nation of Islam.
According to the NOI doctrine, "Allah is God, the white man is the devil and the so-called Negroes are the Asiatic Black People, the cream of the planet earth." Elijah deified Wallace Fard, saying that he was an incarnation of God who came in the form of man to the black people of America. While NOI was a small organization equal to any store front church in the US, its recruitment of Malcolm Little who became known as Malcolm X proved to be very beneficial to the growth and spread of the organization in various parts of America. Malcolm was like the roving ambassador, planting the seeds of the movement in various states and cities across America. He was appointed by Elijah Muhammad as the national spokesman of the movement. Another well-known member was the world heavy weight boxing legend Muhammad Ali. Malcolm was one of the most eloquent and influential speakers of the black liberation struggle both when he was still in the nation and when he left.
Malcolm, Warith D Mohammed and Farrakhan
Malcolm, Warith Deen Mohammed and Louise Farrakhan are very consequential in the history of the Nation of Islam in particular and Islam in general. While Warith Deen Muhammad may not be a household names like Malcolm and Farrakhan within the general context of the black liberation struggle, he played a very crucial role in the evolution of Islam in America. He was the son of Elijah Muhammad who succeeded him as head of the Nation of Islam when he died in 1975.
When Malcolm left the Nation, he founded two organizations: Muslim Mosque Inc and the Organization of Afro American Unity. These two organizations served two different purposes. Those who followed him religiously belonged to the Muslim Mosque Inc. and his political and ideological followers followed him into the formation of the Pan African Nationalist movement the Organization of Afro American Unity (OAAU). Muslim Mosque Inc was based on Orthodox Islamic belief. Malcolm was at the height of his popularity as a black nationalist when he was assassinated by some members of the Nation of Islam. While the Nation suffered the consequence of Malcolm's assassination, fingers have been pointed to the government's counter-intelligent program that instigated and hyped up the disagreement between Malcolm and Elijah Muhammad. When Elijah Muhammad died in 1975, his son Warith Deen Muhammad took over the leadership of the Nation. He abandoned the black nationalist teaching of NOI and changed the name of the organization to American Society of Muslims. Under his leadership, he carried out the largest mass conversion to Islam in the history of the United States when he and members of the Nation embraced Orthodox Islam, rejecting the deification of Wallace Fard Muhammad, a core principle of the Nation of Islam.
There was those who were not satisfied with the change brought about by Imam Warith Deen Mohammed. Among them was Louise Farrakhan who decided to rebuild the Nation of Islam in the early 80s. While Malcolm maintained both the politic and religion as two separate organizations, Warith Deen Mohammed focused mostly on religion, though he was politically active. He was well respected as a religious and political leader. He is said to have been the first Islamic leader to offer Islamic pray in the US Congress. Farrakhan on the other hand has continued with Nation of Islam and today is considered one of the most influential black leaders in America. Nation of Islam remains a transitional point for some who eventually move on to orthodox Islam. Just like Malcolm X, there are many who support Farrakhan not because of the Islamic religion but because of his outspoken stance on issues concerning Islam and the black community in the US. Just as they were visible on the streets during the days of the past, members of the Nation can still be seen in the black communities in various parts of the US selling their newspaper, The Final Call and bean pies. Over all, Islam has a very visible presence in the black community whether from the Nation or the orthodox community.
