Black History Is Our History

Noble Drew Ali, Founder of the Moorish Science Temple of America

By Junaid M. Afeef

February is Black History Month. Recognized annually since 1926, Black History Month is a time to celebrate the achievements and contributions of African Americans. It is also a time to promote the continued study and research of Black History so that future generations may learn from it.

All Americans, regardless of their skin color, ethnicity or religion, benefit from Black History Month because it provides important lessons for each of us. This is especially true for American Muslims today. Muslims in this country can learn a great deal about themselves and their future in America by understanding the struggle of African Americans and lessons of Black History.

In fact many scholars now point out that the history of Islam in America begins with the history of African Americans. Harvard University professor, Leo Weiner and Rutgers University's Ivan Van Sertima argue that Muslims of African descent had explored North America long before Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492. Similarly, Dr. Abdullah Hakim Quick in his book Deeper Roots: Muslims in the Americas and the Caribbean from before Columbus to the Present notes that "examination of inscriptions found in Brazil, Peru, and the United States, as well as linguistic, cultural and archaeological finds offer documentary evidence" that West African Mandinka Muslims explored the early Americas.

Others such as, Dr. Aminah McCloud, professor of Islamic Studies at De Paul University, in her book African American Islam, suggests that Islam in the United States can be traced back through African-Americans to the "earliest days of their forcible exportation" to America. In fact, at least 20 to 30 percent of the enslaved Africans forcibly exported to America were Muslim.

Americans Muslims should take pride that Black History is also their history. Knowing that their spiritual ancestors staked a claim to America paid for in blood and bondage should also fortify embattled American Muslims against Islamophobic individuals who seek to portray Islam as something alien and new to the United States. The truth is that the history of Islam in America did not begin a couple of decades ago, but rather goes back several centuries.

More recent black history is equally important and provides valuable lessons for today's American Muslims. It was after all African American Muslims at the turn of the 20th century that began to lay the groundwork for the growth and development of Islam in America. The fruits of their labors are evident in over 1000 mosques across the country today.

Muslims such as Noble Drew Ali of the Moorish Science Temple, Shaykh Daoud Ahmed Faisal of the Islamic Mission of America, Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X of the Nation of Islam, and organizations such as the First Mosque of Pittsburgh and the Islamic Party of North America were invaluable in re-establishing an Islamic presence in America. They set the foundation on which immigrant Muslims arriving in the late 20th century could build and prosper in this country. If it were not for the efforts of African American Muslims in the early 20th century, the immigrant Muslims who came to the United States in the 1960s and later would have faced far greater difficulty in establishing their own immigrant Muslim communities in America.

By understanding the rich and deep historical roots of the early Muslims in America as well as the recent efforts and contributions of African American Muslims, the American Muslim community as a whole should be emboldened to turn their collective gaze away from the shores of their countries of origin and focus on the challenges they face here. The contributions of African American Muslims should inspire today's Muslims to forge an identity that is both Islamic and American.

A final important lesson of Black history for American-Muslims is particularly relevant in the post September 11th environment. It is an empowering history. From it American Muslims can learn to meet and address the civil liberties challenges in which they now find themselves. After all, whatever difficulties American Muslims now face in the post 9/11 world, pale in comparison to the struggles of Blacks in America over the centuries or the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Despite the many hardships they have faced, African Americans continue to fight, even to this day, for their rightful place in America. From this history American Muslims can learn the value of perseverance, unity, forbearance, forgiveness and reconciliation.

In short, there is much for American Muslims to celebrate and appreciate about Black History Month. It is a time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. American Muslims too will eventually overcome the challenges they face today.

Junaid M. Afeef is a Research Associate at the Institute for Social Policy & Understanding. He can be reached at junaid.afeef@gmail.com