eMgage, African American History Month 2023, Washington, D.C.

Comment by Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص on February 28, 2023 at 11:38pm

Emgage’s Commitment to Black Muslim Americans  

Emgage honors and recognizes the critically important role that Black Muslims play in the origins of Islam in America. Today, Emgage seeks to serve African American and African Muslim communities that have been too-often marginalized by Islamophobia, classism, and racism, both within and outside the Muslim community. Black Muslims play a pivotal role in elections, and their votes have had important impacts in key victories, including President Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania.

We at Emgage seek to ensure that Black Muslim communities have the resources needed to thrive, be civically engaged, and have their voices represented.

Read more:  EmgageUSA | Emgage's African American Community Engagement - EmgageUSA

Comment by Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص on March 1, 2023 at 12:00am

The First Muslim Americans: Enslaved West Africans

Contrary to the mistaken belief that Islam in America originated with the influx of Arab and Pakistani immigrants in the 1960s, Islam actually originated in this country vis-à-vis West African enslaved Muslims. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington owned West African enslaved Muslims.

These first Muslims were forced to convert to Christianity and relinquish all components of their Muslim identities. In fact, historians argue that the initial shipping of these individuals while naked served to not only dehumanize and animalize them, but to specifically undermine their Islamic conceptions of modesty, and to thereby initiate the complete erasure of their Muslim identities.

As described in Sylviane Diouf’s acclaimed text, Servants of Allah, there is ample evidence that despite the systematic attempts to erase their Muslim identities, these enslaved Muslims practiced Islam diligently. They not only retained a myriad of components of their Muslim identities, but in some cases, negotiated their identities uniquely to fit their enslaved circumstances. They found ways to covertly pray, fast, read and scribe copies of the Qur’an from memory, and establish underground Islamic learning networks. The impact of these enslaved Muslims is far-reaching and continually being discovered. Modern-day musicologists are learning about how the melody of the blues, a musical product of slavery, may be derived from the tune of the adhan, the Islamic call to prayer.

These first Muslims laid a strong foundation for Islam in America. They represent a strong adherence to Islam and the Muslim identity, despite their unimaginably difficult circumstances of being enslaved. They inspire us modern-day Muslim Americans to be unapologetic of our identities, since the first Muslims in this country were unashamed of being Muslim and all that that entailed, despite the aforementioned point of slaveowners’ ubiquitous attempts of erasing all aspects of their Muslim identities.

Photo Slideshow: https://bilalmahmud.zenfolio.com/p133544797/slideshow#h5a4ed4f3

Comment by Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص on March 1, 2023 at 12:01am

Kofi Bilal Mahmud Eid AlFitr 1443 A.H.

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Comment by Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص on March 1, 2023 at 1:11am

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