Title Servants of Allah : African Muslims enslaved in the Americas / Sylviane A. Diouf

Published New York : New York University Press, ©1998

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Description 1 online resource (ix, 254 pages) Contents Introduction: an understudied presence and legacy -- African Muslims, Christian Europeans, and the Atlantic slave trade -- Upholding the Five Pillars of Islam in a hostile world -- The Muslim community -- Literacy: a distinction and a danger -- Resistance, revolts, and returns to Africa -- The Muslim legacy Summary Annotation Despite the explosion in work on African American and religious history, little is known about Black Muslims who came to America as slaves. Most assume that what Muslim faith any Africans did bring with them was quickly absorbed into the new Christian milieu. But, surprisingly, as Sylviane Diouf shows in this new, meticulously researched volume, Islam flourished during slavery on a large scale. Servants of Allah presents a history of African Muslim slaves, following them from Africa to the Americas. It details how, even while enslaved many Black Muslims managed to follow most of the precepts of their religion. Literate, urban, and well traveled, Black Muslims drew on their organization and the strength of their beliefs to play a major part in the most well known slave uprisings. Though Islam did not survive in the Americas in its orthodox form, its mark can be found in certain religions, traditions, and artistic creations of people of African descent. But for all their accomplishments and contributions to the cultures of the African Diaspora, the Muslim slaves have been largely ignored. Servants of Allah is the first book to examine the role of Islam in the lives of both individual practitioners and in the American slave community as a whole, while also shedding light on the legacy of Islam in today's American and Caribbean cultures. Choice Outstanding Academic Title of 1999 Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-246) and index Notes Print version record Subject Enslaved persons -- Religious life -- United States -- History Enslaved persons -- Religious life -- America -- History Muslims, Black -- United States -- History Muslims, Black -- America -- History African Americans -- History -- To 1863. SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Discrimination & Race Relations. African Americans Muslims, Black Enslaved persons -- Religious life America United States Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 0585317542 9780585317540 081471904X 9780814719046 0814719058 9780814719053

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