Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't discuss Islamic institution of slavery
Review: "Servants of Allah" by Sylviane Diouf contains a rich history of Islam in America. This adds a new dimension to the areas which have already been covered about the history of slavery in America. It covers what Muslims did to uphold the religion especially the 5 Pillars. It gives good "food for thought" for Muslims in particular and for that matter any minority of what things to be aware of in preserving identity beliefs and values. Obviously there's a big difference in being brought in under captivity versus coming on your own free will, but some of the pressures to conform can be the same. Well worth the read.

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Summary: Islam in America 1501 - 1920
Review: Fascinating study of African slave trade focusing on the Moslem African slaves. Servants of Allah offers excellent survey of the African cultural and geopolitical situation prior to and during the years of the slave trade. It is through this foundation that we understand the various ethnic and religious roots of the African slaves.

Wisely the book has not focused on the middle passages covered in many other works but instead focused on the lives of Moslem slaves, in particular, in US, Caribbean and Brazil. The tremendous research and analysis has produced a true groundbreaking work in beginning to understand this very sad chapter of history.

I learnt a great deal from this book, I had no idea of the extent of suffering Moslems and other slaves endured, I didn't know about the use of Arabic in US & rest of Americas as a way for enslaved Africans to communicate and even to keep plantation books. I had no idea of the suppression of Islam practiced as early as 1501 and the brutality of the Spanish Inquisition in the new World all they way through early 20th century. I was amazed to learn how in US the clearly well educated enslaved blacks were denied their Africaness by their masters and relabeled Arabs or Moors and in doing so the White Masters could continue to make sense of the inferior status of the black Africans.

At times Diouf may have been a touch too romantic about the behavior of Moslems and it times attributed culturally narrow definitions to Islamic traditions, this does not detract from the excellent contribution of this most enlightening work on a very rarely addressed subject.

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Summary: A Necessary Contribution in Today's Dialogue on Islam
Review: Having been a long time student of Islam, I must say that Diouf's book masterfully combines the research of several specific authors to give an excellent overview of Islam in the Americas during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. This book can also serve as a demystifying agent in today's dialogue of Islam. For those who see islam as a recent, foreign, imported phenomenon advocating terrorism. Diouf's book begins to expose the long history of Islam in and with the United States. People like the anonymous A Reader,below could really benefit from actually reading the book to understand Islam's relationship with slavery in general, slavery in the Americas, as well as human rights. By the way, an excellent follow up book to learn about a more modern study of African-American Sunni Muslims is Robert Dannin's BLACK PILGRIMAGE TO ISLAM. Both books are a must-buy for anyone interested in studying Black history, Islam, or are simply interested in a non-traditional view of American history.

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Summary: Hidden history of Muslims in America
Review: I LOVED this book. The author brings a refreshingly AfroCentric, cosmopolitan viewpoint to the subject of African-American history. Ms. Diouf is sympathetic to and understands Islam. She loves Africa. She loves the people of Africa. She knows and respects the descendants of African slaves in the Americas. I consider all of this a big plus when telling this history. She brings a fresh perspective to a subject of monumental significance to millions of people all over the globe, a chapter in history which has impacted so many, and which is so misunderstood.

Ms. Diouf has composed a fascinating, attractive, well-researched and easy-to-read account of the African Muslims who were brought to the Americas as slaves. Since a large percentage of the population of West Africa has been Muslim for several hundred years, it isn't surprising in hindsight to realize that many slaves kidnapped in Africa and shipped to the Americas were Muslims who were often quite well-educated. A typical West African Muslim was literate and could read and write, and often more likely to do so than his purchaser. Many of these enslaved Muslims had travelled extensively, had memorized the Qur'an and the hadith, or were from noble families. Some were knowledgeable teachers or students when they were captured. The fact that a Muslim could read and write Arabic and not a European language helped to keep their literacy a secret. There are many other reasons for the modern world's ignorance of this significant history, and Ms. Diouf presents a vast array of causes, meticulously footnoted. Her sources are vast and while the facts have seemingly been available for some time, it took a person who was actually looking for evidence to see the connections and to place the facts in focus. When she speculates, the suggestions are very plausible, yet clearly labelled as such.

It is a story that, quite frankly, should be obvious but isn't. This is a book that should dispel forever, and good riddance to it, the propagandistic image of the African "savage" and replaces it with the light of reality.

The success of the slave economy in the Americas depended on exploiting the image of the black man and woman as savages. In order to subjugate an entire continent's peoples, a drastic lie was needed. That the Africans were all savages and subhumans was the big lie that advanced the avarice and money-hungry motives of both slavers and slave owners.

Ms. Diouf doesn't ignore the participation of Africans, often Muslims, in the slave trade. The first chapter gives a close look at the complicated factors that led millions of Africans from diverse backgrounds to be exported from Africa against their will. Yet, she contrasts the somewhat more benign idea of slavery as it existed in Africa and in Islam with the complete cruelty and hopelessness of the version imported to the Caribbean and Brazil, Georgia and Trinidad.

To claim that somehow the Europeans were just taking advantage of a traditional African system of slavery, and to pretend that the Muslims were somehow equal in their responsibility for its existence, is to ignore the facts, and to insult the slaves' legacy. Ms. Diouf explains those not-so-fine differences carefully and without prejudice, blaming the Muslims when necessary. Yes, Muslims did trade other Africans to the Europeans, but only because their own societies were under threat. The trade in slaves ruined everyone it touched, not only the Muslims.

Ironically, the second monotheistic religion brought to the Americas was Islam, yet those who practiced Islam were never to be known as Muslims. Islam was a big threat for those who sought to enslave its adherents. It engendered rebelliousness, the product of which was unlikely to be completely subjugated. In Brazil, Muslims organized a revolt that completely shocked their unsuspecting owners. In Haiti, Muslims were largely behind that country's independence struggle. Nevertheless, when a Muslim's family was stripped from him or her and literacy was forbidden, the disappearance of overt Islam among slaves was the result, insuring the disappearance of what was considered a "dangerous" attribute in any slave, his or her being a Muslim.

Irony abounds in the story, the most ironic being that the Muslim slaves were perhaps freer than their owners. How could that be possible? Ms. Diouf has an answer on the last page of the book.

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Summary: An extremely important book!
Review: I would have given this book five stars if it wasn't for the strong opinion the author had about another excellent book on the subject. Diouf says in this book that "(Dis)Forming the American Canon" by Ronald Judy is filled with deconstructionist jargon. The other thing which bothered me about this book was the fact that she failed to mention that Judy's book contains perhaps the best translation and analysis of Ben Ali's "Diary" even though it's not a full translation.

I found the information regarding muslim slave revolts and the muslim legacy most interesting. The discussion about how traces of muslim/arabic culture have been preserved in the african-american culture (many times unknowingly) through poetry and music is particularly interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Enlightening...
Review: The first review was just terrible and shows the bias and bigotted remarks about islam. The book is an excellent book that gives us a better picture of how Islam came to America from the African Muslims enslaved. I met the author at Cal Berkley when she did her presentation on this book. As for the comments about slavery in Islam. It is not the same thing as slavery done in America and in Europe. Titus Burckhartdt in his book Moorish Culture in Spain said "Slavery within Islamic culture is not be confused with Roman slavery or with the American variety of the nineteenth century; in Islam the slave was never a mere "thing." If his master treated him badly, he could appeal to a judge and procure his freedom. His dignity as a Muslim was inviolable. Originally, the status of slave was simply the outcome of having been taken a prisoner of war. A captive who could not buy his own freedom by means of ransom remained in the possession of the captor until he had earned his freedom by work or until he was granted liberty by his master." The first reviewer must also note that slavery in Quran is seen such a way. As for the Middle east countries he mentioned, countries dont represent Islam. Islam is judged by its sources not countries. Besides, Saudi Arabic is a monarchy, which isnt a form of Islamic governance. This book shows the truth about the African American connection to Islam. It did not start with the Nation of Islam or Malcolm X, it started way before that.

Rating:
Summary: Good book on the African Muslims in America
Review: The first review was just terrible and shows the bias and bigotted remarks about islam. The book is an excellent book that gives us a better picture of how Islam came to America from the African Muslims enslaved. I met the author at Cal Berkley when she did her presentation on this book. As for the comments about slavery in Islam. It is not the same thing as slavery done in America and in Europe. Titus Burckhartdt in his book Moorish Culture in Spain said "Slavery within Islamic culture is not be confused with Roman slavery or with the American variety of the nineteenth century; in Islam the slave was never a mere "thing." If his master treated him badly, he could appeal to a judge and procure his freedom. His dignity as a Muslim was inviolable. Originally, the status of slave was simply the outcome of having been taken a prisoner of war. A captive who could not buy his own freedom by means of ransom remained in the possession of the captor until he had earned his freedom by work or until he was granted liberty by his master." The first reviewer must also note that slavery in Quran is seen such a way. As for the Middle east countries he mentioned, countries dont represent Islam. Islam is judged by its sources not countries. Besides, Saudi Arabic is a monarchy, which isnt a form of Islamic governance. This book shows the truth about the African American connection to Islam. It did not start with the Nation of Islam or Malcolm X, it started way before that.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but flawed
Review: This is a significant study that suffers, however, from insufficient knowledge of Islam.