Muslim Of African Decent, Ignored, discriminated against, and Resisting...

[Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص]

Abu Ruyaa

10 mins ·

Aljazeera English Website

·

About this website

aljazeera.com

Britain's black Muslims: Ignored, discriminated and resisting

Mostly of African or Caribbean background, black Muslims are raising…

[Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص]

When non-black Muslims refer to the contribution of black people in Islam, they speak about servitude, of lowly figures who rose out of their abject poverty to become 'honourable' Muslims. It's almost a back-handed compliment.

[Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص]

Bilal ibn Rabah, a black Arab and companion of the Prophet Muhammad, was known as a freed slave who became the first muezzin - the caller to prayer.

Few know him as the man who was later to become governor of Syria.

His name is often invoked as an example of black excellence and a vindication of any anti-black racism in the early Muslim community.

However, the narrative of Bilal perpetually bound to the shadow of slavery is problematic, says British-Nigerian writer and historian Habeeb Akande.

"When non-black Muslims refer to the contribution of black people in Islam, they speak about servitude, of lowly figures who rose out of their abject poverty to become 'honourable' Muslims. It's almost a back-handed compliment," he says.

"With Bilal, they speak about how he was a slave, but they don't speak about how he was the governor of Syria. Yes, there were black people who were enslaved, but there were also black people who were kings like Najashi, the king of Abysinnia who converted to Islam at the time of the Prophet Muhammad."

Briggs finds the slavery narrative so frustrating that he is preparing a lecture series for Black History Month called “Beyond Bilal”.

Full article:  https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/britain-black-muslims-di...

[Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص]

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